2. The Golden Ghost
By Marion Dane Bauer
Delsie knew it wasn't a good
idea to dare her best friend Todd
to explore the abandoned houses
by the old mill. But she couldn't
back down after the words
slipped out of her mouth. Delsie
and Todd sneak inside and
discover two strange things.
Someone is living there. And
something doesn't want Delsie to
leave. It's a dog, a strange golden
dog, that only Delsie can see!
3. Because of Mr. Terupt
by Rob Buyea
It’s the start of a new year for seven kids
at Snow Hill School. There’s Jessica, the
new girl, smart and perceptive, who’s
having a hard time fitting in; Alexia, a
bully, your friend one second, your
enemy the next; Peter, class prankster
and troublemaker; Luke, the brain;
Danielle, who never stands up for
herself; shy Anna, whose home
situation makes her an outcast; and
Jeffrey, who hates school.
Only Mr. Terupt, their new and
energetic teacher, seems to know how
to deal with them all. He makes the
classroom a fun place, until the snowy
winter day when an accident changes
everything—and everyone.
4. Falling In
by Frances O’Roark Dowell
Isabelle Bean is trying to pay
attention to her teacher, but she
hears a buzz in her ear that she
can’t seem to shake. Isabelle’s so
distracted by the buzz that she
gets sent to the principal’s office,
and then while awaiting her
punishment, she tumbles into an
adventure—into another world
that’s a little bit different, a little
bit Hansel and Gretel-y, a little
bit like a fairy tale. Which would
be great, but since she shows up
in fairy-tale land wearing her
favorite high, pointy boots, the
fairy-tale people start thinking
that Isabelle is a witch—and not
just any witch, but the witch!
5. Mockingbird
By Kathryn Erskine
From inside Caitlin's head, readers
see the very personal aftermath of a
middle school shooting that took the
life of the older brother she adored.
Caitlin is a bright fifth grader and a
gifted artist. She also has Asperger's
syndrome, and her brother, Devon,
was the one who helped her interpret
the world.
Now, it’s up to Caitlin to help herself
heal with some help from her
counselor, and doing so, helps the
whole community heal from this
terrible tragedy.
6. The Robe of Skulls: The First
Tale from the Five Kingdoms
By Vivian French
High above the mountain village
of Fracture, trouble is brewing.
The sorceress Lady Lamorna
wants a skull-studded gown of
deep black velvet, but her treasure
chest is empty of gold. That
doesn’t stop herfrom kidnapping,
blackmailing, and magic to get
what she needs. Will her plans be
foiled by the heroic Gracie
Gillypot, two chatty bats, a gallant,
but scruffy prince, a troll, and
some very ancient crones?
7. Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love
Practicing the Piano
(but she does love being in recitals),
By Peggy Gifford
Preparing for her piano recital, Moxy
puts all her time and energy into her
dress and the other nine things she has
to do before her big night, including
making a fake ermine trim for her cape;
trying on her crown, warming up her
voice in case she gets asked to sing and
most important of all--putting on her
stage make up, leaving no time for
actual rehearsal. Will she get stage
fright? Will she get stuck on the same
part? Who knows what will happen
when Moxy gets on stage?
8. Make Way for Dyamonde
Daniel
By Nikki Grimes
Dyamonde Daniel may be new in
town, but that doesn't stop her
from making a place for herself in
a jiffy. With her can-do attitude
and awesome brainpower, she
knows the whole neighborhood
in about a minute. The only thing
puzzling her is the other new kid
in her class. He's awfully
grouchy--but Dyamonde's
determined to get to the bottom
of his frowning attitude. Who
knows--maybe they have
something in common, and
maybe they could even be
friends.
9. Roberto & Me
by Dan Gutman
What would you do if you
knew there was going to be a
terrible accident?
When Stosh travels into the
past to meet Roberto
Clemente, a legendary
ballplayer and a beloved
humanitarian, he’s got only
one goal: warning Roberto not
to get on the doomed plane
that will end his life in a
terrible crash.
10. Turtle in Paradise
By Jennifer Holm
In 1935, jobs are hard to come
by, and Turtle's mother is
lucky to find work as a live-in
housekeeper. When she learns
that her employer can't stand
children, she sends her 11-
year-old daughter from New
Jersey to Key West, Florida to
live with relatives. Turtle
discovers boisterous cousins,
Nana Philly, and… buried
treasure.
