Recommendations for Kids

Stinky's Stories is the hilarious four-book, highly illustrated chapter book series from New York Times bestselling authors Chris and J.J. Grabenstein. In this third installment in the series, Stinky the skunk tells the story of the Three Smelly Goats Gruff, a reimagining of the classic fable "The Three Billy Goats Gruff"--except this time, the fairy tale is told from the troll's point of view.

It's story time at the Hickleberry Elementary School Library! Mrs. Emerson, the librarian, has just read "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" to the class. But after the fun is done and Mrs. Emerson has left, Stinky the stuffed skunk and his stuffy friends come to life. The kids need to know what happened to the grumpy troll after the goats pushed him off the bridge. Lucky for them, Stinky has the scoop!

Find out in the hilarious chapter book series from New York Times bestselling authors Chris and J.J. Grabenstein, with illustrations in every chapter from Alex Patrick. Reading has never been so stinky!

A New York Times bestseller!



★ "Rhodes deftly captures a unique aspect of this historical event, with a perspective that is often under-represented in historical fiction. A poignant and honest look at the trials of racism that defined the historic land rush; a must-buy." -School Library Journal, starred review



Bestselling and award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes goes West in this thrilling adventure story about a son and his father who set out to win land during the Oklahoma Land Rush-if they can survive the journey. 



It's 1889, barely twenty-five years after the Emancipation Proclamation, and a young Black family is tired of working on land they don't get to own.



So when Will and his father hear about an upcoming land rush, they set out on a journey from Texas to Oklahoma, racing thousands of others to the place where land is free--if they can get to it fast enough. But the journey isn't easy--the terrain is rough, the bandits are brutal, and every interaction carries a heavy undercurrent of danger.



And then there's the stranger they encounter and befriend: a mysterious soldier named Caesar, whose Union emblem brings more attention--and more trouble--than any of them need.



All three are propelled by the promise of something long denied to them: freedom, land ownership, and a place to call home--but is a strong will enough to get them there?

A group of children investigate the threat that prompted large-scale evacuations in this powerful and dramatic companion novel to the New York Times bestselling Alone told in multiple POVs.

After an imminent yet unnamed danger forces people across Colorado to leave their homes, a group of kids including an aspiring filmmaker and a budding journalist find themselves in the same evacuation camp. As they cope with the aftermath of having their world upended, they grow curious about the mysterious threat. 

And as they begin to investigate, they start to discover that there’s less truth and more cover-up to what they’re being told. Can they get to the root of the conspiracy, expose the bad actors, and bring an end to the upheaval before it’s too late?

When a 7th grader is forced to join her school's hockey team, she discovers unexpected friendships and a budding crush on the team captain. This fierce and heartfelt queer romance explores the courage to face your fears, even when your dreams are on thin ice.

Some goals are worth falling for. 

After a lifetime of humiliating sports experiences, Bea Mullins knows the best way to survive middle school is to stick to the sidelines. When PE is suddenly canceled, though, Bea is forced to join an after-school activity...which is how she ends up as a member of the Glenwood Geese, her middle school's first all-girls hockey team. 

Bea would be happy sitting on the bench, but she doesn't want to let down her best friend, Celia. Plus, the more time Bea spends on the rinks, the more she comes to enjoy her teammates, especially the incredibly talented--and incredibly cool--co-captain Gabi. But when low funding puts the Geese in danger of never playing again, Bea realizes she may lose everything she didn't know she wanted.

A hilarious and heartfelt middle-grade contemporary about first crushes and fierce friendships from debut author Emily Deibert.

A chilling middle school novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Mystery of Locked Rooms, three kids must discover who—or what—is terrorizing them after receiving an ominous meme on Halloween night. 

"A creepy, freaky, fun-as-anything tale."—Chuck Wendig, New York Times bestselling author of Dust & Grim

On Halloween night, Josie and her two best friends, Jackson and Alison, sneak into the infamously haunted Bachelor’s Grove cemetery. They are hoping to prove the existence of a famous ghost to secure coveted editorial spots on the school newspaper. Instead, they are chased out by a security guard before they gather any evidence…or so they think.

Later, a sinister meme appears on their phones. It’s an image of the “phantom farmhouse,” an evil apparition rumored to appear to unlucky visitors at Bachelor's Grove—luring them in…and never letting them out—with the words I’m watching dripping down the screen.

Soon, strange and scary things begin to happen all around them. When a second meme from the same number arrives, this time with a countdown, they realize they have only three days to figure out who is terrorizing them. As they investigate, the trio must use their journalistic skills to uncover the truth, or risk becoming a part of the graveyard’s sinister past forever.

The stand-alone companion to Rosanne Parry's New York Times bestseller A Wolf Called Wander tells the wilderness survival story of the wolf pup known as Warm and is illustrated in black and white throughout. This Voice of the Wilderness Novel features extensive back matter, including a map.

