Special Collections
Read Your Way Across the U. S. of A.
Description: Buckle up and hit the road with this collection of middle grade novels. Visit your home state or explore one you've never been to with these novels set all over America. Ages 8 to 13. #kids
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Framed!
by James PontiGet to know the only kid on the FBI Director's speed dial and several international criminals' most wanted lists all because of his Theory of All Small Things in this hilarious start to a brand-new middle grade mystery series.
So you're only halfway through your homework and the Director of the FBI keeps texting you for help...What do you do? Save your grade? Or save the country? If you're Florian Bates, you figure out a way to do both. Florian is twelve years old and has just moved to Washington.
He's learning his way around using TOAST, which stands for the Theory of All Small Things. It's a technique he invented to solve life's little mysteries such as: where to sit on the on the first day of school, or which Chinese restaurant has the best eggrolls.
But when he teaches it to his new friend Margaret, they uncover a mystery that isn't little. In fact, it's HUGE, and it involves the National Gallery, the FBI, and a notorious crime syndicate known as EEL. Can Florian decipher the clues and finish his homework in time to help the FBI solve the case?
Full Cicada Moon
by Marilyn HiltonInside Out and Back Again meets One Crazy Summer and Brown Girl Dreaming in this novel-in-verse about fitting in and standing up for what’s right
It's 1969, and the Apollo 11 mission is getting ready to go to the moon. But for half-black, half-Japanese Mimi, moving to a predominantly white Vermont town is enough to make her feel alien. Suddenly, Mimi's appearance is all anyone notices.
She struggles to fit in with her classmates, even as she fights for her right to stand out by entering science competitions and joining Shop Class instead of Home Ec.
And even though teachers and neighbors balk at her mixed-race family and her refusals to conform, Mimi’s dreams of becoming an astronaut never fade—no matter how many times she’s told no.
This historical middle-grade novel is told in poems from Mimi's perspective over the course of one year in her new town, and shows readers that positive change can start with just one person speaking up.
Jane Addams Children’s Book Honors Winner
Ghost Horses
by Gloria Skurzynski and Alane FergusonLife-threatening accidents keep plaguing the Landon family as they investigate the mysterious deaths of white mustangs at Zion National Park in Utah.
Even before they get to the park, Jack Landon knows that Ethan Ingawanup spells trouble.
Things start to go awry after Ethan and his sister-two Shoshone kids-are placed in the Landons' care.
The questions begin to mount after Ethan teaches Jack and Ashley the ancient Ghost Dance: Are all the hair-raising events just coincidental? Or is there some strange magic in the dance ritual?
The answers await in the raging waters of a slick-rock canyon called The Narrows.
The afterword by Lyman Hafen of the Zion Natural History Association discusses white mustangs and public lands in Utah.
Ghosts in the Fog
by Samantha SeipleFew know the story of the Japanese invasion of Alaska during World War II--until now.GHOSTS IN THE FOG is the first narrative nonfiction book for young adults to tell the riveting story of how the Japanese invaded and occupied the Aleutian Islands in Alaska during World War II. This fascinating little-known piece of American history is told from the point of view of the American civilians who were captured and taken prisoner, along with the American and Japanese soldiers who fought in one of the bloodiest battles of hand-to-hand combat during the war. Complete with more than 80 photographs throughout and first person accounts of this extraordinary event, GHOSTS IN THE FOG is sure to become a must-read for anyone interested in World War II and a perfect tie-in for the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
The Girl from Felony Bay
by J. E. ThompsonI'm not going to lie to you: the last year has been rougher than alligator hide for me and my dad. You see, he's in the hospital in a coma since his accident a year back, wherein he was framed for a terrible crime he didn't commit.
Our home, Reward Plantation, had to be sold to pay off his debt to society, so I'm stuck living with my uncle Charlie, who, even in the few hours a day when hes sober, ain't exactly your ideal parental role model. And I managed to run afoul of Jimmy Simmons, the meanest kid in the sixth grade, and on the last day of school no less.
But things just got a bit more interesting. Turns out the new family that moved into Reward Plantation has a daughter named Bee, who is the same age as I am. And shes just as curious about all the No Trespassing signs and holes being dug out by Felony Bay, in the corner of what used to be my home.
Seems like someones been poking around a mystery that dates all the way back to the Civil War--and it just might be the same someone who framed my dad. I'm Abbey, by the way. Abbey Force. And if it takes all summer, I'm going to find out whats happening out on Felony Bay, and maybe even clear my dads name.
