Special Collections
Accelerated Reader Middle Grade Collection
- Table View
- List View
Marvin Redpost
by Louis SacharIf you kiss yourself on the elbow, you'll turn into a girl.
When Marvin's lips touch his elbow, he suddenly finds himself acting very strange. Wishing he had pigtails like his sister, Linzy. Asking to play hopscotch at recess. Even dotting his i's with little hearts in class! Sure, he may have figured out the secret difference between girls and boys...but will Marvin Redpost ever return to normal?
Marvin Redpost
by Louis SacharBotched bike races and broken noses...Suicide Hill is the stuff of legends. Many have tried to master the slippery slopes on their bikes, but few have succeeded. The word at school is that Marvin will be taking on the hill with his new mountain bike.
But the truth is, he can barely climb onto the seat! And shifting gears-forget about it. How did he suddenly become a daredevil? Does he have to ride down Suicide Hill to prove himself? If Marvin makes it, he'll be a hero. If not, his friends and family will catch the biggest wipeout in history!
As Marvin counts down to the dreaded day, his classmates have a hilarious discussion about toes, and a visiting policewoman scares Nick who didn't raise his hand before he asked a question.
Sachar conveys the funny and worrisome elements of childhood. Though this book is written with easy vocabulary , is will be fun, satisfying reading for upper as well as lower elementary age students.
Marvin Redpost
by Louis SacharMarvin Redpost suddenly figures out why he has red hair and blue eyes, when everyone else in his family has brown hair and brown eyes.
He's not really Marvin Redpost at all. He is Robert, the Lost Prince of Shampoon! Soon his friends are treating him like royalty. Now all he has to do is break the news to his "parents."
Marvin Redpost
by Louis SacharDoes anybody like being the new kid at school? The new kid, Joe Normal, doesn't, and since his parents are always moving, he is forced to be the new kid again and again. Joe tries to fit in, but the kids never like him. They talk about him behind his back for kissing the flagpole, they laugh out loud at him in class when he doesn't know what an elephant is because he says there aren't many of them in Chicago where he's from.
At recess they don't want to let him in line to play ball and after school they say if he goes home with them to play, their dog will bite him. Marvin agrees that a kid who shakes hands with everyone he meets is weird, but even if it means Marvin's friends will stop playing with him, Marvin decides to take Joe home. Marvin thinks it's hard being the new kid.
Strange things continue to happen when Joe and Marvin go home. Joe is wild about Jell-O, teaches the family to play a new game where they step on paper plates instead of slimy fish, and eats his pizza with a knife and fork, but everyone, even Marvin's teen aged brother, likes Joe. Marvin and Joe become best friends and suddenly the kids at school like Joe, too.
Then why does Joe come to Marvin's house in a big limo driven by soldiers? What does all of this have to do with a giant flying birthday cake with green frosting?
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 Mark of Athena
by Rick RiordanThe Greek and Roman demigods will have to cooperate in order to defeat the giants released by the Earth Mother, Gaea. Then they will have to sail together to the ancient land--Greece itself--to find the Doors of Death.
Margaret and Margarita
by Lynn ReiserWords can be a bridge, or a barrier. In this bilingual book the adults immediately respond to the differences. Their words make a barrier. The children recognize similarities. Playing with words. They make a bridge of language and friendship for themselves and their parents. Las palabras pueden ser un puente, o una barrera. En este libro bilingüe los adultos responden inmediatamente a las diferencias. Sus palabras hacen una barrera. Los niños reconocen semejanzas. El jugar con palabras. Hacen un puente de lengua y de la amistad para sí mismos y sus padres.
Maniac Magee
by Jerry SpinelliJeffrey Lionel "Maniac" Magee might have lived a normal life if a freak accident hadn't made him an orphan. After living with his unhappy and uptight aunt and uncle for eight years, he decides to run--and not just run away, but run. This is where the myth of Maniac Magee begins, as he changes the lives of a racially divided small town with his amazing and legendary feats.
Newbery Medal Winner
Winner of Pacific Northwest Library Association’s Young Reader’s Choice Junior Award
Mallory Goes Green
by Laurie FriedmanMALLORY McDONALD IS GOING GREEN! As an official member of the Fern Falls Elementary Environmental Committee, Mallory is super excited to make her school and home more environmentally friendly. She's even selected to be class representative for the all-school Green Fair. But the minute Mallory goes green, everything goes wrong. No one wants her "expert" opinion on how to help the environment. Her classmates don't want to participate in the Green Fair project she's created. And worst of all, by the time the fair rolls around, many of them aren't even speaking to Mallory. Can Mallory find a way to save the planet and her friendships?
Mall Madness
by Carolyn Keene and Macky PamintuanBack-to-school shopping spree!
The Clue Crew is headed to the mall! They are ready to shop till they drop for new school supplies. First stop: the Pencil Box for glittery notebooks. But right away it looks like the girls have a back-to-school mystery on their hands.
