Katherine Applegate. Home of the Brave

Kek, an African refugee, is confronted by many strange things at the Minneapolis home of his aunt and cousin, as well as in his fifth grade classroom, and longs for his missing mother, but finds comfort in the company of a cow and her owner.

Don Brown. All Stations! Distress!: April 15, 1912: The Day the Titanic Sank

Provides the captivating story of this amazing vessel, the people who built it, and its tragic demise during its maiden voyage across the Atlantic as told through first-hand accounts and detailed illustrations of the events as they happened.

Willy Claflin. The Uglified Ducky

Resets Hans Christian Andersen's tale The ugly duckling in the Northern Piney Woods of Alaska, where a baby moose is raised by a family of ducks who try to teach him to waddle, quack, and fly, but can't see his true beauty.

Ellie Crowe. Surfer of the Century: the Life of Duke Kahanamoku

The true story of Hawaiian Duke Kahanamoku, six-time Olympic swimming champion and legendary surfer who popularized surfing around the world.

Carmen Agra Deedy. 14 Cows for America

Lisa Graff. Umbrella Summer

After her brother Jared dies, ten-year-old Annie worries about the hidden dangers of everything, from bug bites to bicycle riding, until she is befriended by a new neighbor who is grieving her own loss.

David L. Harrison. Pirates

There are famous pirates, and then there are the rest of the pirates. All were a bunch of misfits, thugs, and ne'er-do-wells who spent most of their time bored, waiting for a few moments of excitement and rich booty that could very well get them wounded or killed, or captured and executed. But to most of those who swore the oath of the Brotherhood, it was just a job. Still, a pirate's life was chosen by many, and this collection describes and depicts the high points, the low points, and everything in between.

Heather Henson. That Book Woman

A family living in the Appalachian Mountains in the 1930s gets books to read during the regular visits of the "Book Woman"--a librarian who rides a pack horse through the mountains, lending books to the isolated residents.

 

Steve Jenkins. Down Down Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea

Provides a top-to-bottom look at the ocean, from birds and waves to thermal vents and ooze.

Kate Klise. Dying to Meet you: 43 Cemetery Road, Book 1

In this story told mostly through letters, children's book author, I. B. Grumply, gets more than he bargained for when he rents a quiet place to write for the summer.

Wendy Mass. 11 Birthdays

After celebrating their first nine same-day birthdays together, Amanda and Leo, having fallen out on their tenth and not speaking to each other for the last year, prepare to celebrate their eleventh birthday separately but peculiar things begin to happen as the day of their birthday begins to repeat itself over and over again.

Megan McDonald. The Hinky Pink: An Old Tale

Summoned to the Great Castle of Firenze to create a special dress for Princess Isabella Caramella Gorgonzola, Anabel, a talented seamstress, is at first delighted but then increasingly despairing as time passes and her efforts are continually subverted by an unseen sprite.

Lisa Moser. Squirrel's World

Squirrel's well-meaning attempts to help his forest friends do not always turn out as planned.

Linda Sue Park. Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo (Poems)

Sijo is a traditional Korean form of poetry. Sijo is syllabic, like Japanese haiku, with three lines of 14 to 16 syllables each: the first two introduce the topic, the third and fourth lines develop it, and the fifth and sixth lines contain an unexpected humorous or ironic twist. This collection contains 26 sijo.

Gary Paulsen. Mudshark

Principal Wagner confidently deals with a faculty washroom crisis, a psychic parrot, and a terrorizing gerbil, but when sixty-five erasers go missing, he enlists the help of the school's best problem solver and locator of lost items, twelve-year-old Lyle Williams, aka Mudshark.

Sara Pennypacker. Sparrow Girl

When China's leader declares war on sparrows in 1958, everyone makes loud noise in hopes of chasing the hungry birds from their land except for Ming-Li, a young girl whose compassion and foresight prevent a disaster.

James Rollins. Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow

Connecticut middle-schooler Jake and his older sister Kady are transported by a Mayan artifact to a strange world inhabited by a mix of people from long-lost civilizations who are threatened by prehistoric creatures and an evil alchemist, the Skull King.

Marie Rutkoski. The Cabinet of Wonders

Twelve-year-old Petra, accompanied by her magical tin spider, goes to Prague hoping to retrieve the enchanted eyes the Prince of Bohemia took from her father, and is aided in her quest by a Roma boy and his sister.

Graham Salisbury. Calvin Coconut Trouble Magnet

Nine-year-old. Calvin catches the attention of the school bully on the day before he starts fourth grade, while at home, the unfriendly, fifteen-year-old daughter of his mother's best friend has taken over his room.

Dan Yaccarino. The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau

This exciting picture book biography introduces young readers to Jacques Cousteau, the world's ambassador of the oceans.