Go Big or Go Home
by Will HobbsA meteorite is hurtling toward the Black Hills of South Dakota. . . .
Brady Steele's love for all things extreme is given a boost when a fireball crashes through the roof of his house. It turns out that Brady's space rock is one of the rarest meteorites ever found.
In fact, a professor from a nearby museum wants to study it in search of extraterrestrial bacteria, hoping to discover the first proof of life beyond Earth.
During a wild week of extreme bicycling, fishing, and caving, Brady discovers he's able to do strange and wonderful feats that shouldn't be possible.
At the same time, he's developing some frightening symptoms.
Could he be infected with long-dormant microbes from space? Is his meteorite a prize . . . or a menace?
Good Job, Kanani
by Sarah Davis and Lisa YeeKanani is excited about selling shave ice to raise money for a cause she cares about. But she also cares about her best friend, Celina-and she promised they would take surfing lessons together.
When Kanani can't make time for Celina, their friendship begins to unravel, and she finds herself spending summer days alone. Will Kanani find a way to make things right?
Greetings From Nowhere
by Barbara O’connorAggie isn't expecting visitors at the Sleepy Time Motel in the Great Smoky Mountains. Since her husband died, she is all alone with her cat, Ugly, and keeping up with the bills has become impossible.
When she places a For Sale ad in the newspaper, Aggie doesn't know that Kirby and his mom will need a room when their car breaks down on the way to Kirby's new reform school.
Or that Loretta and her parents will arrive in her dad's plumbing company van on a trip meant to honor the memory of Loretta's birth mother.
Or that Clyde Dover will answer the For Sale ad and move in with his daughter, Willow, looking for a brand-new life after Willow's mom left.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of all is that Aggie and her guests find just the friends they need at the shabby motel in the middle of nowhere.
From an author long recognized for her true Southern voice and heartfelt characters, Greetings from Nowhere, with its four intertwining stories, brings Barbara O'Connor's work to a new level of sophistication.
This title has Common Core connections.
Half a Chance
by Cynthia LordA moving new middle-grade novel from the Newbery Honor author of RULES.When Lucy's family moves to an old house on a lake, Lucy tries to see her new home through her camera's lens, as her father has taught her -- he's a famous photographer, away on a shoot. Will her photos ever meet his high standards? When she discovers that he's judging a photo contest, Lucy decides to enter anonymously. She wants to find out if her eye for photography is really special -- or only good enough.As she seeks out subjects for her photos, Lucy gets to know Nate, the boy next door. But slowly the camera reveals what Nate doesn't want to see: his grandmother's memory is slipping away, and with it much of what he cherishes about his summers on the lake. This summer, Nate will learn about the power of art to show truth. And Lucy will learn how beauty can change lives . . . including her own.
Hattie Big Sky
by Kirby LarsonAlone in the world, teen-aged Hattie is driven to prove up on her uncle's homesteading claim.
For years, sixteen-year-old Hattie's been shuttled between relatives. Tired of being Hattie Here-and-There, she courageously leaves Iowa to prove up on her late uncle's homestead claim near Vida, Montana. With a stubborn stick-to-itiveness, Hattie faces frost, drought and blizzards. Despite many hardships, Hattie forges ahead, sharing her adventures with her friends--especially Charlie, fighting in France--through letters and articles for her hometown paper.
Her backbreaking quest for a home is lightened by her neighbors, the Muellers. But she feels threatened by pressure to be a "Loyal" American, forbidding friendships with folks of German descent. Despite everything, Hattie's determined to stay until a tragedy causes her to discover the true meaning of home.
Newbery Honor book
Hold Fast
by Blue BalliettFrom NYT bestselling author Blue Balliett, the story of a girl who falls into Chicago's shelter system, and from there must solve the mystery of her father's strange disappearance.Where is Early's father? He's not the kind of father who would disappear. But he's gone . . . and he's left a whole lot of trouble behind.As danger closes in, Early, her mom, and her brother have to flee their apartment. With nowhere else to go, they are forced to move into a city shelter. Once there, Early starts asking questions and looking for answers. Because her father hasn't disappeared without a trace. There are patterns and rhythms to what's happened, and Early might be the only one who can use them to track him down and make her way out of a very tough place.With her signature, singular love of language and sense of mystery, Blue Balliett weaves a story that takes readers from the cold, snowy Chicago streets to the darkest corner of the public library, on an unforgettable hunt for deep truths and a reunited family.
