The Tale of Despereaux By Kate DiCamillo; illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering

This fairy-tale-like story is about a mouse, the smallest mouse in his community, who falls in love with a princess. This mouse, Despereaux, discovers the beauty of music and the written word. He reads a story about a knight in shining armor who serves and honors a beautiful princess. As the story progresses, Despereaux finds himself in a position to rescue the beautiful princess whom he loves. Along the way he meets a jailer, rats, a serving girl, a prisoner, a cook, and a king. How will such a small mouse manage to rescue the princess? Will there be a happy-ever-after ending to this story? Read it and find out.

Eoin Colfer’s Legend of … Captain Crow’s Teeth By Eoin Colfer; illustrated by Glenn McCoy

Will and his four brothers, Marty, Donnie, Bert, and Half Pint, vacation at the beach every summer in a trailer with their parents. Marty, as the oldest brother, considers it his duty to frighten and torture his younger brothers, particularly with scary stories. He tells the story of Captain Crow, a pirate, who was hit in the head with an ax by a nine-year-old cabin boy and who is said to haunt the rocks on the beach looking for the cabin boy in order to get his revenge. Of course, Will happens to be exactly 9 years old. When Marty and Will go to a dance together, Will must cross the rocks to get back to the trailer before the curfew his parents set. He tells himself that there is no such thing as a ghost pirate – or is there? Read this story to find out.

Beany and the Meany By Susan Wojciechowski; illustrated by Susanna Natti

Beany’s day started off very, very good with discussing a sleepover at her house with her best friend Carol Ann. Then a new girl, Stacy, started in Beany’s class. Ms. Babbitt announces that the class will be taking part in a science fair and each student will work with a partner to create a project for the fair. Beany wants to team up with her best friend, Carol Ann, but Carol Ann has already asked the new girl, Stacy, to be her partner. Beany ends up with the class bully, Kevin, as her partner. She wants to stay home from school until after the science fair. Will Beany find a way to work with Kevin? Will Carol Ann still be her best friend? Who will win first prize at the science fair. Read this story to find out.

The Field Guide By Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black

In this first book of The Spiderwick Chronicles, we meet Mallory, Simon, and Jared Grace. They are moving into their Great-aunt Lucinda’s house with their mother after their father has left them. They hear noises in the walls and upon investigating, find a nest of sorts inside one of the kitchen wall. They also find a secret room with a book about faeries. Is there a faerie in their new house? Or is it something worse? When Mallory wakes up the next morning with her hair tied in knots to the bed and bruises on her arms, it seems the noises in the walls belong to something other than mice or squirrels. After reading this first book of the series, you will want to go immediately to the other books to find out what will happen next.

The Spoon in the Bathroom Wall By Tony Johnston

Martha Snapdragon is a fourth-grader at Horace E. Bloggins School. She also lives in the boiler room of the school with her father, the janitor. The meanest boy in the school, Rufus, uses his influence with the school’s principal, Dr. Klunk, to terrorize all the students, but most especially Martha. That is until Martha discovers a golden spoon sticking out of the bathroom wall. The writing on the spoon proclaims that whoever pulls the spoon out of the bathroom wall becomes King of Bloggins School. Read this fast-moving story of destiny and kindness to find out what happens next.

Beyond the Valley of Thorns By Patrick Carman

In this second book in The Land of Elyon series, Alexa Daley is on a quest with the last Jocasta stone to rescue Catherine from the Dark Tower. On the way she befriends a squirrel, a giant, a very small man named Yipes, a wolf, and a convict named John. Go with Alexa as she travels the Dark Hills, and battles ogres, wild dogs, and the evil Victor Grendall in this exciting adventure to help bring peace to the Land of Elyon.

My Father’s Dragon By Ruth Stiles Gannett; illustrated by Ruth Chrisman Gannett

A little boy meets an old alley cat on his street and takes him home to get warm and have a saucer of milk. The boy’s mother hated cats, so he hid the cat in the cellar and fed him until his mother found out, whipped the boy and threw the cat out. The boy finds the cat and has a long talk with him, telling the cat about his dream of flying. The cat tells him about a flying dragon he encountered in his travels, and the cat and boy plan for the boy to journey to Wild Island to find and free the captive dragon. Read about the boy’s adventures as he journeys to Wild Island and must elude many wild animals on his way.

