THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF JOHN SMITH, JR. AKA HOUDINI
Peter Johnson
HarperCollins
ISBN: 9780061988905
Ages 8-12
176 pages
When an author comes to speak to his class in a rundown area of Providence, Houdini decides to make money by writing his own novel.
Rule #8 for Writing a Kid’s Novel: Try to include a few lists in your novel. Kids like lists.
Houdini is way more interesting than the kid the author wrote about.
Rule #6: You have to like your characters or the reader won’t care about them. (How can I not like myself?)
Houdini chronicles his life as he and his friends start a leaf-raking business, befriend Old Man Jackson, a Vietnam War veteran with a seriously intimidating dog, and get even with the neighborhood bully, Angel. But it’s hard to find a way to write about his dad losing his job or his brother, Franklin, who is first reported missing in action in Iraq and then still seems to be missing when he comes home.
CROW
Barbara Wright
Random House Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 9780375869280
Ages 8-12
304 pages
The summer of 1898 is filled with ups and downs for 11-year-old Moses. He's growing apart from his best friend, his superstitious Boo-Nanny butts heads constantly with his pragmatic, educated father, and his mother is reeling from the discovery of a family secret. Yet there are good times, too. He's teaching his grandmother how to read. For the first time she's sharing stories about her life as a slave. And his father and his friends are finally getting the respect and positions of power they've earned in the Wilmington, North Carolina, community. But not everyone is happy with the political changes at play, and some will do anything --- including a violent plot against the government --- to maintain the status quo.
DUMPLING DAYS
Grace Lin
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 9780316125901
Ages 8-12
272 pages
Pacy is back! The beloved heroine of THE YEAR OF THE DOG and THE YEAR OF THE RAT has returned in a brand new story. This summer, Pacy's family is going to Taiwan for an entire month to visit family and prepare for their grandmother's 60th birthday celebration. Pacy's parents have signed her up for a Chinese painting class, and at first she's excited. This is a new way to explore her art talent! But everything about the trip is harder than she thought it would be --- she looks like everyone else but can't speak the language, she has trouble following the art teacher's instructions, and it's difficult to make friends in her class. At least the dumplings are delicious...
EARWIG AND THE WITCH
written by Diana Wynne Jones
illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
Greenwillow Books
ISBN: 9780062075116
Ages 8-12
128 pages
Earwig has been at the orphanage ever since she was a baby. That's just how she likes it. She has her best friend, Custard, and everyone always does exactly what Earwig wants. She never wants to leave, so she makes sure no one ever picks her.
Then a very strange couple comes to the orphanage. They try to make themselves look ordinary. But Earwig knows they are not, not in the least. And they choose her, out of all the other children.
Earwig could be in for quite an unpleasant surprise. But so could the very strange couple.
GLORY BE
Augusta Scattergood
Scholastic Press
ISBN: 9780545331807
Ages 8-12
208 pages
As much as Gloriana June Hemphill, or Glory as everyone knows her, wants to turn 12, there are times when Glory wishes she could turn back the clock a year. Jesslyn, her sister and former confidante, no longer has the time of day for her now that she’ll be entering high school. Then there’s her best friend, Frankie. Things have always been so easy with Frankie, and now suddenly they aren’t. Maybe it’s the new girl from the North that has everyone out of sorts. Or maybe it’s the debate about whether or not the town should keep the segregated public pool open.
HOW TO BEAT THE BULLY WITHOUT REALLY TRYING
Scott Starkey
Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 9781442416857
Ages 8-12
272 pages
Rodney Rathbone is a self-admitted coward. Things scare him, and he can’t help it. So naturally he’s terrified when he moves to a new town and the bully is ready to pounce. But just as Rodney is about to flee, a baseball flies in from out of nowhere and knocks out the bully. Now everyone thinks Rodney is invincible --- when really he feels just the opposite. Can he figure out how to live up to his new reputation and make friends along the way?
THE LIONS OF LITTLE ROCK
Kristin Levine
Putnam Juvenile
ISBN: 9780399256448
Ages 10-up
304 pages
Twelve-year-old Marlee doesn't have many friends until she meets Liz, the new girl at school. Liz is bold and brave, and always knows the right thing to say, especially to Sally, the resident mean girl. Liz even helps Marlee overcome her greatest fear --- speaking, which Marlee never does outside her family.
But then Liz is gone, replaced by the rumor that she was a Negro girl passing as white. Marlee decides that doesn't matter. Liz is her best friend. And to stay friends, Marlee and Liz are willing to take on integration and the dangers their friendship could bring to both their families.
