GAME OVER

Pete Watson never intended to trigger the end of the world. All he wants is to play the newest Brawl-A-Thon 3000 XL! video game that he’s been saving up for months to purchase. But when Pete’s mother unexpectedly borrows money from his Brawl-A-Thon jar, he decides to hold a spontaneous garage sale to recoup the missing funds. The bug exterminator, a.k.a. Bug Man, looks like just the sort of everyday person who would frequent garage sales to scope out junk. On the other hand, his dad’s dusty, old CommandRoid 85 Video Arcade System game console, hidden away in a corner of the basement, certainly doesn’t look like a portal to the CIA’s top-secret database. How could Pete have predicted that the Bug Man’s nefarious plans would transform and entrap his dad into an 8-bit video game character; lead the president to declare on national television, “I put bird poop in my hair. I have to say I like it there. More than in my Underwear”; and put the entire world in jeopardy? With help from his ex-best friend, Wesley, and his ex-babysitter, Callie, Pete will have to rely on every gaming trick in his repertoire to save his dad and avert the ultimate GAME OVER. Joe Schreiber draws on classic video game references and middle grade humor to present an entertaining tale of embarrassing crushes, awkward friendships, and spy adventures. Filled with cartoon doodles and flip book art, Game Over, Pete Watson will appeal to video game-loving, Diary of a Wimpy Kid fans. Grades 4-6

IS GOOD LUCK ALL IT'S CRACKED UP TO BE?

Nate Harlow is about as unlucky as one kid can get. He has never once in his life won a coin toss, the toaster burns his toast every morning, and there's never a prize at the bottom of his Cracker Jacks. His best friend Gen Beam, the smartest person Nate knows, swears there's no such thing as luck at all--with the law of averages it's all bound to even out over time. Until then, though, Nate's stuck being a loser with just a single friend. 

But everything changes on Nate's 11th birthday--the day he's struck by lightning. Not only is he lucky enough to survive, all of a sudden Nate can't lose. Coin tosses, contests, and baseball games--he wins them all! Just when it seems like all his wishes are coming true, things start to get complicated, and all Nate's luck sets off some unintended consequences. Pretty soon Nate starts to wonder--is there such a thing as too much good luck? 

Bobbie Pyron's charming novel Lucky Strike, about family, friends, and fortune, will make a page-turning read for 4th to 6th graders. 

SOMETHING SMELLS FISHY IN HERE

Detective Zengo and Detective O'Malley are on a missing frog case, but it seems that other fishy things are turning everywhere.  Professor Hopkins (the frog) has been missing for a few days - and the illegal fish trade at East Kal High (where he taught) is on the rise.  Are the two cases connected?  Will two platypi be able to locate the missing frog, or is this more than a missing persons case and actually a murder?  Who is behind the disappearance and the illegal fish?  Is it the Football Star, the local Panda mayor, or the fox bus boy?  There's only one way to found out the answers to all these questions, and that is to follow Detectives Zengo and O'Malley of the Platypus Police Squad in their first case, The Frog Who Croaked by Jarrett J. Krosoczka.  This fun mystery from the author of the graphic novel Lunch Lady series is great for kids in grades 4-6.