Niagara Falls, or Does It? By Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver

Hank Zipzer is late on his first day of fourth grade and has to go to the principal’s office. That is only the beginning of Hank’s problems. When he returns to class, Ms Adolf, his teacher, is announcing the assignment of a five paragraph essay on what you did over the summer. Hank is horrified, because he hates writing and spelling, even though he loves telling stories. He decides to create a “living” essay of his family’s trip to Niagara Falls instead. Read this funny, action-packed story to find out what happens when Hank presents his essay.

Things Not Seen By Andrew Clements

Bobby Phillips wakes up to get ready for school one February morning just as he always does, but when he looks in the mirror his reflection is not there. Suddenly, Bobby is invisible. How did this happen? Can it be reversed? Bobby begins his journey to the answers to these questions by telling his parents. What will they do? What about school? Read this suspenseful story to find out.

indigo’s star By Hilary McKay

Indigo is just recovering from mononucleosis and about to return to school. He is dreading his return because of some bullies who have been bothering him. He hasn’t told his family about the bullies, but his younger sister, Rose, knows from a boy in her class who has a brother in Indigo’s class. On his first day back, he meets Tom, a new boy from America, who becomes the new target of the gang. Throughout the story, we learn more about Indigo’s family, and watch as a bond forms between Indigo, Rose, and Tom. This is a companion book to Saffy’s Angel by Hillary McKay.

counting on grace By Elizabeth Winthrop

Grace Forcier is a twelve-year-old girl attending a one-room school in a mill town in Vermont in the early 1900s. She has trouble sitting still, and she is left-handed, even though her teacher, Miss Lesley, makes her write with her right hand. Both her parents and her older sister, Delia, work in the mill. When Grace’s friend, Arthur, is pulled from school to begin work in the mill, Grace goes to work in the mill as well. Grace learns that Miss Lesley thinks she is smart enough to become a teacher. How will she get out of mill work to continue learning enough to become a teacher? What about Arthur? Will he continue to work in the mill or will he run away as he wants to do? This is a fiction story, but it is based on real-life events of the time. Find out what happens to Grace, her family, and Arthur by reading this historical fiction novel.

Bartleby of the Big Bad Bayou By Phyllis Shalant

Bartleby is a red-eared turtle who has traveled all the way from New York with his friend Seezer, an alligator to find Seezer’s home bayou. Seezer hopes to reunite with his brothers and sisters, and Bartleby wants to get to know other red-eared turtles. Bartleby and Seezer must first learn how to survive in this new environment where some of the inhabitants are not as friendly and welcoming as they would like. We meet Old Stump, Lucky Gal, Quickfoot, Grub, and many others as Bartleby finds a place that is truly home. This is a sequel to Bartleby of the Mighty Mississippi. If you like stories about animals, you will enjoy this story of Bartleby’s and Seezer’s adventures.

The Ghost of Cutler Creek By Cynthia DeFelice

Allie Nichols communicates with ghosts. Her friend, Dub, calls her a “ghost magnet”. At the beginning of this story, Allie has a dream where she hears someone or something crying for help. The next day, a new boy, L.J., begins school in her sixth-grade class. Who is L.J. and why does he start a new school on the next-to-the-last day of school? Who or what is the ghost and why does it need her help? Join Allie and Dub as they search for the answers and solve the mystery of the ghost of Cutler Creek.

a cool moonlight By Angela Johnson

Lila is almost nine years old and can never go out in the sun. She lives with her mother and father and older sister, Monk. Lila is only allowed to play outside at night. When she goes anywhere other than home, she must wear long sleeves and a hat with sunglasses even when it is dark. She has a rare allergy to the sun. Read this story to find out how Lila deals with her restrictions and manages to enjoy life in the process.