A Load of Old Tripe


Gervase Phinn - 2009
    In fact, things can be quite complicated, and don't always turn out as he'd planned . . . Born in 1946, Jimmy lives with his Mum and Dad in a shiny red brick terraced house in South Yorkshire near the steel works. Sometimes the air is thick and metallic tasting, with bits of soot floating around like little black snowflakes. Despite all this, Jimmy wouldn't want to live anywhere else. His very best friend, Ignatius Plunkett, is a scrawny boy with a sharp beak of a nose, ears like jug handles and a mop of jet black hair. Micky is his rather 'posh' friend from the big houses down the road. The boys get into a few scrapes in the year leading up to the eleven-plus exams, but will they come out on top in the end? Will Jimmy survive a week looking after Butch, the temperamental, barrel-bodied bull terrier? Will the truth about the trip to buy Dad's tripe ever come out? What really happens to Jimmy's Mum's coffee and walnut cake, and will the mystery of the missing locket ever get solved?

Tulia!


Joan Harries - 2012
    After the little boy Ellen was babysitting was tucked into bed for the night Ellen scooped-up bowls of her favorite ice cream for each of them, but that’s when Aisha’s keen senses kicked in, she smelled something… she smelled smoke. In this scary moment, a very brave girl, armed with her mother’s voice, finds courage… (from the distributor's website)(This is a free story from the book Girls to the Rescue Book #5: Tales of Clever, Courageous Girls from Around the World)

Peanuts: Happiness Is A Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown!


Charles M. Schulz - 2011
    Charles Schulz's world-renowned comic strip, Peanuts, takes the stage as a graphic novel! Adapted from the animated special, Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown, this timeless retelling takes us back to the neighborhood and features Linus' insecurities, Charlie Brown's kite-flying woes, Lucy's unrequited love for Schroeder, and everyone's favorite beagle, Snoopy, in a lively and colorful spin through Charles Schulz's imagination.

How (Not) to Kiss Your Dog


Susan Lash - 2012
    After her brother Jack adopts Albert, a Jack Russell terrier, Jenny’s calm life becomes terrier-ized. The story details the friendship that eventually develops between Jenny and Albert as he widens her world to include a variety of new people and experiences. How (NOT) to Kiss Your Dog contains humor, youthful romance and dog spit. Combine those elements with an eccentric grandmother, the second witch from Macbeth and a wild tongued terrier. Shake well. The result is an award winning science fair experiment that finally answers the age old dog vs. human oral hygiene question: “Are dogs’ mouths really cleaner than humans’?”

Supernatural Hero


Eran Gadot - 2013
    At least they would be paying attention to me…”So thinks Andy, the boy everyone makes fun of because he’s really skinny and wears glasses and talks to himself, the nerdiest kid in the class, who falls in love with the prettiest girl in the class. Andy believes that he will show all the geeks that one of them can go out with the queen of the class! And one day it happens, thanks to Grandpa who has turned into a ghost. Ever since, Andy can see all kinds of ghosts and talk to them, and that's why he is the only one who can save the lovely Zoe from the evil spirit that got into her home. Will he becomes a supernatural hero and win the girl..?

The Adventure Begins


Richard Ashley Hamilton - 2017
    This novel includes never-before-told scenes!For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command!Fifteen-year-old Jim Lake is just an ordinary teenager. That is, of course, until he is chosen to be the first human protector of a secret world of Trolls living below his peaceful hometown of Arcadia. If Jim fails at his mission, humankind will cease to exist. The fate of the world rests on his shoulders. Can Jim be the Trollhunter and stay a normal kid at the same time? Probably not. But being normal was never really any fun anyway.Fans of the Netflix series are sure to be enthralled by this thrilling retelling of how Jim Lake’s amazing adventure began. Not only that, they can also learn details about Jim’s backstory and home life that aren’t included in the episode. The Adventure Begins is a must-read for all Trollhunters fans!This book includes full-color glossy inserts with images from the episode!DreamWorks Trollhunters © 2017 DreamWorks Animation LLC. All Rights Reserved.

A Thousand Never Evers


Shana Burg - 2008
    But when her careless act leads to her brother’s disappearance and possible murder, Addie Ann, Mama, and Uncle Bump struggle with not knowing if he’s dead or alive. Then a good deed meant to unite Kuckachoo sets off a chain of explosive events. Addie Ann knows Old Man Adams left his land to the white and black people to plant a garden and reap its bounty together, but the mayor denies it. On garden picking day, Addie Ann’s family is sorely tested. Through tragedy, she finds the voice to lead a civil rights march all her own, and maybe change the future for her people.

