I don’t know about you, but I’ve always loved adventure stories. And adventure stories that take place on an island? Or about finding treasure? Well, they’re even better! Here are five books about treasures, islands, and what happens when they come together in a book. No promise about the presence of pirates…but they may be lurking somewhere in some of these exciting stories as well.
Our “5 Books…” lists include five books (usually with a couple extras) on a specific topic, with a short synopsis so you can decide if the story sounds like something you would like. Five Books–one old, one new, one popular with kids, one well-reviewed, and one staff favorite. (Can you guess which is which?)
There was something else out on the sea by the rocks – something dark that seemed to lurch out of the waves . . . What could it be?
Julian, Dick and Anne are spending the holidays with their tomboy cousin George and her dog, Timothy. One day, George takes them to explore nearby Kirrin Island, with its rocky little coast and old ruined castle on the top.
Over on the island, they make a thrilling discovery, which leads them deep into the dungeons of Kirrin Castle on a dangerous adventure. Who – and what – will they find there?
“Only boring people get bored…Interesting people can always find something to be interested in.”
That’s what Tom Trelawney’s father says, anyway. Tom shouldn’t have been interested in playing with matches but he was bored. Now the shed is in ashes. Not a good time, since his parents are going away on vacation and plan to leave him at home. Now strange Uncle Harvey is the only one willing to take Tom in for the time they will be away.
But Tom soon discovers Harvey is going to South America on a treasure hunt, and though nephews aren’t invited, he manages to tag along. The trip is more dangerous that Tom anticipates. Before it’s over he’ll drive a car, fire a gun and run for his life. Tom realizes that life may be about following the rules, but survival may be about breaking them.
Problim Children to the rescue! Sal and his siblings follow a trail of Toot’s toots as they sail through the barrier islands to rescue their baby brother from the evil Cheesebreath. He’s been holding Toot and Mama Problim hostage in the hopes that the Problims will lead him to their granddaddy’s treacherous treasure. But not all treasure is gold, and this one was buried long-ago for good reason.
Can the Problims find Mama, rescue their brother, and destroy the treasure before Cheesebreath and their nasty neighbor Desdemona capture them all? This may be their final adventure! (Make sure to read their previous books too.)
It’s the summer of 1914. Eight-year-old Bernice lives with her family in a lighthouse on Georgian Bay. One day Bernice wakes up to find a stranger named Tom Thomson sleeping in their living room. When she overhears him talk about gold on a nearby island, Bernice is determined to find it.
Inspired by her beloved Mémèr’s stories of their Métis family’s adventures and hardships, Bernice takes the treasure map the stranger left behind and sets out in a rowboat with nothing more than her two dogs for company and the dream of changing her family’s fortunes forever. Can she find the treasure and save her family?
Zane is itching for an adventure that will take him away from his family’s boarding house in Rockaway, Queens. So when he is entrusted with a real treasure map, leading to a spot somewhere in Manhattan, Zane wastes no time in riding the ferry over to the city to start the search with his friends Kiko and Jack and his dog, Hip-Hop.
Through strange coincidence, the kids (and dog) meet a man who is eager to help them find the treasure: John, a sailor who knows all about the buried history of Black New Yorkers of centuries past—and the gold that is hidden somewhere in those stories.
As a vicious rival skateboard crew follows them around the city, Zane and his friends begin to wonder who they can really trust. And soon it becomes clear that treasure hunting is a dangerous business…
Savannah Dare has always wanted to be a pirate. She grew up on legends of Blackbeard from her grandfather—her best friend and fellow treasure hunter.
But now he’s gone. Savannah and her sisters, Frances and Jolene are left to find Blackbeard’s lost loot on their own. It was their grandfather’s dream, and they can’t let him down.
No one else in their small town on Ocracoke Island believes Blackbeard’s treasure is truly still out there . . . no one except their grandfather’s mysterious old business partner, who’s determined to find it himself. And when their family home is endangered, the Dare sisters realize finding Blackbeard’s treasure is their only hope!
It’s tough to be thirteen, especially when somebody’s trying to kill you. Not that Egg’s life was ever easy, growing up on sweaty, pirate-infested Deadweather Island with no company except an incompetent tutor and a pair of unusually violent siblings who hate his guts.
But when Egg’s father hustles their family off on a mysterious errand to fabulously wealthy Sunrise Island, then disappears with the siblings in a freak accident, Egg finds himself a long-term guest at the mansion of the glamorous Pembroke family and their beautiful, sharp-tongued daughter Millicent. Finally, life seems perfect. Until someone tries to throw him off a cliff.
Suddenly, Egg’s running for his life in a bewildering world of cutthroat pirates, villainous businessmen, and strange Native legends. The only people who can help him sort out the mystery of why he’s been marked for death are Millicent and a one-handed, possibly deranged cabin boy.
Ben and Jake are excited when they dig up a boat that has been filled with rocks and sunk in the sandy river bottom that runs behind their houses. But they’re even more excited when they discover a treasure map in an old jar under the seat in the bow. Marked with an “X”, the treasure is buried in the center of three trees on an island in Quicksand Swamp.
Eager to find the treasure, the boys set out for the swamp in their new boat. Little do they know that they will have to battle alligators, quicksand and, worst of all, a murderer as they go on the scariest journey of their lives.
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There you have it! Five books–well, eight, but who’s counting?–where kids go adventuring to find treasure. Which one do you think you’d most like to read? Maybe you should try them all!
As always, if you need help finding these or any other books, just ask one of our librarians. We love matching books and kids!
It’s our third list of this Triple Movie Feature! Five books that read a little like the movie Night at the Museum. If you like museum exhibits coming to life…or being in a museum overnight…or trying to escape living exhibits…you’ll like these books!
Our “5 Books…” lists include five books (occasionally with a few extra!) on a specific topic, with a short synopsis so you can decide if it sounds like something you would like. Five Books–one old, one new, one popular with kids, one well-reviewed, and one staff favorite. (Can you guess which is which?)
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Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi
Aru Shah has a tendency to stretch the truth in order to fit in at school. While her classmates are jetting off to family vacations in exotic locales, she’ll be spending her autumn break at home, in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture, waiting for her mom to return from her latest archeological trip. Is it any wonder that Aru makes up stories about being royalty, traveling to Paris, and having a chauffeur? One day, three schoolmates show up at Aru’s doorstep to catch her in a lie. They don’t believe her claim that the museum’s Lamp of Bharata is cursed, and they dare Aru to prove it. Just a quick light, Aru thinks. Then she can get herself out of this mess and never ever fib again. But lighting the lamp has dire consequences. She unwittingly frees the Sleeper, an ancient demon whose duty it is to awaken the God of Destruction. Her classmates and beloved mother are frozen in time, and it’s up to Aru to save them. The only way to stop the demon is to find the reincarnations of the five legendary Pandava brothers, protagonists of the Hindu epic poem, the Mahabharata, and journey through the Kingdom of Death. But how is one girl in Spider-Man pajamas supposed to do all that? Read the whole series!
Nightingale by Deva Fagan
Lark is determined to escape her squalid life at Miss Starvenger’s boarding house, but she needs to find the coin to do it. Her grand scheme? To steal her fortune from the Royal Museum. Unfortunately, her heist goes off the rails, and Lark ends up stealing a magical sword right out from under the nose of Prince Jasper, who’s none too happy to have his plans thwarted. Lark soon discovers that the Sword has a mind of its own, and has chosen her to be the next Nightingale, a fabled hero who must vanquish an ancient evil that is waking after centuries of sleep. As it turns out, working alone has its limitations, but relying on others after a lifetime of disappointments feels impossible. Still, Lark will need the help of her boarding house roommates if she wants to defeat the villainous forces that threaten to dismantle everything she holds dear.
Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee
This is the story of unlikely heroine Ophelia Jane Worthington-Whittard who doesn’t believe in anything that can’t be proven by science. She and her sister Alice are still grieving for their dead mother when their father takes a job in a strange museum in a city where it always snows. On her very first day in the museum Ophelia discovers a boy locked away in a long forgotten room. He is a prisoner of Her Majesty, the Snow Queen. And he has been waiting for Ophelia’s help. As Ophelia embarks on an incredible journey to rescue the boy everything that she believes will be tested. Along the way she learns more and more about the boy’s own remarkable journey to reach her and save the world. A story within a story, this a modern day fairytale about the power of friendship, courage and love, and never ever giving up.
The Metropolitans by Carol Goodman
The day Japan bombs Pearl Harbor, four thirteen-year-olds converge at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where an eccentric curator is seeking four uncommonly brave souls to track down the hidden pages of the Kelmsbury Manuscript, an ancient book of Arthurian legends that lies scattered within the museum’s collection, and that holds the key to preventing a second attack on American soil. When Madge, Joe, Kiku, and Walt agree to help, they have no idea that the Kelmsbury is already working its magic on them. But they begin to develop extraordinary powers and experience the feelings of King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, Morgan le Fay, and Lancelot- courage, friendship, love…and betrayal. Are they playing out a legend that’s already been lived, over and over, across the ages? Or can the Metropolitans forge their own story?
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein
Kyle Keeley is the class clown and a huge fan of all games–board games, word games, and particularly video games. His hero, Luigi Lemoncello, the most notorious and creative gamemaker in the world, just so happens to be the genius behind the construction of the new town library. Lucky Kyle wins a coveted spot as one of twelve kids invited for an overnight sleepover in the library, hosted by Mr. Lemoncello and riddled with lots and lots of games. But the tricky part isn’t getting into the library–it’s getting out. Because when morning comes, the doors stay locked. Kyle and the other kids must solve every clue and figure out every secret puzzle to find the hidden escape route! (Not a museum, but with all the exhibits and figures and information, it could be!) Read the entire series…you’ll love it!
