THE LOST CHILDREN
Carolyn Cohagan
Aladdin/Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing
ISBN: 9781416986164
Ages 8-12
320 pages

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Josephine Russing owns 387 pairs of gloves. She’s given a new pair every week by her father, a sullen man known best for his insistence that the citizens in town wear gloves at all times.

A world away, the children of Gulm have been taken. No one knows where they might be, except the mysterious and terrifying leader of the land: The Master. He rules with an iron fist, using two grotesque creatures to enforce his terrible reign.

When a peculiar boy named Fargus shows up on Josephine’s property and then disappears soon afterward, she follows him without a second thought and finds herself magically transported to Gulm. After Fargus introduces her to his tough-as-nails friend Ida, the three of them set off on an adventure that will test everything Josephine has ever thought about the rules of the universe, leading to a revelation about the truth of the land of Gulm, and of Josephine’s own life back home.

LUCKY: Maris, Mantle, and My Best Summer Ever
Wes Tooke
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing
ISBN: 9781416986638
Ages 8-up
192 pages

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Louis May doesn’t like his new home in White Plains, New York. He doesn’t get along with his new stepbrother, who is the best athlete in the neighborhood; he misses his mother, who lives among poets and artists in the East Village; and he just doesn’t fit in at his new school. But one thing hasn’t changed: Louis still loves the game of baseball and, more than anything, the New York Yankees. So when he gets a chance to be a batboy for the team, to be in the dugout with Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, he thinks that life can’t get any better. But then Mickey and Roger make that summer of 1961 one of the biggest anyone has ever seen, and Louis gets a front-row seat to their record-setting home-run race.

A NEST FOR CELESTE: A Story About Art, Inspiration, and the Meaning of Home
written and illustrated by Henry Cole
Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins
ISBN: 9780061704109
Ages 8-12
352 pages

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Beneath the crackled and faded painting of a horse, underneath the worn and dusty floorboards of the dining room, lives Celeste, a mouse who spends her days weaving baskets, until one day she is thrust into the world above. Here Celeste encounters danger --- and love --- unlike any she’s ever imagined. She dodges a hungry cat and witnesses the brutality of hunting for the first time. She makes friends with a singing thrush named Cornelius, a talkative osprey named Lafayette, and Joseph, Audubon’s young apprentice. All the while, Celeste is looking for a new home. Is her home in the toe of a worn boot? Nestled in Joseph’s pocket? Or in the dollhouse in the attic, complete with mouse-size furniture perfect for Celeste?

THE NIGHT FAIRY
written by Laura Amy Schlitz
illustrated by Angela Barrett
Candlewick Press
ISBN: 9780763636746
Ages 7-11
128 pages

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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. If that means telling others what to do --- like Skuggle, a squirrel ruled by his stomach --- so be it. Not every creature, however, is as willing to bend to Flory’s demands.

THE SIXTY-EIGHT ROOMS
Marianne Malone
Random House Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 9780375857102
Ages 8-12
128 pages

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Almost everybody who has grown up in Chicago knows about the Thorne Rooms. Housed in the Children’s Galleries of the Chicago Art Institute, they are a collection of 68 exquisitely crafted 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?

THE THIRTEENTH PRINCESS
Diane Zahler
HarperCollins Children’s Books
ISBN: 9780061824982
Ages 8-12
256 pages

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Zita is not an ordinary servant girl --- she's the 13th daughter of a king who wanted only sons. When she was born, Zita's father banished her to the servants' quarters to work in the kitchens, where she can only communicate with her royal sisters in secret.

Then, after Zita's 12th birthday, the princesses all fall mysteriously ill. The only clue is their strangely worn and tattered shoes. With the help of her friends --- Breckin the stable boy, Babette the witch, and Milek the soldier --- Zita follows her bewitched sisters into a magical world of endless dancing and dreams. But something more sinister is afoot ---- and unless Zita and her friends can break the curse, the 12 princesses will surely dance to their deaths.