Holes
by Louis SacharStanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnats.
Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys' detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the warden makes the boys "build character" by spending all day, every day, digging holes: five feet wide and five feet deep. It doesn't take long for Stanley to realize there's more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something. Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment--and redemption
Newbery Medal Winner
National Book Award
Honey
by Sarah WeeksFor a girl like Melody and a dog like Mo, life can be both sticky and sweet.Melody has lived in Royal, Indiana, for as long as she can remember. It's been just her and her father, and she's been okay with that. But then she overhears him calling someone Honey -- and suddenly it feels like everyone in Royal has a secret. It's up to Melody and her best friend, Nick, to piece together the clues and discover why Honey is being hidden. Meanwhile, a dog named Mo is new to Royal. He doesn't remember much from when he was a puppy . . . but he keeps having dreams of a girl he is bound to meet someday. This girl, he's sure, will change everything. In HONEY, Sarah Weeks introduces two characters -- one a girl, one a dog-- who are reaching back further than their memories in order to figure out where they came from and where they're going. It's a total treat from beginning to end.
Hour of the Bees
by Lindsay EagarWhat does it mean to be fully alive? Magic blends with reality in a stunning coming-of-age novel about a girl, a grandfather, wanderlust, and reclaiming your roots.
Things are only impossible if you stop to think about them. . . .
While her friends are spending their summers having pool parties and sleepovers, twelve-year-old Carolina -- Carol -- is spending hers in the middle of the New Mexico desert, helping her parents move the grandfather she's never met into a home for people with dementia.
At first, Carol avoids prickly Grandpa Serge. But as the summer wears on and the heat bears down, Carol finds herself drawn to him, fascinated by the crazy stories he tells her about a healing tree, a green-glass lake, and the bees that will bring back the rain and end a hundred years of drought.
As the thin line between magic and reality starts to blur, Carol must decide for herself what is possible -- and what it means to be true to her roots.
Readers who dream that there's something more out there will be enchanted by this captivating novel of family, renewal, and discovering the wonder of the world.
How Angel Peterson Got His Name
by Gary PaulsenGary Paulsen's slapstick tales capture the "wonderful madness" of growing up in a small town in northern Minnesota, when high spirits, showing off for girls, and general idiocy led Gary and his pals to attempt some amazing stunts, including:
* Shooting a waterfall in a barrel
* Breaking the world speed record on skis
* Hang gliding with an army surplus target kite
* Inventing the skateboard
* Jumping a bike through a hoop of fire
* Wrestling with a bear.
Wacky, daring, just plain nuts -- extreme sports lead to extreme fun in these stories from Gary's boyhood.
Inside Out and Back Again
by Thanhha LaiNo one would believe me but at times I would choose wartime in Saigon over peacetime in Alabama.
For all the ten years of her life, HÀ has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by...and the beauty of her very own papaya tree.
But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. HÀ and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, HÀ discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape...and the strength of her very own family.
This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next.
Newbery Honor Book
Winner of the National Book Award
I Survived the Joplin Tornado, 2011
by Lauren TarshisA destructive force is about to hit the city of Joplin...Eleven-year-old Dexter has always wanted to see a tornado. So when he gets the incredible opportunity to go storm chasing with the famous Dr. Norman Rays, he has to say yes! Dr. Rays is the host of Tornado Mysteries, the show that Dex and his older brother, Jeremy, watched every night until Jeremy joined the U.S. Navy SEALs and left Joplin. Dex certainly knows how deadly tornadoes can be, but this one isn't heading toward Joplin, and wouldn't it be great to have a brave and exciting story of his own to tell Jeremy when he comes home? But when the tornado shifts direction, Dexter's bravery is about to get seriously tested...
It Ain't So Awful, Falafel
by Firoozeh DumasZomorod (Cindy) Yousefzadeh is the new kid on the block . . . for the fourth time. California's Newport Beach is her family's latest perch, and she's determined to shuck her brainy loner persona and start afresh with a new Brady Bunch name--Cindy.
It's the late 1970s, and fitting in becomes more difficult as Iran makes U.S. headlines with protests, revolution, and finally the taking of American hostages. Even mood rings and puka shell necklaces can't distract Cindy from the anti-Iran sentiments that creep way too close to home.
A poignant yet lighthearted middle grade debut from the author of the best-selling Funny in Farsi.
