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The Magpie's Library by Kate Blair Silva and her family visit her grandfather, only to find his health has taken a bad turn. As they struggle with this news, Silva seeks an escape in books at the local library. But Silva gets more than she bargained for when a magpie guides her to a secret, magical room containing books that she can not only read, but that she can live. She finds herself in the worlds of the characters, who all turn out to be real people that she knows. She soon discovers that the magpie has lured her to these books for selfish and dark reasons. Going back to the books could mean losing her soul …
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One speck of truth by Caela Carter Alma has everything she needs, except answers to her questions. Her mother won’t tell her why her stepfather suddenly vanished, nor will she tell her about life in Portugal, where her parents met. Alma's father also remains a mystery. She cannot find him, no matter how many graveyards she searches. When Alma's mother moves them both to Lisbon, Alma discovers more family than she could have imagined. She hopes Portugal holds the answers she has been searching for, but finding the truth may be more complicated than either she or her mother bargained for.
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Shouting at the rain by Lynda Mullaly HuntDelsie loves tracking the weather, but lately it seems that all the squalls are in her own life. She's always lived with her kindhearted Grammy, but now she's looking at their life with new eyes and wishing she could have a "regular family." Delsie observes other changes in the air, too--the most painful being a friend who's outgrown her. Luckily, she has neighbors with strong shoulders to support her, and Ronan, a new friend who is caring and courageous but also troubled by the losses he's endured. As Ronan and Delsie traipse around Cape Cod on their adventures, they both learn what it means to be angry versus sad, broken versus whole, and abandoned versus loved. And that, together, they can weather any storm.
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Friendroid by M. M VaughanDanny’s a kid. Eric’s a kid, too. He’s also a robot, but he doesn’t know that.
For Danny, it becomes hard to ignore Eric’s super strange tendencies. He has weekly “dentist” appointments and parents who never stop smiling. It’s almost impossible to wake him up and he’s always getting fancy gifts from his mysterious uncle. Danny always assumed that Eric was just a spoiled rich kid…until he discovers Eric’s hidden robot reality.
As the two friends dig deeper into Eric’s origins and purpose, powerful forces swarm into town, and Danny and Eric are left with more questions than answers—and more danger than humanly possible.
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| Roll With It by Jamie SumnerEllie’s a girl who tells it like it is. That surprises some people, who see a kid in a wheelchair and think she’s going to be all sunshine and cuddles. The thing is, Ellie has big dreams! She’s going to be a professional baker. If she’s not writing fan letters to her favorite celebrity chefs, she’s practicing recipes on her well-meaning, if overworked, mother.
When Ellie and her mom move so they can help take care of her grandpa, Ellie has to start all over again in a new town at a new school. Except she’s not just the new kid. She’s the new kid in the wheelchair who lives in the trailer park on the wrong side of town. It all feels like one challenge too many, until Ellie starts to make her first-ever friends. Now she just has to convince her mom that this town might just be the best thing that ever happened to them! |
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| This Was Our Pact by Ryan Andrews It's the night of the annual Autumn Equinox Festival, when the town gathers to float paper lanterns down the river. Legend has it that after drifting out of sight, they'll soar off to the Milky Way and turn into brilliant stars, but could that actually be true? This year, Ben and his classmates are determined to find out where those lanterns really go, and to ensure success in their mission, they've made a pact with two simple rules: No one turns for home. No one looks back. The plan is to follow the river on their bikes for as long as it takes to learn the truth, but it isn't long before the pact is broken by all except for Ben and (much to Ben's disappointment) Nathaniel, the one kid who just doesn't seem to fit in. Together, Nathaniel and Ben will travel farther than anyone has ever gone, down a winding road full of magic, wonder, unexpected friendship and a talking bear! |
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| The Breakaways by Cathy G. Johnson Quiet, sensitive Faith starts middle school already worrying about how she will fit in. To her surprise, Amanda, a popular eighth grader, convinces her to join the school soccer team, the Bloodhounds. Having never played soccer in her life, Faith ends up on the C team, a ragtag group that’s way better at drama than at teamwork. Although they are awful at soccer, Faith and her teammates soon form a bond both on and off the soccer field that challenges their notions of loyalty, identity, friendship, and unity. |
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| The Bridge Home by Padma VenkatramanLife is harsh in Chennai's teeming streets, so when runaway sisters Viji and Rukku arrive, their prospects look grim. Very quickly, eleven-year-old Viji discovers how vulnerable they are in this uncaring, dangerous world. Fortunately, the girls find shelter and friendship on an abandoned bridge.They form a family of sorts with two homeless boys. While making a living scavenging the city's trash heaps is the pits, the kids find plenty to laugh about and take pride in too. After all, they are now the bosses of themselves and no longer dependent on untrustworthy adults. But when illness strikes, Viji must decide whether to risk seeking help from strangers or to keep holding on to their fragile, hard-fought freedom. |
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All the ways home by Elsie Chapman Sometimes, home isn’t where you expect to find it. After losing his mom in a fatal car crash, Kaede Hirano--now living with a grandfather who is more stranger than family--developed anger issues and spent his last year of middle school acting out. Best-friendless and critically in danger of repeating the seventh grade, Kaede is given a summer assignment: write an essay about what home means to him, which will be even tougher now that he's on his way to Japan to reconnect with his estranged father and older half-brother. Still, if there's a chance Kaede can finally build a new family from an old one, he's willing to try. But building new relationships isn’t as easy as destroying his old ones, and one last desperate act will change the way Kaede sees everyone--including himself.
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Kestrel, a young huntress, lives in a seemingly endless forest crawling with dangerous beasts. But the most dangerous beasts of all are the Grabbers--beings that are born when you are and stalk you throughout your life, waiting for the perfect moment to snatch and eat you. No one has ever defeated their Grabber once attacked, and those that die from accidents or other creatures are considered "lucky." Kestrel has been tasked by her mother, a powerful and controlling spell-caster, to hunt down the Grabbers in an effort to protect their village in the forest. Accompanied by Pippit, a hilariously bloodthirsty weasel, she hones her skills as she searches for a way out of the forest and away from the judgmental villagers who despise her. But her own Grabber is creeping ever closer, and nothing in this forest is what it seems, including her mother's true motivations.
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