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My Side of the Mountain
by Jean Craighead GeorgeTerribly unhappy in his family's crowded New York City apartment, Sam Gribley runs away to the solitude--and danger--of the mountains, where he finds a side of himself he never knew.
Newbery Medal Honors book.
On the Far Side of the Mountain
by Jean Craighead GeorgeThis book is the sequel to My Side of the Mountain. My Side of the Mountain was a Newbery Honor Book, an ALA Notable Book, a Hans Christian Andersen Award Honor Book, and was made into a major motion picture.
Pictures of Hollis Woods
by Patricia Reilly GiffHollis Woods has been in so many foster homes she can hardly remember them all. She even runs away from the Regans, the one family who offers her a home.
When Hollis is sent to Josie, an elderly artist who is quirky and affectionate, she wants to stay. But Josie is growing more forgetful every day. If Social Services finds out, they’ll take Hollis away and move Josie into a home. Well, Hollis Woods won’t let anyone separate them. She’s escaped the system before; this time, she plans to take Josie with her.
Yet behind all her plans, Hollis longs for her life with the Regans, fixing each moment of her time with them in pictures she’ll never forget.
Newbery Honor book
Old Yeller
by Fred GipsonAt first, Travis couldn't stand the sight of Old Yeller
The stray dog was ugly, and a thieving rascal, too. But he sure was clever, and a smart dog could be a big help on the wild Texas frontier, especially with Papa away on a long cattle drive up to Abilene.
Strong and courageous, Old Yeller proved that he could protect Travis's family from any sort of danger. But can Travis do the same for Old Yeller?
Newbery Medal Honors book
Winner of Pacific Northwest Library Association’s Young Reader’s Choice Award
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library
by Chris GrabensteinKyle Keeley is the class clown, popular with most kids, (if not the teachers), and an ardent fan of all games: board games, word games, and particularly video games. His hero, Luigi Lemoncello, the most notorious and creative gamemaker in the world, just so happens to be the genius behind the building of the new town library.
Lucky Kyle wins a coveted spot to be one of the first 12 kids in the library for an overnight of fun, food, and lots and lots of games. But when morning comes, the doors remain locked. Kyle and the other winners must solve every clue and every secret puzzle to find the hidden escape route. And the stakes are very high. In this cross between Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and A Night in the Museum, Agatha Award winner Chris Grabenstein uses rib-tickling humor to create the perfect tale for his quirky characters. Old fans and new readers will become enthralled with the crafty twists and turns of this ultimate library experience.
Marley and Me
by John GroganJohn and Jenny were just beginning their life together. They were young and in love, with a perfect little house and not a care in the world. Then they brought home Marley, a wriggly yellow furball of a puppy. Life would never be the same. Marley quickly grew into a barreling, ninety-seven-pound streamroller of a Labrador retriever. He crashed through screen doors, gouged through drywall, and stole women's undergarments. Obedience school did no good -- Marley was expelled. And yet his heart was pure. Just as Marley joyfully refused any limits on his behavior, his love and loyalty were boundless, too. A dog like no other, Marley remained steadfast, a model of devotion, even when his family was at its wit's end. Unconditional love, they would learn, comes in many forms.
The Big Sky
by A. B. GuthrieA classic portrait of America's vast frontier that inspired the Western genre in fiction.
Originally published more than fifty years ago, The Big Sky is the first of A. B. Guthrie Jr. 's epic adventure novels set in the American West. Here he introduces Boone Caudill, Jim Deakins, and Dick Summers: traveling the Missouri River from St. Louis to the Rockies, these frontiersmen live as trappers, traders, guides, and explorers. The story centers on Caudill, a young Kentuckian driven by a raging hunger for life and a longing for the blue sky and brown earth of big, wild places. Caught up in the freedom and savagery of the wilderness, Caudill becomes an untamed mountain man, whom only the beautiful daughter of a Blackfoot chief dares to love.
Time for Andrew
by Mary Downing HahnWhen he goes to spend the summer with his great-aunt in the family's old house, 11-year-old Drew is drawn eighty years into the past to trade places with his great-great uncle who is dying of diphtheria.
Ida B
by Katherine HanniganIda B. Applewood believes there is never enough time for fun.
That's why she's so happy to be homeschooled and to spend every free second outside with the trees and the brook.
Then some not-so-great things happen in her world. Ida B has to go back to that Place of Slow but Sure Body-Cramping, Mind-Numbing, Fun-Killing Torture-school. She feels her heart getting smaller and smaller and hardening into a sharp, black stone.
How can things go from righter than right to a million miles beyond wrong? Can Ida B put together a plan to get things back to just-about perfect again?
I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly
by Joyce HansenIn this latest addition to the Dear America series, Coretta Scott King Honor-winning author Joyce Hansen presents the inspiring story of Patsy, a freed girl who becomes a great teacher.
