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Accelerated Reader Middle Grade Collection
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Loot
by Jude WatsonHijinks, heists, high-octane action in Jude Watson's new middle grade blockbuster! On 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. Praise for Loot: "LOOT is one of those books that you'll want to devour in one sitting. Full of twists and turns and thrills aplenty, with the perfect mixture of humor throughout, this is a must-read. I really loved it." -- James Dashner, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of THE MAZE RUNNER "LOOT is pure delight -- a super-smart, funny, and exciting ride that I hoped would last forever. Full of wonderful characters and gratifying twists, this story is truly something special." -- Rebecca Stead, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author and Newbery Medalist for WHEN YOU REACH ME * "Akin to the best of roller-coaster rides. . . . Taut, engrossing, and unstoppable." -- KIRKUS REVIEWS, starred review "A nonstop thrill ride of cons, schemes, and near misses, with more twists than a pretzel factory. If middle grade heist counts as a genre, Jude Watson is the master." -- Gordon Korman, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of SWINDLE "LOOT is proof that Jude Watson can do it all: an edge-of-your seat mystery that manages to be thrilling, funny, nail-biting, and full of real characters readers will care about. I loved it." -- Peter Lerangis, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Seven Wonders series "LOOT is one of my favorite reads in a very long time! I could not put this book down!" -- Jennifer A. Nielsen, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of THE FALSE PRINCE * "Jewel theft has never been as fun as in 39 Clues contributor Watson's action-packed novel featuring Mission: Impossible - style escapades. . . . The high level of suspense, ultra-short chapters, and fast pace will hook readers of all stripes." -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, starred review "Sassy narration, smart quips, pigeon drops, and slang worthy of an episode of DRAGNET make this fast-paced tale of topsy-turvy antics a joy from beginning to end. Don't try these high jinks at home..." -- BOOKLIST "A richly entertaining romp." -- BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S BOOKS
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?
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 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.
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!
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?
The Magic Finger
by Roald Dahl and Quentin BlakeWhat 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....
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!
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?
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
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.
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.
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.
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 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?
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 SacharThe president of the United States is coming to visit Marvin's class. He's even going to answer one question from each kid. Plus everything is going to be on TV! Marvin is nervous. What if someone steals his question?
What if he can't speak when it's his turn? How will that look to the president and everyone watching on TV? Marvin learns how to be a good citizen and that he may grow up to be president of The United States.
But Marvin may not get a chance to see himself on TV. He's late. He forgot his mom was taking him to shop for shoes after school.
Marvin Redpost
by Louis SacharMarvin is about to have a lesson in magic...Marvin Redpost is amazed when he finds out that Casey Happleton lives in an old firehouse. But that's not the only amazing thing about Casey.
She's also got a super-secret magic crystal that she's going to share with Marvin. Is it true? Or is Casey putting her own spell on Marvin?
Marvin tells his friends and family and classmates he doesn't like Casey. He likes eating snacks with her, talking to her, making wishes with her, laughing at the same things with her. When he wishes she would shut up and she shuts up for day after day Marvin isn't having as much fun anymore, not even with his best friends.
This is the last book in the Marvin Redpost series. It's another easy to read, funny story that kids can understand. Louis Sachar has written many more children's books that readers in middle grades will enjoy.
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.
Mary Anne Saves the Day
by Ann M. MartinThe girls of the BSC are in a huge fight, and Mary Anne feels caught in the middle. She isn't usually a leader in their group, but when the club leaves her alone to deal with a sick child, Mary Anne knows it's time to take charge.
Max Helsing and the Thirteenth Curse
by Curtis JoblingNow the hunter has become the hunted...bummer. Max is just your average kid growing up in Gallows Hill, a small town outside of Boston--well, except that he lives in a gothic mansion with an old former prizefighter, and his after-school job is carrying on the monster-hunting tradition of his family, the van Helsings. Despite the bloody legacy he's inherited, Max always tries to be kind and fair to the ghouls, demons, and other creatures he encounters. So he's confused when monsters start attacking him willy-nilly--even those he thought of as friends. Max discovers he's been cursed by an evil Warlock who intends to reclaim the earth for the monsters. To save his life, Max must rely on his gearhead friend Syd, his boy-genius neighbor Wing, and his brand-new puppy for help. But time is running out, and if they can't figure out how to break the Thirteenth Curse, Max--and the world as we know it--will be in deep, deep trouble...
Maybe a Fox
by Alison Mcghee and Kathi AppeltWorlds collide in a spectacular way when Newbery and National Book Award finalist Kathi Appelt and Pulitzer Prize nominee and #1 New York Times bestseller Alison McGhee team up to create a fantastical, heartbreaking, and gorgeous tale about two sisters, a fox cub, and what happens when one of the sisters disappears forever.
Sylvie and Jules, Jules and Sylvie. Better than just sisters, better than best friends, they'd be identical twins if only they'd been born in the same year. And if only Sylvie wasn't such a fast--faster than fast--runner. But Sylvie is too fast, and when she runs to the river they're not supposed to go anywhere near to throw a wish rock just before the school bus comes on a snowy morning, she runs so fast that no one sees what happens...and no one ever sees her again.
Jules is devastated, but she refuses to believe what all the others believe, that--like their mother--her sister is gone forever. At the very same time, in the shadow world, a shadow fox is born--half of the spirit world, half of the animal world. She too is fast--faster than fast--and she senses danger. She's too young to know exactly what she senses, but she knows something is very wrong. And when Jules believes one last wish rock for Sylvie needs to be thrown into the river, the human and shadow worlds collide.
Writing in alternate voices--one Jules's, the other the fox's--Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee tell the searingly beautiful tale of one small family's moment of heartbreak, a moment that unfolds into one that is epic, mythic, shimmering, and most of all, hopeful.
The Maze of Bones
by Rick RiordanThe first book in the #1 bestselling phenomenon sends readers around the world on the hunt for the 39 Clues!Minutes before she died Grace Cahill changed her will, leaving her decendants an impossible decision: "You have a choice - one million dollars or a clue."Grace is the last matriarch of the Cahills, the world's most powerful family. Everyone from Napoleon to Houdini is related to the Cahills, yet the source of the family power is lost. 39 Clues hidden around the world will reveal the family's secret, but no one has been able to assemble them. Now the clues race is on, and young Amy and Dan must decide what's important: hunting clues or uncovering what REALLY happened to their parents.
The Meanest Thing to Say
by Bill CosbyThis is another book in the Little Bill Series.
Could Little Bill really find a way to play the name-calling game without any unkind words? Could he really play with just one little word on his lips and a big smile on his face? And what would his classmates think?
This book includes descriptions of the pictures, which adds to its fun.
Other books about Little Bill are available from Bookshare. This file should make an excellent embossed braille copy.