Money is missing from the Pencil Box's cash register, and all fingers point to the clerk, Rodger. Rodger is Nancy's neighbor, and she doesn't believe he's a thief. But she'll need to examine the facts first. Good thing she bought a new notebook!
The Magic Finger
by Roald DahlWhat happens when the hunter becomes the hunted?To the Gregg family, hunting is just plain fun. To the girl who lives next door, it's just plain horrible. She tries to be polite. She tries to talk them out of it, but the Greggs only laugh at her. Then one day the Greggs go too far, and the little girl turns her Magic Finger on them. When she's very, very angry, the little girl's Magic Finger takes over. She really can’t control it, and now it's turned the Greggs into birds! Before they know it, the Greggs are living in a nest, and that's just the beginning of their problems….
A Magic Crystal?
by Louis Sachar and Amy WummerWhen Marvin Redpost agrees to go over to Casey Happleton's house, he doesn't know what he's in for. Casey shows him the magic crystal she has just found and offers to give Marvin a few wishes. Is the crystal really magic? Or is it too good to be true?
Love Double Dutch!
by Doreen Spicer-DannellyFrom the creator of the popular Disney Channel original movie, Jump In! comes a double Dutch novel perfect for fans of stories about sports, summer, and friendship.Brooklyn middle-schooler MaKayla can only think about one thing--taking her double Dutch team all the way to the National Jump-off at Madison Square Garden. That is, until her mother breaks the news. Kayla has to spend the summer at her aunt's house in North Carolina while her parents work out their problems . . . or decide to call it quits.Kayla does not feel at home in the South, and she certainly doesn't get along with her snooty cousin Sally. It looks like her Jump-off dreams are over.Hold the phone! Turns out, double Dutch is huge in the South. She and Sally just need to find two more kids for a team. And a routine. And the confidence to stand up to the double Dutch divas who used to be Sally's BFFs. Time to show those Southern belles some Brooklyn attitude!
The Lost Stone
by Jordan Quinn and Robert McphillipsWelcome to the Kingdom of Wrenly--a new chapter book series full of fantasy and adventure.Meet Lucas, the eight year-old prince, and Clara, the daughter of the queen's seamstress. Lucas is an only child who longs to make friends and go on adventures. Clara knows the kingdom well, so she and Lucas team up and explore the lands of Wrenly! In The Lost Stone, Lucas and Clara search for Queen Tasha's missing emerald. On their exciting adventure, they travel to all the main attractions of Wrenly: Primlox (the island of fairies), Burth (the island of trolls), Crestwood (the island of dragons), Hobsgrove (the island of wizards), and the beautiful Mermaid's Cove. King Caleb has promised to reward the person who finds the precious stone, and Lucas and Clara are determined to search the entire kingdom until they find it! With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, The Kingdom of Wrenly chapter books are perfect for beginning readers.
Lost in the Sun
by Lisa GraffFrom the author of A Tangle of Knots and Absolutely Almost, a touching story about a boy who won't let one tragic accident define him.
Everyone says that middle school is awful, but Trent knows nothing could be worse than the year he had in fifth grade, when a freak accident on Cedar Lake left one kid dead, and Trent with a brain full of terrible thoughts he can't get rid of.
Trent's pretty positive the entire disaster was his fault, so for him middle school feels like a fresh start, a chance to prove to everyone that he's not the horrible screw-up they seem to think he is.
If only Trent could make that fresh start happen.
It isn't until Trent gets caught up in the whirlwind that is Fallon Little--the girl with the mysterious scar across her face--that things begin to change.
Because fresh starts aren't always easy.
Even in baseball, when a fly ball gets lost in the sun, you have to remember to shift your position to find it.
The Loser List
by H. N. KowittDiary of a Wimpy Kid watch out -- Danny Shine and the other kids of Thorn Underwood Middle School aren't bestsellers yet, but they're on their way!When Danny gets caught trying to cross his name off the "Geek" list in the girls' bathroom, he's sent to detention. Bullies torment him mercilessly -- until they discover that Danny can draw. He enjoys his new "bad boy" status, supplying tattoos and graffiti, until he's unknowingly drawn into a theft. Turns out the bullies took a comic book from Danny's favorite store. Can he steal it back before they get caught -- and break off with the bullies before he gets in too deep?
Loot
by Jude Watson"LOOT hits the jackpot." -- Rick Riordan, #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling authorOn a foggy night in Amsterdam, a man falls from a rooftop to the wet pavement below. It's Archibald McQuinn, the notorious cat burglar, and he's dying. As sirens wail in the distance, Archie manages to get out two last words to his young son, March: "Find jewels."But March learns that his father is not talking about hidden loot. He's talking about Jules, the twin sister March never knew he had. No sooner than the two find each other, they're picked up by the police and sent to the world's worst orphanage. It's not hard time, but it feels like it.March and Jules have no intention of staying put. They know their father's business inside and out, and they're tired of being pushed around. Just one good heist, and they'll live the life of riches and freedom that most kids only dream about. . . . .Hold on to your pearls, because this summer, the world's youngest criminal masterminds are coming for you.