The 39 Clues

THE 39 CLUES, Book Seven: THE VIPER’S NEST
Peter Lerangis
Scholastic Inc.
ISBN: 9780545060479
Ages 9-12
176 pages

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It’s no longer a game. The body count is rising. Shaken by recent events, Amy and Dan flee to a distant land and trace the footsteps of their most formidable ancestor yet: a military leader of mythic proportions. Yet just as the siblings begin to master the art of ancient warfare, they confront a dangerous enemy that can’t be felled with a sword: the truth. With the stakes higher than ever, Amy and Dan uncover something so devastating it changes everything --- the secret of their family branch.

Bell Hoot Fables

THE HIDDEN BOY
Jon Berkeley
Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins
ISBN: 9780061687587
Ages 8-12
272 pages

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When the Flints win a trip to Bell Hoot, they board Captain Bontoc’s Blue Moon Mobile with the expectation of a grand holiday. Then something terrible happens: Bea Flint’s little brother, Theo, disappears on the journey, and the peculiar Ledbetter clan of Bell Hoot, who call Theo the Hidden Boy, is more desperate than even Bea and her family to find him. Bea will have to trust herself and the weird and wise words of an old man called Arkadi in order to find Theo. In her search, she’ll discover that Bell Hoot is more than a vacation destination, a wish is no good unless you give it legs, and Mumbo Jumbo is much more than nonsense --- it’s hidden potential that she can find within herself.

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place

THE INCORRIGIBLE CHILDREN OF ASHTON PLACE, Book I: THE MYSTERIOUS HOWLING
Maryrose Wood
Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins Children’s Books
ISBN: 9780061791055
Ages 8-12
272 pages

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Found running wild in the forest of Ashton Place, the Incorrigibles are no ordinary children: Alexander, age 10 or thereabouts, keeps his siblings in line with gentle nips; Cassiopeia, perhaps four or five, has a bark that is (usually) worse than her bite; and Beowulf, age somewhere-in-the-middle, is alarmingly adept at chasing squirrels.

Luckily, Miss Penelope Lumley is no ordinary governess. Only 15 years old and a recent graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, Penelope embraces the challenge of her new position. Though she is eager to instruct the children in Latin verbs and the proper use of globes, first she must help them overcome their canine tendencies.

But mysteries abound at Ashton Place: Who are these three wild creatures, and how did they come to live in the vast forests of the estate? Why does Old Timothy, the coachman, lurk around every corner? Will Penelope be able to teach the Incorrigibles table manners and socially useful phrases in time for Lady Constance’s holiday ball? And what on earth is a schottische?

Lyonesse

LYONESSE, Book 2: DARKSOLSTICE
Sam Llewellyn
Orchard Books/Scholastic
ISBN: 9780439934718
Ages 9-12
384 pages

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Not long ago, 12-year-old Idris Limpet was just an ordinary schoolboy --- until he was taken from his home and taught to tame monsters from another world. Then he pulled a sword out of a stone. Now, he is Idris House Draco, Rightful King of the Land of Lyonesse.

Rightful kings have their problems, however, and Idris has his fair share. He is an exile --- hunted from his country by the evil regent Fisheagle and her wicked son Murther. Moreover, Idris’s dear friend and sister Morgan has been carried off as a slave to the distant land of Aegypt. And before he can return to fight for his throne and his people, Idris must make the treacherous journey to rescue Morgan.

But Idris is never on his own, for as he travels, he meets a company of friends. Friends who shall become Idris’s faithful Knights of the Round Table, who will raise armies and return with Idris and Morgan to challenge Fisheagle’s monstrous armies and reclaim his Kingdom of Lyonesse unless it is already too late.

Redwall

THE SABLE QUEAN: A Tale of Redwall
Brian Jacques
Philomel Books/Penguin Young Readers Group
ISBN: 9780399251641
Ages 10-up
368 pages

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He appears out of thin air and vanishes just as quickly. He is Zwilt the Shade, and he is evil. Yet he is no match for his ruler, Vilaya the Sable Quean. Along with their hordes of vermin, these two have devised a plan to conquer Redwall Abbey. And when the Dibbuns go missing, captured one by one, their plan is revealed.

