Staff Picks
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Refugee
A tour de force from acclaimed author Alan Gratz (Prisoner B-3087), this timely -- and timeless -- novel tells the powerful story of three different children seeking refuge.
A New York Times bestseller!JOSEF is a Jewish boy living in 1930s Nazi Germany. With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world . . .ISABEL is a Cuban girl in 1994. With riots and unrest plaguing her country, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety in America . . .MAHMOUD is a Syrian boy in 2015. With his homeland torn apart by violence and destruction, he and his family begin a long trek toward Europe . . .All three kids go on harrowing journeys in search of refuge. All will face unimaginable dangers -- from drownings to bombings to betrayals. But there is always the hope of tomorrow. And although Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud are separated by continents and decades, shocking connections will tie their stories together in the end.This action-packed novel tackles topics both timely and timeless: courage, survival, and the quest for home.
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Most People
The world can be a scary place. Anxious adults want children to be aware of dangers, but shouldn't kids be aware of kindness too? Michael Leannah wrote Most People as an antidote to the scary words and images kids hear and see every day.
Jennifer Morris's emotive, diverting characters provide the perfect complement to Leannah's words, leading us through the crowded streets of an urban day in the company of two pairs of siblings (one of color). We see what they see: the hulking dude with tattoos and chains assisting an elderly lady onto the bus; the goth teenager with piercings and purple Mohawk returning a lost wallet to its owner; and the myriad interactions of daily existence, most of them well intended.
This reassuring picture book is a courageous, constructive response to the dystopian world of the news media. -
Ms. Bixby's Last Day
A funny, heartwarming, and heartbreaking contemporary story about three boys, one teacher, and a day none of them will ever forget.
Everyone knows there are different kinds of teachers. The boring ones, the mean ones, the ones who try too hard, the ones who stopped trying long ago. The ones you’ll never remember, and the ones you want to forget. Ms. Bixby is none of these. She’s the sort of teacher who makes you feel like school is somehow worthwhile. Who recognizes something in you that sometimes you don’t even see in yourself. Who you never want to disappoint. What Ms. Bixby is, is one of a kind.
Topher, Brand, and Steve know this better than anyone. And so when Ms. Bixby unexpectedly announces that she won’t be able to finish the school year, they come up with a risky plan—more of a quest, really—to give Ms. Bixby the last day she deserves. Through the three very different stories they tell, we begin to understand what Ms. Bixby means to each of them—and what the three of them mean to each other.
John David Anderson is the author of Sidekicked and The Dungeoneers, proven winners with middle grade readers, and Ms. Bixby's Day is no exception.
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The Rain Wizard
In December 1915, San Diego's leaders claimed the town's reservoirs were nearly dry. Knowing the city would not survive and grow unless it had water, they hired Charles Mallory Hatfield, whose skills at making rain were legendary. But when torrents and torrents of rain came, disaster struck. Roads were closed, people drowned, and dams burst. The town elders blamed Hatfield and refused to pay him. Was Hatfield really a rain wizard, or simply a fraud? Renowned author Larry Dane Brimner examines the man and the myth by relying on personal recollections from growing up in California, as well as extensive research. Readers will be captivated by Hatfield—a man once known as the Frankenstein of the air—and his secret rainmaking formulas. Includes author's note, source notes, and bibliography.
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Mud Kitchen Crafts
Stimulate your child’s senses—right in your own backyard!
Steer your little ones away from their screens and into the outdoors with projects designed to spark their insight, dexterity and imagination: Just add mud! With parenting blogger Sophie Pickles’s expert guidance, you’ll transform your backyard into a lively space where your children can experiment with different textures—there’s even a taste-safe alternative!—and understand the wonderful world around them.
Using natural ingredients that are on-hand or easily obtainable, you’ll help your kids explore concepts like environmentalism, culinary science, creativity and math, while never losing sight of all the delightful sensory stimulation. Bond over the sheer fun of Shape Play, or try out Muddy River for an introduction to physics. Watch them delight in creating their own food station, with projects like Juice Bar and Mud Café. Better yet, help them build the blocks of critical thinking and observational skills, with activities like Mud Investigation and Mini Beast Hunt.
