THE POSSIBILITY OF CHANGING THE PAST

Thirteen-year-old Margaret O’Malley’s world is turned upside down when the corrupt Judge Biggs sentences her father to death for burning down a Victory Fuels building and killing a person trapped inside. Margaret knows that her father did not do it, and that his sentencing was in retaliation for uncovering a secret that Victory Fuels wanted to keep hidden at any cost. Desperate to save his life, Margaret decides to do the thing that she knows she shouldn’t – use the O’Malley gift to go back in time to change the events that made Lucas Biggs into the man who sentenced an innocent man to die. But Margaret will discover that changing the past means more than changing history, and that no one is beyond saving - from themselves or others.

Saving Lucas Biggs is a page-turner with lots of mystery, action, history, and a touch of science fiction, and will appeal to boys and girls in grades 5 and up.

OBSERVE! OBSERVE! OBSERVE!

Wilmer Dooley doesn't just love science, he LIVES science.  His family's motto, as any good scientist family's motto should be is: Observe!  And Observe Wilmer does.  He observes his absent-minded scientist dad forgetting his pants and his mom creating interesting dinner concoctions everyday.  He has recently observed that all of the kids in his school have suddenly begun to change colors and bounce off the walls (literally).  Wilmer doesn't want to just know why, though, he wants to find a cure!  Which would be easy if his scientist father let him use his lab.  But instead he must sneak into his biology teacher's lab when she isn't looking and hope he doesn't get caught.  Either by her or his archnemesis Claudius.  


Can he do it?  Can he save the school and win the 6th grade science fair medal?  Find out in The Contagious Colors of Mumpley Middle School by Fowler Dewitt for grades 5 and up.

THE ULTIMATE ADVENTURE!

If you want to read a book where you can change the journey or the faith of the characters in a story, than this is the book for you! The book is about a group of young hikers who have decided to reach the very top of Mount Everest. However, while the reader is enjoying the great expedition, he/she is also going to be responsible in making choices about the directions that the group should take to reach to the top of the mountain. This means that a lot of logical and strategic thinking needs to be made in order to have a successful expedition for the young hikers.
This Choose Your Own Adventure book is full of interesting scenarios, graphs and pictures that will really make you feel as though you are actually on the expedition yourself. The only thing is that you might not get to feel the actual snow or the cold. However, your imagination will do that for you since it’s written very descriptively….

So lets begin our adventures...

Worst-Case Scenario Ultimate Adventure: Everest: You Decide How to Survive! by Bill Doyle and David Borgenicht.

For grades 5th-7th.

RATFINK!

Logan had many troubles... A very humiliating photo, an embarrassing grandfather, a mysterious backpack, an experimental dog poop (yes, you read it correctly) and on top of all these, a girl named Emily from his school who is the meanest and the snottiest that he has ever met that seems to only exists to drive him crazy...

But the truth of the matter is that he really is trying to change his ways of doing things, in fact, he was hoping that the new school year in the fifth grade would permit him to showcase his mature side. Boy, was he wrong about these things...

RATFINK is by MARCIA THORNTON JONES.

HOW TO BE A VAMPIRE!

If you ever wanted to become a vampire or wanted to know how their world works but were afraid to do so, now is your time. HOW TO BE A VAMPIRE by AMY GRAY is the book for you. This illustrated and colorful book might be too tempting to close so once you open it, than be cautious that you might get hooked.
The book is divided into different sections, such as: vampire etiquette, choosing your vampire name, how to form your own coven and much more. The book also has a chapter on the famous vampires that were in movies and and television shows as well. Additionally, if you like to know how to dress like a vampire, there is a big chapter on that as well.

For grades 7th and up.

CHASING VERMEER!

Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay are the heroes in this book which has many similarities to the DaVinci Code. The story is about these two kids who are in the same class but not close to one another and don’t know much about each other. However, on a museum field trip they realize that they do share something that each person values: these are the love for the arts, their teachers and blue candy:) However, they become much closer when a very famous and expansive painting by Vermeer gets stolen with some trails of its whereabouts left by the thief. However, it is not an easy task to recover something as precious as a Vermeer painting. They do not give up and through their curiosity and analytical minds, try to find solve the mystery of the stolen Vermeer painting. CHASING VERMEER by BLUE BALLIETT and illustrations are by BRETT HELQUIST.

For grades 5th and up.

JANE IN BLOOM

JANE IN BLOOM by DEBORAH LYTTON starts off like a happy, Sunday afternoon brunch. However, things are never what they seem. She is a girl of great curiosity and wonder, who is in love with her family, especially her very popular sister, who is the light of everyone’s eye…
On Jane's birthday, she can't wait to get her ears pierced since she is literally the last girl in her classroom that does not have them. However, her parents change their minds and Jane ends up not getting what she wanted. Things do turn into much worse, when she unexpectedly loses her sister. The entire family is devastated and there seems to be to light at the end of the tunnel. However, with her love of photography, Jane slowly begins to see beauty and colors through the lenses, which later become a respite from her dull days.
This is really a heartwarming story, even though the subject matter is not light, the author has been able to make is so beautiful and lovely.

For grades 5th and older

DANCING THROUGH THE SNOW

For a moment, try to imagine that you have nothing, and I mean literally nothing, no real name, no birth certificate, no mother or father and not even sweet memories to keep you going. What would you do? Would you hide in your face or try to make sense of the unknown and the injustice? DANCING THROUGH the SNOW by JEAN LITTLE is the ultimate story of Min (not her real name) that will touch your heart and give you the strength to dance through the snow, physically and metaphorically speaking.

For grades 5 and older.

ARMENIAN FAIRY TALES

A poor man who worked countless hours with no luck or money decides to go and look for God to fix his problem. On his way, he meets a beautiful, wealthy unhappy woman, a dried up tree and a wolf that is always hungry. He promises them to find solution for them as well. God hearing this grants his wish of finding luck. Returning from the trip, he meets the tree and tells him that there is gold under the roots, also tells the woman that she should marry a man. When the tree and the woman suggest that he should be their savior, he rejects by trying to find his own luck. Finally, he tells the wolf that God told him to eat a foolish man and his hunger will be satisfied, the wolf hearing this, takes a quick breath and gabbles the foolish man. If you liked this story, than you will love the rest of the stories in the book, HOVHANNES TOUMANIAN, ARMENIAN FAIRY TALES.

For grades 5 and older

LOVE, AUBREY

Imagine your days consisting of eating crackers and cheese for breakfast, watching TV; crackers and cheese for lunch; watching TV, crackers and cheese for dinner and watching more TV. This is how Aubrey thought she was going to spend her time alone in the house without any interruptions. However, when she runs out of food and goes to the supermarket to buy more food, things do unfold and we learn much more about this intelligent and precocious girl who is hiding her own personal tragedies in order to cope with them. As the story unfolds we learn why she was home alone all by herself and why she is trying to hide from everyone including her own Grandma. This is a great new novel with exceptionally good writing with multi layered plots and characters.
LOVE, AUBREY by SUZANNE LAFLEUR.

For grades 5th and older.

THE SNOW GOOSE

This timeless, classic story will touch your heart and stay with you for a long time. The story is set against the backdrop of World War II in a small town where a man has become a recluse do to his hunched back. Eventually he meets a girl named Frith who has brought in a wounded goose. Frith sees how the lonely man slowly heals the wounds of this goose and during this time a friendship develops. The goose heals and flies away only to come back and set her home where the man lives. However, all that changes when he is needed in the war for his sailing skills.

And...You need to read the book to find out what happens next...

The illustrations in the story are as beautiful and telling as the story.

THE SNOW GOOSE by PAUL GALLICO and the illustrations by ANGELA BARRETT.