Amazing Greek Myths of Wonder and Blunders


Michael Townsend - 2010
    Each story showcases the wondrous and blunderful antics of gods and mortals in bright graphics that rival the super-heroic action of The Lightning Thief, burst with the knock-yoursocks- off humor of Jeff Kinney, and still remain unerringly faithful to the original myth. Kids won't be able to resist the bickering sheep, unruly rulers, and undercover details of Amazing Greek Myths?while teachers, librarians, and parents can relish this new way to share moral messages that remain as relevant today as they were a thousand years ago.

Eric


Shaun Tan - 2008
    We found it very difficult to pronounce his name correctly, but he didn’t mind. He told us to just call him ‘Eric’.”As charming as he is curious, by the end of his stay this intriguing house guest will capture your heart. This story is from Shaun Tan’s award-winning collection Tales from Outer Suburbia.

The Awkward Yeti


Nick Seluk - 2012
    Its large text and bold illustrations make it perfect for very young children learning to read and just beginning to make friends. The Awkward Yeti explores behavior that both kids and adults can relate to, making it great for parents too. It's a very quick read that you can enjoy with your kids over and over again!

Bad Girls: Sirens, Jezebels, Murderesses, Thieves, & Other Female Villains


Jane Yolen - 2013
    Strong females smack of the unfeminine. They have been called wicked, wanton, and willful. Sometimes that is a just designation, but just as often it is not. "Well-behaved women seldom make history," is the frequently quoted statement by historian and feminist Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. But what makes these misbehaving women "bad"? Are we idolizing the wicked or salvaging the strong?In BAD GIRLS, readers meet twenty-six of history’s most notorious women, each with a rotten reputation. But authors Jane Yolen and Heidi Stemple remind us that there are two sides to every story. Was Delilah a harlot or hero? Was Catherine the Great a great ruler, or just plain ruthless? At the end of each chapter, Yolen and Stemple appear as themselves in comic panels as they debate each girl’s badness—Heidi as the prosecution, Jane for context.This unique and sassy examination of famed, female historical figures will engage readers with its unusual presentation of the subject matter. Heidi and Jane’s strong arguments for the innocence and guilt of each bad girl promotes the practice of critical thinking as well as the idea that history is subjective. Rebecca Guay’s detailed illustrations provide a rich, stylized portrait of each woman, while the inclusion of comic panels will resonate with fans of graphic novels.

Love Lessons


Jacqueline Wilson - 2005
    Forced to wear Mum's odd hand-made garments and forbidden from reading teenage magazines, they know they're very different to 'normal' girls – but when Dad has a stroke and ends up in hospital, unable to move or speak, Prue suddenly discovers what it's like to have a little freedom.Sent to a real school for the first time, Prue struggles to fit in. The only person she can talk to is her kindly, young – and handsome – art teacher, Rax. They quickly bond, and Prue feels more and more drawn to him. As her feelings grow stronger, she begins to realise that he might feel the same way about her. But nothing could ever happen between them - could it?

The Serpent in the Glass


D.M. Andrews - 2011
    Thomas, however, feels he's just an ordinary boy, but Darkledun Manor proves to be anything but an ordinary school...In this work of fiction the reader is transported into a world of myth as the young protagonist, Thomas Farrell, seeks to understand who his mysterious father was, and why he left him a strange glass orb containing a serpent. As the story progresses, Thomas and his friends become increasingly caught up in a world they never knew existed - a world beyond the standing stones.

Le mystère du lac


Jason Pamment - 2021
    However, as a thirteen-year-old stuck in the tiny town of Bugden, real adventure seems like a distant dream. But when Iris and her best friend, Sam, stumble upon an unusually dry river on the outskirts of town, they’re led to a discovery beyond anything Iris has ever read about: a hidden city and a forgotten tale of friendship.In Jason Pamment's middle grade graphic novel debut, perfect for fans of Hilda and This Was Our Pact, can Iris and Sam uncover the truth in time to keep their own friendship afloat, or will history repeat itself and pull them apart forever?

Great Power, No Responsibility (Spider-Ham Original Graphic Novel)


Steve Foxe - 2021
    Sure, it's just a publicity stunt for the beleaguered mayor-and yeah, maybe every single other super hero was busy that day -- but an award is an award!Of course, Spider-Ham isn't paying attention to the fine print telling him he didn't actually get to keep the key, and he swings off without returning the highly coveted oversized object. The next day, when the mayor's office finally gets in touch to ask for the key back, Spider-Ham realizes he must have dropped it sometime in the last 24 hours. YIKES.Now, our notoriously empty-headed hero must retrace his steps from the past day, following his own trail to discover where he dropped the key before it falls into villainous hands. Did he lose it during a rooftop chase with the Black Catfish? Drop it in the middle of a tussle with the Green Gobbler? Leave it behind while visiting Croctor Strange's magic mansion? Accidentally store it next to May Porker's vacuum cleaner? Who knows? You'll have to read to find out! But one thing's for sure -- Great Power, No Responsibility is an action-packed, hilarious adventure perfect for younger readers.