Children of the Lamp: The Akhenaten Adventure by P.B. Kerr
John and Philippa Gaunt, two not-very-identical twins, live a privileged life on the Upper East of Manhattan with their wealthy parents and two curiously-mannered Rottweilers named Alan and Neil. The twins realize there’s something amiss with their world when a string of strange things begin to happen after their wisdom teeth are extracted–they dream the same dreams, become stronger, their zits clear up, and wishes wished in their presence inexplicably come true. And, when their estranged Uncle Nimrod asks them to come to England for the summer during one such shared dream, the discovery of their destiny is set in motion. John and Phillippa discover that they are descended from a long line of Djinn, have great inherent powers. They must call on these powers a lot sooner than they anticipated, though, because the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten is not as dead as history has so far declared and his legion of seventy magical djinn could tip the balance of power in the magical realm and affect the whole world order. Read the whole series!
Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos by R. L. LaFevers
Theodosia Throckmorton has her hands full at the Museum of Legends and Antiquities in London. Her father may be head curator, but it is Theo–and only Theo–who is able to see all the black magic and ancient curses that still cling to the artifacts in the museum. When Theo’s mother returns from her latest archaeological dig bearing the Heart of Egypt–a legendary amulet belonging to an ancient tomb–Theo learns that it comes inscribed with a curse so black and vile that it threatens to crumble the British Empire from within and start a war too terrible to imagine. Intent on returning the malevolent artifact to its rightful place, Theo devises a daring plan to put things right. But even with the help of her younger brother, a wily street urchin, and the secret society known as the Brotherhood of the Chosen Keepers, it won’t be easy . . . she quickly finds herself pursued down dark alleys, across an ocean, through the bustling crowds of Cairo, and straight into the heart of an ancient mystery. Theo will have to call upon everything she’s ever learned in order to prevent the rising chaos from destroying her country–and herself!
Curiosity House: The Shrunken Head by Lauren Oliver and H.C. Chester
Blessed with extraordinary abilities, orphans Philippa, Sam, and Thomas have grown up happily in Dumfrey’s Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities, and Wonders. But when a fourth child, Max, a knife-thrower, joins the group, it sets off an unforgettable chain of events. When the museum’s Amazonian shrunken head is stolen, the four are determined to get it back. But their search leads them to a series of murders and an explosive secret about their pasts. The book is about, among other things: the strongest boy in the world, a talking cockatoo, a faulty mind reader, a beautiful bearded lady and a nervous magician, an old museum, and a shrunken head. Read the whole trilogy!
Archer’s Quest by Linda Sue Park
In Dorchester, New York, Kevin is doing his homework when suddenly an arrow comes out of nowhere and pins his baseball cap to the wall. The man who shot the arrow claims he fell off a tiger . . . and wound up in Kevin’s room. It’s not long before Kevin realizes that the man, who calls himself Chu-mong, or Great Archer, is no ordinary burglar, but a traveler from far away in both space and time. A visit to the local museum confirms that there was a king named Chu-mong in ancient Korea who was legendary for many accomplishments, including exceptional skill with bow and arrow. Kevin knows little about his own Korean heritage, but he understands that unless Archer returns to his people and his throne, history will be changed forever. And he’s determined to help Archer go back, no matter what it takes.
The Kane Chronicles: The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
Since their mother’s death, Carter and Sadie have become near strangers. While Sadie has lived with her grandparents in London, her brother has traveled the world with their father, the brilliant Egyptologist, Dr. Julius Kane. One night, Dr. Kane brings the siblings together for a “research experiment” at the British Museum, where he hopes to set things right for his family. Instead, he unleashes the Egyptian god Set, who banishes him to oblivion and forces the children to flee for their lives. Soon, Sadie and Carter discover that the gods of Egypt are waking, and the worst of them–Set-has his sights on the Kanes. To stop him, the siblings embark on a dangerous journey across the globe — a quest that brings them ever closer to the truth about their family, and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs. Read the whole series!
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So there you have it…several mysterious museums with a lot more going on than a casual visitor would guess! None really with the exact same premise as Night at the Museum, but pretty close!
(There is one book that is VERY similar to Night at the Museum, but sadly, it is long our of print. It Looks Alive to Me! by Thomas Baum has a very similar same plot–a new moon rock exhibit apparently brings everything in the museum to life…dinosaurs, famous people, mummies and more…and Burdick and his new friend Lola have to get everything back to normal before the moon sets. If you can find an old copy, you’ll enjoy it!)
As always, if you need help finding these or any other books at the library, ask one of our librarians for help. We love matching books and readers!
Have you watched the adventures of Eleven and her friends? With a mix of parallel worlds, secret laboratories, supernatural occurrences, government agencies running amok, or scary monsters inhabiting the woods (or elsewhere)–these similar reads will make you shiver. Perfect for Halloween, or for anytime you want some creepiness to enjoy. Try one!
Our Five Books feature is a booklist of five books (although we went a little overboard on this one) on a specific topic, with a short synopsis so you can decide if it sounds like something you would like. Mostly Middle Grade, with the occasional younger or older or graphic title thrown in for flavor.
Five Books–one old, one new, one popular with kids, one well-reviewed, and one staff favorite. (But you’ll have to guess which is which)!
Cooper is lost. Ever since his father left their family three years ago, he has become distant from his friends, constantly annoyed by his little sister, Jess, and completely fed up with the pale, creepy rich girl who moved in next door and won’t stop staring at him. So when Cooper learns of an unsolved mystery his sister has discovered online, he welcomes the distraction.
It’s the tale of a deadly train crash that occurred a hundred years ago, in which one young boy among the dead was never identified. The only distinguishing mark on him was a strange insignia on his suit coat, a symbol no one had seen before or since. Jess is fascinated by the mystery of the unknown child– because she’s seen the insignia. It’s the symbol of the jacket of the girl next door.
As they uncover more information– and mounting evidence of the girl’s seemingly impossible connection to the tragedy–Cooper and Jess begin to wonder if a similar disaster could be heading to their hometown.
After suffering a tragic loss, Ollie only finds solace in books. So when she happens upon a crazed woman at the river threatening to throw a book into the water, Ollie doesn’t think–she just acts, stealing the book and running away. In the book is a chilling story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who both loved her, and a peculiar deal made with “the smiling man,” a sinister specter who grants your most tightly held wish, but only for the ultimate price.
Ollie is captivated by the tale until her school trip the next day, where she stumbles upon the graves of the very people she’s been reading about. Could it be the story about the smiling man is true? Ollie doesn’t have too long to think about the answer to that. On the way home, the school bus breaks down, sending their teacher back for help. But the strange bus driver has some advice for the kids left behind in his care: “Best get moving. At nightfall they’ll come for the rest of you.” Then Ollie’s previously broken digital wristwatch begins a startling countdown and delivers a terrifying message: RUN.
Only Ollie and two of her classmates heed the bus driver’s warning. As the trio head out into the woods–bordered by a field of scarecrows that seem to be watching them–the bus driver has just one final piece of advice for Ollie and her friends: “Avoid large places. Keep to small.” And with that, a deliciously creepy and hair-raising adventure begins. Read the whole scary series!
Corinne La Mer claims she isn’t afraid of anything. Not scorpions, not the boys who tease her, and certainly not jumbies. They’re just tricksters made up by parents to frighten their children. Then one night Corinne chases an agouti all the way into the forbidden forest, and shining yellow eyes follow her to the edge of the trees. They couldn’t belong to a jumbie. Or could they?
When Corinne spots a beautiful stranger at the market the very next day, she knows something extraordinary is about to happen. When this same beauty, called Severine, turns up at Corinne’s house, danger is in the air. Severine plans to claim the entire island for the jumbies. Corinne must call on her courage and her friends and learn to use ancient magic she didn’t know she possessed to stop Severine and to save her island home. Read the trilogy!
Enter a world where magic bubbles just below the surface. . . .
When Jack is sent to Hazelwood, Iowa, to live with his strange aunt and uncle, he expects a summer of boredom. Little does he know that the people of Hazelwood have been waiting for him for quite a long time. When he arrives, he begins to make actual friends for the first time in his life. He befriends Wendy and Frankie, the latter scarred and silent years after a childhood disappearance, and the eerily psychic Anders. Jack also becomes the focus of a town bully and an evil patriarch who cultivates power through magic; tension mounts as Jack provokes the supernatural forces that cause children and buildings to disappear. When the richest man in town begins to plot Jack’s imminent, and (according to him) hopefully painful demise, it’s up to Jack to figure out why suddenly everyone cares so much about him. Back home he was practically… invisible. Here, everyone already seems to know him. Why? And what exactly do they want?
Quinn has had some bad experiences lately. She was caught cheating in school, and then one day, her little sister Emma disappeared while walking home from school. She never returned.
When Quinn’s best friend Kara has to move away, she goes on one last trip with Kara and her family. They stop over at the first hotel they see, a Victorian inn that instantly gives Quinn the creeps, and she begins to notice strange things happening around them. When Kara’s parents and then brother disappear without a trace, the girls are stranded in a hotel full of strange guests, hallways that twist back in on themselves, and a particularly nasty surprise lurking beneath the floorboards. Will the girls be able to solve the mystery of what happened to Kara’s family before it’s too late?
Everyone in Timbers knows Still Cove is off-limits, with its creepy Beast sightings and equally terrifying legends. But when a bullying incident sends twelve-year-old Nico Holland over a cliff and into Still Cove’s icy waters, friends Tyler and Emma–and even Opal Walsh, who usually runs with the popular kids–rush to his rescue . . . and discover a mysterious island hiding in the murky, swirling mists below.
Though the island appears uninhabited, the kids can’t shake a feeling that something about it is definitely not right. Their suspicions grow when they stumble upon an abandoned houseboat filled with all sorts of curiosities: odd-looking weapons, unnerving portraits, maps to unknown places, and a glass jar containing something completely unidentifiable. And in its lowest depths churns a dark, deep secret.
