LibraryAware July 2023

Recent Releases

Hamra and the Jungle of Memories
by Hanna Alkaf

Putting a Malaysian spin on Little Red Riding Hood, this story finds 13-year-old Hamra, along with her friend Ilyas by her side, on a mission to set things right when she ignores the rules of the jungle, endangering her family.

To Catch a Thief
by Martha Brockenbrough

When someone steals the town's priceless dragonfly staff right before the Dragonfly Day Festival, 11-year-old Amelia MacGuffin must solve Urchin Beach's crime of the century to save the town, her parents' business and the stray dog she's fallen in love with.

The Ruby Code
by Jessica Khoury

While playing an old fantasy videogame, Ash encounters Ruby, who seems far more than a pre-programmed side character, and together they discover she's a sentient AI originally designed as a weapon, trapping them both in deadly game that blurs the lines between real and virtual.

Four Eyes
by Rex Ogle; illustrated by Dave Valeza

What it's about: Middle school is off to a rough start for Rex: he's short, he has no real friends (besides his abuela), and he has to wear ugly glasses that his poor family can barely afford.

Series alert: With colorful art, a 1990s setting, and a blend of humor and angst, this graphic novel memoir kicks off a series.

For fans of: Raina Telgemeier's Guts or the realistic, sometimes painful truth in author Rex Ogle's earlier book, Free Lunch. (Ages 8-12.)

The Notorious Scarlett and Browne
by Jonathan Stroud

When their notoriety spreads a bit too far, Albert, who can read minds, and Scarlett, who has a way with weapons, must save their friends who are being held hostage by their enemies, a situation that forces them to pull off an impossible mission to win their freedom.

Summer Vacation

Be Prepared
by Vera Brosgol

Believing Russian summer camp will be the place she finally fits in, Vera jumps at the chance to sign up, but very quickly discovers that camp is nothing like she imagined.

Mission Unstoppable
by Dan Gutman

On a cross-country vacation with their parents, twins Coke and Pepsi, soon to be thirteen, fend off strange assassins as they try to come to terms with their being part of a top-secret government organization known as The Genius Files.

Turtle in Paradise
by Jennifer L. Holm

Set in 1935, during the Great Depression, an 11-year-old girl nicknamed Turtle goes to live with relatives in Key West, Florida, after her mother takes a job as a housekeeper for a woman who does not like children. As a result, Turtle's world opens up in many unexpected ways, and she finds herself coming out of the shell she has spent her whole life building.

The Forget-Me-Not Summer
by Leila Howland

When their parents, a screenwriter and a film editor, go off on summer projects, Marigold, twelve, Zinnia, eleven, and Lily, five, must visit their Great Aunt Sunny in Cape Cod, where they learn much about themselves and each other.

Judy Moody Declares Independence
by Megan McDonald

After learning about the American Revolution on a family trip to Boston, Massachusetts, Judy Moody makes her own Declaration of Independence and tries to prove that she is responsible enough to have more freedoms.

Contact your librarian for more great books!