Warm is the smallest pup, the one his father calls the heart of the pack. But all Warm sees is his bigger brothers Sharp and Swift, even his sisters Pounce and Wag, winning all the wrestling matches. Just as Warm is finding his place, enemy wolves destroy and scatter the pack. Warm helps lead the pups away from the fight, only to find himself alone with four pups to defend and feed. Can he be both the heart and the head of a new pack Does he have to choose the aggressive leadership style of his father and brothers Or is there another way

A Wolf Called Fire is a stand-alone companion novel to A Wolf Called Wander. It's inspired by Wolf 8, a real Yellowstone wolf who was the smallest of his pack and constantly bullied by his bigger brothers. Wolf 8 survived a tumultuous first year and grew up to be a different sort of leader--one who fought many rival wolves to submission but never killed any. He had a rare talent for mentoring young wolves and became the patriarch of the largest and most successful pack in Yellowstone by choosing a more collaborative and generous leadership style. Features black-and-white illustrations throughout and extensive back matter, including a map.

An uplifting novel in verse about an immigrant girl adjusting to life in the US through her love of nature, music, and poetry, by the award-winning author of The Bridge Home

When Geetha and her mom move from India to Rhode Island after her parents’ divorce, they leave everything Geetha loves behind—her family, her friends, her dog, and all that’s familiar. As if that’s not hard enough, Geetha is bullied at her new school for her clothes, her food, and her English (who knew so many English words could be spelled or pronounced differently in the US—or just be altogether different!). She finds some solace in playing her flute and writing poetry, and even more when she meets Miguel, a kid with whom she has a lot in common, and the two of them help rescue an injured harp seal stranded on the beach. But Geetha can feel her anger building over lots of things—careless people who pollute the sea and hurt animals, and her mom for making her move. She’s never been so sad and angry. She can see a lot of her fears mirrored in the injured seal when she visits it at the Marine Mammal Rehabilitation Center, and this broadens her understanding of survival skills. And when she and Miguel start a beach-clean-up venture, she’s surprised to find how many kind kids are out there. Geetha is torn as the time comes to let the seal go, knowing she’ll miss him, but wanting the best for him. She’s learning to live with mixed feelings and accept that while there will always be rough waters, there are plenty of safe harbors too.

In this hilarious installment of a #1 New York Times bestselling series, Rafe is finally getting a taste of the cool life--but his problems are red-hot!



Rafe Khatchadorian has never been cool. But all that changes when he becomes the guitarist in an awesome rock band and wrangles a part-time job at Hills Village's trendiest new coffee shop slash yoga studio. No more being at the bottom of the middle school food chain--Rafe is finally going to be popular!



He just has two teeny problems: the awesome rock band is led by none other than the school bully. And the band actually isn't awesome--they absolutely stink, and Rafe has to whip them into shape for the Best Band Competition.



With Rafe's newfound coolness on the line, will he find a way to hit the stage in style, or is he doomed to dorkdom forever?

A spooky yet heartwarming adventure about one girl's journey into the land of the undead, and the unexpected family she finds along the way. Perfect for fans of Nevermoor and the hit series Wednesday.



On Halloween, it is always wise to expect the unexpected, but no amount of planning could have prepared Eve for that particular night. Fleeing an unpleasant orphanage, she's saved by someone who she never believed was real...the fabled Pumpkin King himself.



Throwing caution aside, Eve accepts the offer to become his daughter and is whisked away to the misty Hallowell Valley--home to witches and vampires, ghosts and goblins, and all that go bump in the night. But just when she believes she's found her place among the undead, a sinister scheme unearths itself, threatening to take everything from Eve unless she can stop it.



From debut author Steven Banbury comes a cozy, magical adventure sure to delight anyone who loves the tricks of Halloween as much as the treats of autumn.

An action-packed superhero story from New York Times bestselling author Tracey Baptiste

 

Win "Coal" Keegan has just landed in his latest foster home, with a big, noisy, slightly nosy family named the McKays. They seem eager to welcome Coal, but he's wary of trusting them. So, he doesn't tell them that he went for a walk with chalk in his pocket to cover a nearby street with his art. He doesn't tell them that a neighbor found Coal drawing, pulled a gun on him, and fired it. He doesn't tell them the police chased him. And he definitely doesn't tell them that when everything went down, Coal somehow turned invisible. 

 

But he did.

Now he has to figure out how. Is he a superhero? Some kind of mutant? A science experiment? Is that why he has no family of his own? As Coal searches for answers and slowly learns to control his invisibility, he turns to the McKay kids and friends both new and old for help. But they soon discover they're not the only ones looking for a Black boy with superpowers, and the situation is far stranger--and more dangerous--than they ever could have expected.