The Long Way to a New Land
by Joan Sandin"We will go to America!" It is 1868, and Carl Erik's family faces starvation in Sweden. As their hopes fade, they must endure a journey over land and sea to reach a better life in a new country thousands of miles away.
A Long Way Gone
by Ishmael BeahMy new friends have begun to suspect I haven't told them the full story of my life.
"Why did you leave Sierra Leone?"
"Because there is a war."
"You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?"
"Yes, all the time."
"Cool."
I smile a little.
"You should tell us about it sometime."
"Yes, sometime." ...
This absorbing account by a young man who, as a boy of 12, gets swept up in Sierra Leone's civil war goes beyond even the best journalistic efforts in revealing the life and mind of a child abducted into the horrors of warfare. Beah's harrowing journey transforms him overnight from a child enthralled by American hip-hop music and dance to an internal refugee bereft of family, wandering from village to village in a country grown deeply divided by the indiscriminate atrocities of unruly, sociopathic rebel and army forces.
Beah then finds himself in the army-in a drug-filled life of casual mass slaughter that lasts until he is 15, when he's brought to a rehabilitation center sponsored by UNICEF and partnering NGOs. The process marks out Beah as a gifted spokesman for the center's work after his "repatriation" to civilian life in the capital, where he lives with his family and a distant uncle. When the war finally engulfs the capital, it sends 17-year-old Beah fleeing again, this time to the U.S., where he now lives. (Beah graduated from Oberlin College in 2004.)
Told in clear, accessible language by a young writer with a gifted literary voice, this memoir seems destined to become a classic firsthand account of war and the ongoing plight of child soldiers in conflicts worldwide.
A Long Way From Chicago
by Richard PeckA summer they'll never forget.
Each summer Joey and his sister, Mary Alice—two city slickers from Chicago—visit Grandma Dowdel's seemingly sleepy Illinois town. Soon enough, they find that it's far from sleepy...and Grandma is far from your typical grandmother. From seeing their first corpse (and he isn't resting easy) to helping Grandma trespass, catch the sheriff in his underwear, and feed the hungry—all in one day—Joey and Mary Alice have nine summers they'll never forget!
A Newbery Honor Book
A National Book Award Finalist
An ALA Notable Book
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
A Long Walk to Water
by Linda Sue ParkA Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about a girl in Sudan in 2008 and a boy in Sudan in 1985.
The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours' walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the "lost boys" of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya's in an astonishing and moving way.
Based on the life of Salva Dut, who, after emigrating to America in 1996, began a project to dig water wells in Sudan.
Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Winner
Longbow Girl
by Linda DaviesThe stunningly written start to an exciting new trilogy about a smart, strong, bold girl who travels back in time to protect her family's past and ensure its future using her archery skills.Set in the wilds of the Welsh mountains, the brave and beautiful longbow girl, Merry Owen, discovers a river that takes her back in time to the autocratic kingdom of King Henry VIII. While there she finds she must compete in an archery tournament to save her ancestors' land from being seized by their aristocratic neighbors the de Courcys. Merry's best friend James de Courcy (and heir to the de Courcy wealth) follows her back in time and the two get tangled up in their families' ancient histories. There are forces working against them both in the past and the present. Will they be able to survive their pasts to save their futures?
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy
by Gary D. SchmidtIt only takes a few hours for Turner Buckminster to start hating Phippsburg, Maine. No one in town will let him forget that he's a minister's son, even if he doesn't act like one.
But then he meets Lizzie Bright Griffin, a smart and sassy girl from a poor nearby island community founded by former slaves. Despite his father's-and the town's-disapproval of their friendship, Turner spends time with Lizzie, and it opens up a whole new world to him, filled with the mystery and wonder of Maine's rocky coast. The two soon discover that the town elders, along with Turner's father, want to force the people to leave Lizzie's island so that Phippsburg can start a lucrative tourist trade there. Turner gets caught up in a spiral of disasters that alter his life-but also lead him to new levels of acceptance and maturity.
This sensitively written historical novel, based on the true story of a community's destruction, highlights a unique friendship during a time of change.
Newbery Honor book
The Littles Have a Wedding
by John PetersonMeet the Littles, a family like any other but with a few tiny differences! They live in the walls of the Bigg family house where they get everything they need. In return they make sure the Bigg house is always in good repair. When Dinky comes home from his latest adventure, he's not alone. Della came back with him and they're going to be married! But a tiny person wedding takes a huge amount of preparation. The Littles need to get everything ready and travel to a neighboring house by the next day. Will they be ready in time?