Absolutely Normal Chaos


Sharon Creech - 1990
    Boring! Then cousin Carl Ray comes to stay with her family, and what starts out as the dull dog days of summer quickly turns into the wildest roller coaster ride of all time. A wonderful story of contemporary teen life.

Garfield: His 9 Lives


Jim DavisValette Hildebrand - 1984
    . . 9 times!Cave Cat—the first cat crawled out of the sea 10 million years ago. He was happy to be out of the water—until he met Big Bob!The Vikings—he was big, he was mean, he was a Viking. Garfield the Orange had looted a lot of cities, but none like St. Paul, Minnesota.Babes and Bullets—Sam Spayed wasn’t the best private investigator in the world, but he did have one terrific thing going for him—a secretary who made a great cup of coffee.The Exterminators—no mouse was safe from the exterminators. Catching mice was their life. It wasn’t a pretty job—especially the way they did it.Lab Animal—Specimen 19-GB was not happy at the prospect of being dissected, so he did something about it. What happened set the federal government on its ear.The Garden—life was a carefree romp among hovering harmonicas for Cloey and the orange kitten . . . until they confronted the crystal box.Primal Self—he was an ordinary house cat leading an ordinary existence. A shadowy memory from another time changed all that.Garfield—the marvelous cat we all know and love. This is his life in a nutshell.Space Cat—he was lost in space with a computer built by the lowest bidder. And, he was not about to let his life slip away that easily.

Emily's Runaway Imagination


Beverly Cleary - 1961
    Her runaway imagination leads her to bleach a horse, hold a very scary sleepover, and feed the hogs an unusual treat. But can she use her lively mind to help bring a library to Pitchfork?Adventure is pretty scarce in Pitchfork, Oregon. So why shouldn't Emily bleach Dad's old plow horse or try some of her other ideas? "Written with Cleary's customary warmth and humor...The time of the story, about 1920, is delightfully brought to life." -Booklist

Cool!


Michael Morpurgo - 2002
    Unconscious, Robbie lies in hospital, unable to speak, move or eat. But he can hear; he is aware.His friends and family try desperately to reach him – even Zola, his favourite Chelsea footballer, comes to see him. And still Robbie can’t ‘wake up’. Until one day, against hospital rules, Dad brings Lucky into the hospital. Can Lucky bring Robbie back to life?

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants


Ann Brashares - 2001
    They didn’t look all that great: they were worn, dirty, and speckled with bleach. On the night before she and her friends part for the summer, Carmen decides to toss them. But Tibby says they’re great. She'd love to have them. Lena and Bridget also think they’re fabulous. Lena decides that they should all try them on. Whoever they fit best will get them. Nobody knows why, but the pants fit everyone perfectly. Even Carmen (who never thinks she looks good in anything) thinks she looks good in the pants. Over a few bags of cheese puffs, they decide to form a sisterhood and take the vow of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants . . . the next morning, they say good-bye. And then the journey of the pants — and the most memorable summer of their lives — begins.

Boys Are Dogs


Leslie Margolis - 2008
    She's moving to a new house with her mom's new boyfriend, and that means starting sixth grade at a brand-new school. Birchwood Middle School is very different from her old all-girls elementary-the boys practically run wild in the hallways. And at home, Annabelle's new puppy is taking over the house and chewing on her clothes. But the puppy came with a training manual, so Annabelle might be able to get one thing under control. Unless . . . can you train a boy the way you train a dog?

The Bromeliad Trilogy


Terry Pratchett - 1989
    They have made their homes beneath the floorboards for generations and no longer remember -- or even believe in -- life beyond the Store walls.Until the day a small band of nomes arrives at the Store from the Outside. Led by a young nome named Masklin, the Outsiders carry a mysterious black box (called the Thing), and they deliver devastating news: In twenty-one days, the Store will be destroyed.Now all the nomes must learn to work together, and they must learn to think -- and to think BIG.Part satire, part parable, and part adventure story par excellence, master storyteller Terry Pratchett’s engaging trilogy traces the nomes’ flight and search for safety, a search that leads them to discover their own astonishing origins and takes them beyond their wildest dreams.

Invisible Emmie


Terri Libenson - 2017
    This is the story of two totally different girls—quiet, shy, artistic Emmie and popular, outgoing, athletic Katie—and how their lives unexpectedly intersect one day when an embarrassing note falls into the wrong hands.

Fungus the Bogeyman


Raymond Briggs - 1977
    Fungus is a bogeyman-a particularly foul and fetid specimen. As he goes about his bogey business, the full horrors of bogeydom are revealed. Over 80,000 copies of this fun book have been sold worldwide.

Haroun and the Sea of Stories


Salman Rushdie - 1990
    In this captivating work of fantasy from the author of Midnight’s Children and The Enchantress of Florence, Haroun sets out on an adventure to restore the poisoned source of the sea of stories. On the way, he encounters many foes, all intent on draining the sea of all its storytelling powers.