With Mud Kitchen Crafts, education meets fun in a major way. -
The Tarnished Garden
In this enchanting follow-up to The Gilded Girl, Maeve and Izzy O'Donnell must adjust to a new life together at the Manhattan School for Magic—but when Maeve's magic goes rogue and their school is in danger, they'll need to lean on one another to make things right.
The Manhattan School for Magic is the newest kindling school in New York, but Maeve O’Donnell knows she doesn't deserve her place there. Though her sister, Izzy, is one of the school's founders and a hero to those who can now kindle, Maeve can't control her magic and she lives in fear of anyone—especially Izzy—finding out.
When Maeve’s worst fears come true and her magic goes rogue, it damages not only the new school but Izzy’s reputation as well. While trying to repair what she’s broken, Maeve discovers a mysterious garden in the tenement neighborhood of the Tarnish, a hidden place where her magic actually works. As her magic and confidence grow, she befriends the others for whom the garden is a haven: a litter of talking kittens (house dragons, of course) who need Maeve’s help to find their missing mother. But someone else is searching for the kittens, too, someone who doesn’t care how many magical sites they have to destroy to stop magic’s expansion. And Maeve’s unstable magic might be the only way to save her sister’s school from being snuffed out next.
The Tarnished Garden is a sparkling middle-grade novel from Alyssa Colman. -
Hunters of the Lost City
“Reminiscent in feel to Kelly Barnhill's The Girl Who Drank the Moon, this lovely fantasy introduces a complicated, brave, and believable heroine. . . . An absolute delight.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Packed with shocking twists, frightening monsters, and dark magic, this is a page-turning fantasy adventure for middle-grade fans of Holly Black and Tamora Pierce.Twelve-year-old Octavia grew up believing the town of Vittoria was the only one left in the world. The sole survivors of a deadly magical war and plague, the people of Vittoria know there’s no one alive outside the town walls—except the terrible monsters that prowl the forest.
But then the impossible happens: Octavia meets another girl beyond the walls, someone who isn’t Vittorian. Everything she’s ever believed is thrown into question, and there’s no going back.
In her quest for the truth, Octavia discovers a world full of lies, monsters, and magic. She’ll have to use every scrap of her skill, wits, and courage to uncover what’s real about Vittoria and the rest of the world. -
Sharks
An epic, oversize nonfiction picture book in the vein of Bees: A Honeyed History--all about sharks and their prehistoric predecessors
Sharks are some of the oldest creatures on the earth (or, rather, in its waters). This epic survey follows sharks from their earliest appearance in the Paleozoic era up through the challenges they face today.
Along the way, readers will meet many different sharks from different points in history. They will get an up-close evolutionary look at what makes a shark a shark--like their skin, their teeth, their fins, and more. And they will get a crash course in archeological time, as the book mostly covers prehistoric sharks or modern-day sharks who have been around much longer than humans. Like the hammerhead, who has been patrolling tropical coastlines for more than 20 million years!
With lush illustrations from Gordy Wright and meticulous research from author Miriam Forster, Sharks: A Mighty, Bite-y History is sure to delight shark lovers, science fans, and any reader who loves to discover new wonders about the world around them. -
Noodle and the No Bones Day
An instant #1 New York Times bestseller!
From the creator of the viral “Bones or No Bones” TikTok videos comes a sweet and entertaining picture book following Noodle the pug and his human as they navigate Noodle’s first No Bones Day—a day for being kind to yourself!
Noodle is a sweet, silly old pug who enjoys doing all his favorite activities with his favorite human, Jonathan. But one day when Jonathan goes to take Noodle on his morning walk, he finds Noodle still comfortable in bed. When Jonathan lifts Noodle up, Noodle just flops over. It’s almost like Noodle woke up without any bones!
