Dwight Foster Public Library: Kids' Books (for Ages 8-12): June 2026

Diamond Fever!: A True Crime Story in the Wild West
by Steve Sheinkin

Late one night two travel-weary miners, Philip Arnold and John Slack, show up at a businessman’s office in San Francisco. The miners seem nervous. They’ve got something that needs to be locked in a safe overnight. What is it? Well, that really has to stay secret, but it’s… DIAMONDS! And lots of them. Had these two miners just discovered America’s first diamond mine? Well, this is the Gold Rush era after all. Plenty of people are striking it rich. Anything is possible. When word of the find hits the streets, diamond fever sweeps the country. Wealthy investors are desperate to elbow Arnold and Slack aside and seize control―but can they persuade the miners to reveal the location of their bonanza? At the same time, thousands of prospectors fan out across the mountains and deserts of the West―will one of them find the site before greedy bankers grab everything for themselves?

National Geographic Kids Almanac 2027
by National Geographic Kids

Kids who want to know it all need the National Geographic Kids Almanac! The latest edition of this internationally best-selling almanac is brand-new and updated for 2027, featuring: interviews from the field with real National Geographic Explorers, the latest images from, the James Webb Space Telescope, an all-new chapter on art and creativity, fascinating discoveries about animals, expertly curated photography, games, jokes, and laugh-out-loud features...and more! Must-have reference materials, including fast facts and maps of every country, are fully updated. Homework help on key topics is sprinkled throughout the book. This is the essential all-in-one book for curious kids!

Operation Trick Shot
by Dude Perfect

Dude Perfect brings tricks, flips, fist bumps, and that puzzling panda to middle school in this funny fiction series from YouTube's biggest trick shot stars. In Operation Trick Shot, eighth graders Cory, Coby, Tyler, Garrett, and Cody have a growing video channel, mysterious new skills, and a knack for saving the world--one sport at a time. In this first book for 8 to 12 year olds, the young dudes plan a trick shot show to raise money for the struggling neighborhood rec center where everyone plays basketball. But they airball at every move as they battle a shooting slump, twin jealousy, and a corporate big wig who cares more about charting profits than community spaces for kids. Plus Panda keeps disappearing! Can the Dudes make the shots, score a world record, and save the neighborhood court? And what is Panda planning behind the scenes? This comedy-adventure expands the world of Dude Perfect into a hilarious fictional realm where evil forces are trying to steal the joy of sports, backward hats have special powers, and cookies make anything possible; features Panda as a behind-the-scenes mastermind who is always one step ahead of the guys; combines sports, mystery, clean humor, and old-fashioned teamwork; keeps kids reading to find out what crazy situations and stunts the dudes will get into next.

Friend Group
by Lisa Greenwald

Sadie and Olive have never been part of their class’s popular friend group. Those girls—Pella, Annabelle, Cleo, and The Other Sadie—seem like creatures from another planet. They wear the trendiest clothes, have the best hair, flirt with the cutest boys, and speak their own language. By comparison, Sadie and Olive are invisible . . . until Sadie is accidentally added to the popular girls’ group chat. Armed with an inside perspective, Sadie sets out to join the friend group—IRL—before they figure out that they’ve got the wrong Sadie.

Squalo & Mage vs. the Rage of the Bakunawa: A Graphic Novel
by Kara Bodegón-Hikino

After losing her father in an attack by the evil Tikbalang, Mage and her best friend, Squalo, set off an important quest far from home to honor her father’s last wish—find the Bakunawa, the guardian of the sea. But Mage and Squalo don’t know where to find the Bakunawa. And the evil Tikbalang was only one underling of Ventrolio, the nightmare maker, who is hunting Mage at any cost. Mage and Squalo’s journey takes them all over Mundo, facing monsters and possessed minions of Ventrolio until they hear news of an angry bakunawa that would rather destroy ships and summon storms than help sailors. Why would Mage’s father send them to someone so dangerous? Can Mage and Squalo uncover the truth before the Bakunawa unleashes her wrath and plunges all of Mundo into chaos?

The Brainstormerz: Money Talks (a Graphic Novel)
by Kwame Alexander

Electric James, or Lex, as his friends call him, is finally turning ten, and that means one thing: he's getting a phone! And with the hottest phone on the market—the Apollo XL—he’s sure to become the coolest kid at Roberto Clemente Elementary School. But when his parents break the news that the Apollo XL is way out of their price range, Lex is crushed. Luckily, he has his best friends DJ and Cass. Together, they’re the Brainstormerz—and they’ve never met a problem they couldn’t solve! All they need to do now is figure out how to raise the money for the phone themselves. How hard could it be? From the talented trio of New York Times bestselling author Kwame Alexander, Cassidy Dyce, and Eisner winning cartoonist Rashad Doucet, comes a hilarious and electrifying story about friendship, creativity, and the power of teamwork.