As the group delves deeper into this mysterious new clubhouse, their lives begin to intertwine in weird and dangerous ways. For something ancient has awakened . . . and it can detect not only their wishes and dreams, but also their darkest, most terrible imaginings. Do they have what it takes to face the shadowy secrets lurking within their own hearts? Read the series!
All Ginny Anderson wants from her summer is to sleep in, attend a mystery writing workshop, and spend time with her best friend. But when Ginny’s father surprises the family with a month-long trip to Michigan, everything changes. They aren’t staying in a hotel like most families would. No, they’re staying in a mansion. A twenty-six room, century-old building surrounded by dense forest. Woodmoor Manor.
But unfortunately, the mansion has more problems than a little peeling wallpaper. Locals claim the surrounding woods are inhabited by mutated creatures with glowing eyes. And some say campers routinely disappear in the woods, never to be seen again.
As terrifying as it sounds, Ginny can’t shake the feeling that there’s something darker . . . another story she hasn’t been told. When the creaky floors and shadowy corners of the mansion seem to take on a life of their own, Ginny uncovers the wildest mystery of all: There’s more than one legend roaming Saugatuck, Michigan, and they definitely aren’t after campers. It’s after her.
Twins Atticus and Esmeralda Fetch are the best pet finders in Thorns Hollow — a town where people have a lot of pets, and those pets often get lost. But when a lost dog leads them to an old, Victorian house on the edge of town, the twins find their world turned upside down.
This creepy house contains a portal that leads to a whole other world — a world where mythical creatures like trolls, fairies, and dragons are real.The secrets this mythical world contains are bigger than these kids could ever imagine. Secrets that could threaten to destroy the world as we know it. Now, Minerva, Atticus, and yes, their canine companion will have to work together if they want to save our world, and the world beyond the portal!
Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house….
Her family has just moved to a completely new town, and so Coraline already feels a bit strange. In her new house there is one door that opens onto a brick wall. At least, it does until one day the bricks are gone and Coraline finds herself stepping over the threshold into another house . . . a house that’s just like hers.
At first things appear marvelous in this other house. The food is better. The toy box is filled with windup angels that flutter about, books whose pictures crawl and shimmer, and little dinosaur skulls that chatter their teeth. But there’s another mother and another father–and they want Coraline to be their little girl and stay with them forever. They want to change her and never let her go.
Other children are also trapped, as lost souls behind a mirror, and Coraline is their only hope. She will have to find a way to meet the other mother’s challenge in order to save the lost children, her ordinary life, and herself.
What makes you you? The Greystone kids thought they knew. Chess has always been the protector over his younger siblings, Emma loves math, and Finn does what Finn does best–acting silly and being adored. They’ve been a happy family, just the three of them and their mom.
But everything changes when reports of three kidnapped children reach the Greystone kids, and they’re shocked by the startling similarities between themselves and these complete strangers. The other kids share their same first and middle names. They’re the same ages. They even have identical birthdays. Who, exactly, are these strangers?
Before Chess, Emma, and Finn can question their mom about it, she takes off on a sudden work trip and leaves them in the care of Ms. Morales and her daughter, Natalie. But puzzling clues left behind lead to complex codes, hidden rooms, and a dangerous secret about uncover their ties to an alternate world that will turn their lives upside down. Read the whole trilogy!
Something is wrong with Zee, who has returned after a year’s absence. Nobody knows where he was or what happened to him, but now he is distracted and violent. He even freaks out when he sees his friends, Justin, Nia, and Lyric, playing an odd game of hide-and-seek. As they chant the play rhyme I went up the hill, the hill was muddy, stomped my toe and made it bloody, should I wash it? Zee starts talking wildly about some danger that is approaching.
It seems Zee is right when their simple game goes wrong. Very wrong. One by one, everyone who plays the game disappears, pulled into a world of nightmares come to life. Justin and his friends realize this horrible place is where Zee had been trapped. All they can do now is hide in this shadowy world ruled by a monstrous, shape-shifting Seeker as they are forced to play a terrifying game of hide-and-seek. Only by confronting their worst nightmares will they be able to find their way home
Rae’s father vanished without a trace–and Rae knows what happened to him. But no one believes her when she says that her father didn’t run off, that he was actually taken. Now, a year of therapy later, Rae’s mother decides they need a fresh start, and so they move to a new town in the hope that life can return to normal. The problem is, there is nothing normal about the town of Whispering Pines.
No one knows this better than Caden. He’s lived in Whispering Pines his entire life, and he’s seen more than his fair share of weird–starting with his own family, as the town is the perfect home base for his mother’s ghost hunting business.
When several kids go missing and then show up like zombies with their eyes removed, many locals brush it off. Just another day in Whispering Pines. But Caden has a dark secret, one that may explain why someone is stealing eyes. And Rae, who knows how it feels to not be believed, may be just the person Caden needs to help him put things right. Read the whole trilogy!
Something strange is happening on Goodie Lane . . .
Quinn Parker knows that there’s something off about her neighbors. She calls them “the Oldies” because they’ve lived on Goodie Lane for as long as anyone can remember, but they never seem to age. Are they vampires? Or aliens? Or getting secret experimental surgeries? Or is Quinn’s imagination just running wild again?
If her dad were still around, he’d believe her. When he was alive, they’d come up with all sorts of theories about the Oldies. Now, Quinn’s determined to keep the investigation going with the help of Mike, her neighbor and maybe-crush. They’ll have to search for clues and follow the mystery wherever it leads–even if it’s to the eerie pond at the end of the street that’s said to have its own sinister secrets. But the Oldies are on to them. And the closer Quinn and Mike get to uncovering the answers, the more they realize just how terrifying the truth may be.
Lucy Darrington has no choice but to run away from boarding school. Her father, an expert on the supernatural, has been away for too long while doing research in Saarthe, a remote territory in the Pacific Northwest populated by towering redwoods, timber barons, and the Lupine people. But upon arriving, she learns her father is missing: Rumor has it he’s gone in search of dreamwood, a rare tree with magical properties that just might hold the cure for the blight that’s ravaging the forests of Saarthe.
Determined to find her father (and possibly save Saarthe), Lucy and her vexingly stubborn friend Pete follow William Darrington’s trail to the deadly woods on Devil’s Thumb. As they encounter Lupine princesses, giant sea serpents, and all manner of terrifying creatures, Lucy hasn’t reckoned that the dreamwood itself might be the greatest threat of all.
Eleanor has just moved to the quiet, prosperous Eden Eld. When she awakes to discover an ancient grandfather clock that she’s never seen before outside her new room, she’s sure her eyes must be playing tricks on her. But then she spots a large bird, staring at her as she boards the school bus. And a black dog with glowing red eyes follows her around town. All she wants is to be normal, and these are far from normal. And worse–no one else can see them.
Except for her new friends, Pip and Otto, who teach her a thing or two about surviving in Eden Eld. First: Don’t let the “wrong things” know you can see them. Second: Don’t speak of the wrong things to anyone else.
The only other clue they have about these supernatural disturbances is a book of fairytales unlike any they’ve read before. It tells tales of the mysterious Mr. January, who struck a cursed deal with the town’s founders. Every thirteenth Halloween, he will take three of their children, who are never heard from again. It’s up to our trio to break the curse–because Eden Eld’s thirteen years are up. And Eleanor, Pip, and Otto are marked as his next sacrifice. Read the series!
Tamaya Dhilwaddi and Marshall Walsh have been walking to and from Woodridge Academy together since elementary school. But their routine is disrupted when bully Chad Hilligas challenges Marshall to a fight. To avoid the conflict, Marshall takes a shortcut home through the off-limits woods. Tamaya, unaware of the reason for the detour, reluctantly follows. They soon get lost. And then they find trouble. Bigger trouble than anyone could ever have imagined. Their shortcut home from school leads to the discovery what looks like fuzzy mud but is actually a substance with the potential to wreak havoc on the entire world
In the days and weeks that follow, the authorities and the U.S. Senate become involved, and what they uncover might affect the future of the world.
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There you have it–sixteen books to make you question your next trip into the woods! If you can think of any others, please share them! This is a popular topic…especially in the fall.
If you need help finding these, or any other books in the library, just ask one of our librarians. We love to match books and readers!
If you’ve ever been on a vacation, you know that they don’t always go the way you expected. But in these books, things go catastrophically wrong, in one way or another. Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it’s sad, sometimes it’s exciting…but it’s never boring! Check out this list of Vacations Gone Wrong.
Our Five Books feature is a booklist of five books (occasionally with a few extras) on a specific topic, with a short synopsis so you can decide if it sounds like something you would like. Mostly Middle Grade, with the occasional younger or older or graphic title thrown in for flavor.
Five Books–one old, one new, one popular with kids, one well-reviewed, and one staff favorite. (But you’ll have to guess which is which)!
There are a few things you should know about Harriet Wermer: She just finished third grade, She has a perfect cat named Matzo Ball, She doesn’t always tell the truth, She is very happy to be spending summer vacation away from home and her mom and dad and all the wonderful things she had been planning all year. Okay, maybe that last one isn’t entirely the truth. Of course, there’s nothing Harriet doesn’t like about Marble Island, the small island off the coast of California where her nanu runs a cozy little bed and breakfast. And nobody doesn’t love Moneypenny, Nanu’s old basset hound. But Harriet doesn’t like the fact that Dad made this decision without even asking her. When Harriet arrives on Marble Island, however, she discovers that it’s full of surprises, and even a mystery. One that seems to involve her Dad, back when he was a young boy living on Marble Island. One that Harriet is absolutely going to solve. And that’s the truth.
Sarah Robinson is deeply troubled in the wake of her dad’s second marriage. She now has to deal with a new stepmom and two stepbrothers, Marco, who is her age, and Nacho, who’s younger. Even though they’ve all moved from Texas to California to start life as a new, blended family, none of the kids seem remotely happy about it. Sarah’s dad and stepmom then decide to take the whole family on a special vacation in order to break the ice and have everyone get to know one another. They’ll fly to Tahiti, charter a boat, and go sailing for a few days. It’ll be an adventure, right? Wrong. Dead wrong.