11. Guinea Dog
By Patrick Jennings
Rufus has been dreaming of
getting a dog. His best friend
has one. His worst friend has
one. But his dad has a few
objections: They whine. They
gnaw. They bark. They scratch.
They beg. They drool.
But then, Rufus’s mother comes
home with a guinea pig. And if
Rufus's dad thinks dogs are a
problem, he won't know what
hit him when he meets the
Guinea Pig that Thinks She's a
Dog. She barks. She bites.She'll
even eat your homework.
12. Scumble
by Ingrid Law
In this sequel to Savvy, Ledger’s
13th birthday arrives with the usual
family inheritance of a “savvy”—a
power unique to each individual,
who must then learn how to control
this new talent. At first it seems that
Ledge’s savvy is one for destruction:
“I could blow stuff apart without a
touch, but during a summer visit to
Uncle Autry’s Wyoming ranch,
Ledger struggles against 13-year-old
Sarah Jane Cabot, an aspiring
reporter looking to expose the
family’s secrets, and whose
businessman father is trying to
foreclose on the ranch.
13. Touchblue
by Cynthia Lord
The state of Maine plans to shut
down her island's schoolhouse,
which would force Tess's family to
move to the mainland--and Tess to
leave the only home she has ever
known. Fortunately, the islanders
have a plan too: increase the
numbers of students by having
several families take in foster
children. So now Tess and her
family are taking a chance on
Aaron, a thirteen-year-old trumpet
player who has been bounced from
home to home.
14. Shoot-Out
By Mike Lupica
What happens when a star player
ends up on the worst team? He
either learns to lose or he stops
playing the game he loves. These
are the choices facing Jake, who
has gone from champion to last
place, testing his sportsmanship
every time his soccer team gets
waxed. It is his teammate Kevin
who shows Jake that being a good
captain means scoring and
assisting off the field as much as
being the star player on it.
15. The Sixty-Eight Rooms
By Marianne Malone
The Chicago Art Institute has a
collection of 68 exquisite miniature
rooms made in the 1930s by Mrs.
James Ward Thorne. Each of the 68
rooms is designed in the style of a
different historic period, and every
detail is perfect, from the knobs on
the doors to the candles in the
candlesticks. Some might even say,
the rooms are magic.
Imagine—what if you discovered a
key that allowed you to shrink so
that you were small enough to sneak
inside and explore the rooms’
secrets? What if you discovered that
others had done so before you? And
that someone had left something
important behind?
16. Everything for a Dog
By Ann M. Martin
Bone is a stray dog, all alone in the
world, looking for a safe place to call
home. Charlie is devastated by the
death of his older brother, but at
least he has his brother’s dog to
comfort him. All Henry wants is a
dog of his own, and even when his
best friend moves away, his parents
still won’t let him have one. Bone,
Charlie, and Henry don’t know each
other, but their lives are about to
connect in a very surprising way.
Because dogs, and dog lovers, have
a way of finding each other . . .
17. The Candymakers
By Wendy Maas
In the town of Spring Haven, four
children have been selected to compete
in the national candymaking contest of
a lifetime. Who will make a candy
more delicious than the Oozing
Crunchorama or the Neon Yellow
Lightning Chew?
Will it be Logan, the candymaker's son,
or Miles, or Daisy, or Philip, the suit-
and-tie-wearing boy who's always
scribbling in a secret notebook?
This story is told from each
contestant's perspectiveand filled with
mystery and friendship.
18. Heart of a Samurai
By Margi Preus
Manjiro is 14 when a freak storm
washes him and his four fishing
companions onto a tiny island far from
their homes in Japan. Shortly before
starving, they are rescued by an
American whaling ship. But it’s 1841
and there is distrust between Japan and
America. The captain, however, forges
a bond with the boy, and when offered
the chance of going to America as
Whitfield’s son, he picks the path of
adventure. Bracketed by gritty
seafaring episodes—salty and bloody,
the book’s heart is its middle section, in
which Manjiro, possibly the first
Japanese to set foot in America, deals
with the prejudice and promise of a
new world.