For grades 5th and up.

WINDS OF DESTINY

Anybody who has immigrated to this country or has family members who are immigrants will find great escape in reading this book, and those who never had to deal with immigration will find great appreciation and empathy towards it.

WINDS OF DESTINY by SERPOOHI CHRISTINE JAFFERIAN is an incredible story of human survival and adaptability. At times maybe this topic might sound cliche of some sort, but in life one must have the ability to cope and adapt in order to survive. Serpoohi who is the protagonist in the story takes everything that life bring in stride. With ease, she assimilates with different cultures without abandoning her roots.

It's not always easy to be a good person, to say the right things and to do the right things, however after reading this book, one can at least see the many possibilites...

For grades 5th and older.

ODDEST OF ALL

Imagine you are sitting down with your mom for a nice morning breakfast and suddenly the television screen goes blank and a woman with blue skin and green hair appears and tells you things that are so odd that is better for me not to even write about. You change the channel and its still the same thing, you leave your house and see that the sky is not its usual color and people are fighting and screaming at each other in no apparent reason...

You wake up in the morning and see a blue chip in the back of your arm and that will give you the option to vote on your way of life....

ODDEST OF ALL : Nine Odd Stories by BRUCE COVILLE will be one of those books that you will not want to put down until its very last page, the stories are thought provoking, light, fun and really good.

For grades 5th and up.

A IS FOR ASSASSIN

The year is 1569, and the 13-year-old Lady Grace is about to choose her husband from three potential suitors. She is the favorite of Queen Elizabeth's maids of honour, and while Grace's mother was on her death bed, the Queen promised to marry Grace to a worthy courter. Grace chooses Lord Robert as her potential husband, but it isn't long before a wrench is thrown into the works and Lady Grace must find the killer of the suitor she turned down. Written in a journalistic format, ASSASSIN by "Grace Cavendish" is the first in the Lady Grace Mysteries series, and chronicles Grace's first "pursuivant" adventure for the Queen. For 5th grade and older.

GYM RAT NO MORE

Life sure isn't the same for Toby anymore. This time last year, everything was great. Toby and his best friend JJ were always hanging out and playing basketball at the rec center. Now JJ is a star varsity basketball player. He's in a band, has new friends, a new girlfriend, and is just too cool for Toby. So when the new coach encourages Toby to join the 8th grade basketball team, he decides to go for it. He didn't realize that the coach had asked him to join just so he could have him sit on the bench ALL THE TIME. How is Toby supposed to help his team win the league championship if he never gets to play? It gets worse though. Toby does finally get to play and when he does he finds out that playing on a team is a much different ball game. You'll have to read Toby Wheeler: Eighth Grade Benchwarmer to find out if Toby is stuck being a benchwarmer forever!

For grades 5 and older.

WHAT IF...

...you could live forever. Think that it would be a good thing? Maybe yes, but then again maybe it would not be so wonderful. Ken is used to always getting his way and will not settle for anything less and after the death of his best friend he decides that death is not something he wants to do. Most people know there are certain things that just can't be change and death is one of them. It comes to us all. But when Ken meets Cheri Buttercup he discovers an startling alternative. Good thing or bad thing, you will have to decide when you read William Sleator's, The Boy Who Couldn't Die.

For grades 5 and older.

IN THE NAME OF TOURISM

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt is a Newberry Honor book based on the Malaga community in Maine at the beginning of the 1900's. Isolated, Tucker is more aware than ever that he is not the son his father would wish for, dutiful and obedient. Worse, after a spurt of temper, he must redeem himself by reading to a crotchety old lady who wants to make sure that someone will be there to record her last words for posterity. Things seem brighter when he is befriended by another outsider living on a beautiful island offshore which everyone in town wants to turn into a tourist destination to boost the local economy. But then where would Lizzie Bright and her community of black freed and runaway slaves who have been there for over 100 years go?

For mature readers in grade 5 and older.