Chapter Books

The Wild Robot Escapes

In this sequel to The Wild Robot, Roz has been brought back from the island, refurbished, and sent to Hilltop Farm to help on this family dairy farm.  Typical of Roz, she befriends all of the animals on the farm and the farmer’s children with her sweet and outgoing personality.  However, she desperately misses her life on the island, especially her goose son, Brightbill.  Even with the help of several sympathizers who aid in her escape, Roz is captured by the robot police and returned to a factory where she is to be reprogrammed to rid her of her personality which is seen as a malfunction.  Can Roz manage to avoid the reprogramming and find a way to return to her island home or is she destined to serve humans for the rest of her days?  The short chapters and enticing narrative of this story deal with the themes of friendship, the benefits and risks of technology, and the search for one’s identity.  A sequel that young readers love as much as the first!

Sal and Gabi Break the Universe

When Sal Vidon, a 13 year-old Type 1 diabetic, amateur magician, and new student at Miami’s Culeco Academy of the Arts, meets Gabi Real, the clever and sassy student body president, for the first time, it isn’t under the best of circumstances.  Sal is in the principal’s office for the third time in the first week of school and Gabi is there to support her friend, Yasmany, in whose locker Sal supposedly left a raw chicken! When Gabi discovers that Sal’s magic is powerful enough to poke holes in parallel universes and manipulate time and space, she is determined to join forces with him to right the wrongs of the universe.  Can Sal, who sometimes goes into another dimension to connect with his deceased mother, find a way to use his powers to help Gabi’s very sick little brother or will this amazing duo put the entire universe at risk?  This 2020 Pure Belpre Author Award winner is peppered with Spanish dialogue and slang, as well as generous helpings of Cuban cuisine.  This upbeat fiction featuring Spanish language and characters will entice fans of A Wrinkle in Time and Rick Riordan’s fantasy tales.  

The Boy at the Back of the Class

When a new 9 year-old boy named Ahmet joins Alexa’s class at a London school, she and the other students have questions.  Why does Ahmet never smile, talk to anyone, or go to lunch or recess with the other kids?  While waiting for pick-up after school one day, however, Alexa and her friends overhear two adults talking about the boy.  He is a refugee from Syria and does not yet speak English.  The children reach out to Ahmet with small gifts and smiles, speaking to him through the translator the school hires to help him.  They discover that he and his family were forced to flee the bombings in Syria but were separated in their escape.  His sister drowned in the sea and he does not know how to find his parents and bring them to London.  Standing up to a school bully and discovering her own family’s refugee experience, Alexa is determined to help her new friend.  When she and Ahmet’s other new friends learn that their country’s borders are about to be closed to refugees, they embark on a bold and dangerous plan to reunite him with his family.  Perfect for fans of Katherine Applegate’s Wishtree, this is a story of compassion and diversity that shouldn’t be overlooked. 

Finding Orion

Rion Kwirk comes from a rather odd family.  His mother named him and his sisters after her favorite constellations and his father is a scientist who invents new jellybean flavors for a living.  But no one is more unusual than Rion’s grandfather, Papa Kwirk.  He’s the kind of guy who shows up on his motorcycle on holidays bringing items like crossbows, slingshots, poker chips and stuffed squirrels as gifts.  He’s mysterious, cool, and totally unpredictable unlike his son, Rion’s dad, who is somewhat nerdy and rather boring.  When the news of Papa Kwirk’s death is delivered by a clown with a singing telegram, the family heads off to Illinois for the funeral Aunt Gertie has arranged.  Shocked to discover that the casket doesn’t contain Papa Kwirk’s body but a clue that the family must decipher in order to find the grandfather’s ashes.  Over the next 24 hours, the family eats 36 scoops of ice cream, climbs a 40- foot tree, and fights off thieves at a local museum to solve the mystery and to better understand Papa Kwirk’s odd behaviors, a source of long-standing tension between father and son.  Can this hunt for the remains of his grandfather finally help Rion understand why Papa and Rion’s dad never seemed to get along and the family secrets behind their relationship?  This story for tween readers has bits of humor woven into a theme of the complications and challenges faced by even the best of families.   Great jumping off point for family and classroom discussions of empathy and acceptance.

The Wild Robot

When a sophisticated robot named Roz washes ashore on a remote, wild island, this sole survivor from a cargo of 500 doesn’t know how she got there or what her purpose is but does know she needs to survive.  Though without emotion, Roz can use the senses of sight, hearing, and smell to figure out how to stay dry and intact in this wild environment, not a small feat in a place with fierce weather and animals that are less than welcoming.  When an accident leaves her as the sole protector of a young gosling she names Brightbill, Roz learns that the friendship and assistance of the island’ inhabitants are key to her adaptation to the island and the survival of the young goose.  An award-winning and heartwarming tale of what happens when nature and technology collide, this story is one destined to become a classic and a favorite of readers of all ages.

