April 2021 list by K. Pearson
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Abby, Tried and True
by Donna Gephart
Devastated when her best friend moves to Israel and her older brother is diagnosed with cancer, Abby struggles to make her way through seventh grade and her feelings for the boy next door.
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Across the Pond
by Joy McCullough
Hoping to reinvent herself in the wake of a friendship breakup and a relocation to Scotland, Callie struggles to feel at home in a drafty, run-down historic castle before the discovery of a hidden journal inspires her to join a birding club.
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Amber & Clay
by Laura Amy Schlitz
A novel in verse relates the story of Rhaskos and Melisto, one a common slave and the other a spoiled aristocrat, who are bound together by fate and form an unlikely friendship that crosses the boundary of life and death.
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Butler for Hire!
by Tom Angleberger
Meet DJ Funkyfoot! He’s not actually a DJ—he’s a chihuahua and a butler! Meet ShrubBaby! She’s an adorable baby shrub with a taste for thrills, fertilizer, and fame. Finding a butler gig is hard these days, so DJ Funkyfoot takes a job that’s ALMOST like being a butler . . . He becomes a nanny for ShrubBaby!
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The Dragon in the Library
by Louie Stowell
A sequel to The Wizard in the Woods finds reluctant reader Kit discovering her wizarding powers and the magic she can wield through books to help save the local library, and its resident dragon, from a power-hungry tycoon.
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Finn and the Time-Traveling Pajamas
by Michael Buckley
A sequel to Finn and the Intergalactic Lunchbox finds Finn advised by an older version of himself to include Lincoln and Julep in his time-traveling adventures, before the trio become stranded in different timelines by malfunctioning time-travel pajamas.
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The Gilded Girl
by Alyssa Colman
Rendered penniless by her father’s untimely death, a girl in an alternate-world early 20th-century New York, where only the elite are permitted to wield magic, forms a pact with a servant girl to prevent their magic from being suppressed.
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Golden Gate
by James Ponti
Rebel surfer-turned-field ops specialist Sydney finds herself in hot water while undercover on a marine research vessel, while her City Spies teammates investigate a suspected mole.
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Good Dogs With Bad Haircuts
by Rachel Wenitsky
A sequel to Good Dogs on a Bad Day finds the thrilled pooches from Good Dogs day care center helping human Erin prepare for her upcoming wedding only to find their efforts challenged by Napoleon’s doggy mischief, Lulu’s bad haircut and King’s disappearance.
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The House That Wasn't There
by Elana K. Arnold
Dismayed when his neighbors cut down a beloved old walnut tree that has always been a source of comfort, Adler forges an unexpected friendship with a young newcomer over a series of mysterious connections.
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The Losers at the Center of the Galaxy
by Mary Winn Heider
Two years after their father disappeared, Winston and Louise wrestle with their grief while investigating mysterious teachers, innovative science, and a captive bear.
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The Retake
by Jen Calonita
Heartbroken when her former best friend ghosts her, Zoe makes unexpected discoveries while using a magical app on her phone to travel back in time to when she and her friend started drifting apart.
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Rivals
by Tom Greenwald
In basketball-crazed Walthorne, rival middle school stars Austin Chambers and Carter Haswell are both feeling the pressure when school sports reporter Alfie Jenks reveals scandals that jeopardize the whole season. Told through flashbacks, newspaper reports, social media posts, and interviews.
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The Sinister Substitute
by Preeti Chhibber
Beginning a new semester at Avengers Assembly under several new instructors, Kamala, Doreen and Miles are surprised by their teachers’ villainous lessons, while a mysterious impersonator begins turning students and staff against each other.
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Soul Lanterns
by Shaw Kuzki
Joining her family every year at Hiroshima’s lantern-floating ceremony in honor of those lost in the nuclear bombings of World War II, 12-year-old Nozomi asks about her mother’s unnamed lantern and how its reflects an urgent need for world peace.
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Starfish
by Lisa Fipps
A debut novel-in-verse follows the experiences of a girl who tries to change her behavior when she is bullied for her weight, before a swimming hobby, a kind therapist and an accepting new neighbor help her embrace her true self.
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The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst
by Jaclyn Moriarty
Esther is a middle child, in her own mind a pale reflection of siblings who are bright, shining stars. Her mother doesn't show the slightest bit of interest, no matter what Esther does. Still, she's content to go back to school, do her best, hang out with her friends, and let others take care of things.
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Thornwood
by Leah Cypess
Placed in a deep sleep along with the rest of the kingdom by her beautiful sister’s sleeping curse, a younger sibling awakens to a harrowing truth that nobody else believes, forcing her to embark on a quest to save her loved ones.
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We Belong
by Cookie Hiponia Everman
A debut novel-in-verse, inspired by Filipino mythology, traces the experiences of two sisters who discover their mother’s past as a strong-willed child immigrant at the same time they learn the cultural tale of god’s daughter, Mayari.
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When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Peach Pie
by Erin Downing
Looking forward to the summer after a difficult year, siblings Lucy, Freddy and Herb are rendered unexpected millionaires by one of their late mother’s inventions, before their father invests in a food truck and takes them on a pie-selling road trip.
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