Feathers


Jacqueline Woodson - 2007
    Frannie hasn't thought much about hope. There are so many other things to think about. Each day, her friend Samantha seems a bit more holy.” There is a new boy in class everyone is calling the Jesus Boy. And although the new boy looks like a white kid, he says he’ is not white. Who is he? During a winter full of surprises, good and bad, Frannie starts seeing a lot of things in a new light: —her brother Sean's deafness, her mother's fear, the class bully's anger, her best friend's faith and her own desire for the thing with feathers.” Jacqueline Woodson once again takes readers on a journey into a young girl's heart and reveals the pain and the joy of learning to look beneath the surface.

Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus


Dusti Bowling - 2017
    And when her parents take a job running Stagecoach Pass, a rundown western theme park in Arizona, Aven moves with them across the country knowing that she’ll have to answer the question over and over again.Her new life takes an unexpected turn when she bonds with Connor, a classmate who also feels isolated because of his own disability, and they discover a room at Stagecoach Pass that holds bigger secrets than Aven ever could have imagined. It’s hard to solve a mystery, help a friend, and face your worst fears. But Aven’s about to discover she can do it all . . . even without arms.

Lola Levine Is Not Mean!


Monica Brown - 2015
    But when a soccer game during recess gets "too competitive," Lola accidentally hurts her classmate Juan Gomez. Now everyone is calling her Mean Lola Levine!Lola feels horrible, but with the help of her family and her super best friend, Josh Blot, she learns how to navigate the second grade in true Lola fashion--with humor and the power of words. In this first book in a series, Lola's big heart and creative spirit will ring true to young readers.

The Buried Bones Mystery


Sharon M. Draper - 1994
    Then Ziggy has a brilliant idea (Ziggy is always getting brilliant ideas) they can start a club, with secret meetings and code words and special treasures.And so the four friends become the Black Dinosaurs, with a terrific clubhouse they build in Ziggy's backyard. But when the boys try to hide their treasures, they're swept up in a mystery more intriguing -- and scary -- than anything they could have imagined. Who could have buried a box of bones behind their clubhouse? And why is old Mr. Greene lurking around late at night, singing "Dem bones gonna rise again"? Trust Ziggy to come up with a daring plan to find some answers....DON'T MISS ANY OF THE EXCITING ADVENTURES OF THE BLACK DINOSAURS

The Last Last-Day-of-Summer


Lamar Giles - 2019
    Otto and Sheed are the local sleuths in their zany Virginia town, masters of unraveling mischief using their unmatched powers of deduction. And as the summer winds down and the first day of school looms, the boys are craving just a little bit more time for fun, even as they bicker over what kind of fun they want to have. That is, until a mysterious man appears with a camera that literally freezes time. Now, with the help of some very strange people and even stranger creatures, Otto and Sheed will have to put aside their differences to save their town—and each other—before time stops for good.

8 Class Pets + 1 Squirrel ÷ 1 Dog = Chaos


Vivian Vande Velde - 2011
    While trying to escape from a hungry owl, he roused the principal's dog and got chased into the school. Now he's locked in for a dangerous and disastrous night. Can Green Eggs and Hamster, Sweetie the library rat, and the other school pets save Twitch from the crazed dog, Cuddles? In this uproarious chapter book, a group of small animals manages to turn an elementary school into a real zoo.

Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms: Magic, Mystery, a Very Strange Adventure


Lissa Evans - 2011
    Horten as his name isn't bad enough, now 10-year-old Stuart is forced to move far away from all his friends. But on his very first day in his new home, Stuart's swept up in an extraordinary adventure: the quest to find his great-uncle Tony--a famous magician who literally disappeared off the face of the earth--and Tony's marvelous, long-lost workshop.  Along the way, Stuart reluctantly accepts help from the annoying triplets next door… and encounters trouble from another magician who's also desperate to get hold of Tony's treasures.A quirky, smart, charming page-turner, Horten's Miraculous Mechanisms will enchant young readers--as well as teachers, librarians, and parents.

Encyclopedia Brown Takes the Cake!


Donald J. Sobol - 1982
    With an updated cover look!Match wits with Encyclopedia Brown and see if you can solve these mysteries before he does, in this exciting compilation featuring Encyclopedia's favorite recipes that you can make at home!- Figure out if Willford's painting of the Liberty Bell is a fake, then celebrate with red, white, and blue shortcake.- Prove that Bugs stole Tim Gomez's pinata, then make a Mexican fiesta.- Solve the Case of the Secret Recipe, then serve up some Idaville Apple Pie.

Ways to Make Sunshine


Renée Watson - 2020
    Her dad finally has a new job, but money is tight. That means changes like selling their second car and moving into a new (old) house. But Ryan is a girl who knows how to make sunshine out of setbacks. Because Ryan is all about trying to see the best. Even when things aren’t all she would wish for—her brother is infuriating, her parents don’t understand, when her recipes don’t turn out right, and when the unexpected occurs—she can find a way forward, with wit and plenty of sunshine.

I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912


Lauren Tarshis - 2010
    The ship is full of exciting places to explore, but when George ventures into the first class storage cabin, a terrible boom shakes the entire boat. Suddenly, water is everywhere, and George's life changes forever.Lauren Tarshis brings history's most exciting and terrifying events to life in this new fictional series. Readers will be transported by stories of amazing kids and how they survived!

Eight Keys


Suzanne LaFleur - 2011
    Elise has always lived in the big house with her loving Uncle and Aunt, because Elise's parents died when she was too young to remember them.  There's always been a barn behind the house with eight locked doors on the second floor. When Elise and Franklin start middle school, things feel all wrong. Bullying. Not fitting in. Franklin suddenly seems babyish.  Then, soon after her 12th birthday, Elise receives a mysterious key left for her by her father. A key that unlocks one of the eight doors upstairs in the barn...

The Big Fat Cow That Goes Kapow


Andy Griffiths - 2008
    . .5,4,3,2,1 . . . KAPOW!"New York Times-"bestselling author Andy Griffiths, follows up his slimy, rhymey, easy-to-read hit, "The Cat on the Mat is Flat," with ten more hilarious short, rhyming stories guaranteed to make kids laugh.* "Kirkus Reviews"

The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963


Christopher Paul Curtis - 1995
    Pauletta Bracy. Enter the hilarious world of ten-year-old Kenny and his family, the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan. There's Momma, Dad, little sister Joetta, and brother Byron, who's thirteen and an "official juvenile delinquent." When Momma and Dad decide it's time for a visit to Grandma, Dad comes home with the amazing Ultra-Glide, and the Watsons set out on a trip like no other. They're heading South to Birmingham, Alabama, toward one of the darkest moments in America's history.

Hi! Fly Guy


Tedd Arnold - 2005
    Er, and so begins a very funny friendship. Using hyperbole, puns, slapstick, and silly drawings, bestselling author/illustrator Tedd Arnold creates an easy reader that is full of fun.This book is a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor book!

Absolutely Truly


Heather Vogel Frederick - 2014
    With two older brothers and two younger sisters clamoring for attention, her mother back in school, and everyone up to their eyebrows trying to keep Lovejoy's Books afloat, Truly feels more overlooked than usual. So she pours herself into uncovering the mystery of an undelivered letter she finds stuck in a valuable autographed first edition of Charlotte's Web, which subsequently goes missing from the bookshop. What's inside the envelope leads Truly and her new Pumpkin Falls friends on a madcap treasure hunt around town, chasing clues that could spell danger.