Fear Itself
School Library Journal Gr 3 5—In the second installment (2011) in the series by Andrew Clements, Benjamin Pratt and his friend Jill are still trying to save their historic New England school from demolition by amusement-park developers. After the untimely death of the school janitor, Mr. Keane, the new hire, seems to be stalking Ben […]
The Most Dangerous Thing
Library Journal Gwen, Mickey, Sean, Tim, and Gordon spent their childhood summers exploring the lushly wooded forest of Leakin Park. The five of them were inseparable until they encountered a run-down cabin deep in the woods and the mysterious man who lived there. From this chance encounter comes a tragedy that impacts their lives as […]
Spellbound
Kirkus Reviews The second installment of The Books of Elsewhere (The Shadows, 2010) is a by-the-book fantasy follow-up. Olive has yet to find a solution to the last plot thread left over from the first volume—Morton is trapped, unable to rejoin the world outside of the McMartins' enchanted paintings. Meanwhile, the Linden Street setting is […]
The Elephant Scientist
In the sprawling African scrub desert of Etosha National Park, they call her “the mother of all elephants.†Holding binoculars closely to her eyes, American scientist Caitlin O’Connell could not believe what she was seeing from these African elephants: as the mighty matriarch scanned the horizon, the other elephants followed suit, stopped midstride, and stood […]
A Tale Dark & Grimm
The New York Times – Marjorie Ingall …unlike any children's book I've ever read…Heavy. And yet…really, really funny…The tone ricochets between lyrical and goofy…And it all works. As the story progresses, it gets less and less faithful to the source material and becomes its own increasingly rich and strange thing…My 8-year-old daughter, a tough critic […]
Sugar and Ice
The Washington Post – Mary Quattlebaum: Messner creates believable tensions among characters and especially within the main character…Contemporary kids, a-whirl in extracurriculars, will be able to relate to likable Claire. They will cheer her through double axels, difficult decisions and a number of surprising turns in the final chapters.
The Nightmare Thief
Library Journal: When forensic psychiatrist Jo Beckett and her partner, Gabe Quintana, in the course of an investigation come across six teenagers being corralled by a suspicious group of men for a "wilderness adventure," she senses that something is amiss. Far from being reassured when the teenagers tell her that they are simply part of […]
Big Nate On a Roll
Big Nate is on a roll! Nate’s a big deal in his scout troop . . . until Artur—aka Mr. Perfect—joins up. Now Nate’s stuck in second place. And Artur means business. Will Nate take the grand prize? Or wipe out, big time?
The Bridge to Never Land
Publishers Weekly Pearson and Barry bring their Starcatchers series into the modern day, injecting it with a dose of metafiction in the process. Siblings Sarah and Aidan Cooper, ages 17 and 15, know all about Peter Pan's secret origin, having read the Starcatchers books when they were younger, but they never dreamed it could be […]
Dogs In the Dead of Night
Jack and Annie are ready for their next adventure in the New York Times bestselling middle-grade series—the Magic Tree House! Beware of avalanches! When the magic tree house whisks Jack and Annie back in time to the highest pass in the Swiss Alps, they discover an ancient monastery filled with monks and Saint Bernard dogs. […]