| The House With Chicken Legs by Sophie AndersonWhat it's about: At age 12, Marinka is already training to take over her grandmother's role as a Yaga, a guardian who guides the dead through the gates to the afterlife. But Marinka longs for more: a permanent home (not just a traveling, chicken-legged house) and a real, living friend.
Try this next: For another creepy yet touching spin on Russian folk tales, try Baba Yaga's Assistant by Marika McCoola.
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| Small Spaces by Katherine ArdenIntroducing: Ollie, a bookish sixth-grader who realizes that the scary antique book she's been reading is actually local history -- and that her entire class might be in danger unless Ollie and her new friends can save them.
Featuring: scarecrows, shapeshifters, a smiling specter, and a frightening journey through a fog-shrouded forest.
Series alert: Set during autumn in Vermont, this spooky chiller is the 1st in a seasonal 4-book series. |
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Two roads
by Joseph Bruchac
In 1932, twelve-year-old Cal must stop being a hobo with his father and go to a Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding school, where he begins learning about his history and heritage as a Creek Indian
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| Everlasting Nora by Marie Miranda CruzWelcome to: Manila North Cemetery, home to 12-year-old Nora and her mom.
What happens: After losing her father and dropping out of school to work, Nora's no stranger to tough times. But when her mom disappears, Nora faces her toughest challenge yet: trusting in help from her neighbors.
Did you know? The cemetery shantytown in this heartbreaking but hopeful story is a real place in the Philippines. |
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Nightbooks
by J.A. White
What it's about: Alex is on his way to destroy his notebooks full of horror stories when he suddenly finds himself inside one: he's held captive by a fearsome witch who demands that he tell her a terrifying tale every night.
Reviewers say: "Readers who prefer their magic dark will be spellbound" (Booklist).
Try this next: For books with a similar feel but a more hair-raising edge, try Tom McNeal's Far Far Away or Adam Gidwitz's Grimm series.
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| It Wasn't Me by Dana Alison LevyWhat it's about: Who vandalized Theo's photos in the school gallery? All five suspects claim innocence, so their teacher puts them -- and Theo -- in a "justice circle" where they can get to know each other...and eventually uncover the truth.
For fans of: author Dana Alison Levy's Family Fletcher series (Jax Fletcher is one of the suspects), as well as other realistic reads that break down middle-school stereotypes. |
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The griffin's feather
by Cornelia Funke
A Greenbloom team mission to help the world's last surviving Pegasus safely hatch its eggs under the wing of a dangerous griffin is complicated by enduring hostilities between the dragon and griffin worlds. By the best-selling author of the Inkheart trilogy.
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Contact your librarian for more great books for ages 10-13!
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