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The Naked Mole-Rat Leters
by Mary Amato
When she discovers that her father is involved in a long-distance relationship with a zookeeper in another state, jealous and overprotective Frankie decides to send emails to her to sabotage the relationship, but the responses she gets suddenly make Frankie realize that her father's friend is more kind and special than she had ever imagined her to be. Call Number: J AMATO
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Our Teacher Is a Vampire and Other (Not) True Stories
by Mary Amato
Encouraged by their pregnant teacher to share a class notebook for recording thoughts, jokes, poems, stories and letters, the students of Mrs. Penrose's class conclude that she is probably not a vampire and express their worry when the baby arrives too soon. Call Number: J AMATO
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Crenshaw
by Katherine Applegate
Fearing his family will have to move into their minivan when they suffer another financial setback, Jackson finds support and comfort through his friendship with a giant imaginary cat. Call Number: J APPLEGAT
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Home of the Brave
by Katherine Applegate
Kek, an African refugee, is confronted by many strange things at the Minneapolis home of his aunt and cousin, as well as in his fifth grade classroom, and longs for his missing mother, until he finds comfort in the company of a cow and her owner. Call Number: J APPLEGAT
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Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story
by Nora Raleigh Baskin
The lives of four middle schoolers are abruptly impacted by the September 11 attacks. This book tells the story of how an abandoned boy, a boy whose mother has recently died, a Muslim girl and a girl whose mother is traveling in New York struggle with respective challenges in the days before the tragedy. Call Number: J BASKIN
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Soar
by Joan Bauer
Moving to Hillcrest, Ohio, when his adoptive father accepts a temporary job, twelve-year-old Jeremiah, a heart transplant recipient, has sixty days to find a baseball team to coach. Call Number: J BAUER
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Circus Mirandus
by Cassie Beasley
Learning from his dying grandfather that a magical circus at the heart of his favorite bedtime stories is real, young Micah and his friend Jenny embark on a journey to claim a miracle from the circus's wondrous magician, the Lightbender. Call Number: J BEASLEY
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Book Scavenger
by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
Delightedly moving to San Francisco, 12-year-old Emily longs to meet a favorite author who lives nearby and who is savagely attacked just before the release of his latest online puzzle series. Call Number: J BERTMAN
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Shakespeare's Secret
by Elise Broach
Named after a character in a Shakespeare play, misfit sixth-grader Hero becomes interested in exploring this unusual connection because of a valuable diamond supposedly hidden in her new house, an intriguing neighbor, and the unexpected attention of the most popular boy in school. Call Number: J BROACH
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The Wild Robot
by Peter Brown
Initializing for the first time on a remote island where she is all alone, Roz the robot learns survival strategies from the island's hostile animals and finally gains acceptance when she cares for an orphaned gosling. Call Number: J BROWN
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Hatched
by Bruce Coville
Told in the style of diary entries, this book follows the experiences of a less-than-fierce griffin, who feels like a complete embarrassment because he has never found treasure to guard. Call Number: J COVILLE
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Hour of the Bees
by Lindsay Eagar
Spending a summer in New Mexico helping her family move her aging grandfather to an assisted living home, 12-year-old Carol avoids her prickly grandfather before she is captivated by his astonishing magical stories. Call Number: J EAGAR
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The Gollywhopper Games
by Jody Feldman
Twelve-year-old Gil Goodson competes against thousands of other children at extraordinary puzzles, stunts, and more in hopes of a fresh start for his family, which has been ostracized since his father was falsely accused of embezzling from Golly Toy and Game Company. Call Number: J FELDMAN
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Some Kind of Courage
by Dan Gemeinhart
Losing his father to an accident, his mother and sister to illness and his horse to a cruel thief, young Joseph confronts deadly animals, dangerous men and the harsh elements of nature to reclaim the only family he has left. Call Number: J GEMEINHA
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My Side of the Mountain
by Jean Craighead George
A young boy relates his adventures during the year he spends living alone in the Catskill Mountains including his struggle for survival, his dependence on nature, his animal friends, and his ultimate realization that he needs human companionship. Call Number: J GEORGE
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Jubilee
by Patricia Reilly Giff
Living with her beloved aunt and faithful dog years after her mother left and she stopped speaking, young Judith communicates through gestures and drawing cartoons while tackling the challenges of a new school and questioning whether or not to seek out her mother. Call Number: J GIFF
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Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little
by Peggy Elizabeth Gifford
Dragging the book around with her all summer long, Moxy had every intention of completing her reading assignment, yet with only one day to go before fourth grade starts, she is now forced to start reading it and, to her surprise, discovers just how much she loves the book after all! Call Number: J GIFFORD
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Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics
by Chris Grabenstein
World-famous game maker Luigi Lemoncello invites teams from all across America to compete in a first-ever Library Olympics, an event that is challenged by a nefarious censor. Call Number: J GRABENST
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The Matchstick Castle
by Keir Graff
Enduring a boring summer with relatives while his scientist father is stationed far away, Brian and his cousin, Nora, discover a huge wooden castle in the forest where an eccentric family battles fantastic monsters and a crazed demolitionist. Call Number: J GRAFF
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Nightmare at the Book Fair
by Dan Gutman
When fifth-grader Trip Kindleman, who does not like to read very much, is hit on the head by a heavy box and becomes a character in a series of different books--from a sports story to a science fiction novel to an adventure tale--his view of reading is changed forever. Call Number: J GUTMAN