No parents. No rules. No curfew. Things are about to get dangerous… The grownups are out-of-town, and for Charley Decker that means one thing: a last epic weekend with her older brother Greg before he leaves for college. Bring on the burgers, milkshakes, and movie marathons! So when Greg ditches Charley for a date night downtown, she’s kind of crushed. Worse, he gets their mom’s boyfriend’s super-expensive, super-rare Mustang towed and needs Charley’s help to get it back. What’s an unsupervised seventh grader to do? Grab her best friends, sneak into the city, pull off the ultimate car heist, and then make Greg pay, of course! Only now the Mustang has a new feature in the trunk: a stowaway named Mitch who’s guarding a world-changing secret. And a pair of seriously big, seriously scary dudes are after him. What follows is an all-night race around the clock as Charley and her friends try to dodge the twin terrors, save Mitch, fix a sibling squabble…and get the Mustang home before morning!
On their way to a summer camp Meg and her sister, Lulie, bump into Pippa Phillips, a famous child movie star. Pippa, who is running away from an aunt and uncle who whe is convinced are exploiting her talents for their own profit. She begs Meg to help her. On the trip to camp, the girls devise an ingenious strategy to help Pippa. But soon the lies start piling up, and Pippa seems to want to grab the spotlight, even while she’s supposed to be hiding. Summer Camp is definitely not going as Meg had planned…
Sweet summer has taken a rotten turn . . . After a tough year, Lucy, Freddy, and Herb Peach are ready for vacation. Lucy wants to read all of the books on the summer reading list. Freddy wants to work on his art projects (when he isn’t stuck in summer school). Herb wants to swim every day. Then their dad makes a big announcement: one of the inventions their mom came up with before she passed away has sold, and now they’re millionaires! But Dad has bigger plans than blowing the cash on fun stuff or investing it. He’s bought a used food truck. The Peaches are going to spend the summer traveling the country selling pies. It will be the Great Peach Experiment–a summer of bonding while living out one of Mom’s dreams. Summer plans, sunk. And there’s one more issue Dad’s neglected: none of them knows how to bake. . . .
Whenever Jake and Marisol get together, adventure follows. They have their late Nana to thank for that. Her epic trips and treasure hunts were legendary. With the whole family reuniting for one last summer vacation at Nana’s home, the cousins are prepared for an extraordinary trip of their own. Following a map Nana left behind, Jake and Marisol sneak out to a nearby lighthouse–then accidentally slip into another world! The World Between Blinks is a magical place, where all sorts of lost things and people wind up. Everywhere they turn, the cousins find real mysteries from history and a few they thought were just myths, from pilot Amelia Earhart to the fabled city of Atlantis. But the man who holds the key to Jake and Marisol’s journey home doesn’t want to be found . . . and if the cousins don’t catch him fast, they could end up lost in this world forever.
Could summer in your neighborhood turn out to be better than an exotic holiday overseas? Ina and her new neighbor Vilmer are about to find out… Ina has no plans for the summer. Suddenly, she finds herself lying in front of the entire class, telling them she is going to the Mediterranean for three weeks. And then the lie keeps growing and growing via social media. The only problem is that the new boy in class has moved to Ina’s neighborhood and he will easily find out that she is not in the Mediterranean. How can Ina convince Vilmer to keep her secret? Perhaps the best summer holiday is the one you thought would be the worst?
After a tumultuous year in New York City, the Austins are spending the summer on the small island where their grandfather lives. He’s very sick, and watching his condition deteriorate as the summer passes is almost more than Vicky can bear. To complicate matters, she finds herself as the center of attention for three very different boys. Zachary Grey, the troubled and reckless boy Vicky met last summer, wants her all to himself as he grieves the loss of his mother. Leo Rodney has been just a friend for years, but the tragic loss of his father causes him to turn to Vicky for comfort–and romance. And then there’s Adam Eddington. Adam is only asking Vicky to help with his research on dolphins. But Adam–and the dolphins–may just be what Vicky needs to get through this heartbreaking summer.
It’s supposed to be the Best Summer Ever! Allegra, Minnow and Alice are spending the summer in Maine, at their regular vacation cottage, on an island. But then their parents have to go back to Boston for a funeral, and they’re going to be sent to stay with their mean (and old!) great-aunt. But when Allegra takes the call saying Great Aunt Ruth has broken her hip and can’t come, she doesn’t tell their parents. She thought it would be easy to just spend the week alone together. But she didn’t know her mother was going to throw out all the food! Surviving alone for a week is not going to be easy, especially when they have to hide from the neighbors. Allegra and her sisters scrounge for food and search for the treasure rumored to be hidden somewhere on the premises. Kids often imagine what their lives would be like if they were left on their own for even a short time. The three very different sisters in this story have just that kind of adventure for a week on an island in Maine.
Lana and Cassie have met only once before, at the wedding of Lana’s Grandpa Howe and Cassie’s Grandma Tess two months ago. The two girls couldn’t be more different, and they didn’t exactly hit it off–but they’re about to spend an entire week together for their grandparents’ honeymoon, road-tripping from California to Maine in the backseat of a Subaru. It’s going to be a disaster. Told in alternating chapters between Cassie and Lana, Drive Me Crazy shows that even though friendship can be a bumpy road, it just might change your life for the better.
Fiona and Cassie are best friends for life. No one else can make Fiona laugh like Cassie can, and that meant everything when Fiona’s parents were divorcing. They love each other in spite of their (many) differences, and even though Cassie cares a little too much about being popular, Fiona can’t imagine life without her. Until Fiona’s diary is stolen at school, and everything changes. It’s a middle schooler’s worst nightmare come true: not only is Fiona’s diary taken, but it’s read out loud on the bus by the popular kids that day. Even worse: Cassie was there, and she didn’t do anything to stop them. And for some reason, now she’s ignoring Fiona. Suddenly the whole world has shifted. Life without a best friend is confusing, scary, and maybe impossible. But as Fiona navigates a summer of big changes, she learns more about herself–and friendship–than she ever thought possible.
Stella misses her (unreliable) mom, but she loves it at great-aunt Louise’s house. Louise lives on Cape Cod, where Stella hopes her mom will someday come and settle down. The only problem? Angel, the foster kid Louise has taken in. The two girls live together but there’s no way they’ll ever be friends. Then Louise suddenly passes away one morning–and Stella and Angel decide not to tell anyone. Now they have to depend on each other for survival. Now they are forced to trust each other with the biggest secret ever. This is the story of two very different girls who unexpectedly become each other’s true family.
Avery Bloom, who’s bookish, intense, and afraid of many things, particularly deep water, lives in New York City. Bett Devlin, who’s fearless, outgoing, and loves all animals as well as the ocean, lives in California. What they have in common is that they are both twelve, and are both being raised by single dads. When their dads fall in love, Bett and Avery are sent, against their will, to the same sleepaway camp. Their dads hope that they will find common ground and become friends–and possibly, one day, even sisters. But things soon go off the rails for the girls (and for their dads too), and they find themselves on a summer adventure that neither of them could have predicted. Now that they can’t imagine life without each other, will Bett and Avery (who sometimes call themselves Night Owl and Dogfish) figure out a way to be a family?
Ainsley never wanted to spend her summer on a fairy tale cruise–especially since, instead of lounging by the pool, she’s running around the ship doing favor after favor for her cruise director mom. Things aren’t all bad–it’s good to see her mom acting confident again after the divorce, and she’s learning a lot about obscure German fairy tales and how to fold towels into entertaining shapes for little kids (um, yay?). There’s also a guy who’s super cute, even in a dorky dwarf costume–if only Ainsley could get Prince Handsome to stop babbling about himself long enough for her to say more than ‘hi’ to the cute dwarf! But once the cruise starts, things start to go wrong: the laundry turns pink, the kitchen runs out of food, the guy playing the Pig King is always in Ainsley’s hair, and her mom expects her to be in a hundred places all at once. Is this fairy tale cruise under a wicked curse? Or can Ainsley stand up for herself and make the cruise end happily ever after?
Mia Tang is going for her dreams! After years of hard work, Mia Tang finally gets to go on vacation with her family — to China! A total dream come true! Mia can’t wait to see all her cousins and grandparents again, especially her cousin Shen. As she roams around Beijing, witnessing some of the big changes China’s going through, Mia thinks about the changes in her own life, like . . .1)Lupe’s taking classes at the high school! And Mia’s own plans to be a big writer are . . . stuck. 2)Something happened with Jason and Mia has no idea what to do about it. 3)New buildings are popping up all around the motel, and small businesses are disappearing. Can the Calivista survive? Buckle up! Mia is more determined than ever to get through the turbulence, now that she finally has . . . room to dream!
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So…how is your vacation going? Better than the ones above, I hope!
This turned out to be a longer “5 Books” than usual! I guess vacations just have a habit of not going the way they’re supposed to…
If you need help finding these, or any other books at the Library, just ask one of our Librarians. We’re always happy to match readers with their next favorite book! (And if you’re going on vacation, try reading a book about the place you’re going. Always fun to see things through a different lens!)
So you like fantasy…and magic…and graphic novels? Do those all work together? Sure they do, and we’re here to prove it! Here’s a little magical light reading in a format that’s become all the rage for middle grade reading.
Our Five Books feature is a booklist of five books (occasionally with a few extras) on a specific topic, with a short synopsis so you can decide if it sounds like something you would like. Five Books–one old, one new, one popular with kids, one well-reviewed, and one staff favorite. (But you’ll have to guess which is which)! (Graphic novels are a newish genre, so our “old” title might be decades younger than our normal “old” book in our other lists. But still…our “old” title definitely has sticking power.)
Amaya, princess of House Amethyst in Gemworld, is something of a troublemaker. She and her brother have great fun together until a magical prank goes much too far and her parents ground her…to Earth! They hope a whole week in the mundane world will teach her that magic is a privilege…and maybe washing dishes by hand will help her realize the palace servants should be respected. Three years later, Amy has settled into middle school and ordinary life. She doesn’t remember any other home. So when a prince of the realm brings her home and restores her magical destiny, how will she cope?
