Middle Reader

Thirteen-year-old Meg envies her sister Molly's beauty and popularity, and these feelings make it difficult for her to cope with Molly's illness and death. "Not simply another story on a subject currently in vogue, this book is memorable as a well-crafted reaffirmation of universal values." -- Horn Book

The Newbery Award-winning author of Up a Road Slowly presents the unforgettable story of Jethro Creighton--a brave boy who comes of age during the turbulent years of the Civil War.

In 1861, America is on the cusp of war, and young Jethro Creighton is just nine-years-old. His brother, Tom, and his cousin, Eb, are both of fighting age. As Jethro's family is pulled into the conflict between the North and the South, loyalties are divided, dreams are threatened, and their bonds are put to the test in this heart-wrenching, coming of age story.

"Drawing from family records and from stories told by her grandfather, the author has, in an uncommonly fine narrative, created living characters and vividly reconstructed a crucial period of history."--Booklist

Jack and Annie travel back in time to a South American rain forest in search
of the elusive magician Morgan le Fay. Will they find a new clue to her
whereabouts before they are trampled by stampeding killer ants?

For as long as ten-year-old Moon can remember, he has lived out in the forest in a shelter with his father. They keep to themselves, their only contact with other human beings an occasional trip to the nearest general store. When Moon's father dies, Moon follows his father's last instructions: to travel to Alaska to find others like themselves. But Moon is soon caught and entangled in a world he doesn't know or understand; he's become property of the government he has been avoiding all his life. As the spirited and resourceful Moon encounters constables, jails, institutions, lawyers, true friends, and true enemies, he adapts his wilderness survival skills and learns to survive in the outside world, and even, perhaps, make his home there. This title has Common Core connections.

Alabama Moon is a 2007 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Meggy arrives in London expecting to be welcomed by her father, who sent for her, but he doesn't want her to assist in his laboratory when he sees that not only is she female, she needs two sticks to walk. Sent on trivial errands, she learns to navigate the city, which is earthy and colorful as well as dirty, noisy, and filled with rogues and thieves. Meanwhile she is befriended by the alchemist's former assistant, and when it appears that her father may be arrested and beheaded for practicing magic, together she and her new friend devise a plan to save him. Building strength and street smarts, Meggy goes from helpless to confident and from friendless to surrounded by warmth and love. Elizabethan London has its dark side, but it also has much to offer Meggy Swann.

A 2016 Coretta Scott King Author Honor book, and recipient of the Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children's Literature.

In this New York Times bestselling novel, two teens--one black, one white--grapple with the repercussions of a single violent act that leaves their school, their community, and, ultimately, the country bitterly divided by racial tension.

A bag of chips. That's all sixteen-year-old Rashad is looking for at the corner bodega. What he finds instead is a fist-happy cop, Paul Galluzzo, who mistakes Rashad for a shoplifter, mistakes Rashad's pleadings that he's stolen nothing for belligerence, mistakes Rashad's resistance to leave the bodega as resisting arrest, mistakes Rashad's every flinch at every punch the cop throws as further resistance and refusal to STAY STILL as ordered. But how can you stay still when someone is pounding your face into the concrete pavement?

There were witnesses: Quinn Collins--a varsity basketball player and Rashad's classmate who has been raised by Paul since his own father died in Afghanistan--and a video camera. Soon the beating is all over the news and Paul is getting threatened with accusations of prejudice and racial brutality. Quinn refuses to believe that the man who has basically been his savior could possibly be guilty. But then Rashad is absent. And absent again. And again. And the basketball team--half of whom are Rashad's best friends--start to take sides. As does the school. And the town. Simmering tensions threaten to explode as Rashad and Quinn are forced to face decisions and consequences they had never considered before.

Written in tandem by two award-winning authors, this four-starred reviewed tour de force shares the alternating perspectives of Rashad and Quinn as the complications from that single violent moment, the type taken directly from today's headlines, unfold and reverberate to highlight an unwelcome truth.

Do you know there's no true opposite to the word "catastrophe"?

Amelia McBride and company are about to embark on their most daunting mission yet: navigating the promises and pitfalls of popularity at Joe McCarthy Elementary. A tricky task when you consider an unmatched pair of socks alone can cause ridicule for years to come. Really, though, all the gang wants is not to be unpopular. Rising and falling through the ranks of nerd, geek--and cheerleader?--with advice from wacky popularity expert Dr. Victoria Medeochrias, Amelia and her friends encounter riotous mobs, unfortunate makeovers, and bad catch phrases. Even after things go from bad to worse, Amelia learns there are some things that are just a little bit more important than being popular.

In his first brand new volume in two years, Jimmy Gownley dishes up another hilariously satisfying dose of Amelia Rules!, in what Comics Buyer's Guide has called "a timeless manner to which readers young and old can easily relate."

