The Great Wide Sea
by Madaline Herlong Grades 6-10
(J Herlong)
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Fifteen year old Ben and his brothers are stunned when their father sells their home, buys a sailboat and announces that they will live on board and cruise the Bahamas for the coming year. When their father disappears overboard one night, the boys have to survive and keep their boat afloat through a fierce Atlantic storm. Lost at sea in a damaged boat, they become stranded on an island with little food, little water and little hope of rescue. |
Steady Hands: poems about work
by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer Grades 4-8
(J 811 Zimmer)
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Picture yourself in the future. What kind of work do you see yourself doing?
What would your day be like if you were a baker? an electrician? a florist? a fisherman setting out at the break of dawn? a computer programmer fixing a bug? Short free-verse poems and beautiful illustrations combine to profile a wide variety of jobs. |
The Hunt for the Seventh
by Christine Morton-Shaw Grades 6-8
(J Morton-Shaw) |
When his father starts a new job at Minerva Hall as gardener, Jim begins to see the ghosts of long dead children, whom no one else can see. Urging him to “find the Seventh”, the children leave him cryptic clues pointing to a devastating ancient prophecy that only he can stop from being fulfilled. |
The Graveyard Book
by Neil Gaiman
Grades 5-8 (J Gaiman)
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Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, would be a completely normal boy if he didn’t live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. Bod would like to venture out of the graveyard, but then he could be found by the man Jack, who has already killed Bod’s family. |
The Highwayman’s Footsteps
by Nicola Morgan
Grades 7 & up
(Teen Morgan) |
In eighteenth century England, William runs away from his father, only to be captured by an armed highwayman, who turns out to be a girl, and together they seek vengeance against William’s cruel father and the soldiers who killed the girl’s parents. (If you have read Alfred Noyes famous poem “The Highwayman” you may be able to guess who the girl’s parents were). |
How the hangman lost his heart
by K.M.Grant
Grades 7 and up
(Teen Grant) |
When her Uncle Frank is executed for treason against England’s King George in 1746 and his severed head is mounted on a pike for public viewing, daring Alice tries to reclaim the head for a proper burial, finding an unlikely ally in the soft-hearted executioner, while incurring the wrath of the royal guard. The story was inspired by an ancestor of the author, who was executed in the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion. |
The Curse of the Romanovs
by Staton Rabin
Grades 7-10 (J Rabin) |
In 1916, teenage hemophiliac and heir to the Russian crown Alexei Romanov escapes into the future to elude the murderous Rasputin, and meets his modern-day cousin, fifteen-year-old Varda, who is working on a cure for hemophilia and who wants to change history by saving his family. |
Wolf! Wolf!
by John Rocco
Ages 4-7 (J 398.2 Rocco) |
The hungry old wolf has been dreaming of a feast, but all he can manage to scrounge up from his garden are a few weeds. One day, he hears a young shepherd boy call “Wolf! Wolf!”. Could it be that the boy is inviting him over for lunch? This is a hilarious retelling, with a twist, of the classic Aesop fable. |
Red Ridin’ in the Hood: and other cuentos
by Patricia Santos Marcantonio
Grades 3-6
(J 398.2 Marcantonio) |
Author Marcantonio has retold the stories she cherished as a child, with an injection of Latino culture. The title story’ “Red Ridin’ in the Hood” moves the setting to the barrio, where Red decides to brave dangerous Forest Street in order to reach her sick abuelita and encounters the menacing wolf in a thumping low-rider Chevy. “El Dia de los Muertos”, a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, takes place in the time of the Aztecs and casts Orpheus as the feather craftsman Nochehuatl. The stories, as in the original versions, contain at their core the enduring message of the power of goodness and love. |
It’s Probably Penny
by Loreen Leedy
Grades 1-4
(J 519.2 Leedy)
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Lisa and her class are learning about probability. For part of her homework, Lisa has to think of an event that will happen, one that might happen, and one that can’t happen. Who is that Boston terrier that keeps popping up? It’s probably Penny! |
The Red Thread
by Roderick Townley
Ages 12 & up
(Teen Townley) |
How do you avenge- or forgive- your own murder four hundred years after it happened? Prompted by recurring dreams, sixteen-year-old Dana Landgrave uncovers and ancient crime that has drawn the same souls together through three lifetimes. |
Hunwick’s Egg
by Mem Fox
Ages 4-7 (JJ Fox) |
When a mysterious egg appears outside Hunwick’s burrow, no one is certain what to think. And when it doesn’t hatch right away, everyone is even more bewildered. Everyone, that is, but Hunwick. For Hunwick understands the egg. It is his friend. And he is the only one who knows its secret. |
Firestorm
by David Klass
Grades 8 and up
(Teen Klass) |
His mother is not his mother. His father is not his father. And if he hadn’t broken the high school rushing record that night, nothing would have changed. But he did break the record. He appeared on the news. And now they have found him. Jack was sent back from the future for a special purpose, but now he is being hunted, and even his friends could turn out to be his enemies. |
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While Robert is attending his first “night party” to celebrate Great-Gran Sadie’s 100th birthday, his manners disappoint family members and relatives but please the guest of honor, who loves his dance steps. |
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Having reluctantly accompanied his academic mother and pesky younger sister to Oxford, twelve-year-old Blake Winters is at loose ends until he stumbles across an ancient and magical book, secretly brought to England in 1453 by Gutenberg’s mute apprentice to save it from evil forces, and which now draws Blake into a dangerous and life-threatening quest. |
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The nineteen stories in this book focus on the magical lore and wondrous imaginings of African American women, and the legendary characters range from Annie Christmas, the notorious seven-foot tall riverboat operator to Cat Woman, a New Orleans vampire. Paintings by Leo and Diane Dillon glow with the drama and mystery of each tale. |
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Every dog has a tale to tell, and in this beautifully illustrated collection of poetry the canines speak up to tell about squeaky toys, mischief, cats, people, and yes- stealing a whole pie. |
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While conducting research for a school paper on smallpox, Mitty finds an envelope containing 100 year old smallpox scabs and fears that he has infected himself and all of New York City. |
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It’s 1907 and Bing’s father makes a living in Chinatown by digging up the bones of the dead before sending them home to China for a proper burial. Bing hates helping his father with his work, and things go from bad to worse when they discover that Mr. Shums’ skull is missing from his grave. A string of bad luck ensues—could Mr. Shum’s ghost be angry? |
Black Storm Comin’
Diane Lee Wilson
Grade 5 & up (J Wilson) |
Twleve year old Colton, son of a black mother and a white father, takes a job with the Pony Express in 1860 after his father abandons the family on their California-bound wagon train, and risks his life to deliver an important letter that may affect the growing conflict between the North and the South. |
Sally Jean, the Bicycle Queen
by Cari Best
Ages 4-8
(JJ Best) |
Sally Jean was born to ride, but one day she finds herself too big for her bicycle, Flash! What’s a Bicycle Queen to do? Sally Jean solves the problem with great resourcefulness. |
Night Gate
by Isobelle Carmody
Grade 5 to 7
(J Fiction)
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Seeking a cure for her sick mother, Courage "Rage" Winnoway and her dogs pass through a magical gate way to a strange land known as Valley where they must find, before the sands in an enchanted hourglass runs out, the powerful wizard noted for his healing magic. |
Clemency Pogue: Fairy Killer
by J.T.Petty
Grades 4-6 |
Clever and resourceful Clemency must travel the world to reanimate fairies she has accidentally killed. |