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Closed for the Season: A Mystery Story
by Mary Downing Hahn
Determined to find out who killed Myrtle Donaldson and where all the money she managed for the Magic Forest has gone, friends Logan and Arthur enter the old amusement park to search for clues, causing them to investigate powerful families with long histories in their small Maryland town. Call Number: J HAHN
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Night of the Spadefoot Toads
by Bill Harley
When his family moves from Tucson, Arizona to Massachusetts, fifth-grader Ben has a hard time leaving the desert he loves, but when he finds a kindred spirit in his science teacher and ends up trying to help her with some of her problems, he finally begins to feel at home. Call Number: J HARLEY
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Full of Beans
by Jennifer L. Holm
Beans is confronted by the unexpected consequences of a large-scale plan he implements in his Depression-era community in response to high unemployment and his negative perceptions about grownups. Call Number: J HOLM
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The Neptune Project
by Polly Holyoke
Feeling more of a bond to her scientist mother's test-subject dolphins than her human peers, Nere discovers that she is a product of the "Neptune Project," one of a group of kids who have been genetically altered to survive in the ocean. Call Number: J HOLYOKE
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Shark Lady: The Daring Tale of How Eugenie Clark Dove into History
by Jess Keating
At 9 years old, Eugenie Clark developed an unexpected passion for sharks. At the time, sharks were seen as mindless killing machines, but Eugenie knew better and set out to prove it. From her many discoveries to the shark-related myths she dispelled, Eugenie's wide scientific contributions led to the well-earned nickname "Shark Lady". Call Number: J 921 CLA
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Me and Marvin Gardens
by Amy Sarig King
When his family's farmland is taken over by developers, Obe Devlin, a boy with health problems he doesn't like to think about, encounters a remarkable plastic-eating animal who becomes his best friend and biggest secret. Call Number: J KING
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The Skeleton Tree
by Iain Lawrence
Surviving a shipwreck along the Alaskan coast, 12-year-old Chris struggles to find food and shelter alongside a prickly boy and a friendly raven as the salmon migration ends and dangerous cold weather sets in. Call Number: J LAWRENCE
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A Handful of Stars
by Cynthia Lord
When her blind dog slips his collar, 12-year old Lily meets Salma Santiago, a young Hispanic girl whose migrant family are in Maine for the blueberry-picking season, and, based partly on their mutual love of dogs, the two forge a friendship while painting bee boxes for Lily's grandfather—but as the Blueberry Queen pageant approaches Lily and Selma are confronted with some of the hard truths of prejudice and migrant life. Call Number: J LORD
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The Door by the Staircase
by Katherine Marsh
Adopted by the mysterious Madame Z from a hated orphanage, 12-year-old Mary explores her new town with the help of her friend Jacob and makes a terrifying discovery about Madame Z's true identity. Call Number: J MARSH
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Upside-Down Magic
by Sarah Mlynowski
Placed in the Upside-Down Magic class at an elite magical academy, students Nory, Elliott, Andres and Bax cast spells that go frustratingly wonky at the worst possible times. Call Number: J MLYNOWSK
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Wish
by Barbara O'Connor
A story about a girl who, with the help of the dog of her dreams, discovers that family doesn't always have to be related--they are simply people who love you for who you are. Call Number: J OCONNOR
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Project Mulberry
by Linda Sue Park
While working on a project for an after-school club, Julia Song, a Korean-American girl, and her friend Patrick learn not just about silkworms, but also about tolerance, prejudice, friendship, patience, and more. Call Number: J PARK
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Word of Mouse
by James Patterson
A rare blue mouse who has the ability to read, write and talk to humans makes a dramatic escape from a mysterious laboratory and must use his special skills to survive in the dangerous outdoors and find his missing family. Call Number: J PATTERSO
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The Seventh Most Important Thing
by Shelley Pearsall
In 1963, 13-year-old Arthur is sentenced to community service helping the neighborhood Junk Man after he throws a brick at the old man's head in a moment of rage, but the junk he collects might be more important than he suspects. Call Number: J PEARSALL
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Making Friends with Billy Wong
by Augusta Scattergood
Sent to help care for her ailing grandmother in small-town 1950s Arkansas, Azalea forges precarious ties with a troubled kid and a young gossip before bonding with a Chinese-American boy whose immigrant family is targeted by racism. Call Number: J SCATTERG
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Dead Possums Are Fair Game
by Taryn Souders
With a little imagination and some inspiration from their friend the opossum (now named Morty, short for rigor mortis), Ella and her classmates come up with a project that gets them excited about math and they might even have a chance to win at the MathFair. Call Number: J SOUDERS
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The Harlem Charade
by Natasha Tarpley
Seventh-graders Jin, Alexandra, and Elvin come from very different backgrounds and circumstances, but they all live in Harlem, and when Elvin's grandfather is attacked they band together to find out who is responsible--and the search leads them to an enigmatic artist whose missing masterpieces are worth a fortune, and into conflict with an ambitious politician who wants to turn Harlem into an historic amusement park. Call Number: J TARPLEY
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Poet: The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton
by Don Tate
Shares the story of George Moses Horton, who born into slavery taught himself to read and earned money by selling his poems to the students of the University of North Carolina, before becoming the first published African American poet of the South. Call Number: J 921 HOR
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Save Me a Seat
by Sarah Weeks
Two boys, one white, one Indian-American, gain strength from each other from afar as they struggle to navigate middle school, family relationships and friendships. Call Number: J WEEKS
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