Before bed, you’ve got to say “Sweep, sweep, bring me sleep. Clear the webs from my room with the bristliest broom.” Patrick forgot. Now he is not-Patrick. Liza’s mother is too worried about paying the bills and her father too distracted trying to find his glasses to listen when Liza... Read More
“It began with a rat. There was also a glasses-wearing elderly iguana, a grumpy fish who could spell, a ghost in the clock tower, a secret message in the library, and a twisted evil that lived on the fourth floor of our school. But those’ll all come later. First, there... Read More
Raven-haired Persephone is gathering spring flowers in the fields when the ground opens up, and Hades, King of the Underworld, ascends in his chariot and abducts her. "You will be Queen and light up my kingdom," he declares imperiously. Into the Underworld they race, while Persephone's friends race to tell... Read More
This first book in the Tomorrow Girls series is the perfect book for a summer camping trip! Although it is set in a futuristic world in the middle of a war, much of the content has more of an old-fashioned feel. Best friends Louisa and Maddie are sent off to... Read More
“I’m not exactly in the Lake District.” Far from it. I mean, really far from it. Outer-space-far-from-it, in fact. For as this enormously entertaining tale begins, almost-twelve-year-old Liam is using his cell phone to record an explanation to his father about how exactly he ended up on a rocket to... Read More
It's Michael K.'s first day in a new school, P.S. 868, in a new city, Brooklyn, New York, and though he's only been there for twenty minutes, it's already seriously weird. His new teacher, Mrs. Halley, has put him in the slow group with two strange new kids. How strange?... Read More
This fierce and engaging series introduces a world of wild, brave cats fighting for survival. Clans of cats roam forests and marshlands, battling enemy clans for control over their scarce prey. When Rusty, a kittypet, owned by a pair of Twolegs and living on bland kitty food, ventures into the... Read More
"On Career Day Lily visited her dad's work with him and discovered he worked for a mad scientist who wanted to rule the earth through destruction and desolation." Isn't that just the best first line? This is one of those high-powered Kids Save the World types of book, a postmodern... Read More
Simon has the potential to be a great weather caster – not predicting it, but literally creating weather depending on his mood. The question is whether he will use his powers for good or evil. Read More
It’s not every eleven-year-old who can survive maple syrup squirted into his hair; puddle-splashes leaving spots in indiscrete places on his pants; his dog following him to school and then attacking the principal; and a mishap – no two, make that three – that injures the most popular boy at... Read More
In a wordless graphic novel, a gray dog assembles, from a mail-order Tin Robot Kit, a new robot companion. Together, the dog and robot check books out at the library, cook popcorn, watch TV, and take a Greyhound bus to the beach where they cavort in the water and fall... Read More
When Katherine Paterson, the United States Ambassador for Children’s Books, and her husband John Paterson saw The Flint Heart on a list of author’s picks from the 20th century that should still be read in the new millennium, they were intrigued. When they read Eden Phillpott’s original story (1910), they... Read More
"The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses its turning." This magical tale about drinking from a spring of immortality centers on a ten-year-old girl, Winnie Foster, who longs... Read More
How delicious, how delightful, how utterly sensational it is to have a chunky-sized new book of Prelutsky poems. Our first Children’s Poet Laureate does not disappoint, with a rousing compendium of 105 rhyming verses about a dog who can s-p-e-l-l; an underwater marching band, impossible to hear and perennially wet;... Read More
Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy evacuate London during the Blitz of World War II to live in a Professor Kirke's house on the English countryside. One rainy, dull day, while playing hide and seek in the house, Lucy falls through the back of the wardrobe in which she chose to... Read More
The Prologue of this nifty, tongue-in-cheek little novel explains how, during the golden age of men and gods, Zeus became enraged at the lazy humans who took the gods for granted and removed fire from the earth as punishment. Prometheus, the Titan, stole the fire from Mount Olympus to give... Read More
Peer into just one chapter of this oversized collection of Greek myth character stories and you'll see why it's been such a favorite classic for fifty years. Husband and wife team Edgar and Ingri Read More
In the first book of the Spiderwick Chronicles, nine-year-old Jared, his twin, Simon, and their thirteen-year-old sister, Mallory, move with their mother to Great-aunt Lucinda's broken down Victorian mansion. Ever since their dad left, everything has gone wrong for Jared, and he has been getting in lots of trouble at... Read More
