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Wolf Hollow
by Lauren Wolk
Growing up in a rural Pennsylvania town in the aftermath of two world wars, 12-year-old Annabelle confronts a bullying newcomer and must defend a traumatized but gentle World War I veteran who is wrongly implicated in the bully's disappearance. Simultaneous eBook.
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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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| The Lost Property Office by James R. HannibalAdventure. The trip to London is supposed to help 13-year-old American Jack and his family track down Jack's missing father. Instead, it leads Jack to his own hidden heritage as a member of the Ministry of Trackers, a secret society of detectives who share Jack's superhuman ability for finding things. Before he can absorb this shock, Jack is targeted by the villainous Clockmaker, who claims that Jack can save his father by completing a dangerous quest throughout the city. Fans of both action and fantasy will be drawn in by the breathless pace, steampunk gadgets, and bookish in-jokes in this debut adventure.
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Beetle boy
by M. G. Leonard
When his father goes missing from his job at the Natural History Museum, Darkus Cuttle moves in with his eccentric uncle and cousins and discovers that the beetles infesting their home are an intelligent super-species in danger of extermination at the hands of a mad scientist. A first novel. Simultaneous eBook.
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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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| Wish Girl by Nikki LoftinMagical Realism. Peter and Annie each have their own reasons for wanting to run away to the magical valley near their rural Texas community. Quiet, sensitive, and deeply misunderstood by his slowly fracturing family, Peter isn't sure he can keep going. Odd, artistic Annie calls herself a "wish girl" – as in Make-A-Wish, the program for kids with cancer. When family drama and the looming shadow of a risky cancer treatment overwhelm the two friends, they turn to the valley for safety, protection, and hope. If you're enchanted by author Nikki Loftin's poetic writing style, you might also enjoy her previous book, Nightingale's Nest. |
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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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