Kids
Freedom fire
Daniel José Older
jFICTION Older Daniel
Kids, Fiction, Fantasy, Early Chapter Books
Magdalys Roca and her friends from the Colored Orphan Asylum are heading southwest on the back of Stella, the giant pteranodon, to find Montez, her brother, wounded during the siege of Vicksburg; now they are heading into the heart of the fighting, depending on Magdalys' ability to communicate telepathically with dinosaurs--but one of the companions is not quite what she seems, and Magdalys's talent could make her a target for both sides.
Ramona and her father
Beverly Cleary
jFICTION Cleary, Beverly
Kids, Fiction
The family routine is upset during Ramona's year in second grade when her father unexpectedly loses his job.
This whole series is my favorite, but this one edges just slightly above the others in enjoyment. No one captures the spirit and feeling of childhood like Beverly Cleary, and Ramona is a funny, spunky, heroine dealing with school and family stuff. -Anne W
The miscalculations of Lightning Girl
Stacy McAnulty
jFICTION Mcanulty Stacy
Fiction, Kids
A lightning strike made Lucy, twelve, a math genius but, after years of homeschooling, her grandmother enrolls her in middle school and she learns that life is more than numbers.
A lightning strike makes 12-year-old Lucy a math genius but when she is forced to go to public middle school after years of home schooling, she learns life is more than numbers. Socially awkward adolescent unwittingly bonds with other misfits and helps dogs at an animal shelter! -Anne W
A case in any case
Ulf Nilsson
jFICTION Nilsson Ulf
Kids, Early Chapter Books, Mystery, Fiction
When Detective Gordon retires and Buffy is left alone at the police station, she hears strange noises and decides to call on Gordon to help her with the mystery.
Sweet, gentle, yet hilariously funny Swedish frog detective and his deputy mouse solve sweet, gentle mysteries in the forest. -Anne W
The Westing game
Ellen Raskin
jFICTION Raskin, Ellen
Mystery, Fiction, Kids
The mysterious death of an eccentric millionaire brings together an unlikely assortment of heirs who must uncover the circumstances of his death before they can claim their inheritance.
Mystery classic that centers on the death of an eccentric millionaire and the unlikely assortment of wacky characters all competing to solve the puzzle of his death to claim their inheritance. Funny, offbeat, weird, creepy! -Anne W
The Watsons go to Birmingham-- 1963
Christopher Paul Curtis
jFICTION Curtis, Christopher Paul
Fiction, Historical Fiction, Humor, Kids
The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.
You will laugh out loud again and again until the end, when you'll cry. A family from Michigan goes to visit relatives down South in Birmingham for the summer. Ten year old Kenny, the protagonist, has a wonderful voice and spirit. -Anne W
Midnight without a moon
Linda Williams Jackson
jFICTION Jackson Linda
Fiction, Historical Fiction, Kids
Rose Lee Carter, a thirteen-year-old African-American girl, dreams of life beyond the Mississippi cotton fields during the summer of 1955, but when Emmett Till is murdered and his killers are unjustly acquitted, Rose is torn between seeking her destiny outside of Mississippi or staying and being a part of an important movement.
It's summer in Mississippi in 1955 and one town over from where Rose Lee Carter lives with her grandparents, a boy named Emmett Till is murdered. Unrest begins to build, and Rose Lee is forced to question everything she's ever known and decide whether to join a dangerous movement for change in the South. Complex, multilayered characters dealing with wider social change as well as family events. -Anne W
The giver
Lois Lowry
YOUNG ADULT FICTION Lowry, Lois
Dystopian, Classics, Kids, Fiction, Science Fiction
Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives.
A dystopian classic about a haunting world of total conformity, in which a 12-year-old boy begins slowly to uncover the secrets of the society with no discontent but also no choice or feelings. -Anne W
When you reach me
Rebecca Stead
YOUNG ADULT FICTION Stead, Rebecca
Kids, Fiction, Adventure, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction, Mystery
As her mother prepares to be a contestant on the 1980s television game show, "The $20,000 Pyramid," a twelve-year-old New York City girl tries to make sense of a series of mysterious notes received from an anonymous source that seems to defy the laws of time and space.
Mix of sci-fi, mystery, and historical fiction (set in the 1970s), a middle-school girl must investigate the source of mysterious notes that appear in her personal belongings and, she realizes, predict the future. Time travel! -Anne W
El deafo
Cece Bell
jGRAPHIC NOVEL Bell
Graphic Novels, Kids
The author recounts in graphic novel format her experiences with hearing loss at a young age, including using a bulky hearing aid, learning how to lip read, and determining her "superpower."
In this funny, poignant graphic novel memoir, author/illustrator Cece Bell chronicles her hearing loss at a young age and her subsequent experiences with the Phonic Ear, a very powerful—and very awkward—hearing aid. -Anne W
Fans of the acclaimed first Dactyl Hill chapter book will rejoice for the thrilling second book in the series! Background notes elaborate on the story’s elements. Intelligent, rousing, and abundantly diverse, this is every bit as satisfying as the first installment. Ages 8–12. -Angie