Afraid her sister (and maybe even herself) could lose sight of their Vietnamese identity, twelve-year-old Bom writes a poetic memoir to help them both remember--a love letter in verse to sisterhood and the places we leave behind.

Bom can't believe that her sister doesn't see herself as Vietnamese, only American. She says she doesn't remember Vietnam or their lives there, their family there, their house and friends. How could her sister forget the terrible journey through Saigon and the airplanes and... everything?

And what about Bom? She remembers now, but how long will she keep her memories? She always found comfort in the sound of her father's typewriter Clickity-clack, clickity-clack. So she has an idea. She'll write down all that she can remember: the time when her father was a spy, when her mother was nicknamed a "radio," when they were so hungry Bom couldn't walk well, when the family all said goodbye.

Bom will even tell her sister, and herself, about what it was like moving to Tennessee. The ESL classes, bullies, strange new foods, icy weather, friendships, and crushes--and how her family worked to keep their heritage alive.

She'll type one poem at a time, until they'll never forget again.

A historical middle-grade novel in verse from multiple Coretta Scott King winner Vaunda Micheaux Nelson.

As school begins in 1963, Cooper Dale wrestles with what it means to “shine” for a black girl in a predominantly white community near Pittsburgh. Set against the historic backdrop of the Birmingham church bombing, the Kennedy assassination, and Beatlemania, Radiant is a finely crafted novel in verse about race, class, faith, and finding your place in a loving family and a complicated world. 

Cooper’s primary concern is navigating fifth grade, where she faces both an extra-strict teacher and the bullying of Wade Carter, the only child of a well-to-do white family, whose home Cooper’s mother cleans for extra income. How can she shine when her mother works for the meanest boy in school? To make matters worse, Cooper quietly wishes she could be someone else.

It’s not all bad, though. Cooper and her beloved older sister have fallen for the Beatles, and Cooper is thrilled to have something special they can share. And what she learns about her British idols adds new complexity to Cooper’s feelings about race.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Unteachables comes a hilarious story about a boy who is homeschooled in his grandmother's retirement community...until he is forced to go to public school.

Dexter Foreman is twelve going on eighty. He has lived at The Pines retirement village with his grandmother since he was six years old, and as a result he gets along better with senior citizens than kids his own age. He's homeschooled by the residents up until the day the county's truancy officer shows up and announces that Dex has to go to a "real" school, to the local middle school.

At school, Dex sticks out like a sore thumb. He dresses like a grandpa (and can be just as cranky). His taste in movies and music is decades out of date. Only a few students--like Gianna Greco, a reporter at the school's newspaper--find him intriguing. For most, he is either a weirdo or a target.

Dexter would do anything to return to his old life at The Pines. But when his wish finally seems to be coming true, his old and new worlds collide in a way that surprises everyone--Dexter most of all.

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • When San Francisco is under strange attacks—like earthquakes affecting only two city blocks at a time—who're you gonna call? An elite team of crime-fighting underdogs, that's who! The Misfits are on the case in this hilarious illustrated series!

“For any kid who’s felt like a misfit, this crackling adventure packs a wallop!” —Lincoln Peirce, creator of Big Nate

Oof! After solving the case of the Royal Rumpus, Olive Cobin Zang and her elite team of underdogs are on top of the world. As the awkward, crime-fighting Misfits, they’re acing every mission thrown at them from NOCK (aka No One Can Know, the covert agency they work for).

But when their classmate Zeke starts receiving threatening notes, the Misfits are stumped. They’re no strangers to danger, but this case is a total head-scratcher. Who would target kind, friendly Zeke . . . unless he’s not what he seems to be?

At the same time, unusual earthquakes start shaking up San Francisco just as priceless art goes missing, and the Misfits are called to investigate. Is it a coincidence that the city is under attack while Zeke is getting mysterious messages? Or is it all just a cover for a scheme bigger than any they’ve faced before?

For other Misfit adventures from Newbery Honoree Lisa Yee and Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat, don't miss The Misfits #1: A Royal Conundrum!

A hilarious conspiracy thriller perfect for fans of Gordon Korman and Stuart Gibbs.

In it to win it.

Every school has their number ones: the class president, the first chair in band, the spelling bee champion. And behind every high rolling high achiever? A kid in second place.

Twelve-year-old DJ has a reputation for being the go-to kid for solving just about any problem. Need help getting an unfair teacher or bully off your back? DJ is your guy. He knows the social order of Ella Fitzgerald Middle School like the back of his hand. So when the usual winners start losing -- all at the same time -- he knows something is wrong. Very wrong.

With the help of his usual crew, Audrey, Monty, and Connor, DJ is determined to get to the bottom of what's happening. Maybe it's all in his head. Or maybe there's a conspiracy at work. DJ and his friends will have to figure it out -- before the school saboteur comes for them.