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Sasquatch are real. So are mermaids and chupacabras. And the Unicorn Rescue Society has taken it upon itself to rescue any of these mythical endangered creatures that need help. Which is why Elliot and Uchenna, elementary-age members of the Unicorn Rescue Society, are on their way to the state of Washington, where the Sasquatch are in trouble. An evil corporation is after the trees in their habitat, and after them, too! Can Elliot and Uchenna stop to the Schmokes Brothers before it’s too late? This humorous and heartwarming story is full of facts about many creatures, both fictional and real; disguises; complicated vehicles; beautiful trees;Read More →

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For the past year, Stuart Mallory and Sophie Sawyer have lived and breathed Camelot’s Honor, an online multi-player game featuring King Arthur, Guinevere, Morgana, Merlin, and the many other characters from Arthurian Legend.  Slaving away on menial quests, gaining experience, and rising in levels, the two tweens are obsessed with gaming.  After all, life is so much easier inside the game where a person never has to worry about being cool or impressing anyone else.  Also unlike junior high, there are no surprises in the game, all the fight sequences can be researched online, and a person can look and act any way he orRead More →

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Set in New York in 1863 at the time of the Civil War, Daniel José Older’s series novel Dactyl Hill Squad is a blend of history and fantasy with an abundance of action and adventure. Although Older adds dinosaur riders to his story—giving twelve-year-old Magdalys Roca the special ability to hear the dinos’ thoughts and control them with her mind—he tells the truth about orphan life and explores some other very real social issues.  For example, he mocks segregation habits like designating riding privileges along racial lines or colonization attempts like renaming. When the Kidnapping Club, led by the devious Magistrate Rich Riker, burns downRead More →

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By using her video game skills to replicate the first eruption of the Yellowstone Super-volcano, thirteen-year-old Brianna Dobson earns the opportunity to work with world-famous geologist Dr. Samantha Grier at Yellowstone National Park for a summer of official science research.   She joins fellow nerds and intrepid explorers Kenzie Reed, Todd Henning, and Wyatt Cayanan on a geology adventure. Besides her fascination with science, Bri finds comfort in her ability to record the world.  Behind her video camera, she feels like she can take on any obstacle.  But initial work in the tunnels carved out by the team and meant to protect the planet from disasterRead More →

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Filled with footnotes, idiomatic expressions, allusions, and puns—both funny and dry, Mightier than the Sword is Drew Callander’s and Alana Harrison’s newest middle-grade novel illustrated by Ryan Andrews. In this interactive book that encourages writing, drawing, and doodling, the very fabric of Astorya is under attack, and a non-fictional human suffering from amnesia must rescue Prince S, save the storied characters from the vicious Queen Rulette, and open a starway so that he can return to his world and restore his identity. However, in order to do all that, he has to first survive the Land Under the Couch inhabited by the Dust Bunnies, obtainRead More →

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Middle-grade readers looking for an adventure story with a dash of history and a little mystery will likely enjoy A.M. Morgen’s new book The Inventors at No. 8. Set in 1828 London, Morgen’s historical fiction novel takes the reader on a treasure hunt with George, the Third Lord of Devonshire who is weighted by fear and self-doubt but has a stubborn streak; Ada Byron, a sharp, funny, and rarely humble girl who always has a plan swirling in her scientific mind; Oscar, a gifted artist who knows colors and the minerals that produce them; and Ruthie, an orangutan who has learned semaphore and can readRead More →

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Just as Rick Riordan in his Percy Jackson series employs allusions to Greek mythology, Roshani Chokshi takes her readers on a journey with twelve-year-old Aru Shah, who grew up to her mother’s story-telling with characters from Hindu mythology. Dr. Krithika Shah is an archaeologist and museum curator for the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture.  She and her daughter have living quarters on site, and Aru’s favorite exhibit is the Hall of the Gods, filled with a hundred statues of various Hindu deities. In the first of a Pandava Novel series, Aru Shah and the End of Time, readers meet Aru, who wishes to vanquishRead More →

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Sci-Fi Junior High: Crash Landing by John Martin and Scott Seegert is the second book in a series presented by James Patterson’s new children’s imprint.  This illustrated space adventure, told by blending the graphic novel genre with a narrative format, features eight days in the life of Kelvin Klosmo, an average human with a tendency to find trouble.  Kelvin and his family have come from Earth, where his parents were the top two scientists, to conduct research 329 quadrillion miles away.   Because Kelvin doesn’t share Klyde and Klara Klosmo’s brain power and because he is tired of being known at the space station as the guy whoRead More →

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Mix adventure, jokes, and a little mystery, and you have a recipe to keep most readers engaged.  Dave Eggers applies this formula to the writing of his recent middle-grade novel, The Lifters, which is actually an extended metaphor for combatting despair. The protagonist of The Lifters, twelve-year-old Granite Flowerpetal wishes for a name that is both easily understood and easily spelled, so he shortens his name to Gran, not realizing at the time how readily that version might be confused with the term some individuals use to refer to their grandmothers. Gran, who shares a bedroom with his five-year-old sister Maisie, hears his parents talkRead More →