Recommended Titles

A rover's story

Warga, Jasmine.

School Library Journal, October 2022. Booklist starred, September 2022. Pub Weekly, August 2022. Kirkus Starred, August 2022. New York Times, November 2022. Horn Book, November 2022. Bulletin (Center for Children's Books), October 2022. Built to explore Mars, Resilience begins to develop human-like feelings as he learns from the NASA scientists who assembled him, and as he blasts off and explores Mars, Resilience must overcome different obstacles as he explores the red planet.

Date Published:2022

The miscalculations of Lightning Girl

McAnulty, Stacy.

School Library Journal starred, February 2018. Pub Weekly, April 2018. Kirkus Starred, March 2018. Booklist, April 2018. Bulletin (Center for Children's books), June 2018. A lightning strike made Lucy, twelve, a math genius but, after years of homeschooling, her grandmother enrolls her in middle school and she learns that life is more than numbers.

Date Published:2018

Snow like ashes

Raasch, Sara.

Orphaned Meira, a fierce chakram-wielding warrior from the Kingdom of Winter, must struggle to free her people from the tyranny of an opposing kingdom while also protecting her own destiny.

Date Published:2014

Heartstopper : volume 1

Oseman, Alice.

"Heartstopper was originally published by the author in 2018, and then in England by Hachette Children's Group in 2019." -- Page opposite title page. Includes an excerpt from the next volume of Heartstopper. "Shy and softhearted Charlie Spring sits next to rugby player NIck Nelson in class one morning. A warm and intimate friendship follows, and that soon develops into something more for Charlie, who doesn't think he has a chance. But Nick is struggling with feelings of his own, and as the two grow closer and take on the ups and downs of high school, they come to understand the surprising and delightful ways in which love works."--

Date Published:2020

Guts

Telgemeier, Raina,

Chiefly illustrations. In a semi-autobiographical graphic novel, the author describes her childhood anxiety, in a story about growing up and gathering the courage to face and conquer her fears.

Date Published:2019

The Breakaways

Johnson, Cathy G.,

Chiefly illustrations. When a popular student encourages her to join the soccer team, Faith signs up even though she has never played the game, and learns about loyalty and friendship.

Date Published:2019

The lock-eater

Clark, Zack Loran.

School Library Journal starred, December 2021. Library Journal Starred, December 2021. Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books starre, December 2021. Publishers Weekly, December 2021. Horn Book, March 2022. Kirkus Review, November 2021. Melanie Gate, a foundling with a peculiar talent for opening the unopenable, agrees to accompany a gearling automaton named Traveler on his quest to find a home, only to be pursued by the most dangerous wizard in the land and, along the way, discover her true powers.

Date Published:2022

The night gardener

Auxier, Jonathan.

Irish orphans Molly, fourteen, and Kip, ten, travel to England to work as servants in a crumbling manor house where nothing is quite what it seems to be, and soon the siblings are confronted by a mysterious stranger and secrets of the cursed house.

Date Published:2014

Scary stories to tell in the dark

Schwartz, Alvin.

May also be illustrated by Brett Helquist.

Date Published:1981

Gaston

DiPucchio, Kelly.

A proper bulldog raised in a poodle family and a tough poodle raised in a bulldog family meet one day in the park.

Date Published:2014

The yellow bus

Long, Loren.

School Library Journal starred, March 2024. Booklist starred, May 2024. Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books starre, June 2024. Publishers Weekly, March 2024. Booklist, May 2024. Horn Book, July 2024. Kirkus Review, April 2024. A forgotten school bus finds joy and purpose in the most unexpected places.

Date Published:2024

Zoobreak

Korman, Gordon.

After a class trip to a floating zoo where animals are mistreated and Savannah's missing pet monkey is found in a cage, Long Island sixth-grader Griffin Bing and his band of misfits plan a rescue.

Date Published:2009

Fletcher and the falling leaves

Rawlinson, Julia.

Originally published: Great Britain : Gullane Children's Books, 2006. When his favorite tree begins to lose its leaves, Fletcher the fox worries that it is sick, but instead a magical sight is in store for him.

Date Published:2006

I will be fierce!

Birdsong, Bea.

Kirkus Review, March 2019. School Library Journal, May 2019. "It's a brand-new day, and a young girl decides to take on the world like a brave explorer heading off on an epic fairytale quest. From home to school and back again, our hero conquers the Mountain of Knowledge (the library), forges new bridges (friendships), and leads the victorious charge home on her steed (the school bus)"--Provided by publisher.

Date Published:2019

Frizzy

Ortega, Claribel A.,

Booklist, Horn Book Guide Starred, Kirkus Reviews Starred, Publishers Weekly Starred, School Library Journal Starred, Dominican Marlene loves books, her best friend Camila, and her aunt Ruby. She does NOT love having to go to the salon every Sunday to have her curly hair straightened. But her mother tells her it's the only way to look presentable to others. When a bad blowout results in disparaging comments from family members at a party, Marlene embarks on a journey to do something different with her hair. A momentous visit with her aunt Ruby, who wears her hair naturally, helps Marlene embrace her natural curls and confront the toxic ideas about beauty that have been passed down to her.

Date Published:2022

Mooncakes

Walker, Suzanne,

"Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town. One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home. Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery"--Provided by publisher.

Date Published:2019