The One and Only Ivan |
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Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all. Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line. Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home—and his own art—through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it’s up to Ivan to make it a change for the better. Katherine Applegate blends humor and poignancy to create Ivan’s unforgettable first-person narration in a story of friendship, art, and hope.
Author: Katherine Applegate |
Little Dog, Lost |
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From Newbery Honoree Marion Dane Bauer comes the tale of a boy who needs a dog, and a dog who needs a boy—a match made in heaven, if only the two can meet. Mark is a boy who needs a dog. But he can’t get his mom on board with his plan. Buddy is a dog who needs a boy. Buddy has an owner already, but not one who understands the kind of love and care—the “something more”—a dog needs. Mr. LaRue is a neighbor who needs a community. He’s alone all the time in his huge old house—and everyone needs more than that. Over the course of a summer thunderstorm and one chaotic town council meeting, these three characters cross paths and come together in a timeless tale ripe with emotions and told in verse that resolves with love, understanding, and a sense of belonging—plus a place to play a game of fetch!
Author: Marion Dane Bauer |
Ungifted |
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The word gifted has never been applied to a kid like Donovan Curtis. It’s usually more like Don’t try this at home. So when the troublemaker pulls a major prank at his middle school, he thinks he’s finally gone too far. But thanks to a mix-up by one of the administrators, instead of getting in trouble, Donovan is sent to the Academy of Scholastic Distinction (ASD), a special program for gifted and talented students. It wasn’t exactly what Donovan had intended, but there couldn’t be a more perfect hideout for someone like him. That is, if he can manage to fool people whose IQs are above genius level. And that becomes harder and harder as the students and teachers of ASD grow to realize that Donovan may not be good at math or science (or just about anything). But after an ongoing experiment with a live human (sister), an unforgettably dramatic middle-school dance, and the most astonishing come-from-behind robot victory ever, Donovan shows that his gifts might be exactly what the ASD students never knew they needed.
Author: Gordon Korman |
The Dogs of Winter |
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Brought to Moscow in 1990s Russia by his mother’s abusive boyfriend, five-year-old Mishka is forced by a gang of homeless children to lie and steal until he finds comfort and love with a pack of dogs. Includes historical note.
Author: Bobbie Pyron |
Three Times Lucky |
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Washed ashore as a baby in tiny Tupelo Landing, North Carolina, Mo LoBeau, now eleven, and her best friend Dale turn detective when the amnesiac Colonel, owner of a cafâe and co-parent of Mo with his cook, Miss Lana, seems implicated in a murder.
Author: Sheila Turnage |
The Expeditioners and the Treasure of Drowned Man’s Canyon |
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After an explorer with a clockwork hand gives Kit West an old book from his father, he and his siblings must evade government agents while solving the puzzle their father sent.
Author: S. S. Taylor |
The Boy on Cinnamon Street |
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Since a tragedy she cannot remember, thirteen-year-old Louise has changed her name, given up gymnastics, moved in with her grandparents, and locked her feelings inside but through her friends Reni and Hen and notes from a secret admirer she begins to find herself again.
Author: Phoebe Stone |
Liar and Spy |
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Seventh-grader Georges adjusts to moving from a house to an apartment, his father’s efforts to start a new business, his mother’s extra shifts as a nurse, being picked on at school, and Safer, a boy who wants his help spying on another resident of their building.
Author: Rebecca Stead |
Bomb |
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Recounts the scientific discoveries that enabled atom splitting, the military intelligence operations that occurred in rival countries, and the work of brilliant scientists hidden at Los Alamos.
Author: Steve Sheinkin |
Glory Be |
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In the summer of 1964 as she is about to turn twelve, Glory’s town of Hanging Moss, Mississippi, is beset by racial tension when town leaders close her beloved public pool rather than desegregating it.
Author: Augusta Scattergood |
After Eli |
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When his soldier brother, Eli, is killed while in the service, a mourning Daniel considers the history of unusual fatalities to determine what makes a death, or a life, matter.