Quiet…birds…nature… That’s what Aster expects when her parents move their whole family to the middle of nowhere. It’s just her (status- super-bored), her mom and dad (status- busy with science), her brother (status- has other plans), and…magic? In her new home, Aster meets a mysterious old woman with a herd of dogs who gives her a canine companion of her own. But when she and her dog Buzz are adventuring in the forest, they run into a trickster spirit who gives Aster three wishes. After wishing for the ability to understand and talk to her dog, she becomes only able to talk in dog language…and the trouble she gets into is just starting. Maybe the middle of nowhere will be more interesting than Aster thought!
In the eerie town of ‘Allows, some people get to be magical sorceresses, while other people have their spirits trapped in the mall for all ghastly eternity. Then there’s twelve-year-old goblin-witch Beetle, who’s caught in between. She’d rather skip being homeschooled completely and spend time with her best friend, Blob Glost. But the mall is getting boring, and B.G. is cursed to haunt it, tethered there by some unseen force. And now Beetle’s old best friend, Kat, is back in town for a sorcery apprenticeship with her Aunt Hollowbone. Kat is everything Beetle wants to be: beautiful, cool, great at magic, and kind of famous online. Beetle’s quickly being left in the dust. But Kat’s mentor has set her own vile scheme in motion. If Blob Ghost doesn’t escape the mall soon, their afterlife might be coming to a very sticky end. Now, Beetle has less than a week to rescue her best ghost, encourage Kat to stand up for herself, and confront the magic she’s been avoiding for far too long. And hopefully ride a broom without crashing.
Sheltered within her high-society world, Isabel plays the part of a perfectly proper little girl–she’s quiet, well-behaved, and she keeps her dresses spotlessly clean. She’s certainly not the kind of girl who goes on adventures. But that all changes when Isabel breaches an invisible barrier and steps into another world. She discovers a city not unlike her own, but magical and dangerous. Here, war rages between the fairies of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. Only Isabel, with the help of a magical necklace and a few new friends, stands a chance of ending the war before it destroys the fairy world, and her own. When Isabel stumbles into a pitched war between two fairy kingdoms, and the fate of San Francisco itself hangs in the balance!
When Dani and Dorian missed the bus to magic school, they never thought they’d wind up declared traitors to their own kind! Now, thanks to a series of mishaps, they are being chased by powerful magic families seeking the prophesied King of Witches and royals searching for missing princes. But they aren’t alone. With a local troublemaker, a princess, and a teacher who can see the future on their side, they might just be able to clear their names…but can they heal their torn kingdom? Two twins, one prophecy, and a whole lot of hijinks.
“Reach out your hand, and your story will begin!” Those words changed young Atsuko “Akko” Kagari forever, sparking in her a lifelong dream of becoming a real witch. Now she’s been accepted to the same school as her childhood hero, Shiny Chariot-the prestigious Luna Nova Witchcraft Academy. As the only student to come from a non-magical family, Akko finds herself surrounded by prodigies from around the world, but giving up isn’t in her vocabulary. Whether it’s making friends, proving the doubters wrong, or just flying on a broom, Akko is going to make her fantasy a reality!
Maddy loved working in her parents’ bookstore… especially when joined by her pet flying toad Ralph. But that was before the mysterious Thimblewitch turned her mom & dad into kangaroo rats! Now Maddy’s on the adventure of a lifetime. To save her parents, she’ll need to sneak past an army of spider-goblins, scarecrow warriors, and much more… Fortunately, an assortment of new friends await, including the cloud cartographers Harry and Silvio, a bear and raccoon who explore the world in their moon-balloon. They’ll help her along the way, but in the end, the fate of everyone will depend on Maddy’s courage, compassion, and creativity.
Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers’ bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town. One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any townhome. Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. Their latent feelings are rekindled against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old in this enchanting tale of self-discovery.
Magic is harder than it looks. Moth Hush loves all things witchy. But she’s about to discover that witches aren’t just the stuff of movies, books, and spooky stories. When some eighth-grade bullies try to ruin her Halloween, something really strange happens. It turns out that Founder’s Bluff, Massachusetts, has a centuries-old history of witch drama. And, surprise: Moth’s family is at the center of it all! When Moth’s new powers show up, things get totally out-of-control. She meets a talking cat, falls into an enchanted diary, and unlocks a hidden witch world. Secrets surface from generations past as Moth unravels the complicated legacy at the heart of her town, her family, and herself. A story packed with humor and heart about the weird and wonderful adventures of a witch-in-progress.
Salem Hyde just isn’t like other kids. For one thing, she’s stubborn, independent, and impulsive. For another, she’s a witch. Salem acts first and thinks later–which means most of her thinking involves coming up with excuses! Good thing she’s been assigned an animal companion, Lord Percival J. Whamsford III. This over-anxious cat doesn’t like Salem calling him “Whammy,” and Salem doesn’t like listening to his long-winded explanations as to why she shouldn’t do something . . . like enter the class spelling bee. Salem knows she can beat all her classmates at spells, no problem. Too late, she realizes the competition is about spelling words, not magic. And there’s nothing like a misspelled spell to cause all kinds of havoc!
Effie lost her mom and her home. And now she has to live with two strange aunts who she’s never met before. Life in Brooklyn takes a strange twist for Effie as she learns more about her family and herself. Life in Brooklyn takes a strange turn when Effie discovers that real MAGIC runs in the family. When Tily Shoo, a pop megastar, comes to Effie and her aunts in need of a magical skincare remedy, it takes the charm and skill of all three witches to save the diva’s day. With new friends who will do whatever they can to be there for her and her new magically-inclined family — Effie’s life is about to get verrrrry interesting….
Welcome to the magical, mystical, topsy-turvy world of the House of Secrets, where Zatanna embarks on a journey of self-discovery and adventure … all with her pet rabbit, Pocus, at her side. Zatanna and her professional magician father live in a special house, the House of Secrets, which is full of magic, puzzles, mysterious doors, and storybook creatures–it’s the house everyone in the neighborhood talks about but avoids. Not that Zatanna cares, though, because she is perfectly content. But at school one day, Zatanna stands up to a bully and everything changes … including her friends. Suddenly, Zatanna isn’t so sure about her place in the world, and when she returns home to tell her father, he’s gone missing, lost within their own home. Can Zatanna open the right door and find her father?
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Spells and cats and witches and hats…life is interesting with a little magic flowing! Now most of these books feature magic that touches on the real world…but we have lots of magic books in fantasy lands as well! Another booklist..? Maybe!
As always, if you need help finding these or any other books, ask one of our librarians. We love to match books and readers! And if you have any suggestions for graphic novels about magic we may have missed, let me know. Suggestions from readers are always welcome.
If you had a chance to go on an adventure, where would you go? What time and place in history would grab your attention and make you want to find out more? What part of the world intrigues you enough to go back again and again?
There are so many interesting places in the world, and so many mysteries to solve. In this 5 Books Feature, we’re going to go adventuring with an appreciation of Mayan culture in Mexico and Central America.
Our Five Books feature is a booklist of five books (usually with a few extras) on a specific topic, with a short synopsis so you can decide if it sounds like something you would like to read. Five Books–one old, one new, one popular with kids, one award winner, and one old favorite. Some are two or three at the same time! But you’ll have to guess which is which…if you can!
Sayam has always been different from other kids–he’s very short for his age, his best friend is a monkey, and most curious of all: he was born from an egg! His grandmother, a witch, found him and taught him all the ancient magic she uses to help her people. So when a giant snake starts terrorizing a nearby city, Sayam decides it’s time for him to use his knowledge to help others, and steps into action. But the beast might not be Sayam’s biggest problem: the ruthless King Kinich Kak Ek sees Sayam as a threat to his throne. Prophecy declares that whoever succeeds at three impossible tests will be king. Monstrous snakes and impossible tests are a lot for a boy to handle, but Sayam is brave and has a loyal monkey, a wise grandmother, and magical knowledge on his side!
Her mother nicknamed her Colibrí, Spanish for “Hummingbird.” At age four she was kidnapped, torn from her parents on a crowded bus in Guatemala City. Since then she’s traveled with “Uncle,” the ex-soldier and wandering beggar who has renamed her Rosa. Uncle has always told Rosa that he searched for her parents but had no success. But Rosa still remembers and longs for them. When she was young, Uncle consulted fortune-tellers who told him that Rosa would bring him luck – a treasure big enough to last him all his life. So he’s kept her with him. Together, they have traveled from town to town in the highlands of Guatemala, scraping out a living, hoping to find the treasure. Eight years have passed, and Rosa has turned twelve. No treasure has been found, and Uncle has almost given up hope. When he turns angry and desperate, danger threatens Rosa from all sides – but especially from Uncle himself. Can Rosa escape and find her family?
Zane would much rather explore the dormant volcano near his home in New Mexico than go to school with kids who bully him for his limp. But what Zane doesn’t know is that the volcano is a gateway to another world, a world he’s thrust into with his dog, Rosie, and the new girl at school, Brooks – kicking off an epic adventure full of surprising discoveries, dangerous secrets, and an all-out war between the gods. To prevent the Mayan gods from battling each other and destroying the world, Zane must unravel an ancient prophecy, stop an evil god, and discover how the physical disability that makes him reliant on a cane also connects him to his father and his ancestry. To survive, Zane will have to become the Storm Runner. But how will he run with a cane?
Joshua’s life was pretty average until his archaeologist father was reported dead in a plane crash. Josh’s dad had been searching for the Mayan Codex, said to contain key information about the 2012 Mayan prophecy foretelling the end of the world. Was the crash simply a tragic accident, or is there more to his father’s death than the authorities are willing to tell him?
