WHEN THE ALIENS TAKE OVER THE EARTH...

The Boov. They abducted earthlings to teach them English. They colonized the planet on Christmas Day (now called SMEKDAY). They eat soap like it's candy. They know how to clone gas so your car never runs out! On the other hand, they herd all of the people in the United States into one state, and they've done other not-so-nice things along the way. But as Gratuity "Tip" Tucci comes to find out, the Boov are the LEAST of the problems she comes across on her way to finding her mother. THE TRUE MEANING OF SMEKDAY by Adam Rex is an essay Gratuity has to write once the earth calms down, and it is absolutely fantastic! I cannot begin to tell you how hilarious and wonderful this book is, and I think anyone who reads it will be entertained on some level. PLEASE READ IT! For 6th grade and older.

A SMALL TOWN MYSTERY

Behind the Curtain: An Echo Falls Mystery by Peter Abrahams.

Everyone sure is acting weird. Her brother is even weirder than usual. Her dad is testy. Her former best friend invites her over for a swim. What gives? Once again, something is amiss in this small town and Ingrid is at the center of it all. In this second Echo Falls Mystery, Ingrid is the target of a kidnapping that no one believes happened but she is determined to find evidence that it did happen and untangle all the strands in the complex web. Her father's job, her grandfather's farm, an old friend, and her soccer coach are all somehow tied in with Ingrid's kidnapping. But how?

A twisted and compelling mystery for middle school readers.

ARTFUL READING

Now here is a very fun book to not only read but also get to see some pretty cool paintings by world famous artists. The subject in all of the paintings is reading, therefore the title ARTFUL READING by BOB RACZKA. The book is very thin and there is not much to read. However, the paintings are really beautiful and it is actually cool to see reading being portrayed as a cool pass time in them. At the end of the book, there is a brief history of each artist's life.

For grades first and older.

LAWN BOY

Lawn Boy
Gary Paulsen

He’s bored. He’s flat broke. His friends are away at summer camp. His bike doesn’t work. And worst of all, his grandmother just gave him his "big" present for his 12th birthday. A lawn mower. An old one that used to belong to his grandfather. So without much else to do, he rides around his lawn on his new set of wheels. Soon he’s hired to mow a neighbor’s lawn and then another and another. He is starting to develop a nice small lawn mowing business when he takes on a new client named Arnold. Arnold is a stockbroker with a cash flow problem. So he pays our lawn boy by investing in stocks for him. Within a month, lawn boy has more than 12 employees, a financial manager, and a pretty good stock portfolio. From that point on, things get a little crazy. Lawn boy has to deal with a hostile takeover, a stockbroker held for ransom, and a professional boxer. You'll have to read this book to find out Lawn Boy's surprising fate!

ANASTASIA, NOT THE PRINCESS

Anastasia Krupnik is a very grown-up ten-year-old. She fancies herself to be a great poet, until her teacher gives her an "F" on one of her poems. Her best friend is her grandmother, and she is very big on keeping things organized, so she has a lot of lists. But a lot of things happen to Anastasia that make her question what she really knows about being ten and the world around her. Every day has a new lesson to learn about love, life and family. This chapter book is great for 4th grade and up.

Anna and Mica meet by chance and become pen pals in this story told in the letters where their shared their love of science and nature brings them together. One of the girls is trying to adjust to a new foster situation and the other to her first time attending school and it is the trials of these experiences that they share with each other along with shells and other specimens. Their friendship though has its rough spots when Mica makes a friend from school and Anna's foster mother starts dating Mr. Webster but they ultimately overcome these and help each other in Adrian Fogelin's The Sorta Sisters. This tale of friendship and growing up is best for reader's in grades 5-8.

DINOSAURS SOLVING MYSTERIES?

Ever hear of a dinosaur doing police work? Here's a book that will really surprise you then. DETECTIVE DINOSAUR by James Skofield is a collection of three mysteries that Detective Dinosaur and his partner Officer Pterydactl must solve involving a missing hat, a squeaky shoe and a noisy something down a dark alley. Perfect if you just learned to read and want something a little longer, but you're not quite ready for chapter books. For K-2nd grades.

THE ROAD FROM HOME!

