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See You in the Cosmos
by Jack Cheng
Fiction. A space-obsessed boy and his dog, Carl Sagan, take a journey toward family, love, hope, and awe in this funny and moving novel for fans of Counting by 7s, Wonder, and Walk Two Moons. 11-year-old Alex Petroski loves space and rockets, his mom, his brother, and his dog Carl Sagan--named for his hero, the real-life astronomer. All he wants is to launch his golden iPod into space the way Carl Sagan (the man, not the dog) launched his Golden Record on the Voyager spacecraft in 1977. From Colorado to New Mexico, Las Vegas to L.A., Alex records a journey on his iPod to show other lifeforms what life on earth, his earth, is like. But his destination keeps changing. And the funny, lost, remarkable people he meets along the way can only partially prepare him for the secrets he'll uncover--from the truth about his long-dead dad to the fact that, for a kid with a troubled mom and a mostly not-around brother, he has way more family than he ever knew.
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| The Dog, Ray by Linda CogginFantasy. Life after death is a lot more furry than Daisy expected. Following her untimely end in a car crash, the 12-year-old girl is reborn into the body of a puppy named Misty -- but with all of her memories from her human life. When she runs away in search of her human parents, Daisy finds homeless 14-year-old Pip instead, who adopts her and renames her Ray as he searches for his own lost family. Even as Daisy's memories start to fade, you'll be charmed by her doggy narration and moved by this thought-provoking tale of second chances. |
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| The Bone Sparrow by Zana FraillonFiction. Though his family remembers a time before they were forced out of their home in Myanmar, Subhi only knows life in the Australian refugee detention center where he was born. It's a hungry, filthy, and violent place (thanks to the brutally abusive guards), and Subhi's only escape is his imagination, where he visits the Night Sea from his mother's stories. When Jimmie, a local girl who can't read, finds her way into the center with a notebook written by her mother, Subhi agrees to read to her, kicking off a secret friendship. For another realistic, heart-twisting reads about young refugees, try Linda Sue Park's A Long Walk to Water.
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Well, That Was Awkward
by Rachel Vail
Romance. Gracie has never felt like this before. One day, she suddenly can't breathe, can't walk, can't anything --and the reason is standing right there in front of her, all tall and weirdly good-looking: A.J. But it turns out A.J. likes not Gracie but Gracie's beautiful best friend, Sienna. Obviously Gracie is happy for Sienna. Super happy! She helps Sienna compose the best texts, responding to A.J.'s surprisingly funny and appealing texts, just as if she were Sienna. Because Gracie is fine. Always! She's had lots of practice being the sidekick, second-best. It's all good. Well, almost all. She's trying. Funny and tender, this contemporary retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac reveals explosions of hope and moments of perfect happiness amid the drama of middle school.
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Focus on: Magical Realism
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| Nightbird by Alice HoffmanFantasy. It's rumored that there's a monster living in Sidwell, Massachusetts. But 12-year-old Twig Fowler knows better than to believe rumors -- especially since the "monster" is actually her older brother James, who was born with wings due to an old family curse. Their mom says that they have to keep James a secret, but when sisters Julia and Agate move in next door, Twig and James make friends with them anyway -- and in so doing, discover the chance to change their family's fate. For another quirky, quiet book that mixes magic with everyday life, check out Jane Yolen's Centaur Rising. |
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Wishing day
by Lauren Myracle
Fantasy. On the third night of the third month after a girl's thirteenth birthday, every girl in the town of Willow Hill makes three wishes. The first wish is an impossible wish. The second is a wish she can make come true herself. And the third is the deepest wish of her secret heart. Natasha is the oldest child in a family steeped in magic, though she's not sure she believes in it. She's full to bursting with wishes, however. She misses her mother, who disappeared nearly eight long years ago. She has a crush on one of the cutest boys in her class, and she thinks maybe it would be nice if her very first kiss came from him. And amid the chaos of a house full of sisters, aunts, and a father lost in grief, she aches to simply be . . . noticed. So Natasha goes to the willow tree at the top of the hill on her Wishing Day, and she makes three wishes. What unfolds is beyond anything she could have imagined. This heartwarming, timeless story is perfect for fans of Rebecca Stead, Wendy Mass, and Ingrid Law. First in a planned trilogy.
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| The Lightning Queen by Laura ResauMagical Realism. For Teo and Esma, destiny strikes during their childhood in the 1950s, when Esma and her Romani family visit Teo's Mixteco community in the dusty Mexican mountains. Teo is grieving the loss of his twin sister, but spirited Esma (who calls herself the "Queen of Lightning") puts "the spark of life" back in him. Though Esma's fortune-teller grandmother predicts that their friendship will be lifelong, even lasting into the lives of their grandchildren, readers are fast-forwarded to the present day, where Teo and Esma have lost touch over the years. Can their grandchildren figure out how to reunite them so they can fulfill their destiny? Find out in this magical and deeply moving read. |
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| The Disappearance of Emily H. by Barrie SummyMystery. You'd think that the ability to see memories attached to objects would be useful when starting a new school, but it's not much help to eighth-grader Raine. She still has to put up with the school's mean-girl clique, whose bullying seems more sinister when memories reveal that they know more than they're telling about the recent disappearance of fellow student Emily. Though following Emily's memories becomes increasingly risky, Raine feels compelled to find the missing girl. Combining authentic middle school social drama with supernatural mystery, Raine's dogged search for the truth is bound to keep you turning pages. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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