Will the Redwallers risk the fate of their Abbey and all of Mossflower Wood to save their precious young ones from imprisonment? Perhaps Buckler, Blademaster of the Long Patrol, can save the day. He has a score of his own to settle. And fear not, these Dibbuns are not as innocent as they appear. After all, they’re from Redwall.

Seekers

SEEKERS #4: THE LAST WILDERNESS
Erin Hunter
HarperCollins Children’s Books
ISBN: 9780060871314
Ages 10-up
288 pages

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Toklo, Kallik, Lusa and Ujurak have finally reached the Last Great Wilderness, the legendary bear paradise they've been searching for. But while his companions think they've come to the end of their long journey, Ujurak feels a deep unrest. Is this truly where they're meant to be?

In the Last Great Wilderness, one by one the bears begin to remember their true natures. Toklo feels the urge to hunt caribou and mark his territory as a brown bear should, and Kallik feels the pull of the ice within her. It's only Lusa, happy just to be in the wild, who fears the day when her friends will leave her to follow their own paths.

As the bears adjust to this new life, disaster strikes. The friends are forced to venture into the world of the flat-faces to save the life of one of their own. Once there, the end of their journey seems farther away than ever, as a new path spreads out before them.

Sluggers

SLUGGERS #5: BLASTIN’ THE BLUES
Phil Bildner and Loren Long
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing
ISBN: 9781416918677
Ages 7-10
448 pages

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The year is 1899, and the Travelin' Nine are barnstorming their way across the good ol' U.S. of A., trying to raise money to pay off the Payne family's big-league debt.

After jumping off the train to retrieve the baseball, Woody and Griffith find themselves stranded. When they come across a familiar face, they get back on track and Griffith learns just how magical their baseball is.

With the Rough Riders down a player, Graham finally gets his chance to play with them and show what he is made of. But he better be careful. There is no telling what the Chancellor is willing to sacrifice in order to use Graham's abilities to his own evil ends. And Ruby is still concerned that there is a mole in their midst and is more determined than ever to find out who is betraying them. With the opportunity to raise the most money yet at the game in New Orleans, they can't afford to let anything get back to the Chancellor.

All this and there is still a game to play. Things are about to get rough in the Big Easy!

Sunny Holiday

SWEET AND SUNNY
Coleen Murtagh ParatoreM
Scholastic Press
ISBN: 9780545075824
Ages 7-10
192 pages

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Sunny Holiday starts off her new year as Junior Deputy Mayor of Riverton, New York. Her mission? To help create a Kid’s Day and turn it into a national holiday. Kids should have a holiday, just for them! So Sunny takes it upon herself to make this new holiday shine, getting her friends and family involved. Sunny is headstrong, funny, and trying to make the best out of every situation --- whether it involves holidays or family problems. She has spirit to spare --- and you can’t help but love her for it.

Tunnels

FREEFALL
Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams
The Chicken House/Scholastic
ISBN: 9780545138772
Ages 10-up
608 pages

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DEEPER sent Will and Chester into FREEFALL --- tumbling through the subterranean Pore with the evil Rebecca twins in hot pursuit, both toting phials of the lethal Dominion virus. When, where, will they ever land?! Just when the drop seems infinite, the boys hit bottom, and find themselves in a realm of near-zero gravity atop a giant spongy fungus stuffed with artifacts from some lost golden age. But they are not alone. And above ground, black-clad Styx are sprouting like poison mushrooms, dead-set on spreading their plague!