This first novel in the action-packed Joshua Files brings Josh to the depths of the Mexican jungle and into a secret society existing beneath an ancient Mayan Pyramid. Sucked into a vortex of intrigue, Josh becomes a target for danger as he learns that his father, grandfather, and Josh himself are the key to solving the mystery of the prophecy. Can Josh find the missing codex in time to save mankind?
In 749, a political marriage is arranged between the thirty-three-year-old king of Xukpip and Princess Green Jay, the thirteen-year-old daughter of the king of Lakamha. The two are paired because of similar horoscopes — and Green Jay possesses skills that will be valuable to her husband-to-be: She can read and write. In 749, As she travels to Xukpip to meet King Fire Keeper, her future husband, she writes in her diary about her arduous journey.
Part of the Royal Diary series, featuring royalty through the ages.
When a mysterious envelope arrives for Jake Ransom, he and his older sister, Kady, are plunged into a gripping chain of events. An artifact found by their parents–on the expedition from which they never returned–leads Jake and Kady to a strange world inhabited by a peculiar mix of long-lost civilizations, a world that may hold the key to their parents’ disappearance.
But even as they enter the gate to this extraordinary place, savage grackyls soar across the sky, diving to attack. Jake’s new friends, the pretty Mayan girl Marika and the Roman Pindor, say the grackyls were created by an evil alchemist–the Skull King. And as Jake struggles to find a way home, it becomes obvious that what the Skull King wants most is Jake and Kady–dead or alive.
Joe, Sam, and Fred have been thrown back in time yet again. This time the Trio find themselves whisked by The Book from a basketball court in Brooklyn to the main ring ball court in Chichén Itzá, Mexico. The year is 1000 a. d. and the rules are a little different. Now the boys are playing for their lives with the Mayan High Priest as their opponent. Will they be able to get home before they learn the true meaning of a sudden death penalty?
Sam barely escaped from Egypt after a failed search for his missing archaeologist parents. After a few months of boring safety at a Boston boarding school, he is ready to continue the search for them among the Mayan pyramids of Central America. With a little manipulation (and a lot of deception) from his partner in adventure, Mary Verulam, Sam makes it to Belize. Nonstop action ensues as Sam and Mary follow clues from Mayan mythology and the Knights Templar, hoping the secrets of the ancients will lead to his parents.
Max Murphy is looking forward to a family vacation. But his parents, both archaeologists and Maya experts, announce a change in plan. They must leave immediately for a dig in the tiny Central American country of San Xavier. Max will go to summer camp. Max is furious. When he’s mysteriously summoned to San Xavier, he thinks they’ve had a change of heart. Upon his arrival, Max’s wild adventure in the tropical rainforests of San Xavier begins. During his journey, he will unlock ancient secrets and meet strangers who are connected to him in ways he could never have imagined. For fate has delivered a challenge of epic proportions to this pampered teenager. Can Max rescue his parents from the Maya Underworld and save the world from the Lords of Death, who now control the power of the Jaguar Stones in their villainous hands?
The Jaguar Stones is an exciting series full of suspense and terror, as the good guys and the bad guys face off against a background of haunted temples, zombie armies, and even human sacrifice!
Now that he has become the NYPD’s youngest crime-solving hero, Eddie Red and his best friend Jonah are ready to relax on a family vacation to Mexico. But when Eddie’s father is falsely accused of stealing a valuable Mayan mask, what they find is another complex mystery. Can Eddie use his artistic talent and his photographic memory to solve the mystery? Once he and Jonah meet the daughter of the local police officer in charge, can the three of them join together to uncover clues and catch the real crook in time?
Eddie Red Undercover is an exciting series for all readers.
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And there you have it. Mystery! Adventure! Pyramids, crocodiles, rapid rivers and even a few Mayan gods. A good start if you’re planning on visiting any Mayan ruins to get your imagination going.
If you need help finding these or any other books at the Library, please ask our librarians for assistance. We love to find the right book for the right reader.
Wolves get a bad rap, there’s no disputing that. From knocking down little pig houses to gobbling grannies to following a boy named Peter…there’s no end to the Big Badness of Fairytale Wolves.
But really, wolves are admirable animals. They educate their young, they’re playful, and most of all, they’re completely devoted to their families. So here are some GOOD wolves in fantasy literature…something to get the image of wolves as bad characters out of your mind forever!
Our Five Books feature is a booklist of five books (occasionally with a few extras) on a specific topic, with a short synopsis so you can decide if it sounds like something you would like. Five Books–One Old, One New, One Popular with Kids, One Well-Reviewed, and One Favorite. (But you’ll have to guess which is which)!
While thirteen-year-old Matt Thorsen has always known he’s a modern-day descendent of Thor, he’s been living a normal kid’s life. In fact, most people in the small town of Blackwell, South Dakota, are direct descendants of either Thor or Loki, including Matt’s classmates Fen and Laurie Brekke. No big deal.
But now Ragnarok is coming, and it’s up to the champions to fight in the place of the long-dead gods. Matt, Laurie, and Fen’s lives will never be the same as they race to put together an unstoppable team, find Thor’s hammer and shield, and prevent the end of the world.
Rowan is destined to be Queen; her twin brother, Rhydd, to be Royal Monster Hunter. Rowan would give anything to switch places, but the oldest child is always next in line, even if she is only older by two minutes. She resigns herself to admiring her monster hunting aunt’s glorious sword and joining her queen mother for boring diplomatic teas. But tragedy shatters the longstanding rule, and Rowan finds herself hunting the most dangerous monster of all: a gryphon.
Accompanied by a feisty baby jackalope and a giant wolf that barely tolerates her, Rowan sets off on a journey that will see her join other unlikely allies: a boy with monster-hunting ambitions of his own, and a girl hiding dangerous motives. It will take all of Rowan’s skills, both physical and diplomatic, to keep this adventure on track. The future of her kingdom depends on it.
Tell your lord to beware, the wolves smell danger in the wind… Wolfhaven Castle has been attacked, and only four escape capture …
Tom is trained to scrub pots not fight, Elanor is the Lord’s daughter, Sebastian is a knight in training and Quinn is the witch’s apprentice. They’re the only four to escape capture after Wolfhaven Castle is attacked. Somehow, if they are to save their people, these unlikely heroes must find four magical beasts from legend. But first, they have to make it out of the castle alive…
Feo’s life is extraordinary. Her mother trains domesticated wolves to be able to fend for themselves in the snowy wilderness of Russia, and Feo is following in her footsteps to become a wolf wilder. She loves taking care of the wolves, especially the three who stay at the house because they refuse to leave Feo, even though they’ve already been wilded.
But not everyone is enamored with the wolves, or with the fact that Feo and her mother are turning them wild. And when her mother is taken captive, Feo must travel through the cold, harsh woods to save her–and learn from her wolves how to survive.
Everyone in Vallen knows that ice wolves and scorch dragons are sworn enemies who live deeply separate lives.
So when orphan Anders takes one elemental form and his twin sister, Rayna, takes another, he wonders whether they are even related. Family or not, Rayna is Anders’s only true friend. She’s nothing like the brutal, cruel dragons who claimed her as one of their own and stole her away.
To rescue her, Anders must enlist at the foreboding Ulfar Academy, a school for young wolves that values loyalty to the pack above all else. But for Anders, loyalty is more complicated than obedience, and friendship is the most powerful shapeshifting force of all. Will he find Rayna again, and if he does, will she be the same sister he remembers?
John and Margaret Begbie are picnicking with their parents in the Black Forest when they are mysteriously spirited back through time into the Middle Ages. There they meet Mardian, one-time servant and closest friend of Duke Otho, ruler of the country. He tells them a terrible secret – he is under the enchantment of the evil sorcerer Almeric, and is forced to assume a wolf’s shape every night. Unable to return to the castle, the children are his only hope.
And so John and Margaret disguise themselves as children of the court and embark on a thrilling and frightening quest to reveal Almeric’s true nature and gain the Duke’s confidence. But then Almeric becomes suspicious, and suddenly all their lives are in danger…
Since she was a pup, Zima has been taught to fear humans–especially witches–but when her family is threatened, she has no choice but to seek help from the witch Baba Yaga.
Baba Yaga never does magic for free, but it just so happens that she needs a wolf’s keen nose for a secret plan she’s brewing . . . Before Zima knows what’s happening, the witch has cast a switching spell and run off into the woods, while Zima is left behind in Baba Yaga’s hut–and Baba Yaga’s body!
Meanwhile, a young village girl named Nadya is also seeking the witch’s help, and when she meets Zima (in Baba Yaga’s form), they discover that they face a common enemy. With danger closing in, Zima must unite the wolves, the witches and the villagers against an evil that threatens them all.
A story of love and demons, family and witchcraft. Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers’ bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town.
One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home. Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help.
United in purpose, they work to save Tam against the backdrop of witchcraft, untested magic, occult rituals, and family ties both new and old.
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And there you have it! Good wolves, helping people, protecting family and saving their world. Do you know of any other good wolves in books of fantasy? There are several books that are realistic fiction featuring wolves too…A Wolf Called Wander by Rosanne Parry, Lone Wolf by Katherine Lasky, Summer of the Wolves by Polly Carlson-Voiles, and Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George all come to mind. But there are many, many more.
If you would like to learn more about real wolves, the Dewey Decimal number is J 599.77 or J 599.773.
As always, if you need help finding any of the books on this list, or if you would like assistance finding these, or any other titles, just ask one of our librarians. We love to match readers and books!
So if you’ve been watching the news at all lately, you’ve probably seen Mars come up. Yesterday, scientists flew a droid/helicopter over the surface of the planet! Although it’s only one small thing, it’s a giant step for knowing how Mars works. Maybe the first step towards eventual colonization of the red planet…
In these books, Mars has already been settled, and people–families–are already living there. What would it be like to live on Mars? Glitz and glamor…or a lot of hard work? Check out these 5 Books Featuring Kids who Live on Mars!
