Middle Grade Fiction

The Good, the Bad and the Beagle - Catherine Lloyd Burns
Shy, eleven-year-old Veronica Louse Morgan of New York City is not happy about having to attend Randolf School for Girls, but by the end of her first year she not only has some new friends, she may have finally convinced her parents that she is ready to own a dog.

The Captive Prince - Scott Chantler
Dessa, Topper and Fisk, still searching for Dessa's missing twin brother, find themselves in a mess after Dessa accidently rescues a prince.


Revealed - Margaret Peterson Haddix
Book 7 in the The Missing series. After returning the missing children from history to their original time periods, thirteen-year-old Jonah must save time itself when aviator Charles Lindbergh mysteriously appears and kidnaps Jonah's sister.


The Crossover - Alexandar Kwame
The 2015 Newbery Medal winner. Fourteen-year-old twin basketball stars Josh and Jordan wrestle with highs and lows on and off the court as their father ignores his declining health.


Rain Reign - Ann M. Martin
Struggling with Asperger's, Rose shares a bond with her beloved dog, but when the dog goes missing during a storm, Rose is forced to confront the limits of her comfort levels, even if it means leaving her routines in order to search for her pet.



The Shadow Throne - Jennifer Nielsen
Young King Jaron has had nothing but trouble with his advisors and regents since he ascended the throne of Carthya, and now King Vargan of Avenia has invaded the land and captured Imogen--and Jaron must find some way to rescue her and save his kingdom.

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Ender's Game (based on the book by Orson Scott Card)
A hostile alien race attacked Earth, and if not for the legendary heroics of Fleet Commander Mazer Rackham, all would have been lost. In preparation for the next attack, Colonel Hyrum Graff is training only the best young children. Ender Wiggin, a shy, but brilliant boy, is soon ordained by Graff as the military's next great hope. Once at Command School, he's trained by Mazer Rackham, himself, to lead them into an epic battle that will determine the future of Earth and save the human race.

The Giver (based on the book by Lois Lowry)
The story centers on Jonas, a young man who lives in a supposedly ideal world of conformity and contentment. Yet as he begins to spend time with the elder, who is the sole keeper of all the community's memories, Jonas quickly begins to discover the dark and deadly truths of his community's secret past. At extreme odds, Jonas knows that he must escape their world to protect them all; a challenge that no one has ever succeeded at before.

The Maze Runner (based on the book by James Dashner)
When Thomas wakes up trapped in a massive maze with a group of other boys, he has no memory of the outside world other than strange dreams about a mysterious organization known as W.C.K.D. Only by piecing together fragments of his past with clues he discovers in the maze can Thomas hope to uncover his true purpose and a way to escape.

Fiction for Elementary Grades

Under the Egg - Laura Marx Fitzgerald
Her grandfather's dying words lead thirteen-year-old Theodora Tenpenny to a valuable, hidden painting she fears may be stolen, but it is her search for answers in her Greenwich Village neighborhood that brings a real treasure.

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy - Karen Foxlee
Ophelia, a timid eleven-year-old girl grieving her mother, suspends her disbelief in things non-scientific when a boy locked in the museum where her father is working asks her to help him complete an age-old mission.


Gabriel Finley and the Raven's Riddle - George Hagen
Eleven-year-old Gabriel, with the help of the young raven Paladin, which whom he has a magical bond, travels to the foreboding land of Aviopolis, where he must face challenges and unanswerable riddles to rescue his long-missing father.

Dory Fantasmagory - Abby Hanlon
Dory, the youngest in her family, is a girl with a very active imagination, and she spends the summer playing with her imaginary friend, pretending to be a dog, battling monsters, and generally driving her family nuts.


Fly Away - Patricia MacLachlan
While in North Dakota helping her Aunt Frankie prepare for a possible flood, Lucy finds her voice as a poet with the help of her two-year-old brother Teddy, the rest of their family, and a few cows.

