Book Reviews
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Pettikin
Aunt May’s funeral was strange, but things get stranger when fourteen-year-old Allie Thomas encounters Pettikin Periwinkle, a gnome with a love of sweets and a penchant for screaming. Pettikin is stranded on Earth after the death of its only Gatekeeper.
To get Pettikin home, Allie must enlist the help of a powerful, yet unconventional, Guardian and prove to him that she has what it takes to be a Gatekeeper. With three alpacas to guide her, a month’s supply of cookies, and zero training, she sets off with Pettikin through three secret realms. But there is a Contractor here working with the evil race of sslorcs to stop her. And on top of that, she just might be falling for the Guardian.
For Readers 9-12 from author Abby Smith.
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New Dragon City
Set off on a high-stakes, action-packed adventure in this story about friendship, survival, and fighting for the ones you love, perfect for fans of Wings of Fire and How to Train Your Dragon.
No one predicted the dragon apocalypse. The dragons came suddenly and decimated the world as we knew it, including New York City. Now, three years later, Noah, his hardcore survivalist father, and a ragtag group of survivors are barely scraping by in this new reality. Kids scavenge not only for materials in abandoned homes but also for leftover books at the library. Adults spend their time establishing a make-shift society and defending their shelter… with any means available. At least for a few months, the dragons are hibernating until it is no longer safe aboveground.
Noah has seen the damage these creatures can do firsthand. When it comes to dragons: It’s kill or be killed. But a chance encounter between Noah and a young dragon causes him to question everything he thought he knew. With rumors spreading that there’s a group of survivors living in harmony with dragons instead of hiding underground, Noah teams up with his fire-breathing ally to find out if peace between humans and dragons is really possible. But the division runs deeper than scales versus skin because trying to follow his heart might just cost Noah his family, too. If Noah and his father can’t find common ground, can he truly unite humans and dragons?
For Readers 9-12 from author Mari Mancusi.
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Alone
Perfect for fans of Hatchet and the I Survived series, this harrowing middle grade debut novel-in-verse from a Pushcart Prize–nominated poet tells the story of a young girl who wakes up one day to find herself utterly alone in her small Colorado town.
When twelve-year-old Maddie hatches a scheme for a secret sleepover with her two best friends, she ends up waking up to a nightmare. She’s alone—left behind in a town that has been mysteriously evacuated and abandoned.
With no one to rely on, no power, and no working phone lines or internet access, Maddie slowly learns to survive on her own. Her only companions are a Rottweiler named George and all the books she can read. After a rough start, Maddie learns to trust her own ingenuity and invents clever ways to survive in a place that has been deserted and forgotten.
As months pass, she escapes natural disasters, looters, and wild animals. But Maddie’s most formidable enemy is the crushing loneliness she faces every day. Can Maddie’s stubborn will to survive carry her through the most frightening experience of her life?
For Readers 10-12 from author Megan E. Freeman.
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The Eyes and the Impossible
Johannes, a free dog, lives in an urban park by the sea. His job is to be the Eyes—to see everything that happens within the park and report back to the park’s elders, three ancient Bison. His friends—a seagull, a raccoon, a squirrel, and a pelican—work with him as the Assistant Eyes, observing the humans and other animals who share the park and making sure the Equilibrium is in balance.
But changes are afoot. More humans, including Trouble Travelers, arrive in the park. A new building, containing mysterious and hypnotic rectangles, goes up. And then there are the goats—an actual boatload of goats—who appear, along with a shocking revelation that changes Johannes’s view of the world.
A story about friendship, beauty, liberation, and running very, very fast, The Eyes & the Impossible will make readers of all ages see the world around them in a wholly new way.
For Readers 8-12 from Newbery Award-Winner Dave Eggers.
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One Crazy Summer
In One Crazy Summer, eleven-year-old Delphine is like a mother to her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern. She’s had to be, ever since their mother, Cecile, left them seven years ago for a radical new life in California. But when the sisters arrive from Brooklyn to spend the summer with their mother, Cecile is nothing like they imagined.
While the girls hope to go to Disneyland and meet Tinker Bell, their mother sends them to a day camp run by the Black Panthers. Unexpectedly, Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern learn much about their family, their country, and themselves during one truly crazy summer.
For Readers 9-12 by Newbery Honor Award Winner author Rita Williams-Garcia.