Sequel to MY ONE HUNDRED ADVENTURES

NORTHWARD TO THE MOON
Polly Horvath
Schwartz & Wade/Random House Children’s Books
ISBN: 9780375861109
Ages 10-13
256 pages

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Jane and her family have moved to Canada…but not for long. When her stepfather, Ned, is fired from his job as a high school French teacher, the family packs up and Jane embarks on a series of new adventures. At first, she imagines her family as a gang of outlaws, riding on horseback in masks, robbing trains and traveling all the way to Mexico. But the reality is different. Setting off by car, they visit the tribe of Native Americans with whom Ned once lived, head to Las Vegas in search of Ned’s magician brother, and wind up spending the summer with his eccentric mother on her ranch out west. As Jane lives through it all --- developing a crush on a ranch hand, reevaluating her relationship with Ned, watching her sister Maya’s painful growing up --- she sees her world, which used to be so safe and secure, shift in strange and inconvenient ways.

CLOUD TEA MONKEYS
written by Mal Peet and Elspeth Graham
illustrated by Juan Wijngaard
Candlewick Press
ISBN: 9780763644536
Ages 4-up
56 pages

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Tashi lives in a tiny village at the foot of the mountains, below the tea plantations where her mother works. When her mother falls ill, Tashi goes alone to the plantation, hoping to earn money for the doctor. But she is far too small to harvest the tender shoots, and her clumsy efforts anger the cruel Overseer. She is desolate, until --- chack-chack-chack! --- something extraordinary happens.

MY GARDEN
written and illustrated by Kevin Henkes
Greenwillow Books
ISBN: 9780061715174
Ages 4-8
40 pages

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A child imagines a garden where flowers live forever, the only rabbits are chocolate, what you plant actually grows, and good unusual things pop up like gifts from the soil. If only we were all so lucky! Illustrated with heavenly full-color paintings that are among the artist's very best, this picture book for young children pays tribute to a child's imagination and independence and features large type, a big, square trim size, and an inquisitive and humorous text, making this an outstanding read-aloud to treasure.

SAVING THE BAGHDAD ZOO: A True Story of Hope and Heroes
Kelly Milner Halls and Major William Sumner
Greenwillow Books
ISBN: 9780061772023
Ages 8-up
64 pages

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The Baghdad Zoo was once home to more than 600 magnificent animals. But after the war in Iraq began in 2003, the city faced widespread destruction.

When U.S. Army Captain William Sumner was asked to check out the state of the zoo, he found that it, too, was devastated. Hundreds of animals were missing, and the few remaining were in desperate need of care. And so Captain Sumner accepted a new mission. Together with an international team of zoologists, veterinarians, conservationists and dedicated animal lovers, Captain Sumner worked tirelessly to save the neglected --- but tenacious --- animals of Baghdad.

SAVING THE BAGHDAD ZOO tells the poignant stories of these remarkable animals. Meet the abandoned lions who roamed an empty palace with no food or drink; the camel, Lumpy, who survived transport through sniper fire; the tigers, Riley and Hope, who traveled 7,000 miles from home; and many more.

The Baghdad Zoo, open once again to the people of Iraq, has become an oasis of hope and safety in a city where both are precious gifts.

SIT-IN: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down
written by Andrea Davis Pinkney
illustrated by Brian Pinkney
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 9780316070164
Ages 6-up
40 pages

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This picture book is a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the momentous Woolworth's lunch counter sit-in, when four college students staged a peaceful protest that became a defining moment in the struggle for racial equality and the growing civil rights movement. Andrea Davis Pinkney uses poetic, powerful prose to tell the story of these four young men, who followed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s words of peaceful protest and dared to sit at the “whites only” Woolworth’s lunch counter. Brian Pinkney embraces a new artistic style, creating expressive paintings filled with emotion that mirrors the hope, strength and determination that fueled the dreams of not only these four young men, but also countless others.

WENDEL’S WORKSHOP
written and illustrated by Chris Riddell
Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins
ISBN: 9780061449307
Ages 4-8
32 pages

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Wendel is far too busy inventing things to keep his workshop tidy. So if one of his inventions doesn't work, Wendel just tosses it onto the scrap heap and starts over. Then one day he invents the magnificent Wendelbot --- a mighty robot that cleans and cleans and doesn't stop. Soon poor Wendel finds himself thrown onto the scrap heap! How will Wendel win back his workshop? Let the robot battle begin!