The Heavenly Man
by Brother Yun and Paul HattawayThe simple fact that the Chinese church has grown into a force tens of millions strong today is a sign not only of God's existence but also of his matchless power
The Old Man and the Sea
by Ernest HemingwayThe last novel Ernest Hemingway saw published, The Old Man and the Sea has proved itself to be one of the enduring works of American fiction. It is the story of an old Cuban fisherman and his supreme ordeal: a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. Using the simple, powerful language of a fable, Hemingway takes the timeless themes of courage in the face of defeat and personal triumph won from loss and transforms them into a magnificent twentieth-century classic.
Pulitzer Prize Winner
Olive's Ocean
by Kevin Henkes"Olive Barstow was dead. She'd been hit by a car on Monroe Street while riding her bicycle weeks ago. That was about all Martha knew."
Martha Boyle and Olive Barstow could have been friends. But they weren't -- and now all that is left are eerie connections between two girls who were in the same grade at school and who both kept the same secret without knowing it.
Now Martha can't stop thinking about Olive. A family summer on Cape Cod should help banish those thoughts; instead, they seep in everywhere.
And this year Martha's routine at her beloved grandmother's beachside house is complicated by the Manning boys. Jimmy, Tate, Todd, Luke, and Leo. But especially Jimmy. What if, what if, what if, what if? The world can change in a minute.
A Newbery Honor Book.
Seabiscuit
by Laura HillenbrandLaura Hillenbrand, author of the runaway phenomenon Unbroken, brilliantly re-creates a universal underdog story in this #1 New York Times bestseller.BONUS: This edition contains a Seabiscuit discussion guide and an excerpt from Unbroken.Seabiscuit was one of the most electrifying and popular attractions in sports history and the single biggest newsmaker in the world in 1938, receiving more coverage than FDR, Hitler, or Mussolini. But his success was a surprise to the racing establishment, which had written off the crooked-legged racehorse with the sad tail. Three men changed Seabiscuit’s fortunes: Charles Howard was a onetime bicycle repairman who introduced the automobile to the western United States and became an overnight millionaire. When he needed a trainer for his new racehorses, he hired Tom Smith, a mysterious mustang breaker from the Colorado plains. Smith urged Howard to buy Seabiscuit for a bargain-basement price, then hired as his jockey Red Pollard, a failed boxer who was blind in one eye, half-crippled, and prone to quoting passages from Ralph Waldo Emerson. Over four years, these unlikely partners survived a phenomenal run of bad fortune, conspiracy, and severe injury to transform Seabiscuit from a neurotic, pathologically indolent also-ran into an American sports icon.
Sheep
by Valerie HobbsThe sheep closed in around him like a big, woolly blanket. The puppy had never been so scared or so excited in his life. Soon he was racing, feinting, dodging - learning what it means to be one of the proud breed of Border collies, the finest sheepherders in the world. Then, almost overnight, his life is turned upside down. He finds himself in a series of strange places, with no sheep, his family gone. With nothing but the courage he was born with and a dream, he searches for the life he once knew, gathering names and adventures as he goes. For a short time, he's called Blackie. To the Goat Man, he's Shep. To Hollerin, he's Spot. There's one name that threatens to forever haunt him - Sparky, the name Billy the circus man calls him when he reaches for the whip. But there's another name that he is given, one that finally makes him feel at home . . . Known for her rich character development, the author brings all her skills to delving into the mind of a clever, philosophical, and hopeful dog searching for a home.
Two From Galilee
by Marjorie HolmesHere from Marjorie Holines, one of the most beloved authors of our day, is the extraordinary bestselling novel that tells the story of Mary and Joseph as it has never been told before--the greatest love story of all.This is the story of two real people whose lives were touched by God: two people chosen by God to provide an earthly home for His Son. Here are Mary and Joseph-a teenage girl and a young carpenter-alone, frightened, in love, faced with family conflict, a hostile world and an awesome responsibility. It is a story for young and old alike; for everyone who finds the Christmas tale a source of timeless beauty and wonder, a compassionate, emotional novel of divine love
Our Only May Amelia
by Jennifer L. HolmIt isn't easy being a pioneer in the state of Washington in 1899, but it's particularly hard when you are the only girl ever born in the new settlement.
With seven older brothers and a love of adventure, May Amelia Jackson just can't seem to abide her family's insistence that she behave like a Proper Young Lady.
She's sure she could do better if only there were at least one other girl living along the banks of the Nasel River.
And now that Mama's going to have a baby, maybe there's hope.
Inspired by the diaries of her great-aunt, the real May Amelia, first-time novelist Jennifer Holm has given us a beautifully crafted tale of one young girl whose unique spirit captures the courage, humour, passion and depth of the American pioneer experience.
Newbery Honour Book
Stormbreaker
by Anthony HorowitzTen years ago, Anthony Horowitz introduced the world to Alex Rider . . . and now his debut mission is back in a special fully loaded anniversary edition! Packed with bonus material - including a brand new Alex Rider short story, a letter from Anthony Horowitz, and much more!