Our Five Books feature is a booklist of five books (occasionally with a few extras) on a specific topic, with a short synopsis so you can decide if it sounds like something you would like. Five Books–One Old, One New, One Popular with Kids, One Well-Reviewed, and One Favorite. (But you’ll have to guess which is which)!
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Once Upon a Space-Time! by Jeffery Brown Jide and Petra are just two normal kids until they are selected to leave Earth and join their new alien classmates on an intergalactic research mission to Mars. Too bad Petra has no idea how she ended up in the program, seeing as the closest she wants to get to space is being a sci-fi writer. Jide, on the other hand, is the brains of the mission, but his helicopter parents make it clear he hasn’t left their gravitational pull behind quite yet. What is meant to be an intra-species bonding experience soon turns to hijinx as the kids discover The Potato orbiting around their new space classroom and accidentally launch a mission of their own without any adult commanders around to supervise–or help!
Last Day on Mars by Kevin Emerson It is Earth year 2213–but, of course, there is no Earth anymore. Not since it was burned to a cinder by the sun, which has mysteriously begun the process of going supernova. The human race has fled to Mars, but this was only a temporary solution while we have prepared for a second trip: a one-hundred-fifty-year journey to a distant star, our best guess at where we might find a new home. Liam Saunders-Chang is one of the last humans left on Mars. The son of two scientists who have been racing against time to create technology vital to humanity’s survival, Liam, along with his friend Phoebe, will be on the last starliner to depart before Mars, like Earth before it, is destroyed. Or so he thinks. Because before this day is over, Liam and Phoebe will make a series of profound discoveries about the nature of time and space and find out that the human race is just one of many in our universe locked in a dangerous struggle for survival.
Lion of Mars by Jennifer Holm Bell has spent his whole life – all eleven years of it – on Mars. But he’s still just a regular kid – he loves cats, any kind of cake, and is curious about the secrets the adults in the US colony are keeping. Like, why don’t have contact with anyone on the other Mars colonies? Why are they so isolated? When a virus breaks out and the grown-ups all fall ill, Bell and the other children are the only ones who can help. It’s up to Bell – a regular kid in a very different world – to uncover the truth and save his family … and possibly unite an entire planet. Mars may be a world far, far away, but it can’t help but feel like home.
The Winds of Mars by H.M. Hoover Annalyn Reynolds Court is one of many children of the powerful, handsome president of Mars. Like her favorite half-brother Evan, she must enroll at the elite military academy There they will train to be presidential bodyguards and alwao learn how to defend their fragile, crystal-domed environment. But at school, Annalyn learns more about the real problems on Mars—the struggle between the commoners and the elites. When rebel forces strike against her father, Annalyn finds her comfortable existence turned upside-down and her life threatened from unexpected sources.
The Moon Platoon by Jeramey Kraatz In the year 2085, Benny Love is pretty used to surviving on what he and his family can scavenge on Earth. But when he wins a scholarship for a life-changing trip to visit the Lunar Taj, the first-ever resort on the Moon, Benny thinks he finally has a chance to give his family a better life. Benny can’t wait to fly his very own Space Runner, practice reverse bungee jumping, and explore craters on the dark side of the Moon. But he gets more than he expected when he and the other kids discover the Moon has secrets no one else knows about. Benny is a long way from home–and soon there might not be an Earth to go back to.
Mars Evacuees by Sophia McDougal When Earth comes under attack by aliens, hilarious heroine Alice Dare and a select group of kids are sent to Mars. But things get very strange when the adults disappear into thin air, the kids face down an alien named Thsaaa, and Alice and her friends must save the galaxy! For when plucky twelve-year-old Alice Dare learns she’s being taken out of the Muckling Abbott School for Girls and sent to another planet, no one knows what to expect. This is one wild ride that will have kids chuckling the whole way through.
We’re Not From Here by Geoff Rodkey The first time I heard about Planet Choom, we’d been on Mars for almost a year. But life on the Mars station was grim, and since Earth was no longer an option (we may have blown it up), it was time to find a new home. That’s how we ended up on Choom with the Zhuri. They’re very smart. They also look like giant mosquitos. But that’s not why it’s so hard to live here. There’s a lot that the Zhuri don’t like- singing (just ask my sister, Ila), comedy (one joke got me sent to the principal’s office), or any kind of emotion. The biggest problem, though? The Zhuri don’t like us. And if humankind is going to survive, it’s up to my family to change their minds. No pressure.
The Countdown Conspiracyby Katie Slivensky Miranda Regent can’t believe she was just chosen as one of six kids from around the world to train for the first ever mission to Mars. But as soon as the official announcement is made, she begins receiving anonymous threatening messages…and when the training base is attacked, it looks like Miranda is the intended target. Now the entire mission–and everyone’s lives–are at risk. And Miranda may be the only one who can save them.
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I guess I went a little over this time…so many Mars books. Of course, I can’t find the one book that I remember reading years ago that was “the best one ever!”. It’s not Have Spacesuit, Will Travel or The Lotus Caves...those are both set on the moon. It’s not Podkayne of Mars, because we don’t own that one. It’s not something by Monica Hughes, H.M. Hoover or Alexander Keys, because those are all on unnamed planets.
Oh well. If you know of a great story that takes place on Mars that was written sometime between 1960 and 1985-ish, let me know! Maybe it will be the “old book” I remember reading. Until then, enjoy these selections.
As always, if you need help finding these or any other books, just ask at the desk. Our librarians love to help match books and readers!
Whether it’s a musical mystery or a mysterious instrument or a situation that requires a little musical intervention…these five books have musical magic that will leave you wanting to sing (or at least download!) a song. All are full of music, most are set in a rich backdrop of history and some feature a family mystery. Each of these books is a great read, that will satisfy the readers musical cravings.
Our 5 Books Featuring… is a booklist of five books (occasionally with a few extras) on a specific topic, with a short synopsis so you can decide if it sounds like something you would like to read. Five Books–one old, one new, one popular with kids, one well-reviewed, and one staff favorite. (But you’ll have to guess which is which)! And if there are more than five…well, it’s hard to narrow some topics down. 🙂
So here we go…5 Books Featuring…Music!
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The Rising Star of Rusty Nailby Lesley M.M. Blume Franny Hansen is a piano prodigy living in Rusty Nail, Minnesota. Once the Coot Capitol of the world, in 1953 it’s just a run-of-the-mill town with one traffic light and a bizarre cast of characters. She’s long exhausted the talents of the town’s only piano teacher and seems destined to perform at church events and school assemblies, until a mysterious Russian woman arrives in Rusty Nail. Franny’s neighbors are convinced the “Commie” is a threat to their American way of life, but Franny’s not so sure. Could this stranger be her ticket out of Rusty Nail? Before she can bargain her way to lessons, Franny must solve the mystery of Olga Malenkof.
Vanished by Sheela Chari Neela dreams of being a famous musician, performing for admiring crowds on her traditional Indian stringed instrument. Her particular instrument was a gift from her grandmother-intricately carved with a mysterious-looking dragon. When this special family heirloom vanishes from a local church, strange clues surface: a tea kettle ornamented with a familiar pointy-faced dragon, a threatening note, a connection to a famous dead musician, and even a legendary curse. The clues point all the way to India, where it seems that Neela’s instrument has a long history of vanishing and reappearing. Even if Neela does track it down, will she be able to stop it from disappearing again?
The Sound of Freedom by Kathy Kacer Anna and her family have only one hope left to escape certain doom. It’s 1936 and life is becoming dangerous for the Jews of Krakow. As incidents of violence and persecution increase day by day, Anna begs her father to leave Poland, but he insists it’s impossible. How could he give up his position as an acclaimed clarinetist in the Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra? When Anna and her father barely escape from a group of violent thugs, it becomes clear that the family must leave. But how? There seems to be only one possibility. Bronislaw Huberman, a world-renowned violinist, is auditioning Jewish musicians for a new orchestra in Palestine. If accepted, they and their families will receive exit visas. Anna and her grandmother boldly write to Huberman asking him to give Anna’s father an audition, but will that be enough to save them?
Searching for Lottie by Susan Ross A long-lost cousin, a mysterious locket, a visit to Nana Rose in Florida, a diary written in German, and a very special violin all lead twelve-year-old Charlie to the truth about her great-aunt Lottie in this intriguing, intergenerational mystery. Charlie, a budding violinist, decides to research the life of her great-aunt and namesake for her middle school ancestry project. Everyone in Charlie’s family believes Great-Aunt Charlotte (called Lottie), a violin prodigy, died at the hands of the Nazis, but the more Charlie uncovers about her long-lost relative, the more muddied Great-Aunt Lottie’s story becomes. Could it be that Lottie somehow survived the war by hiding in Hungary? Could she even still be alive today?
Echo by Pamela Munoz Ryan Lost and alone in a forbidden forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and suddenly finds himself entwined in a puzzling quest involving a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica. Decades later, Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California each, in turn, become interwoven when the very same harmonica lands in their lives. All the children face daunting challenges: rescuing a father, protecting a brother, holding a family together. And ultimately, pulled by the invisible thread of destiny, their mysterious and suspenseful solo stories converge in an orchestral crescendo. Music, magic, mystery and a real-life miracle meld in this virtuosic, genre-defying tour de force from storytelling maestro Pam Munoz Ryan.
Broken Strings by Eric Walters and Kathy Kacer It’s 2002. In the aftermath of the twin towers — and the death of her beloved grandmother — Shirli Berman is intent on moving forward. The best singer in her junior high, she auditions for the lead role in Fiddler on the Roof, but is crushed to learn that she’s been given the part of the old Jewish mother in the musical rather than the coveted part of the sister. But there is an upside: her “husband” is none other than Ben Morgan, the cutest and most popular boy in the school. Deciding to throw herself into the role, she rummages in her grandfather’s attic for some props. There, she discovers an old violin in the corner — strange, since her Zayde has never seemed to like music, never even going to any of her recitals. Showing it to her grandfather unleashes an anger in him she has never seen before, and while she is frightened of what it might mean, Shirli keeps trying to connect with her Zayde and discover the awful reason behind his anger. A long-kept family secret spills out, and Shirli learns the true power of music, both terrible and wonderful.
