Kneeknock Rise


Natalie Babbitt - 1970
    Everyone shudders in horror--delicious horror--whenever the Megrimum's unearthly wail floats down to the village. Before long, Egan is climbing the Rise to find a practical explanation for those wails.

Skinnybones


Barbara Park - 1982
    Alex's active sense of humor helps him get along with the school braggart, make the most of his athletic talents, and simply get by in a hectic world.

The Summer of the Swans


Betsy Byars - 1970
    Up until then, things had flowed smoothly, like the gliding swans on the lake. Now she wanted to fly away from everything—her beautiful older sister, her bossy Aunty Willie, her remote father, and, most of all, from herself.But could she fly away from Charlie? She loved her younger brother in a way she couldn't understand, though sometimes she grew tired of his neediness. But when Charlie himself took flight, Sara suddenly knew what she had to do....

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.

Storm Runners


Roland Smith - 2010
    Anywhere bad weather strikes, they are not far behind. Chase is learning more on the road than he ever would just sitting in a classroom. But when the hurricane of the century hits, he will be tested in ways he never could have imagined.

School of Fear


Gitty Daneshvari - 1999
    Theodore Bartholomew is petrified of dying. Lulu Punchalower is scared of confined spaces. Garrison Feldman is terrified of deep water. With very few options left, the parents of these four twelve year-olds send them to the highly elusive and exclusive School of Fear to help them overcome their phobias. But when their peculiar teacher, Mrs. Wellington, and her unconventional teaching methods turn out to be more frightening than even their fears, the foursome realize that this just may be the scariest summer of their lives.

Bailey's Story


W. Bruce Cameron - 2013
    Bruce Cameron, the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling novel A Dog's Purpose, which is now a major motion picture!Bailey's Story is a heartwarming illustrated novel adapted for young readers from the beloved and New York Times bestselling A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron.Every dog has work to do. Every dog has a purpose.When Bailey meets eight-year-old Ethan, he quickly figures out his purpose: to play with the boy, to explore the Farm during summers with the boy, and to tidy the boy's dishes by licking them clean (only when Mom isn't watching). But Bailey soon learns that life isn't always so simple--that sometimes bad things happen--and that there can be no greater purpose than to protect the boy he loves.Bailey's Story is a moving tale about a dog and his boy for young animal lovers by W. Bruce Cameron, bestselling author of the acclaimed novel A Dog's Purpose. Adorable black-and-white illustrations by Richard Cowdrey bring Bailey and his world to life. A discussion and activity guide at the end of the book will help promote family and classroom discussions about Bailey's Story and the insights it provides about humankind's best friends.

Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery


John Feinstein - 2005
      When Stevie wins a writing contest for aspiring sports journalists, his prize is a press pass to the Final Four in New Orleans. While exploring the Superdome, he overhears a plot to throw the championship game. With the help of fellow contest winner Susan Carol, Stevie has just 48 hours to figure out who is blackmailing one of the star players . . . and why.   John Feinstein has been praised as “the best writer of sports books in America today” (The Boston Globe), and he proves it again in this fast-paced novel.   “A page-turning thriller and a basketball junkie’s bonanza.” —USA TodayFrom the Hardcover edition.

Horrible Harry in Room 2B


Suzy Kline - 1988
    Doug discovers that though being Harry's best friend in Miss Mackle's second grade class isn't always easy, as Harry likes to do horrible things, it is often a lot of fun.

Baby


Patricia MacLachlan - 1993
    They come to love this baby as their own, all the while knowing that eventually Sophie's mother will return one day to take her from them.

The Music of Dolphins


Karen Hesse - 1996
    When she is eventually spotted on an unpopulated island off Cuba, she is an adolescent and seems hardly human to her rescuers. Mila is taken to a child study center in Boston. Eager to please, she makes rapid progress in language and social skills. With her recorder, Mila finds she can even make music like the dolphin songs she yearningly remembers. But the more Mila discovers about what it means to be human--the locked doors, the rules, the betrayals--the more she longs for her watery home and gentle dolphin family. In an emotionally wracking conclusion, she returns to the world where her ears never want for song. Where, although she cannot stand on her tail or jump the waves, she is part of the music of dolphins.

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...

365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Browne's Book of Precepts


R.J. Palacio - 2014
    Browne and his love of precepts. Simply put, precepts are principles to live by, and Mr. Browne has compiled 365 of them—one for each day of the year—drawn from popular songs to children’s books to inscriptions on Egyptian tombstones to fortune cookies. His selections celebrate kindness, hopefulness, the goodness of human beings, the strength of people’s hearts, and the power of people’s wills. Interspersed with the precepts are letters and emails from characters who appeared in Wonder. Readers hear from Summer, Jack, Charlotte, Julian, and Amos.   There’s something for everyone here, with words of wisdom from such noteworthy people as Anne Frank, Martin Luther King Jr., Confucius, Goethe, Sappho—and over 100 readers of Wonder who sent R. J. Palacio their own precepts.

Downsiders


Neal Shusterman - 1999
    There is a strict code of secrecy among the Downsiders. However, when Talon accidentally meets a young woman named Lindsay, who is a Topsider (from above the ground), the two worlds inevitably collide. They become friends and love blossoms. The punishment for Talon's lack of discretion could be death. What will happen to them? Will the entire Downsider community be discovered?

Black Star, Bright Dawn


Scott O'Dell - 1988
    Black Star was her part-husky, mostly wolf, pet. Together they were about to begin the famous Iditarod dogsled race through the bitter cold of Alaska. Bright Dawn knew they would win, but she didn't count on the cold, blinding whiteout, the belligerent bull moose, or ice that could crack and splinter at any time. And she soon realized that she was not only depending on Black Star for the race, but for her life....