Everything On A Waffle
by Polly HorvathPrimrose Squarp simply knows her parents did not perish at sea during a terrible storm, but try convincing the other residents of Coal Harbour on that score. For all practical purposes, at least for the time being, Primrose is an orphan, and there's no great clamoring of prospective adopters. After realizing the impracticality of continuing to pay Miss Perfidy (a mothball-scented elderly lady) an hourly wage to baby-sit her, the town council is able to locate a relative, Uncle Jack, who reluctantly takes Primrose into his care. Primrose does warm up to living with him and in his home, despite the eerie noises resembling a hockey game that haunt her in the night. But true sanctuary can always be found at a restaurant called The Girl in the Swing, where everything--including lasagna--is served on a waffle, and where the proprietor, Miss Bowzer, offers a willing ear, as well as sage advice. Through a mixture of eccentric humor and probing philosophy, author Polly Horvath makes Primrose's search for peace and understanding a most memorable one.
Everything on a Waffle is a 2001 Boston Globe - Horn Book Award Honor Book for Fiction and Poetry and a 2002 Newbery Honor Book.
Farewell to Manzanar
by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. HoustonA moving and intensely human true story of a Japanese American family during the internment of World War II and its aftermath
The Lottery Rose
by Irene HuntGeorgie Burgess lay in the clean white bed, relaxed and contented, glad to be alone and able to have a waking dream of what it would be like when he could be close to his rosebush again. After pain and a fear that had stayed with him con stantly until it wore him out and made his body sick, after all the terrible days, his rosebush was safe and because of that, it was safe for him to rest. Sister Mary Angela did not lie. He should have known she was not like his mother. She did not lie and he felt safe in believing that his rose was now where it belonged in the beautiful garden that was like a page in his flower book. Before Georgie Burgess came to live in the home for boys, his world had been a world of terror, anxiety, shame, and mistrust. The ugly scars and bruises that cov ered his body had not been inflicted by "some big kids" as he claimed, but at home, where he was regularly beaten and battered. The psychic wounds of that abuse were more devastating than the welts and broken bones. A powerful, timely novel about a young boy, who victimized by child abuse, makes his way back to a point where he can accept and give love, replacing suspicion with trust and friendship.
Redwall
by Brian JacquesIt's a classic good versus evil tale, as rats and mice prepare to battle over ownership of Redwall Abbey.
Booklist Best Books of 1980's
School Library Journal Best Books of 1987
ALA "75 Best Books of the Last 25 Years"
Invisible Inkling
by Emily JenkinsFrom award-winning author Emily Jenkins and New York Times bestselling illustrator Harry Bliss comes the first book in a sweet, quirky chapter book series about a boy and his invisible friend, Inkling. Perfect for fans of Clementine and Ivy and Bean. This series is a great choice for emerging readers who are ready for chapter books.The thing about Hank's new friend Inkling is, he's invisible.No, not imaginary. Inkling is an invisible bandapat, a creature native to the Peruvian Woods of Mystery. (Or maybe it is the Ukrainian glaciers. Inkling hardly ever gets his stories straight.)Now Inkling has found his way into Hank's apartment on his quest for squash, a bandapat favorite. But Hank has bigger problems than helping Inkling fend off maniac doggies and searching for pumpkins: Bruno Gillicut is a lunch-stealing, dirtbug caveperson and he's got to be stopped. And who better to help stand up to a bully than an invisible friend?
Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer
by Kelly Jones and Katie KathFans of Polly Horvath or Roald Dahl will love this quirky story of a determined girl, and some extraordinary chickens.
Twelve-year-old Sophie Brown feels like a fish out of water when she and her parents move from Los Angeles to the farm they’ve inherited from a great-uncle. But farm life gets more interesting when a cranky chicken appears and Sophie discovers the hen can move objects with the power of her little chicken brain: jam jars, the latch to her henhouse, the entire henhouse....
And then more of her great-uncle’s unusual chickens come home to roost. Determined, resourceful Sophie learns to care for her flock, earning money for chicken feed, collecting eggs. But when a respected local farmer tries to steal them, Sophie must find a way to keep them (and their superpowers) safe.
Told in letters to Sophie’s abuela, quizzes, a chicken-care correspondence course, to-do lists, and more, Unusual Chickens is a quirky, clucky classic in the making.
Nominee for the 2018 Young Reader's Choice Award (Pacific Northwest Library Association)
Worst of Friends
by Suzanne Tripp JurmainTHOMAS JEFFERSON WAS TALL AND QUIET WHILE JOHN ADAMS WAS SHORT AND TALKATIVE. It didn't matter. Together they helped shape America. But as the years went on, Tom and John couldn't agree as to how the new United States should be run. Soon they became political rivals, and before long Tom did not talk to John and John did not talk to Tom. Suzanne Tripp Jurmain and Larry Day tell the true and humorous story of a great American feud and how these two larger-than-life men, once again, found friendship.