BLUEBERRY FEVER

Newbery-honor author Cynthia Lord takes readers back to her home state of Maine in her newest middle-grade novel A Handful of Stars. There we meet twelve-year-old Lily, her beloved blind dog, Lucky, and--when Lucky slips his collar to pursue a tasty sandwich--Salma Santiago, whose family are migrant workers only in town for blueberry season. Lily has never gotten to know any migrant workers before, even though they come every summer, but she finds she and Salma have more in common than she ever would have expected, including a love of dogs and painting as well as a personal history of loss. They also both have some lofty goals: Lily yearns to earn enough money to help fix Lucky's eyesight, while Salma is determined to enter the local Blueberry Queen pageant and take home the first-place prize even though no migrant worker has entered before. 

This delightfully heartfelt novel is a true testament to the power of friendship and the love of family, beautifully exploring what it really means to reach for the stars. 

Perfect for readers in 4th grade and up. 

MAD SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS

This very simple book was filled with experiments that the students could actually follow through and understand the instructions without looking in a science dictionary.  Even though the book did not have colorful illustrations, the simple instructions with few black and white illustrations were very useful and the outcome of the experiments were a hit among the participants.  MAD SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS by STUART KALLEN.

 For grades 4th and up. 

THIS BOOK MADE ME DO IT!

Do you want to explore you inner creativity and make things out of your hands which you never thought was possible? How about if you hold ghosts hunt at your school while walking down an invisible stairs? There are so many other interesting and really cool activities that you can do and blame it all on a BOOK!

This Book Made Me Do It: Cool things to make, do, and explore by John Woodward is the book for you! The book itself has so many activities to do that you for sure will get inspired and find it very motivation to start making and building things that you will want to turn off yocell phone, log off from facebook and start becoming creative and inventive…Overall, this is a great book that it not only will inform you but also inspire you to get busy with your hands...  For grades 4th and up.

INVISIBLE SHADOWS

After his father’s sudden disappearance, 12 year old Cully takes a job at Batty’s Antique Shop to help with the family finances.  Little does he know that old man Batty is interested in more than antiques.  He collects (really, though, steals) people’s shadows, which seems weird at first, but even weirder when Cully sees how people react once their shadows are in the hands of Mr. Batty.  With the help of friends, Cully uses unique spy tactics to solve the mystery of where his father went and what Mr. Batty does with those shadows once they no longer have an owner.

A cross between mystery, fantasy, and spy novels, The Shadow Collector’s Apprentice by Amy Gordon will appeal to readers in 4^th – 7^th grades. 

THE WATCHER

"In this uncertain life, of these two things we are certain: the holiness of the heart's affections, the truth of the imagination" and so begins the story of THE WATCHER by JAMES HOWE...

The watcher is a thirteen-year-old girl who observes others without a smile, or a word. But nothing in life is what it seems... So we start seeing what is inside of the mind of the watcher and the watched. Perceptions, imaginations and the human need together intervene in this great story that ultimately is about survival. You will not want to put down this book until the very last word is finished.

For grades 4th and up.