In a house on Egypt Street lives a china rabbit named Edward Tulane, doted over by his girl, ten-year-old Abilene Tulane. Every day she dresses the rabbit in one of his fine silk suits and winds his gold pocket watch. "I love you Edward," Abilene says to Edward each night... Read More
Theo Saint, suffering from a dangerous illness, is only allowed out of his locked bedroom in Kensington Gore--one of London's wealthiest quarters--once a year, on his birthday. The Three are the only people he has ever known: his guardian, Dr. Saint, his butler, Mr. Nicely, and his deaf nurse... Read More
The book begins with a letter signed by Harold X, a very articulate dog who wishes the story of his family to be heard. The X family, aka the Monroes, have two boys, Toby and Peter, and live with Chester, a cat and of course the narrator, Harold the dog.... Read More
Gregor's mother needs him to stay home this summer to take care of his two-year old sister, Boots, instead of going to camp. Since his father disappeared, two years, seven months, and thirteen days ago, twelve-year-old Gregor hasn't had a day when he's felt real happiness. Gregor knows his dad... Read More
In the city of Baltese, Peter Augustus Duchene, a ten-year-old orphan, is sent to the open air market for fish and bread. Instead, he spends his only florin to ask a question of a fortuneteller. She tells him this: "Your sister? That is your question? Very well. She lives .... Read More
Younger children with a bat phobia learn to get over it and love the flying mice when they read Janell Cannon's classic picture book, Stellaluna. Older readers are enthralled when they meet Shade, the rebellious and nonconformist bat in Kenneth Oppel's trilogy, starting with Silverwing.Runt. That's... Read More
Amanda and Leo, born on the same day and in the same hospital, are about to turn 11. Until now, they have shared a birthday party every year, but this year will be different. At their tenth birthday party last year, Amanda overheard Leo making a disparaging remark to his... Read More
Starting with the reality of the Dust Bowl in Kansas in 1937, The Storm in the Barn is a graphic novel (meaning big comic book) about a boy named Jack and his family’s struggles to survive the drought and keep their farm. Bullied by the bigger boys, Jack... Read More
Mr. and Mrs. Nutmouse live in a thirty-six-room mansion called Nutmouse Hall, located in the broom closet off the kitchen of Rose Cottage, owned by a human widower named Mr. Mildew. Mr. Mildew, an inventor, is an absent-minded father to his children, Arthur and Lucy, and the house is in... Read More
Desperate to find a nanny for his three children—eleven-year-old Derrick, nine-year-old Samantha, and seven-year-old Michael—Mr. Green, a parsimonious and dreadfully boring lawyer, pounds a sign for a nanny on his front lawn. After three weeks with no response, he is only too willing to hire the four-foot pig in a... Read More
Writing with a genuine understanding of how kids feel, think and behave, and out of a belief that there are powers beyond our own that help us through difficult times, Ilene Cooper presents the story of four middle-school kids who are facing tough times. “Do you believe in angels?” I... Read More
Katlin Graham, better known as Kat, loves gold. So much so that she named her childhood pony Goldie. So much so that when she was four and broke a front tooth she insisted on having it capped in gold. So much so that when she sees an ad on the... Read More
“Remember your father and I love you very much. And we will all be together again. I promise.” Although only four-years-old at the time, Kate remembers the vow her mother made when she and her younger siblings were hurriedly, inexplicably sent away a decade ago. Since then, Kate, Michael, and... Read More
Hakata Soy leaves his past as the leader of a superhero team to attend Astronaut Academy, a school on a space station orbiting Earth. He hopes to make a fresh start in life, but his heroic past keeps catching up with him. All he wants to do is study for... Read More
In this novel based on Hans Christian Anderson’s The Snow Queen, the real magic is in how Anne Ursu shapes a distant classic winter favorite into a beautiful, thought-provoking contemporary tale, while enhancing the richness of the message, imagery, and characters. The book asks readers to consider the lengths they... Read More
Hank Wolowitz, only son of parents who own a Brooklyn ice cream store, is sad and lonely. He’s about to start fourth grade without his best friend whose family has just moved to Iowa City. Older sister, Nadia, doesn’t have time for Hank: she’s studying for the PSATs and texting... Read More
In Quill there are three types of people: Wanteds, Necessaries, and Unwanteds. Wanteds, as their name suggests, are the most valued members of society. Necessaries are tolerated for whatever menial skill they may possess. And Unwanteds, typically those showing a flare for creativity and resistance to conformity, are put to... Read More