Grab a box of tissue and begin reading this heart wrenching story about a girl whose journey will captivate you from start to finish. It is a story about an Armenian girl whose peaceful life is ripped apart…
The Turkish government began the systematic destruction of its Armenian population and things changed dramatically for the entire Armenian people. Hence, the true story about hope, survival and the never ending journey to life…

The Road from Home: The story of an Armenian Girl by David Kherdian will be one of the most memorable and important book that you will read.

For grades five and up.

PERFECT OR MAYBE NOT

For ten-year-old Zoe life doesn't always seem to be working out. First there's her stay-at home father who has trouble leaving the house and spends his time on the Internet, a mother who spends too much time at work and finally the piano that she dreamed of playing turns out to be an a Perfectone D-60 organ that her father bought instead. It turns out that Zoe discovers that she has some talent for the organ and while her skills develop, so does her self-confidence in Linda Urban's A CROOKED KIND OF PERFECT

For grades 4-6

TROLLS....GO HOME!!!!

Trip, trap, trip, trap! went the bridge
Who's that tripping over my bridge? roared the troll

Sound familiar? Remember the story of the giant troll and the three billy goats gruff? If you've ever wondered whatever happened to that troll, then here's a story for you. After the embarrassing goat incident, the troll took his wife Nora and their son, Ulrik, as far away from that bridge as possible. They ended up moving to a small quiet town called Biddlesden right next door to the Priddles family. The Priddles had never met a troll before. The Trolls had never lived next door to humans before. Well, as you can imagine all sorts of silly trouble began between these two families that neither the police nor goblins were able to solve! Check out Trolls, Go Home! by Alan MacDonald to read all about their wacky adventures.

ANIMALS THAT TALK

THE DARING ADVENTURES OF PENHALIGON BRUSH by Sally Jones Rogan.

Penhaligon Brush, a distinguished fox,was orphaned at birth and never knew what happened to his parents. He was raised by a local apothecary who trained Penhaligon to be a strong natural healer. But Penhaligon is bored with his sleepy little town. Until one day his adopted brother sends him a strange note inviting him to his home a few towns away. When Penhaligon arrives, nothing is as it should be, and his brother is MISSING! An exciting adventure begins, with Penhaligon learning a few life lessons along the way. Definitely for kids just starting to read chapter books. 2nd grade and up.

THE BATTLE FOR POWER.

You have probably watched on television all the presidential candidates campaigning for the 2008 election. They are all full of promises and in great hope to change the way this country is operating. All of them are going across the country participating in numerous rallies, making speeches and asking citizens to vote for them.
However, if you look back in history, presidential elections have changed drastically. In America’s early days candidates did not go out among the public to solicit votes. Their supporters did the work for them.
This book is a non-fiction book that is written so well that it can be read as a historical fiction and you will really be drawn to read it do to the fact that election is coming up and it will be really cool to know all the stuff that is behind an election. PRESIDENTIAL RACES: THE BATTLE FOR POWER IN THE UNITED STATES by ARLENE MORRIS-LIPSMAN is campaigning for you attention.

For grades four and up.

IF YOU LIKE THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS...

... then you will like this book.

The neighbor just passed away and left Anna a cat and a set of tarot cards. She and her two best friends decide to do a reading to see if she will get together with her crush - Declan, geek turned hottie. The cards predict love in her future. But will it be with Declan?

In the Cards: Love by Mariah Fredericks is the first in a new trilogy of stories about the complexity and reality of middle school friendships and loves. For readers in 6th - 8th grade.

LOOKING FOR HAPPINESS

Is it possible to find happiness in death? If you were the one dying, what could you do to make your passing away less painful for others? These are just a few thoughts I had after reading THE HAPPINESS OF KATI by Jane Vejjajiva. Kati lives with her grandparents because her mother has Lou Gehrig's disease and feels she isn't able to take care of Kati. But Kati really knows nothing about her mother until after her death, through the paper trail her mother left her to follow. Recommended for grades 5 and up.

QUEEN OF THE FOXES

"I met the Queen of the Foxes in 1972, when my family moved from Connecticut to California," states the narrator of THE WILD GIRLS by Pat Murphy and so begins the story of the friendship of two girls. Joan and Sarah who meet by chance in the middle of the woods that separate their two houses and begin an adventure that involves building a tree house, writing stories, a contest and families.

For grades 4 and older.