10 yrs old

Imagine being in charge of a jackalope with razor-sharp antlers and being pursued by government agents. Professor Twitchett abandons his animal science experiment in Jeremy’s room and disappears. Where can he hide “Jack”? Not the clothes hamper. Jack shreds clothes, including Jeremy’s underwear. What do you feed a killer bunny? Well, Jack loves whiskey, so Jeremy robs minibars to keep him placated.

Book 4 of the Cahills vs. Vespers

Amy and Dan Cahill, with their friends, Atticus and Jake Rosenbloom, are on the run from Interpol. They have no choice but to fulfill every demand of Vesper One or else one of the hostages will die.  They are ordered to steal the world’s largest diamond from one of Berlin’s famous museums.  If they do not succeed, what will become of them or the hostages?

On August 28, 1963, almost 50 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his powerful and iconic “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C.  The “Dream” portion of the stirring speech provides the narrative for this picture book, illustrated with inspired and inspiring paintings by Caldecott Honor Award-winning artist Kadir Nelson.  Nelson includes portraits of Dr.

We’re in the midst of a white winter wonderland in Wisconsin.  But for those who long for something green, you’ll find it, in all its many shades, in this lovely picture book.  Author/artist Seeger combines simple rhyming text, lush paint-on-canvas illustrations and with cleverly positioned cut out accents, inviting readers to explore and enjoy the presence (and sometimes absence) of green in nature and in everyday objects.

Logan suspects that missing pet dogs are being dognapped by invading aliens and forms the Intergalactic Canine Rescue Unit with his friends. He communicates with a female alien who speaks for the big Boss alien, is kidnapped himself, and through quick thinking and clever negotiating, Logan becomes a hero. Dognappers is a fast read appealing to middle-graders with its gross humor, surprising adventures with aliens and mysteries.

While not a ghost or Halloween story, Ballywhinney Girl is nevertheless haunting.  Maeve, a fair-haired Irish girl living in Ballywhinney Ireland, is in a bog with her grandfather as he cuts turf.

Fourteen-year-old Mike, a mathematically-challenged young man with dyscalculia, unfortunately has a brilliant engineer/professor father. Mike is forced to live with relatives he has never met for six weeks in summer while his father teaches in Romania. Mike’s father hopes that his son will improve his math and engineering skills by working on a local project.

Newbery award winner Avi (2003 for Crispin: The Cross of Lead) creates a captivating adventure set in his hometown of New York City in 1893. Life is a hardscrabble existence for Maks and his immigrant family: poverty, illness, threats of gangs, shortage of food, filthy living conditions, and dependence on an unfamiliar society. Thirteen-year-old Maks sells newspapers to earn a few pennies a day which sets him up as a target of the Plug Ugly Gang.

Newbery medalist (for A Year Down Yonder) Richard Peck pens an exciting, humorous mouse adventure - - a nonstop entertaining run of mice at sea, sailing with their people, the Cranstons, to England in search of a husband for daughter, Olive Cranston. Helena, the eldest mouse sister, and her family fear discovery, the perils of open water, and the menace of the ship’s cat. Helena narrates the story from mouse perspective (“. . . We mice dream of nothing but cheese and time running out.” p.

Tony Sarg (1880 – 1942) was the master puppeteer who invented the first huge animal puppets that floated in the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. This is the story of a creative little boy who wondered at how things moved and worked, and who grew up to become the puppeteer of Macy’s parade.

Illustrator Ed Young, winner of the Caldecott Medal for his book Lon Po Po, tells the unique story of his childhood in wartime China through award-winning author Libby Koponen. Young’s father, Baba, an engineer, devises a way of protecting his wife and five children and numerous other relatives and friends by constructing a bomb-proof house that becomes a playground for the children complete with a swimming pool.

What young boy wouldn’t want a dog? Rufus, a fifth grader, argues persistently to justify his need for a dog. His dad stubbornly lists the many reasons why dogs are forbidden in their house: “They infest the house with blood-sucking fleas” and “They drag dead animals into the house” (p. 3). In an attempt to compromise, Mom brings home a guinea pig.  “Fido” turns out to be no ordinary guinea pig. In fact, she does everything a dog would do! She plays Frisbee, obeys commands, licks faces and fetches sticks.

Volume 2 of The Books of Elsewhere

Turning thirteen is not just about becoming a teenager for Mibs Beaumont. It is a milestone for her family members who turn the magical thirteen because it is the beginning of their unique savvy. Grandma Bomba can move mountains. Grandma cans radio waves to preserve her favorite songs in mason jars. Mother is perfect. Brother Fish creates wind, rain and hurricanes equal to the intensity of his anger and brother Rocket can spark electricity. What will Mibs’ special supernatural gift be?

Young Liz is excited to be on her first hunting adventure with her dad who has just returned home from war; but she is also uneasy: her father has been gone so long that he and she are practically strangers. There are other things to get used to also: her new, too-large plaid flannel shirt from the dry goods store, the unfamiliarity of the breakfast fare on the menu at the diner, and the chilling changes that November brings to the woods Liz walks with her father, who, with gun in hand, is intent on killing the crows who have been eating the farm crops.

The perfect summer adventure for curious readers who love nature and daring explorations. Owen Jester catches the biggest bullfrog in the pond in Carter, Georgia, and locates the lost Water Wonder 4000 submarine, but must keep both events secret. He miraculously discovers how to drive the sub to explore pond life underwater with the help of his friends. He must learn to trust their annoying acquaintance, Viola, whose knowledge proves crucial to success.

Whose side do you fight for if you're a slave during the American Revolution?  While our country is fighting for freedom from Britain, who will fight for the slaves' freedom?  The truth is that sometimes the slaves would fight for whoever promised them their freedom after the war. This book of incredibly well researched historical fiction takes the reader through the harrowing times of a slave girl named Isabel, herlittle sister Ruth, and a slave boy named Curzon as they fight for their freedom.

It's the summer of 1957 in Arkansas and 13 year old Ollie is the oldest of Reverend Love's five daughters.  Ollie tries to imagine what it would

This award winning non-fiction book is part of the Scientists in the Field series.  It's full of amazing photographs of a variety of mostly cute frogs.  There are a few exceptions.  One is a photo of the Sororan Desert Toad held by Dr. Tyrone Hayes who says, "He looks like a cow turd."   The Frog Scientist follows Dr.

The middle child between two sets of twins, Miri feels overlooked and out of place even in her own family. Not only that, but, unlike most of her friends, she still likes to play pretend games and still wants to believe that magic is real even though nothing magical has ever happened to her. Miri and family have just moved into an old house, and her small bedroom, with its worn and ugly wallpaper, seems strange to her. Sent to her bedroom after hitting her brother, Miri discovers a glasses lens taped to one of the walls.