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Believe
Melanie knows she’s special. She understands the secret language of old houses and can make jewels out of broken glass. Her imagination can do anything – except make friends.
But then, she meets Sabrina, who looks like a TV star and acts like a spy, and who doesn’t care what anyone thinks. She teaches Melanie how to believe in herself, and soon Melanie starts living her dreams. She even lands the lead in Peter Pan!
If only she could share it all with Mom. Sabrina thinks they can track her down, and Melanie wants to believe, but sometimes it’s easier to pretend.
Her new life feels like a house of cards, until one day it all comes crashing down and she finds herself with no choice but to face the truth… and let go.
For Readers 8-12 from author Julie Mathison.
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Ava & Carol Detective Agency Series: Books 1-3
Calling all young sleuths! Get ready for a rollercoaster ride of mysteries with the Ava & Carol Detective Agency Bundle Set. Join Ava and Carol, two clever detectives, as they tackle stolen jewels, ancient relics, and haunted houses.
In The Mystery of the Pharaoh’s Diamonds, the girls must outsmart a cunning security guard, decipher hidden clues, and unravel a tangled web of deception.
The Mystery of Solomon’s Ring thrusts them into a secret battle, where they face evil villains and a race against time to secure a powerful relic.
And in The Haunted Mansion, they confront spine-chilling mysteries and a headless monster that terrorizes their neighborhood.
These heart-pounding adventures fill the story with suspense, unexpected alliances, and unbreakable friendship.
For Readers 8-12 from authors Thomas Lockhaven and Emily Chase.
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The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane
For fans of The Mysterious Benedict Society and The Blackthorn Key series comes an award-winning boarding school mystery about twelve-year-old Emmy, who’s shipped off to a prestigious British school. But her new home is hiding a secret society … and it may be the answer to Emmy’s questions about her missing father.
With a dad who disappeared years ago and a mother who’s a bit too busy to parent, Emmy’s sent off to Wellsworth, a prestigious boarding school in England, where she’s sure she won’t fit in.
But then she finds a box of mysterious medallions in the attic of her home with a note reading: These belonged to your father.
When she arrives at school, she finds the strange symbols from the medallions etched into walls and books, which leads Emmy and her new friends, Jack, and Lola, to Wellsworth’s secret society: The Order of Black Hollow Lane.
Emmy can’t help but think that the society had something to do with her dad’s disappearance, and that there may be more than just dark secrets in the halls of Wellsworth…
For Reader 8-12 from author Julia Nobel.
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Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe
How far would you go to find something that might not even exist?
All her life, Cricket’s mama has told her stories about a secret room painted by a mysterious artist. Now Mama’s run off, and Cricket thinks the room might be the answer to getting her to come back. If it exists. And if she can find it.
Cricket’s first clue is a coin from a grown-over ghost town in the woods. So with her daddy’s old guidebook and a coat full of snacks stolen from the Cash ‘n’ Carry, Cricket runs away to find the room. Surviving in the woods isn’t easy. While Cricket camps out in an old tree house and looks for clues, she meets the last resident of the ghost town, encounters a poetry-loving dog (who just might hold a key to part of the puzzle), and discovers that sometimes you have to get a little lost . . . to really find your way.
For Readers 9-12 from author Jo Watson Hackl.
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Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life (Middle School, 1)
In the hilarious and awkward start to this #1 mega-bestselling sixteen-book series, beloved misfit Rafe Khatchadorian takes on his first year of middle school…by breaking all the rules!
Rafe Khatchadorian has enough problems at home without throwing his first year of middle school into the mix. Luckily, he’s got a foolproof plan for the best year ever, if only he can pull it off: With his best friend Leonardo the Silent awarding him points, Rafe will break every rule in his school’s oppressive Code of Conduct. Chewing gum in class—5,000 points! Running in the hallway—10,000 points! Pulling the fire alarm—50,000 points! But when Rafe’s game starts to catch up with him, he’ll have to decide if winning is all that matters, or if he’s finally ready to face the rules, bullies, and truths he’s been avoiding.
#1 bestselling author James Patterson’s debut middle-grade novel addresses some of middle schoolers’ biggest issues: bullies, first crushes, and finding out what makes each of us special.
For Readers 9-12 from best-selling author James Patterson.