A Reluctant Hero

Trey may have saved Luke's life, but he still thinks of himself as a coward who can barely stand to be outdoors. Now Trey finds out Luke has been taken prisoner at Population Police headquarters. Trey is terrified, but he knows that if he doesn't rescue his friend, no one will.
At police headquarters, Trey impersonates an officer to try getting to Luke. But just when it looks like he's close, Trey suddenly finds himself in danger of exposing not just himself but all shadow children.

The wildly popular series by K.A. Applegate is back! The first six books of Animorphs return, with striking new lenticular covers that morph.

Rachel is still reeling from the news that the Earth is secretly under attack by parasitic aliens known as the Yeerks. And that she and her friends -- five kids who, purely by chance, stumbled onto a downed spacecraft and were given the power to morph into any animal they touch -- are the planet's only defense. But Rachel's always been something of a daredevil. So when it's suggested that they infiltrate the home of their assistant principal, Mr. Chapman, who also happens to be a human host of the Yeerks, she volunteers. But what she finds inside may be more than even she can handle.

Cassie's had it. After the last mission, she realizes she's getting tired of missions. Tired of battles. Tired of being an Animorph. She decides that she just can't do it anymore. So she quits.

Book Two-Now available in mass market paperback
Artemis is at boarding school in Ireland when he suddenly receives an urgent video e-mail from Russia. In it is a plea from his father, who has been kidnapped by the Russian Mafiya. As Artemis rushes to his rescue, he is stopped by Captain Holly Short of the LEPrecon fairy police. But this time, instead of battling the fairies, he is going to have to join forces with them if he wants to save one of the few people in the world he loves.
"A cracking good read."-Publishers Weekly
"The world that Colfer creates is as vivid and fantastical as any shire, Gotham, or galaxy far, far away. . ."-Entertainment Weekly (review: A-)

After his adventures in "The Divide," Felix lives quietly at home. But Snakeweed is still at large. All he needs to get home is the spell hidden in Felixs notebook. So, he freezes Felixs parents. Felix must return to The Divide to find the counter-charm that can cure his parents and save the world.

It's 1974, and Julie Albright has just moved to a new neighborhood and started at a new school. So when she finds out the basketball team is "boys only," Julie is determined to fight for her right to play. Will a petition with 150 names be enough to make the coach change his mind and give her a chance?

Explore the childhood of Betsy Ross and find out why she's an all-star in American history!

Betsy Ross is remembered as the maker of the first American flag, which was secretly presented to General George Washington in Philadelphia in 1776. But what was she like as a kid?

In this narrative biography, you'll learn all about the childhood of Betsy Ross--from her birth on January 1, 1752, as the eighth of seventeen children, to her Quaker upbringing, to her growing love for sewing and apprenticeship to an upholsterer. Discover how and why Betsy began making flags--and some surprising info about her legendary contribution to America.

The Spiderwick Chronicles leave the old-fashioned charm of New England far behind and head south for some fiendish faerie fun in the hot Florida sun. Eleven-year-old Nicholas Vargas only thinks his life has been turned upside down after his developer father remarries and moves his new wife and daughter into the soon-to-be completed Mangrove Hollow.

But an "expedition" to a nearby lake turns up a little nixie with a giant problem - the huge, lumbering, fire-breathing variety - and it's up to Nick; his stepsister, Laurie; and his big brother, Julian (plus a familiar face from the original Spiderwick Chronicles) to figure out the best way to stop a host of rampaging giants before all of Florida goes up in smoke.

Join the unstoppable Big Nate for another round of middle school adventures! From homework and hygiene to hilarious hiijnks - no one quite does sixth grade like Nate and his friends.

Need a way to shut up some snooty kid when he gloats about his private school? Looking for the perfect response when your best friend joins the grammar police? Want a quick and easy way to out-snap even the snappiest comeback? Nate Wright has the answer: a good old-fashioned wedgie!

The whole gang from P.S. 38 is back for more hijinks, hilarity, and underwear hoisting in this new collection of Big Nate comics. Can Chad somehow survive on a diet of kale and soy nuts? Are Jenny and Artur EVER going to break up? And how is Nate supposed to concentrate on baseball when he's got a crush on his team's new pitcher? See for yourself! Join Nate and the rest of the crew for another unforgettable round of middle school adventures!

The timeless classic sweeps onto the silver screen in a lavish production. A whole new generation of readers will be drawn to Sewell's classic when this Warner Bros. release hits theaters this summer. Expect a wonderful movie for the whole family . . .

When Ruben and Jed find a dead body on the Rhode Island shore, they are certain it has something to do with smuggling liquor. Suddenly, the boys find themselves caught in a war between two Prohibition gangs.