I, Emma FrekeBy ELIZABETH ATKINSON

AUTHOR’S WEBSITE

Genre:

Realistic Fiction

I, Emma Freke is a charming search-for-identity story about Emma--the only "normal" member of her quirky family. While Emma desperately tries to find her niche, she discovers that perhaps its better to be her own "freak" than someone else's Freke.

Doll Bones

By HOLLY BLACK

GENRE:GHOST STORY

Zach, Poppy, and Alice have been friends forever. And for almost as long, they've been playing one continuous, ever-changing game of pirates and thieves, mermaids and warriors. Ruling over all is the Great Queen, a bone-china doll cursing those who displease her. But they are in middle school now. Zach's father pushes him to give up make-believe, and Zach quits the game. Their friendship might be over, until Poppy declares she's been having dreams about the Queen--and the ghost of a girl who will not rest until the bone-china doll is buried in her empty grave. Is the doll just a doll or something more sinister? And if there really is a ghost, will it let them go now that it has them in its clutches?

THE RAFTBy S. A. BODEEN

AUTHOR’S WEBSITE

Robie is an experienced traveler. She's taken the flight from Honolulu to the Midway Atoll, a group of Pacific islands where her parents live, many times. When she has to get to Midway in a hurry after a visit with her aunt in Hawaii, she gets on the next cargo flight at the last minute. She knows the pilot, but on this flight, there's a new co-pilot named Max. All systems are go until a storm hits during the flight.

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Small as an ElephantBy JenniferJacobsonAUTHOR’S WEBSITE

Jack's mom is gone, leaving him all alone on a campsite in Maine. Can he find his way back to Boston before the authorities realize what happened? Ever since Jack can remember, his mom has been unpredictable, sometimes loving and fun, other times caught in a whirlwind of energy and "spinning" wildly until it's over.

Genre: Realistic Fiction

HomesickBy Kate Klise

AUTHOR’S WEBSITE

Benny's parents are splitting up. His mom leaves home after a fight about a mysterious splinter that is rumored to be part of an important relic. Benny's dad has always liked clutter, but now he begins hoarding everything from pizza boxes to old motorcycle parts. As his house grows more cluttered and his father grows more distant, Benny tries to sort out whether he can change anything at all. A contest for America's Most Charming Small Town contest changes everything.

Genre: Humorous Fiction

UngiftedBy Gordan Korman

AUTHOR’S WEBSITE

Genre: Humorous Fiction

When Donovan Curtis pulls a major prank at his middle school, he thinks he's finally gone too far. But thanks to a mix-up by one of the administrators, instead of getting in trouble, Donovan is sent to the Academy of Scholastic Distinction, a special program for gifted and talented students.Read this hilarious and heartfelt novel in which one middle-school troublemaker accidentally moves into the gifted and talented program---and changes everything.

Lions of Little RockBy Kristin Levine

AUTHOR’S WEBSITE

Genre: Historical Fiction

As twelve-year-old Marlee starts middle school in 1958 Little Rock, it feels like her whole world is falling apart. Until she meets Liz, the new girl at school. Liz is everything Marlee wishes she could be: she's brave, brash and always knows the right thing to say. But when Liz leaves school without even a good-bye, the rumor is that Liz was caught passing for white. Marleedecides that doesn't matter. She just wants her friend back. And to stay friends, Marlee and Liz are even willing to take on segregation and the dangers their friendship could bring to both their families.

Far Far AwayBy Tom McNeal

AUTHOR’S WEBSITE

Genre: Horror & Ghost Stories

The ghost of Jacob Grimm—one of the famous fairy-tale collecting brothers—communicates with a lonely boy who is a clairaudient (someone who hears spirits) in this rich and often bone-chilling story. Trapped in "the space between" Earth and the afterlife, Jacob constantly accompanies Jeremy, offering him comfort, affection, and cerebral commentary about Jeremy's life that only the boy can hear. Jacob believes that by protecting Jeremy he can finally move on after 200 years and reunite with his deceased brother. But when Jacob fails to see the source of the danger threatening Jeremy, he must harness all of his ethereal resources to save the boy he loves and ensure a chance at a happy ending.