Maddy Kettle: The Adventure of the Thimblewitch - Eric Orchard
Eleven-year-old Maddy loved working in her parents' bookstore, especially when joined by her pet flying toad Ralph. But that was before the mysterious Thimblewitch turned her mom & dad into kangaroo rats! Now Maddy's on the adventure of a lifetime. To save her parents, she'll need to sneak past an army of spider-goblins, scarecrow warriors, and much more. Fortunately, an assortment of new friends await, including the cloud cartographers Harry and Silvio, a bear and raccoon who explore the world in their moon-balloon. They'll help her along the way, but in the end, the fate of everyone will depend on Maddy's courage, compassion, and creativity.

Nuts to You - Lynne Rae Perkins
The squirrels Jed, TsTs, and Chai are the very best of friends. So when Jed is snatched up by a hawk and carried away to another realm, TsTs and Chai resolve to go after him. New communities are discovered, new friends are made, huge danger is encountered (both man-made and of the fox and bobcat variety) and mysteries are revealed.

The Map to Everywhere - Carrie Ryan
Twelve-year-old Fin, a master thief from the pirate world of Khaznot Quay, and Marrill, also twelve, of Arizona, cross paths in the magical world of the Pirate Stream while on a quest for a mysterious map.


The Whispering Skull - Jonathan Stroud
Lockwood & Co. are hired to investigate Edmund Bickerstaff, a Victorian doctor who reportedly tried to communicate with the dead, while Lucy is distracted by urgent whispers coming from the skull in a ghost jar.

New Picture Books

Wall - Tom Clohosy Cole
Follows a small boy and his family as they try to reunite with his father after the Berlin Wall is built.

Pickles and the P-Flock Bullies - Stephen Cosgrove
"Pickles, a young Orca whale, is born with green patches instead of white. Her only friend is a harbor seal. When the P Flock, a nasty group of seagulls, starts to pick on her friend, Pickles discovers how deep and hurtful bullying can be."-- Provided by publisher


Abuelo - Arthur Dorros
Together, a young boy and his abuelo (grandfather) go camping, ride horses, and even confront a mountain lion. Soon, the boy's family moves to the city from the country, away from Abuelo, and it is the boy's memories that help him adjust to his new life.

Hansel & Gretel - Neil Gaiman
Two abandoned children come upon a gingerbread cottage inhabited by a cruel witch who wants to eat them.


Stone Soup with Matzoh Balls: A Passover Tale in Chelm - Linda Glaser
In this version of the familiar tale, an old man tricks the townspeople of Chelm into contributing the necessary ingredients for making a Seder feast for all to share.

Coming Home - Ruth Greg
Follows the emotions of a young boy as he waits at an airport for a family member to return home from serving in the military.


Shh! We Have a Plan - Chris Haughton
Four friends creep through the woods, and what do they spot? An exquisite bird high in a tree! 'Hello birdie,' waves one. 'Shh! We have a plan,' hush the others. They stealthily make their advance, nets in the air. Ready one, ready two, ready three, and go! But as one comically foiled plan follows another, it soon becomes clear that their quiet, observant companion, hand outstretched, has a far better idea. Award-winning author-illustrator Chris Haughton is back with another simple, satisfying story whose visual humor plays out in boldly graphic, vibrantly colorful illustrations.

Mustache Baby - Bridget Heos
A picture book about baby Billy, who is born with a mustache, and his parents, who must figure our if it's a Good-Guy mustache, or a Bad-Guy mustache.


Sparky! - Jenny Offill
A child takes a sloth named Sparky as a pet.

Books for Beginningers

Global Baby Boys - Maya Ajmera (Board Book)
A board book depicting male children from around the world.

Big Bug - Henry Cole
Beginning with a bug, various objects are revealed as being big and small in comparison with other objects on a farm under the big, big sky.


Go, Shapes, Go! - Denise Fleming
Circles, rectangles, ovals, arcs, and more have fun moving about, along with a mischievous mouse that wants to play, too.

Planes Go - Steve Light
Describes the sounds of eight different kinds of airplanes.

Nonfiction

Music:

Be a Recorder Star - Ed Sueta

Method book for the beginning recorder player.