Jasper Dash and the Flame-Pits of Delaware
by M. T. Anderson and Kurt CyrusIt is a land of wonders. It is a land of mystery. It is a land that time forgot (or chose specifically not to remember).
Cut off from the civilized world for untold years by prohibitive interstate tolls at the New Jersey border, this land is called: Delaware.
It is into the mist-shrouded heart of this forbidden mountainous realm that our plucky and intrepid heroes, Jasper Dash: Boy Technonaut, and his friends Lily Gefelty and Katie Mulligan, must journey to unravel a terrible mystery in this third weird and wacky installment of M. T. Anderson's Thrilling Tales.
The King of Slippery Falls
by Sid HiteWhile on a single-minded quest to catch an elusive giant trout, sixteen-year-old Lewis Hinton's life in a small Idaho town is turned upside down when he learns that he is adopted and might be a descendant of French royalty.
King of the Mound
by Wes TookeBaseball legend Satchel Paige changes a boy's life in this coming-of-age tale from the author of Lucky.
Nick was going to be a star baseball player, no doubt about it. People for miles around talked about the twelve-year-old boy with the golden arm.
And then Nick is diagnosed with polio--a life-threatening disease in the 1930s. Everyone is devastated, especially Nick's father, who copes by closing off from his son.
When Nick finally leaves the hospital he wants nothing more than to get back in the game, but he seems to be the only one who thinks it's possible.
But after he begins working for Mr. Churchill, the owner of a minor league team, Nick meets Satchel Paige, arguably the best player in baseball.
Satchel faces obstacles of his own--his skin color prevents him from joining the major leagues--and he encourages Nick to overcome the odds and step out of the dugout.
Kira-Kira
by Cynthia Kadohatakira-kira (kee' ra kee' ra): glittering; shining Glittering. That's how Katie Takeshima's sister, Lynn, makes everything seem. The sky is kira-kira because its color is deep but see-through at the same time. The sea is kira-kira for the same reason. And so are people's eyes. When Katie and her family move from a Japanese community in Iowa to the Deep South of Georgia, it's Lynn who explains to her why people stop them on the street to stare. And it's Lynn who, with her special way of viewing the world, teaches Katie to look beyond tomorrow. But when Lynn becomes desperately ill, and the whole family begins to fall apart, it is up to Katie to find a way to remind them all that there is always something glittering -- kira-kira -- in the future. Luminous in its persistence of love and hope, Kira-Kira is Cynthia Kadohata's stunning debut in middle-grade fiction.
Last in a Long Line of Rebels
by Lisa Lewis TyreDebut novelist Lisa Lewis Tyre vibrantly brings a small town and its outspoken characters to life, as she explores race and other community issues from both the Civil War and the present day.
Lou might be only twelve, but she's never been one to take things sitting down.
So when her Civil War-era house is about to be condemned, she's determined to save it--either by getting it deemed a historic landmark or by finding the stash of gold rumored to be hidden nearby during the war.
As Lou digs into the past, her eyes are opened when she finds that her ancestors ran the gamut of slave owners, renegades, thieves and abolitionists.
Meanwhile, some incidents in her town show her that many Civil War era prejudices still survive and that the past can keep repeating itself if we let it.
Digging into her past shows Lou that it's never too late to fight injustice, and she starts to see the real value of understanding and exploring her roots.
The Leanin' Dog
by K. A. NuzumMore than anything, Dessa Dean needed a friend. A friend to love and confide in, a friend with whom she could share her heart.
A friend who would delight in all the beauty and joy and fun of Christmas, only four days away. Hope had just about run out, but then... there came a scratchin' at the door and Dessa Dean's life was forever changed.
A Light in the Storm
by Karen HesseNewbery Medal winner Karen Hesse's Civil War diary, A LIGHT IN THE STORM, is now back in print with a beautiful new cover!In 1861, Amelia Martin's father is stripped of his post as a ship's captain when he is caught harboring the leader of a slave rebellion. Now he is an assistant lighthouse keeper on Fenwick Island, off the coast of Delaware -- a state wedged between the North and the South, just as Amelia is wedged between her warring parents. Amelia's mother blames her abolitionist husband for their living conditions, which she claims are taking a toll on her health. Amelia observes her mother's hate and her father's admiration for Abraham Lincoln. But slavery is the deeper issue separating the two sides. As the Civil War rages on, Amelia slowly learns that she cannot stop the fighting, but by keeping watch in the lighthouse each day, lighting the lamps, cleaning the glass, and rescuing victims of Atlantic storms, she can still make a difference.