19. The Magic Thief, Book 1
by Sarah Prineas
Conn should have dropped dead
the day he picked Nevery's
pocket and stole the wizard's
locus magicalicus, a stone used to
focus magic and work spells. But
for some reason he did not.
Astonished and intrigued, Nevery
agrees to take Conn on as his
helper apprentice, on the
condition that the boy find a locus
stone of his own within a month.
But with his wizard lessons and
attempts to discover who — or
what — is stealing the city of
Wellmet's supply of magic, time is
running out for Conn to find his
stone.
20. Mamba Point
By Kurt Scaletta
Linus and his family have moved to
Liberia, where his father works for
the U.S. embassy. Shy and anxious,
the 12-year-old keeps seeing a
friendly black mamba, one of the
deadliest snakes in the country, and
he discovers that he has a kaseng, a
connection with this particular
animal. He secretly brings the snake
home, forgetting it is a deadly
animal, and you can imagine what
happens. Mamba Point is a tightly
wound tale, from the author of
Mudville, that will make you laugh,
hold you in suspense, and have you
checking underneath your bed to
make sure there aren't any mambas
slithering about.
21. The Night Fairy
By Laura Amy Schlitz
What would happen to a fairy
if she lost her wings and could
no longer fly? Flory, a young
night fairy no taller than an
acorn and still becoming
accustomed to her wings —
wings as beautiful as those of
a luna moth — is about to find
out. What she discovers is that
the world is very big and very
dangerous. But Flory is fierce
and willing to do whatever it
takes to survive.
22. Shooting Kabul
By N.H. Senzai
In July 2001, as 11-year-old Fadi and
his family hurriedly board a truck to
begin their escape from Afghanistan,
six-year-old Mariam lets go of her
brother's hand and is tragically left
behind. In San Francisco, Fadi
struggles with fitting into American
middle school culture, an Afghan
native in the months following 9/ 11,
and eventually finds a place in the
photography club. Still, he is most
concerned with the part he played in
losing Mariam and getting her back.
A photography contest with the prize
of a trip to India seems to be his best
means of getting back to Afghanistan
to find his missing sister.
23. The Emerald Atlas
By John Stephens
Kate, Michael, and Emma have been in one
orphanage after another for the last ten
years. Ripped from their parents as babies,
they are being protected from a horrible evil
of devastating power, an evil they know
nothing about.
Until now.
Before long, Kate, Michael, and Emma are
on a journey to dangerous and secret
corners of the world...a journey of allies and
enemies, of magic and mayhem. And—if
an ancient prophesy is correct—what they
do can change history, and it is up to them
to set things right.
24. My Life as Book
By Janet Tasjian
Twelve-year-old Derek is not a
reader. His assignment to read
three books over the summer
stinks. But then something that he
wants to read catches Derek’s eye.
In the attic, he finds a 10-year-old
article about a teenage girl who
drowned on a Martha’s Vineyard
beach. Usually playful and in
trouble, Derek now turns his
attention to solving this mysterious
puzzle.
An illustrator himself, there is
much to remind you of the Diary of
a Wimpy Kid books.
25. Moon Over Manifest
By Clare Vanderpool
Abilene Tucker feels abandoned.
Her father has put her on a train,
sending her off to live with an old
friend while he works a railroad
job. Armed only with a few
possessions, Abilene jumps off the
train in Manifest, Kansas, aiming
to learn about the boy her father
once was. There she discovers a
hidden cigar box full of
mementos, including some old
letters that mention a spy known
as the Rattler. These mysterious
letters send Abilene and her new
friendson an honest-to-goodness
spy hunt, even though they are
warned to “Leave Well Enough
Alone.”
26. One Crazy Summer
By Rita Williams-Garcia
It's 1968 and Delphine and her
younger sisters are sent to Oakland,
California to visit the mother that
abandoned them soon after the
youngest was born. The girls have
grand ideas about a mother who will
hug them and take them to
Disneyland.
Instead, their mother, Cecile, doesn't
want anything to do with them. She
cares more about her poetry than her
kids, sends them to a Blank Panther-
run summer camp during the day
and for Chinese food…every single
night. The girls learn about revolution
and family in a summer they will
never forget.