After her father and his girlfriend are murdered, under-developed but life-hardened Roo is sent to live with a rich uncle she never knew she had. Uncle Emmett lives on Cough Island in a partly renovated tuberculosis... Read More
Mirka wants to slay dragons -- not that she has ever seen one in her Orthodox Jewish community. But in this exuberant graphic novel nothing is as you would expect. Take her step-mother Frumka. Sharp, intelligent, and ultimately very clued into her stepdaughter, she’s not the nasty sort so often... Read More
Sixth grader Lerner Chase, new girl at Cleveland Middle School, is considered a slug (Sorry Loser Under Ground) by the popular kids in the MPOOE (Most Powerful Ones on Earth) Club. As Lerner soon discovers, her new pet worm, Fip is a most unusual fellow. Fip is an outcast in... Read More
On her walk to school, fifth grader Amy Prochenko encounters a medium-sized, long-furred brown, white, and black dog with floppy ears. "Excuse me," he says, "I'm in trouble. Could you please help me?" Though she is panicked at encountering a talking dog, Amy stops to listen. The dog's name is... Read More
The Bloomswell Diaries is a steampunk adventure story, centered on eight-year-old Benjamin Bloomswell. (If you’re unfamiliar with the term, steampunk is a new science fiction genre. Think Jules Verne, steam-powered machines, airships, and Victorian aspects.) While Benjamin is no hero, the events that occur in the novel would test any... Read More
Many kids daydream about having wings and being able to soar across the sky. Be careful what you wish for. For the narrator, 14-year-old Max, it’s no dream. “Welcome to our nightmare,” she says in her Prologue to the first book in the electric Maximum Ride series. Maximum Ride is... Read More
Connwaer, an orphan boy who makes his living picking pockets and locks, nicks a locus magicalicus, a wizard's stone, from the pocket of an old man, and somehow survives the ensuing explosion of magic. The old man is a wizard named Nevery, who was banished from the city of Wellmet... Read More
After his dear parents are eaten by an enormous and angry rhinoceros, escaped from the London Zoo, James Henry Trotter spends his next four years doing the bidding of the most odious and awful of relatives, Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker. His life seems hopeless until the day he encounters... Read More
Lindy, Thomas, and Benjamin, three ordinary siblings, ages 7 to 13, are at the zoo when they first encounter Professor Savant. You'll excuse me for butting in," he says to them. "But if you're looking for something really unusual, have you ever considered a Whangdoodle?" According to the professor, the... Read More
“I wish that I didn't sometimes, but I remember everything about that cursed, unspeakably unhappy night twelve years ago, when I was just three years old and both my parents were murdered.” That's just the start of Daniel's extraordinary narrative that grabs you by the scruff of the neck and... Read More
This past decade, we have been blessed with the Harry Potter effect, and that fantastical boy wizard is still casting his dazzling spell across the Earth. What is it about Harry Potter that has worked its way into the lives and psyches of readers worldwide? There have been many good... Read More
On Sam's birthday, the one he thinks will be the worst ever, his Aunty Dot brings to the house a small white dog she has just hit with her car. The dog, which Sam names Jenny, has no obvious injuries, though in her mouth, she is holding a sprig of... Read More
In the City of Ember in year 241, the sky is always dark. There is no moon, or even sun in Ember. The electric lights come on every morning at six, and go out every night at nine. The city is old, and everything, including the power lines, needs repair.... Read More
“Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood. If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life. Being a half-blood... Read More
"Where's Papa going with that ax?" eight-year-old Fern Arable asks her mother at breakfast, and from that first line, we're pulled right into a masterfully told story filled with compassion, humor, and heart. Yes, Fern saves the runt of the litter, but it's not just a story about a girl... Read More
Fut a whunny bew nook! There are tworty-foo feally runny pyming rhoems about Runny Babbit and pots of his lals in this bazy crook. Didn't understand those last sentences? They are filled with Spoonerisms, where consonants are switched for pairs of words. Or, as the introductory poem says, "If you... Read More
“It is such the disappointment," says the mouse mother, Antoinette, upon learning that all of her newborn litter of babies has died, save one. Despereaux, his mother names him, for all the sadness and despairs in the castle where the mice live. Despereaux Tilling is a ridiculously small mouse with... Read More