A Dog's Life: The Autobiography of a Stray


Ann M. Martin - 2005
    Their mother nurtures them and teaches them the many skills they will need to survive as stray dogs. But when their mother is taken from them suddenly and too soon, the puppies are forced to make their own way in the world, facing humans both gentle and brutal, busy highways, other animals, and the changing seasons. When Bone and Squirrel become separated, Squirrel must fend for herself, and in the process makes two friends who in very different ways define her fate.

The Enormous Egg


Oliver Butterworth - 1956
    After a painstaking wait, Nate is even more surprised when it hatches and out pops a baby triceratops that he names Uncle Beazley! But when Nate decides to keep the dino and raise it on his own, he has no idea what he's getting himself into. As Uncle Beazley grows, Nate and his family realize they are not equipped to take care of a full-sized dinosaur, and so with the help of their scientist friend, Nate and Uncle Beazley set off for the NationalMuseum in Washington, D.C., on the hunt for the perfect home for a modern-day dinosaur---then the real trouble begins!The Enormous Egg was originally published in 1956 and has been a classic in children's literature ever since. This brand new edition features amazing new illustrations from Eisner-award winning graphic novelist Mark Crilley (creator of Akiko and Miki Falls).

Coming Home


Lauren Brooke - 2000
    This powerful series follows Amy Fleming through the loss of her mother and her struggle to continue the work at Heartland-a refuge for abused and abandoned horses.

Precious and the Monkeys


Alexander McCall Smith - 2010
    Here, in this delightful, enchanting tale for children, we find out just who has been stealing her schoolfriends' snacks and how the young Precious became the crafty and intuitive private investigator we all know and love!

Philip Hall Likes Me. I Reckon Maybe.


Bette Greene - 1974
    The fact that he beats her in classwork, sports, and almost everything else doesn't bother Beth at first. Then she realizes that Philip might be best because she's letting him beat her. Beth knows that she deserves to be Number One--and she's going to prove it! This funny, universal story of a girl learning that she matters in the world has delighted readers for over twenty years.A New York Times Outstanding BookAn ALA Notable Book Kirkus Choice Award

The Birchbark House


Louise Erdrich - 1999
    With The Birchbark House, award-winning author Louise Erdrich's first novel for young readers, this same slice of history is seen through the eyes of the spirited, 7-year-old Ojibwa girl Omakayas, or Little Frog, so named because her first step was a hop. The sole survivor of a smallpox epidemic on Spirit Island, Omakayas, then only a baby girl, was rescued by a fearless woman named Tallow and welcomed into an Ojibwa family on Lake Superior's Madeline Island, the Island of the Golden-Breasted Woodpecker. We follow Omakayas and her adopted family through a cycle of four seasons in 1847, including the winter, when a historically documented outbreak of smallpox overtook the island. Readers will be riveted by the daily life of this Native American family, in which tanning moose hides, picking berries, and scaring crows from the cornfield are as commonplace as encounters with bear cubs and fireside ghost stories. Erdrich--a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwa--spoke to Ojibwa elders about the spirit and significance of Madeline Island, read letters from travelers, and even spent time with her own children on the island, observing their reactions to woods, stones, crayfish, bear, and deer. The author's softly hewn pencil drawings infuse life and authenticity to her poetic, exquisitely wrought narrative. Omakayas is an intense, strong, likable character to whom young readers will fully relate--from her mixed emotions about her siblings, to her discovery of her unique talents, to her devotion to her pet crow Andeg, to her budding understanding of death, life, and her role in the natural world. We look forward to reading more about this brave, intuitive girl--and wholeheartedly welcome Erdrich's future series to the canon of children's classics. (Ages 9 and older) --Karin Snelson

Understood Betsy


Dorothy Canfield Fisher - 1916
    When the year is up and Aunt Frances comes to get her niece, she finds a healthier, prouder girl with a new name--Betsy--and a new outlook on life.Understood Betsy has delighted generations of young readers since it was first published by Henry Holt and Company in 1917.