Science:

As an Oak Tree Grows - Brian G. Karas (Grades K-3)
From 1775 to the present, the landscape around a lone oak tree goes through significant changes

Boy, Were We Wrong about the Solar System! - Kathleen V. Kudlinski (Grade K-3)
An informative look at how scientific theories have changed over time concerning the solar system.

Animal School: What Class Are You? - Michelle Lord (Grades K-3)
Rhyming text introduces young readers to the five classes of vertebrates, describing the characteristics of reptiles, fish, mammals, birds, and amphibians.

It's Catching: The infectious World of Germs and Microbes - Jennifer Gardy (Grades 3-6)
Presents general information about different types of germs, as well as the diseases they cause, and how people work to prevent them from spreading.


Incredible Experiments with Chemical Reactions and Mixtures - Paul Navarro & Ángeles Jiménez (Grades 3-9)
Presents 16 simple experiments that can be performed with common objects found around the house. The book explores concepts like water density, oxidation, and more are explored using simple household materials. Each experiment includes illustrated, step-by-step instructions and a simple scientific explanation of what is happening during the experiment. Full-color illustrations on each page.

Forensics: Uncover the Science and Technology of Crime Scene Investigation - Carla Mooney (grades 9-12)
Presents an overview of forensic science and crime scene investigation, featuring projects in the areas of documenting a crime scene, identifying fingerprints, analyzing blood spatter, and extracting DNA.


Social Studies:
Seeds of Freedom: The Peaceful Integration of Huntsville, Alabama - Hester Bass (Grades K-3)
Explore a little-known story of the civil rights movement, in which black and white citizens in one Alabama city worked together nonviolently to end segregation.


Ben Franklin's Big Splash: The Mostly True Story of His First Invention - Barb Rosenstock
(Grades 3-6)
Ben Franklin loved to swim and, at the age of eleven, he was determined to swim like a fish--fins and all. This ... account of young Ben's earliest invention follows the budding scientist's journey as he tests and retests his swim fins. That first big splash led Ben to even more innovations and inventions. Includes Franklin quotes, a timeline, bibliography, and source notes.

Strike! The Farm Workers' Fight for Their Rights - Larry Dane Brimner (Grades 5-8)
In the 1960s, while the United States was at war and racial tensions were boiling over, Filipino American workers were demanding fair wages and decent living conditions in California's vineyards. When the workers walked out of the fields in September 1965, the great Delano grape strike began. Did the signing of labor contracts with growers in 1970 mean an end to the problems of American field laborers, or was it a short-lived truce? Award-winning author Larry Dane Brimner follows the five-year-long strike through the rise of César Chávez and the United Farm Workers. Brimner's riveting text, complemented by black-and-white archival photographs and the words of workers, organizers, and growers, tells the powerful story.

Malala Yousafzai and the Girls of Pakistan - David Aretha (Grades 9-12)
When fifteen-year-old Malala Yousafzai spoke out against the Taliban's policy of forbidding education for girls, an attempt was made on her life. This is her story, which also includes information on other hardships faced by young women in Pakistan.

Leaving China: An Artist Paints His World War II Childhood - James McMullan (Grades 9-12)
Illustrator James McMullan discusses how his early childhood in China and his wartime journeys with his mother influenced his life and career.




Collections:

Guys Read: True Stories - edited by Jon Scieszka (Grades 5-8)
"Jon Scieszka's Guys Read anthology series for tweens turns to nonfiction in its fifth volume, True Stories. The fifth installment in the Guys Read Library of Great Reading features ten stories that are 100% amazing, 100% adventurous, 100% unbelievable--and 100% true. A star-studded group of award-winning nonfiction authors and journalists provides something for every reader, all aligned with the Common Core State Standards. Compiled and edited by real-life literature legend Jon Scieszka, Guys Read: True Stories is a mind-blowing collection of essays, biographies, how-to guides, and more, all proving that the truth is most definitely out there. Supports the Common Core State Standards"-- Provided by publisher