Finding Langston

It’s 1946 and after Langston’s mother dies, his father feels that Alabama has nothing left for him and moves himself and his son to Chicago where he believes they can avoid the severe discrimination of the South.  A sensitive boy who was very close to his mother and has spent very little time with his father, Langston especially misses his grandmother and her cooking. He is teased and bullied at school but finds solace at the public library he stumbles upon by chance.  Unlike those in Alabama, the library in Chicago welcomes African-Americans. A friendly librarian helps him find great books, including books of poetry by Langston Hughes whom she assumes he was named for. As the school bullying intensifies and tragedy hits his family, Langston finds that this poetry and the kindness of a neighbor may be key to helping him find his place in this new home.  This Coretta Scott King Honor title is historical fiction at its best.

Spies in Disguise: The Junior Novel

Super spy Lance Sterling and nerdy scientist Walter Beckett are almost exact opposites.  Lance is smooth, suave and ultimately cool while Walter is definitely none of those. But what Walter lacks in social skills, he makes up for in smarts and ingenuity, making the gadgets Lance uses on his epic missions.  When events go awry, however, and Lance is transformed into a pigeon, this unlikely duo suddenly have to rely on each other in a whole new way. A retelling of the hilarious movie, this junior novel features text and pictures that will entertain spy fans who enjoy some humor with their adventure!

The Magnificent Mya Tibbs: Mya in the Middle

Things have changed in the Tibbs house, and Mya isn’t happy about it.  She’s stuck in the middle between an exceptionally cute baby sister and an incredibly smart older brother, siblings who seem to be getting all of her parents’ attention.  When Mya, as part of a class project, decides to start her own school newspaper, she is sure this will get Mom and Dad to notice that she is fabulous as well. When the first edition of the paper is a big hit, Mya is sure her problem is solved.  When her parents don’t find the time to look at it, however, Mya proceeds to expand the paper’s reach into the community, a decision that may destroy key friendships and land her in big trouble at school and home. Can this budding fourth grade entrepreneur take responsibility for her actions and get things back on track?  A perfect choice for readers who love a spunky heroine figuring out how to fit in when life gets complicated.

Charlie Hernandez and the League of Shadows

Charlie Hernandez has always been proud of his Latin American heritage.  Loving the art and culture of his people, he possesses an expansive knowledge of the monsters and ghouls that are part of the Latino myths his abuela shared with him during his childhood.  When their South Florida house burns down and his parents disappear, Charlie begins living with Mrs. Wilson, an older woman who collects creepy looking dolls. As if the mystery of the fire isn’t enough, Charlie begins to grow horns and feathers, believing that the creatures of the legends he thought were only folklore may be real.  When the very cool and cute Violet Rey discovers Charlie’s new features, she becomes convinced that the two of them can unravel the mystery of a map they find in an old locket that belonged to his mother. Finding themselves in the midst of a battle between La Liga, a secret society of mythical creatures sworn to protect the Land of the Living and La Mano Peluda, a group of evil spirits determined to rule mankind, Charlie and Violet must face the demons of his heritage.  Does Charlie have the knowledge and courage it will take to find out why these changes are happening and, perhaps, find his parents in the process? With words in Spanish throughout the text, this first in a new series is perfect for fans of Rick Riordan and an intriguing look at Latino mythology. 

The Friendship War

Grace and Ellie have been best friends since second grade.  Ellie’s always right in the center of everything and Grace is happy to be her sidekick.  When Grace, who loves to collect almost anything, brings some of the buttons discovered in an old mill building her grandfather has purchased to school, however, it’s suddenly Grace who’s getting all of the attention.  The button craze gets the kids in her class, then her grade, and then the entire school over the top excited and collecting and trading them is now an obsession. Can Grace get her own compulsion and this new fad under control before it gets her in real trouble and destroys her friendship with Ellie?  A story about fads and the friendships that outlast them by the late author Andrew Clements that kids will enjoy.

Song for a Whale:

Twelve year-old Iris has a passion for electronics and repairing antique radios.  She’s a strong student but gets frustrated with the challenges of being the only deaf kid in her classes.  To make things even more difficult, Iris’s parents don’t seem to understand her need to be involved in the local hearing-impaired community and she is dealing with the sudden loss of the grandfather she was very close to.  One day, Iris’s science class watches a video about a whale with an extremely unique voice, communicating at a much higher frequency than most every other whale. Feeling a kinship with Blue 55 and his inability to communicate with other whales, Iris becomes determined to use her electronics savvy to compose a song in his frequency and play it for him.  This mission however, will require her to travel from her home in Houston to Appleton, Alaska to do so in person. Can she find a way to let this whale know that he’s not alone? This heart-warming look at loneliness and the power of communication will appeal to fans of titles like Fish In a Tree and Out of My Mind.  

The Season of Styx Malone:

Ten year-old Caleb Franklin, living with his family in a small Indiana town, is tired of just feeling ordinary.  The prospect of a more exciting summer appears to improve, however, when Caleb and his 11 year-old brother, Bobby Gene, meet a new neighbor, the older and very cool Styx Malone.  When the younger boys get to keep a sack of fireworks they offered to give up their baby sister for, Styx convinces them that they can use the fireworks to make a series of trades that will eventually get them the shiny moped at the local hardware store.  But as the trades get bigger, the boys find themselves in over their heads, resorting to sneaking out and evading the truth when their parents question their activities. They may not be the only ones keeping secrets though. It seems that Styx has kept some things from his new friends, things that reveal more about Styx than he wanted others to know.  This Coretta Scott King Honor title is a rambunctious yet heart-warming look at friendship and acceptance.