Noodle isn’t sick or sad—but he also isn’t interested in going for walks or sitting outside (he will accept snacks, though). Today, all he needs are extra snuggles and belly rubs. Jonathan soon learns that not every day can be a Bones Day, and sometimes a No Bones Day is exactly what you need to get through the week. -
Real Pigeons Peck Punches (Book 5)
It's a bird! It's... another bird? Well, actually it's a whole flock of crime-fighting pigeons! The hilarity continues in this reluctant-reader favorite, perfect for fans of BAD GUYS and DOG MAN.
With the Real Pigeons World Wild Network, more pigeons are fighting crime than ever before! But that doesn't mean the squad can rest. There are still thieves to catch and endangered birds to protect! But what will the Real Pigeons do when they find a traitor in their own nest?! -
Puppy Bus
A hilarious back-to-school story from the creator of CatStronauts, Drew Brockington
When a boy and his family move, he has to start all over at a new school--and gets plenty of first day jitters. The teachers will be different, he'll have to make new friends, and he won't even know where the bathroom is!
On the first day, he nervously gets on the bus, only to end up at Puppy School. Everything is strange and different--but at the end of the day, new friends prove that maybe starting at someplace new isn't so bad after all. -
The Dinos on the Bus
Roar, stomp, and clap along to the tune of "Wheels on the Bus" with a group of playful dinosaurs as they go on their first bus journey!
Hop on the bus with a rowdy bunch of dinosaurs, as they travel up and down, round and round, all through the land. A delightful reinvention of the classic "Wheels on the Bus" rhyme, this book is full of action-packed moments, dynamic illustrations, and is sure to take readers on a fun-filled adventure! -
Out of Range
Hatchet meets Raina Telgemeier’s Sisters in this “realistic, riveting” (Kirkus Reviews) middle grade tale of three warring sisters who find themselves lost in the wilderness and must learn to trust each other if they want to survive.
Sisters Abby, Emma, and Ollie have gone from being best friends forever to mortal enemies.
Thanks to their months-long feud, they are sent to Camp Unplugged, a girls’ camp deep in the heart of the Idaho mountains where they will go “back to nature”—which means no cell phones, no internet, and no communicating with the outside world. For two whole weeks. During that time, they had better learn to get along again, their parents tell them. Or else.
The sisters don’t see any way they can ever forgive each other for what they’ve done, no matter how many hikes and campfire songs they’re forced to participate in. But then disaster strikes, and they find themselves lost and alone in the wilderness. They will have to outrun a raging wildfire, make it through a turbulent river, escape bears and mountain lions and ticks. They don’t have training, or food, or enough supplies. All they have is each other.
And maybe, just maybe, it will be enough to survive. -
Rosie and the Pre-Loved Dress
A sweet picture book about a girl who finds a special dress at a thrift store and imagines who may have owned the dress before her.
When Rosie finds the most beautiful yellow dress at her local thrift store, the first thing she notices when she brings it home is a name written on the tag: Mila. Rosie wonders if Mila liked any of the same things she did, and what amazing things Mila might have done in the dress.
The dress makes Rosie feel like her best self--like she can do anything. But soon it’s time to donate the dress so someone else can make their own memories with it. Letting it go is hard, but Rosie smiles when she wonders what the dress’s next owner will do while wearing it….
The joy and wonder of recycled clothing is brought to life by Leanne Hatch's charming text and whimsical illustrations. -
The Queen of Kindergarten
A confident little Black girl has a fantastic first day of school in this companion to the New York Times bestseller The King of Kindergarten.
MJ is more than ready for her first day of kindergarten! With her hair freshly braided and her mom's special tiara on her head, she knows she’s going to rock kindergarten. But the tiara isn’t just for show—it also reminds her of all the good things she brings to the classroom, stuff like her kindness, friendliness, and impressive soccer skills, too! Like The King of Kindergarten, this is the perfect book to reinforce back-to-school excitement and build confidence in the newest students.
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