ROLLER GIRL COMING AT YOU!

Fans of Raina Telgemeier will cheer for Roller Girl, a fun and poignant graphic novel by Victoria Jamieson. When twelve-year-old Astrid discovers roller derby, she is instantly enamored. What's not to love about powerful women with cool names playing a tough and exciting sport? Especially the star of the Rose City Rollers, Rainbow Bite. Astrid can't wait to sign up for the summer Junior Derby Camp and assumes her best friend will too, but is in for a rude awakening when Nicole decides she'd rather be at dance camp with Astrid's longtime sworn enemy, Rachel. Roller Derby is a lot harder than she'd ever thought, especially without her best friend there for support. But rather than quit when things get hard, Astrid buckles down and focuses on her dream of becoming a real roller girl, like her idol Rainbow Bite. She faces more than a few embarrassing falls, bumps, bruises, and other assorted humiliations along the way, but she also finds out just how tough she really is. 

Readers will root for Astrid as she learns to skate, experiences her first real bout, picks her roller derby name, and discovers who she really is on her own. This entertaining graphic novel, which boasts relatable characters, exciting action, coming-of-age drama, and plenty of heart, will make a perfect read for fourth graders and up. 

INTRODUCING BUNJITSU BUNNY

In a series of thirteen vignettes, Isabel, nicknamed Bunjitsu Bunny, proves her mastery. The animated young rabbit, though expertly trained and admirably skilled, accomplishes this not by kicking higher, hitting harder, or throwing further than others, but rather by exploring alternatives to expected solutions. Whether she is confronting monsters in her dreams, helping a friend redefine his abilities and self-perception, or schooling pirates, Isabel approaches each challenge with indomitable spirit.

Though there’s a lesson to be learned with every tale, the tone strikes a perfect balance to avoid seeming overly moralistic. Bold black and white illustrations on every page lend themselves well, deftly capturing the movement and spirit of each character. John Himmelman’s Tales of a Bunjitsu Bunny is a celebration of humor, wisdom, kindness, and creative thinking. A second book, Bunjitsu Bunny's Best Move, is set to be published October 2015.

For grades 1 and up.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

A review by Theresa of the Children's Room: 

It’s the start of a new school year and shy seventh grader Ellie O’Brien is under attack from her former best friend and now the school’s reigning mean girl and her new sidekick and popular eighth grader Jack Mallory is suffering from extreme overbearing fatheritis in Megan Shull’s The Swap. 

Inadvertently they both end up in the nurse’s office nursing their wounds one Friday afternoon. What happens in the short time they are together ends up being a life changing experience when the two jokingly talk about changing places. A strange rhyme uttered by the school nurse and the next thing they know, Jack has long red hair and Ellie has a shiner. Unable to find her, the two kids realize that they will just have to make it through a weekend of soccer tryouts, hockey practices and sleepovers the best they can until Monday when they hope the nurse will restore everything back to where it should be. 

What results are at times funny situations, Jack's brothers use slang that leaves Ellie clueless and Jack getting a designer haircut and do, and at times challenging when the two excellent athletes have to play unfamiliar sports. Ellie and Jack each tell their own story in alternating chapters leaving no detail untold in this hard to put down story for grades 6 to 8.

DREAMING A NEW DREAM

Jessica loves running.  There is nothing that makes her feel more empowered or more alive.  Her life revolves around running.  Running on the track, in her neighborhood, with her dog.  All of her friends run track with her at her High School.  Then one day, on the way home from a track meet, the bus gets into a terrible accident and Jessica loses her leg below her knee.  She doesn’t know what to do.  She feels like she’s lost everything her life was about.  Everything her life was heading towards.  And then, she gets her first prosthetic leg.  It’s ugly and hard to use, but with support from her family, friends, and team, Jessica finds it within herself to become the runner she was and will be again.  Experience the journey of searching inside yourself for strength you never knew you had and fulfilling dreams you never thought possible.

The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen is a great book for sports lovers and realistic fiction lovers in Grades 7 and up.

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.

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.

LEARN ENGLISH FROM BASEBALL

With a name like Shirley Temple Wong, something's bound to go wrong! Shirley Temple Wong has just moved from China to New York. She has a hard time getting adapted because she doesn't speak English very well and everyone treats her differently. When she makes friends with the toughest girl in the class by accident, she learns how to play stickball, and becomes a huge Brooklyn Dodgers fan. BROOKLYN DODGERS?!?!

IN THE YEAR OF THE BOAR AND JACKIE ROBINSON by Bette Bao Lord is set in 1947, when the Dodgers still played for Brooklyn, and even though it takes place 70 years ago, you'll see that kids are still pretty much the same. An easy to read chapter book for 4th grades and up.

PENGUINS SAVE THE DAY!

In the book Gus & Gertie and the Lucky Charms by Joan Lowery Nixon, Gus and Gertie are off to the winter Olympics to show off their synchronized swimming talent. While they are there, they learn that swimming only happens in summer, and someone is stealing the athletes lucky charms! Gus and Gertie try many things to find out who is stealing the lucky charms, and you'll be surprised who the culprit is in the end. This is a great book for someone who is just starting to read chapter books, but still enjoys fun and colorful pictures to go along with the story. Grades 2-4.