The Secret life of Ms Finkleman by Ben Winters Ms. Finkleman is just our boring old music teacher. Or is she? It all starts with a Special Project in Mr. Melville’s Social Studies class: Solve a mystery in your own life. For seventh grader Bethesda Fielding, one mystery is too tempting to ignore: Ms. Finkleman. Bethesda is convinced that her mousy Music Fundamentals teacher is hiding a secret life, and she’s determined to find out what it is. But no one is prepared for what she learns. Ms. Finkleman used to be . . . a rock star? Soon the whole school goes rock crazy, and a giant concert is in the works with none other than timid Ms. Finkleman at the helm! But the case isn’t quite closed, and the questions continue to swirl for Bethesda. Could there be even more to the secret life of Ms. Finkleman than she already revealed? With the help of her rock-obsessed classmate Tenny Boyer, Bethesda won’t stop until she solves the real mystery of Ms. Finkleman once and for all!
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So there you have it. Are your toes tapping? Are you ready to go look for mysterious musical instruments in your home? Do you want to go to a concert, or download a song? Or maybe just find another good book to read. Music, mystery, history…we can help!
If you would like help finding these or any other books, just ask one of our librarians for help. We love matching books with readers!
This week is Thanksgiving, and I am thankful for many things. One of the things I’m most thankful for though, is libraries! It’s my profession, it’s my passion, and it brings lots of books my way. It’s difficult NOT to be thankful for libraries.
So here are five books set in libraries to be thankful about. Check it out!
Our Five Books feature is a booklist of five books (occasionally with a few extras) on a specific topic, with a short synopsis so you can decide if it sounds like something you would like. Five Books–One Old, One New, One Popular with Kids, One Well-Reviewed, and One Favorite. (But you’ll have to guess which is which)! And if there are more than five…it’s anyone’s guess why they’re all there!
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Fantastical Libraries:
The Library of Everby Zeno Alexander With her parents off traveling the globe, Lenora is bored, bored, bored–until she discovers a secret doorway into the ultimate library. Mazelike and reality-bending, the library contains all the universe’s wisdom. Every book ever written, and every fact ever known, can be found within its walls. And Lenora becomes its newly appointed Fourth Assistant Apprentice Librarian. She rockets to the stars, travels to a future filled with robots, and faces down a dark nothingness that wants to destroy all knowledge. To save the library, Lenora will have to test her limits and uncover secrets hidden among its shelves. And now there’s a sequel:Rebel in the Library of Ever!
The Book Wanderers by Anna James Since her mother’s disappearance, Tilly Pages has found comfort in the stories at Pages & Co., her grandparents’ bookshop. But when her favorite characters, Anne of Green Gables and Alice from Wonderland, start showing up at the shop,Tilly’s adventures become very real. Not only can she follow Anne and Alice into their books, she discovers she can bookwander into any story she chooses. Tilly’s new ability leads her to fun and exciting adventures, but danger may be lurking on the very next page… When new secrets are uncovered, it’s up to Tilly to solve the mystery of what happened to her mother all those years ago. From debut author Anna James comes a charming and exciting adventure about a bookish young heroine, a mysterious librarian, and a magical bookshop that will delight book lovers everywhere. Read the other books in the Pages & Co. series
too!
The Curse of the Bogginby D.J. MacHale There’s a place beyond this world, beyond the land of the living, where ghosts go to write their unfinished stories-stories that ended too soon. It’s a place for unexplained phenomena- mysteries that have never been solved, spirits that have never been laid to rest. And there’s only one way in or out. It’s called the Library, and you can get there with a special key. But beware! Don’t start a story you can’t finish. Because in this library, the stories you can’t finish just might finish you. Read the rest of The Library trilogy too!
The Story Thievesby James Riley Life is boring when you live in the real world, instead of starring in your own book series. Owen knows that better than anyone, what with the real world’s homework and chores. But everything changes the day Owen sees the impossible happen–his classmate Bethany climb out of a book in the library. It turns out Bethany’s half-fictional and has been searching every book she can find for her missing father, a fictional character. Bethany can’t let anyone else learn her secret, so Owen makes her a deal: All she has to do is take him into a book in Owen’s favorite Kiel Gnomenfoot series, and he’ll never say a word. Besides, visiting the book might help Bethany find her father…or it might just destroy the Kiel Gnomenfoot series, reveal Bethany’s secret to the entire world, and force Owen to live out Kiel Gnomenfoot’s final (very final) adventure. Read the rest of the books in the Story Thieves series!
The Grimm Legacy by Polly Schulman Elizabeth has just started working as a page at the New York Circulating Material Repository – a lending library of objects, contemporary and historical, common and obscure. And secret, too – for in the repository’s basement lies the Grimm Collection, a room of magical items straight from the Grimm Brother’s fairy tales. But the magic mirrors and seven-league boots and other items are starting to disappear. And before she knows it, she and her fellow pages – handsome Marc, perfect Anjali, and brooding Aaron – are suddenly caught up in an exciting, and dangerous, magical adventure. Try the other books in The Repository series as well.
The Forbidden Libraryby Django Wexler When Alice’s father goes down in a shipwreck, she is sent to live with her uncle Geryon–an uncle she’s never heard of and knows nothing about. He lives in an enormous manor with a massive library that is off-limits to Alice. But then she meets a talking cat. And even for a rule-follower, when a talking cat sneaks you into a forbidden library and introduces you to an arrogant boy who dares you to open a book, it’s hard to resist. Especially if you’re a reader to begin with. Soon Alice finds herself INSIDE the book, and the only way out is to defeat the creature imprisoned within. It seems her uncle is more than he says he is. But then so is Alice. Read the other books in The Forbidden Library series!
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Realistic Libraries:
Help! I’m a Prisoner in the Library!by Eth Clifford Mary Rose and Jo-Beth are sisters who hardly ever agree on anything, but they both feel as if this night will never end. First their car runs out of gas in an unfamiliar city and their father goes in search of a gas station. Then Jo-Beth makes Mary Rose go with her to find a bathroom and they stumble across a curious old library. And then, worst of all, they get locked in! But their troubles are just beginning. Is Jo-Beth right about the library being haunted by banshees? Or is there a logical explanation, as Mary Rose claims? None of the other Jo-Beth and Mary Rose Adventures take place in a library, but they’re fun anyway!
A Summer of Sundaysby Lindsay Eland Sunday Fowler is a middle-of-the-middle child, and it’s the absolute worst. Her sisters say she’s too young. Her brothers say she’s too old. And her parents remember the dog’s name more often than they remember hers. But standing out is hard work when you have to help repair an old library and make sure your siblings don’t steal your new best friend–or ruin all your plans. Then Sunday finds something in the library’s basement that might make her so famous no one will forget her name ever again. But revealing her finding means stirring up secrets that some people in the town hoped to keep buried. Sunday must decide if some things–loyalty, trust, friendship–are worth more than her name in the headlines.
Into the Lion’s Den by Linda Fairstein Someone has stolen a page from a rare book in the New York Public Library. At least, that’s what Devlin’s friend Liza thinks she’s seen, but she can’t be sure. Any other kid might not see a crime here, but Devlin Quick is courageous and confident, and she knows she has to bring this man to justice-even if it means breathlessly racing around the city to collect evidence. But who is this thief? And what could the page-an old map-possibly lead to? With her wits, persistence, and the help of New York City’s finest (and, okay, a little bit of help from her police commissioner mother, too), Dev and her friends piece the clues together to uncover a mystery that’s bigger than anyone expected-and more fun, too. The other Devlin Quick Mysteries don’t take place in a library, but they’re still fun!
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabenstein Kyle Keeley is the class clown and a huge fan of all games–board games, word games, and particularly video games. His hero, Luigi Lemoncello, the most notorious and creative gamemaker in the world, just so happens to be the genius behind the construction of the new town library. Lucky Kyle wins a coveted spot as one of twelve kids invited for an overnight sleepover in the library, hosted by Mr. Lemoncello and riddled with lots and lots of games. But when morning comes, the doors stay locked. Kyle and the other kids must solve every clue and figure out every secret puzzle to find the hidden escape route! Read all of the books in the fantastic Mr. Lemoncello series!
Ban This Book! by Alan Gratz Amy Anne is shy and soft-spoken, but don’t mess with her when it comes to her favorite book in the whole world. When From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg is challenged by a well-meaning parent and taken off the shelves of her school library, Amy Anne and her lieutenants wage a battle for the books that will make you laugh and pump your fists as they start a secret banned books locker library, make up ridiculous reasons to ban every single book in the library to make a point, and take a stand against censorship.
A Kind of Paradise by Amy Rebecca Tan Jamie Bunn made a mistake at the end of the school year. A big one. And every kid in her middle school knows all about it. Because of that mistake, she has to spend her summer vacation volunteering at the Foxfield Public Library as a punishment. What a waste of a summer! Or so she thinks. Jamie quickly grows to love the people there and enthusiastically joins the fight to save the library.
The Story Collector by Kristin O’Donnell Tubb Viviani Fedeler has spent her whole life in the New York Public Library. She knows every room by heart, except the ones her father keeps locked. When Viviani becomes convinced that the library is haunted, new girl Merit Mubarak makes fun of her. So Viviani decides to play a harmless little prank, roping her older brothers and best friend Eva to help out. But what begins as a joke quickly gets out of hand, and soon Viviani and her friends have to solve two big mysteries: Is the Library truly haunted? And what happened to the expensive new stamp collection? It’s up to Viviani, Eva, and Merit (reluctantly) to find out. Also read the sequel: The Story Seeker.
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Do you love libraries? Wouldn’t you love to find an adventure in a library…or a magic book…or a doorway to a fantastical adventure there?
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