ApothecaryBy Maile Meloy

AUTHOR’S WEBSITE

Genre: Fantasy & Magic

It's 1952, and the Scott family has just moved from Los Angeles to London. Here, fourteen-year-old Janie meets a mysterious apothecary and his son, Benjamin Burrows - a fascinating boy who's not afraid to stand up to authority and dreams of becoming a spy. When Benjamin's father is kidnapped, Janie and Benjamin must uncover the secrets of the apothecary's sacred book, the Pharmacopoeia, in order to find him, all the while keeping it out of the hands of their enemies.

The Ghost of Graylock

By Dan PoblockiAUTHOR’S WEBSITE

Genre: Horror & Ghost Stories

Staying with their aunts over the summer, Neil Cady, his sister Bree, and their new friends Wesley and Eric, set out to explore Greylock Hall, an abandoned psychiatric hospital which is supposed to be haunted by the ghost of Nurse Janet.

Dead CityBy James Ponti

Author’s Website

Genre: Paranormal

Most kids have enough to deal with between school, homework, extracurricular activities, and friends, but Molly Bigelow isn't your typical tween. By day, Molly attends MIST--the Metropolitan Institute of Science and Technology--but it's what she's learning outside of school that sets her apart from her classmates. Molly is a zombie hunter, just like her mother. This, however, is news to Molly. Now she must come to terms with not only the idea that zombies exist, but also that they're everywhere, and it's her job to help police them and keep the peace.

Half Upon A Timeby James Riley

• Author’s Website

Genre: Fantasy-Fairy Tale

Jack lives in a fantasy world. Really. He's the son of the infamous Jack who stole the magic beans from the giant, and he's working hard to restore his family's reputation. He finds the perfect opportunity when a "princess" lands in front of him, apparently from the land of Punk, as her Punk Princess sweatshirt implies. May is from our world, and she's utterly confused to find herself in the midst of the fairy tale characters she has read about. But Jack and May have more in common than they realize, and together they embark on a hilarious and wild adventure in this highly accessible, modern middle grade fantasy novel.

EndangeredBy ELIOT SCHREFER

Author’s Website

Genre: Animals - Adolescence

Tale of a girl who must save a group of bonobos -- and herself -- from a violent coup. Congo is a dangerous place, even for people who are trying to do good. When Sophie has to visit her mother at her sanctuary for bonobos, she's not thrilled to be there. Then Otto, an infant bonobo, comes into her life, and for the first time she feels responsible for another creature. But peace does not last long for Sophie and Otto. When an armed revolution breaks out in the country, the sanctuary is attacked, and the two of them must escape unprepared into the jungle.

Boy at the End of the WorldBy Greg Van Eekhout

Author’s Website

Genre: Science Fiction

Fisher is the last boy on earth-and things are not looking good for the human race. Only Fisher made it out alive after the carefully crafted survival bunker where Fisher and dozens of other humans had been sleeping was destroyed. Luckily, Fisher is not totally alone. He meets a broken robot he names Click, whose programmed purpose-to help Fisher "continue existing"-makes it act an awful lot like an overprotective parent. Together, Fisher and Click uncover evidence that there may be a second survival bunker far to the west

VariantBy

Robison WellsAUTHOR’S WEBSITE

Genre: Dystopian – Action Adventure

Benson Fisher thought that a scholarship to Maxfield Academy would be the ticket out of his dead-end life. He was wrong. Now he's trapped in a school that's surrounded by a razor-wire fence, where video cameras monitor his every move--and where breaking the rules equals death. All Benson wants is to find a way out. But when he stumbles upon the real secret the school has been hiding, he realizes that escape may be impossible.