Belle Prater's Boy


Ruth White - 1996
    When Belle Prater disappears, Belle’s boy, Woodrow, comes to live with his grandparents in Coal Station, Virginia. Woodrow’s cousin Gypsy is the town beauty, but she has hidden sorrows and secrets of her own. She wonders how Woodrow can accept his mother’s disappearance when she’s never gotten over her father’s death. That’s when Woodrow tells Gypsy the secret about his mother.

Dinosaurs Before Dark


Mary Pope Osborne - 1992
    Now they have to figure out how to get home. Can they do it before dark . . . or will they become a dinosaur's dinner?

We Can't All Be Rattlesnakes


Patrick Jennings - 2009
    I just look like one. I'm a gopher snake.One day an oily, filthy, fleshy human child crossed my path. As luck would have it, he knew the difference between a gopher snake and a rattlesnake. He has imprisoned me in a terrarium. His name is Gunnar. He calls me Crusher. He thinks I'm male. I'm not.He dropped in a dead mouse and hoped I'd eat it. I buried it. He then dropped in a live one, which he called "Breakfast." I didn't lay a coil on it.Gunnar thinks I'll be his adoring pet. He's wrong.In fact, I am planning my escape. I may take Breakfast with me.Crusher will charm readers in this entertaining, clever novel about a snake in captivity and how she turns the tables on her human captor.

Bridge to Terabithia


Katherine Paterson - 1977
    Jess Aarons has been practicing all summer so he can be the fastest runner in the fifth grade. And he almost is, until the new girl in school, Leslie Burke, outpaces him. The two become fast friends and spend most days in the woods behind Leslie's house, where they invent an enchanted land called Terabithia. One morning, Leslie goes to Terabithia without Jess and a tragedy occurs. It will take the love of his family and the strength that Leslie has given him for Jess to be able to deal with his grief.Bridge to Terabithia was also named an ALA Notable Children’s Book and has become a touchstone of children’s literature, as have many of Katherine Paterson’s other novels, including The Great Gilly Hopkins and Jacob Have I Loved.

Kristy's Great Idea


Raina Telgemeier - 2006
    Witness Kristy's eureka moment, when she gets the idea for a "baby-sitters club" and enlists her best friends, shy Mary Anne and artistic Claudia, in an exciting new venture. But the baby-sitting business isn't the only thing absorbing their attention: Kristy is having a hard time accepting her stepdad-to-be, and the newest member of the gang, Stacey, seems to be hiding a secret.

The Mother-Daughter Book Club


Heather Vogel Frederick - 2007
     Even if Megan would rather be at the mall, Cassidy is late for hockey practice, Emma's already read every book in existence, and Jess is missing her mother too much to care, the new book club is scheduled to meet every month. But what begins as a mom-imposed ritual of reading Little Women soon helps four unlikely friends navigate the drama of middle school. From stolen journals, to secret crushes, to a fashion-fiasco first dance, the girls are up to their Wellie boots in drama. They can't help but wonder: What would Jo March do? Acclaimed author Heather Vogel Frederick will delight daughters of all ages in a novel about the fabulousness of fiction, family, and friendship.

Little Eddie


Carolyn Haywood - 1947
    Whether seven-year-old Eddie is finding homes for a crowd of stray cats, picketing the baseball team that says he's too young to play, or collecting "valuable properties", his happy adventures are sure to win lots of friends.

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase


Joan Aiken - 1962
    Left in the care of the cruel Miss Slighcarp, the girls can hardly believe what is happening to their once happy home. The servants are dismissed, the furniture is sold, and Bonnie and Sylvia are sent to a prison-like orphan school. It seems as if the endless hours of drudgery will never cease.With the help of Simon the gooseboy and his flock, they escape. But how will they ever get Willoughby Chase free from the clutches of the evil Miss Slighcarp?