Author: Rebecca Rupp |
Shadow on the Mountain |
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DIVShadow on the Mountain recounts the adventures of a 14-year-old Norwegian boy named Espen during World War II. After Nazi Germany invades and occupies Norway, Espen and his friends are swept up in the Norwegian resistance movement. Espen gets his start by delivering illegal newspapers, then graduates to the role of courier and finally becomes a spy, dodging the Gestapo along the way. During five years under the Nazi regime, he gainsóand losesófriends, falls in love, and makes one small mistake that threatens to catch up with him as he sets out to escape on skis over the mountains to Sweden. Preus incorporates archival photographs, maps, and other images to tell this story based on the real-life adventures of Norwegian Erling Storrusten, whom Preus interviewed in Norway. Praise for Shadow on the Mountain STARRED REVIEWS “Newbery Honor winner Preus infuses the story with the good-natured humor of a largely unified, peace-loving people trying to keep their sanity in a world gone awry. Based on a true story, the narrative is woven with lively enough daily historical detail to inspire older middle-grade readers to want to learn more about the Resistance movement and imitate Espenís adventures.” óKirkus Reviews, starred review “This engrossing offering sheds light on the Norwegiansí courage during World War II. Preus masterfully weds a story of friendship with the complications faced by 14-year-old Espen and his friends as Nazi restrictions and atrocities become part of their everyday lives…This is at once a spy thriller, a coming-of-age story, and a chronicle of escalating bravery. Multidimensional characters fill this gripping tale that keeps readers riveted to the end.” óSchool Library Journal, starred review “A closely researched historical novel… relates this wartime tale with intelligence and humor…Ms. Preus deftly uses together historical fact (Espen is based on a real-life spy) and elements of Norwegian culture to conjure a time and place not so terribly long ago.” óThe Wall Street Journal “Margi Preus, who won a Newbery honor for Heart of a Samurai, returns with another riveting work of historical fiction… This fine novel, which includes an authorís note, a timeline, a bibliography and even a recipe for invisible ink, is based on extensive research… The result is an authentic coming-of-age story, perfect for readers fascinated by the diary of Anne Frank or Lois Lowryís classic, Number the Stars.” óBookPage/div
Author: Margi Preus |
Summer of the Gypsy Moths |
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Stella loves living with Great-aunt Louise in her big old house near the water on Cape Cod for many reasons, but mostly because Louise likes routine as much as she does, something Stella appreciates since her mom is, well, kind of unreliable. So while Mom “finds herself,” Stella fantasizes that someday she’ll come back to the Cape and settle down. The only obstacle to her plan? Angel, the foster kid Louise has taken in. Angel couldn’t be less like her name—she’s tough and prickly, and the girls hardly speak to each other. But when tragedy unexpectedly strikes, Stella and Angel are forced to rely on each other to survive, and they learn that they are stronger together than they could have imagined. And over the course of the summer they discover the one thing they do have in common: dreams of finally belonging to a real family.
Author: Sara Pennypacker |
I Funny |
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Jamie Grimm is a middle schooler on a mission: he wants to become the world’s greatest standup comedian–even if he doesn’t have a lot to laugh about these days. He’s new in town and stuck living with his aunt, uncle, and their evil son Stevie, a bully who doesn’t let Jamie’s wheelchair stop him from messing with Jamie as much as possible. But Jamie doesn’t let his situation get him down. He practices the craft of stand-up every day on friends, family, and the willing customers at his Uncle Frankie’s diner. When Uncle Frankie mentions a contest called The Planet’s Funniest Kid Comic, Jamie knows he has to enter. But are the judges only rewarding him out of pity because of his wheelchair, like Stevie suggests? Will Jamie ever share the secret of his troubled past instead of hiding behind his comedy act? Following the bestselling success of the hilarious Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life, James Patterson continues to dish out the funnies in another highly-illustrated, heartfelt middle school story.
Author: James Patterson, Chris Grabenstein |
Wonder |
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Born with a facial deformity that initially prevented his attendance at public school, Auggie Pullman enters the fifth grade at Beecher Prep and struggles with the dynamics of being both new and different, in a sparsely written tale about acceptance and self-esteem.
Author: R. J. Palacio |
The False Prince |
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In the country of Carthya, a devious nobleman engages four orphans in a brutal competition to be selected to impersonate the king’s long-missing son in an effort to avoid a civil war.
Author: Jennifer A. Nielsen |
Temple Grandin |
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An authorized portrait about Grandin’s life with autism and her groundbreaking work as a scientist and designer of cruelty-free livestock facilities describes how she overcame key disabilities through education and the support of her mother.
Author: Sy Montgomery |
The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls |
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Practically-perfect 12-year-old Victoria Wright must lie, sneak and break the rules when her investigation of the disappearance of her best–and only–friend, Lawrence, reveals dark secrets about her town and the orphanage run by the reclusive Mrs. Cavendish.
Author: Claire Legrand |
See You at Harry’s |
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Twelve-year-old Fern feels invisible to her family, where grumpy 18-year-old Sarah is working at the family restaurant, 14-year-old Holden is struggling with school bullies and his emerging homosexuality, and adorable, 3-year-old Charlie is always the center of attention, so when tragedy strikes, the fragile bond holding the family together is stretched almost to the breaking point.
Author: Jo Knowles |
Fourmile |
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A mysterious stranger arrives at a boy’s rundown Alabama farm home, just as a dangerous situation is unfolding for the twelve-year-old and his widowed mother.
Author: Watt Key |
One for the Murphys |
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“After heartbreaking betrayal, Carley is sent to live with a foster family and struggles with opening herself up to their love”–
Author: Lynda Hunt |
Chomp |
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Spending his days in a zoo beside his volatile animal wrangler father, Wahoo Cray struggles to control his father’s temper when the latter takes a job with an egocentric reality nature show host. By the Newbery Honor-winning author of Hoot.
Author: Carl Hiaasen |