THE MIGHTY MISS MALONE
Christopher Paul Curtis
Wendy Lamb Books/Random House
ISBN: 9780385734912
Ages 9-12
320 pages
"We are a family on a journey to a place called wonderful" is the motto of Deza Malone's family. Deza is the smartest girl in her class in Gary, Indiana, singled out by teachers for a special path in life. But the Great Depression hit Gary hard, and there are no jobs for black men. When her beloved father leaves to find work, Deza, Mother, and her older brother Jimmie go in search of him, and end up in a Hooverville outside Flint, Michigan. Jimmie's beautiful voice inspires him to leave the camp to be a performer, while Deza and Mother find a new home, and cling to the hope that they will find Father. The twists and turns of their story reveal the devastation of the Depression and prove that Deza truly is the Mighty Miss Malone.
Benjamin Pratt & the Keepers of the School
 THE WHITES OF THEIR EYES: Benjamin Pratt & the Keepers of the School, Book 3
Andrew Clements
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 9781416938880
Ages 7-10
224 pages
This could be the last great Memorial Day weekend on Barclay Bay, and Ben knows it. This time next year, he might not be able to stand in the yard of the Oakes School and watch the harbor shake off winter --- boats buzzing just beyond the bulkhead and families spreading picnics in the fields. If the school gets torn down and replaced by an amusement park, the town will never be the same.
That’s only if the school gets torn down. Ben and Jill are determined to keep that from happening. And the evil janitor Lyman has taken note. He’s following their every move --- and undoing their progress along the way. Good thing Ben and Jill have a secret weapon. (Who knew that annoying Robert Gerritt would be such a spy wiz?)
But Lyman has a secret weapon as well: a vicious guard dog. These kids are smart, but can they outsmart Lyman --- and his beast --- as the clock tick, tick, ticks toward total demolition?
Dear America
 DEAR AMERICA: BEHIND THE MASK: The Diary of Angeline Reddy - Bodie, California, 1880
Susan Patron
Scholastic Inc.
ISBN: 9780545304375
Ages 8-up
304 pages
Growing up in the wild gold-mining town of Bodie, California, in the 1880s, Angeline Reddy has seen it all --- saloons, brawls, and a whole lot of desperation. When her father, Bodie's greatest lawyer, is declared murdered, Angie knows deep in her heart that he isn't dead and decides it is up to her to solve the mystery of what happened to him. But when her mother takes ill and a mysterious ghost appears, putting together the puzzle pieces seems impossible. Not to mention, a gang of vigilantes, the 601, is raging out of control, running folks out of town, and nobody seems safe.
Will Angie, with the help of her friends Ellie and Ling Loi, and the mysterious and tragically handsome Antoine, be able to uncover the secret of her father's disappearance?
The Genius Files
 THE GENIUS FILES #2: NEVER SAY GENIUS
Dan Gutman
HarperCollins
ISBN: 9780061827679
Ages 8-12
288 pages
Today is Coke and Pepsi McDonald's 13th birthday. Someone's out to make sure they never make it to 13 and a half.
Racing across America, the twins will nearly be boiled alive in a huge basket of french fries, frozen to death by soft-serve ice cream, stampeded in a wild stadium riot, kidnapped from a high-speed roller coaster, and worst of all, their parents think they're totally joking!
Will they survive? Will they defeat Archie Clone? Will they be dropped out of a helicopter onto the tip of the Washington Monument? Will they ever say "genius"?
Robbie Forester
 ROBBIE FORESTER AND THE OUTLAWS OF SHERWOOD ST.
Peter Abrahams
Philomel/Penguin Young Readers Group
ISBN: 9780399255021
Ages 10-up
320 pages
Robbie Forester always knew life wasn't fair, but she never thought she could do anything about it. Until one day a powerful charm comes into her possession, a charm that guides her, her three friends, and her dog Pendleton on the path to justice. But the charm doesn't seem to understand that the path has gotten dangerous, and Robbie and her friends find themselves in a menacing world of thievery, arson, big yachts, and even bigger bank accounts. Will Robbie and her band of thieves end up in more trouble than they ever could have imagined?
Sixty-Eight Rooms
 STEALING MAGIC: A Sixty-Eight Rooms Adventure
Marianne Malone
Random House Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 9780375868191
Ages 8-12
256 pages
Ruthie and Jack thought that their adventures in the Thorne Rooms were over…until miniatures from the rooms start to disappear. Is it the work of the art thief who's on the loose in Chicago? Or has someone else discovered the secret of the Thorne Rooms' magic? Ruthie and Jack's quest to stop the thief takes them from modern-day Chicago to 1937 Paris to antebellum South Carolina. But as more items disappear, including the key that allows them to shrink and access the past worlds, what was once just an adventure becomes a life and death race against the clock. Can Ruthie and Jack catch the thief and help the friends they meet on the way before the magic --- and the rooms --- are destroyed forever?
Swindle
 SHOWOFF
Gordon Korman
Scholastic Press
ISBN: 9780545320597
Ages 9-12
256 pages
The heroes of SWINDLE, ZOOBREAK and FRAMED are back --- and this time, things have gone to the dogs! When Luthor goes berserk at a mall dog show, he's accused of ruining the career of the three-time best-in-show beagle. Griffin always knew that Luthor's viciousness was simmering just below the surface. So why does he feel bad enough to spring him from the pound?
Griffin and his team have a new plan. This one involves New York City, a sinister saboteur, a reclusive dog-trainer who's quit the business, an international dog show, and a whole lot of red dye. But if they pull it off, no one will even notice their sting operation...right?
A BOY CALLED DICKENS
written by Deborah Hopkinson
illustrated by John Hendrix
Schwartz & Wade/Random House
ISBN: 9780375867323
Ages 4-9
40 pages
As a child, Dickens was forced to live on his own and work long hours in a rat-infested blacking factory. Readers will be drawn into the winding streets of London, where they will learn how Dickens got the inspiration for many of his characters. The 200th anniversary of Dickens's birth is February 7, 2012, and this tale of his little-known boyhood is the perfect way to introduce kids to the great author.
THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND: Young Readers Edition
written by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon
Dial Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 9780803735118
Ages 6-up
32 pages
When 14-year-old William Kamkwamba's Malawi village was hit by a drought, everyone's crops began to fail. Without enough money for food, let alone school, William spent his days in the library…and figured out how to bring electricity to his village. Persevering against the odds, William built a functioning windmill out of junkyard scraps, and thus became the local hero who harnessed the wind.
ELLEN’S BROOM
written by Kelly Starling Lyons
illustrated by Daniel Minter
Putnam Juvenile
ISBN: 9780399250033
Ages 5-8
32 pages
Ellen always knew the broom resting above the hearth was special. Before it was legal for her mother and father to officially be married, the broom was what made them a family anyway. But now all former slaves who had already been married in their hearts could register as lawful husband and wife.
When Ellen and her family make the long trip to the courthouse dressed in their best, she brings the broom her parents had jumped so many years before. Even though freedom has come, Ellen knows the old traditions are important too. After Mama and Papa's names are recorded in the register, Ellen nearly bursts with pride as her parents jump the broom once again.
FREEDOM’S A–CALLIN’ ME
Ntozake Shange
illustrated by Rod Brown
Amistad/HarperCollins
ISBN: 9780061337413
Ages 8-12
32 pages
Fleeing on the Underground Railroad meant walking long distances; swimming across streams; hiding in abandoned shanties, swamps and ditches, always on the run from slave.
The Underground Railroad operated on secrecy and trust. But who could be trusted?
There were free black and white men and women helping, risking their lives, too. Because freedom was worth any risk.
FREEDOM SONG: The Story of Henry “Box” Brown
written by Sally M. Walker
illustrated by Sean Qualls
HarperCollins
ISBN: 9780060583101
Ages 4-8
40 pages
Henry “Box” Brown’s ingenious escape from slavery is celebrated for its daring and originality. Throughout his life, Henry was fortified by music, family, and a dream of freedom. When he seemed to lose everything, he forged these elements into the song that sustained him through the careful planning and execution of his perilous journey to the North.
JAZZ AGE JOSEPHINE
Jonah Winter
illustrated by Marjorie Priceman
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 9781416961239
Ages 4-8
40 pages
Singer, dancer, actress and independent dame Josephine Baker felt life was a performance. She lived by her own rules and helped to shake up the status quo with wild costumes and a you-can’t-tell-me-no attitude that made her famous. She even had a pet leopard in Paris!
Rising from a poor, segregated upbringing, Josephine Baker was able to break through racial barriers with her own sense of flair and astonishing dance abilities. She was a pillar of steel with a heart of gold --- all wrapped up in feathers, sequins and an infectious rhythm.
WHEN GRANDMAMA SINGS
written by Margaree King Mitchell
illustrated by James Ransome
Amistad/HarperCollins
ISBN: 9780688175634
Ages 5-9
40 pages
When Grandmama Coles gets a big chance, Belle gets one, too. Belle is going to spend the summer touring the South with Grandmama and a swing jazz band! Belle has never been outside Pecan Flats, Mississippi, and she can't wait to go on the road with Grandmama, helping her read signs and menus and hearing her sing. There are so many new things to see on their travels through the Deep South. But some things aren't new. Everything is segregated, just like at home. But Grandmama stands up for what's right. And when she sings, Belle knows that Grandmama's song can bring everyone together.
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