Recommended Reads

Celebrate the 25th and a half anniversary of THE ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS with a special edition featuring a BRAND NEW 32-page DOG MAN comic!

George and Harold are best friends who enjoy making their own comic books. Together they've created the greatest superhero in the history of their elementary school: Captain Underpants! His true identity is SO secret, even HE doesn't know who he is! Tra-la-laaaaa! It's can't-miss fun!

After the Captain Underpants adventure, join George and Harold as they share their never-before-seen bonus comics: Captain Underpants Meets Dog Man and Dog Man and the League of Misfits.

The Adventures of Captain Underpants is the first book in the worldwide bestselling Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey. Dive into the newest graphic novel in the Dog Man series: Dog Man: Twenty Thousand Fleas Under the Sea. For even more adventures, creativity, and humor, join Flippy and Li'l Petey in the Cat Kid Comic Club series. Reading gives you superpowers!

A new pulse-pounding supernatural mystery about twelve-year-old Rebecca, who has always wanted to hunt ghosts . . . until she meets one.

“Chilling, thrilling, and full of heart!”—Kiersten White, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sinister Summer series

Paranormal enthusiast Rebecca Graff isn’t happy about being dragged to Iowa to spend the summer with family she barely knows. But when she tracks a ghostly presence to an abandoned farmhouse, she starts to think the summer won’t be a total lost cause!

The trouble is no one believes her. Then Rebecca finds a note stashed in a comic belonging to her late father—a note that proves the same spirit haunted him when he was twelve. Suddenly she feels a connection to the dad she pretends not to miss, and she is determined to uncover the story behind the haunting.

But the more Rebecca discovers, the scarier the ghost becomes. Soon she is in a race to piece together the puzzle and recover a family legacy before it is lost forever and a horrible tragedy repeats itself.

The #1 bestselling Magic Tree House series is ready to whisk you away across the world with Jack and Annie--this time as World Turtle Experts!

It's just a regular day when ordinary kids Jack and Annie are whisked away in the magic tree house to the Galapagos islands, where they must save a giant tortoise from an erupting volcano! But what do Jack and Annie know about saving turtles?! Plenty, thanks to some magic that makes them experts. A helicopter ride, rushing lava, and a whole lot of determination make this one adventure Jack and Annie will never forget!

Did you know that there's a Magic Tree House book for every kid?
Magic Tree House: Perfect for readers who are just beginning chapter books
Merlin Missions: More challenging adventures for the experienced reader
Fact Trackers: Nonfiction companions to your favorite Magic Tree House adventures
Graphic Novels: Relive the original adventures brought to life with art by Kelly & Nichole Matthews

If you're looking for Merlin Mission #38: Monday with a Mad Genius, it was renumbered as Merlin Mission #10 when the series was rebranded in 2017.

From the author of Stand Up, Yumi Chung! comes a funny and utterly charming novel about friends—how to make them, how to let go of them, and how to be your own BFF.

This is the story of Sunny Park, a seventh-grade student at Ranchito Mesa Middle who loves the K-pop band Supreme Beat, hanging out with her cool grandma, dancing when no one is watching, snacking on shrimp chips, and being there for Bailey, her best friend since third grade. When Bailey decides that she and Sunny should audition for the school dance team in a ploy to parent-trap Bailey’s divorced mom and dad, Sunny agrees even though the thought of performing in public makes her pits sweat. After all, she’d do anything for Bailey. In a twist of fate, Sunny makes the team and Bailey doesn’t, and when Sunny reluctantly joins, it’s the start of a painful and drawn-out parting of ways for the two girls. As Sunny takes her first steps out from behind her friend’s shadow, she’ll have to figure out who she wants to be when she’s in the spotlight—and who she wants dancing alongside her.

In the eleventh book in the New York Times bestselling Spy School series, Ben Ripley goes on a rescue mission when one of his own is abducted from a remote Alaskan training facility.

Ben Ripley and his friends are training in Alaska when Cyrus Hale is kidnapped by his old Russian nemesis. Ben, Erica, and the others mount a rescue mission, but events quickly spiral out of control in a plot involving the secret history of US-Russian relations, a young KGB agent with skills to rival Erica’s—and lots and lots of bears.

A moving novel in verse in which a lost dog helps a lonely girl find a way home to her family . . . only for them to find family in each other along the way. From the Newbery Honor Award-winning author of Iveliz Explains It All.

“Trust me: this book will touch your heart." —Barbara O’Connor, New York Times bestselling author of Wish

Titi Silvia leaves me by myself to unpack,
but it’s not like I brought a bunch of stuff.
How do you prepare for the unpreparable?
How do you fit your whole life in one bag?
And how am I supposed to trust social services
when they won’t trust me back?

Laura Rodríguez Colón has a plan: no matter what the grown-ups say, she will live with her parents again. Can you blame her? It’s tough to make friends as the new kid at school. And while staying at her aunt’s house is okay, it just isn’t the same as being in her own space.

So when Laura finds a puppy, it seems like fate. If she can train the puppy to become a therapy dog, then maybe she’ll be allowed to visit her parents. Maybe the dog will help them get better and things will finally go back to the way they should be.

After all, how do you explain to others that you’re technically a foster kid, even though you live with your aunt? And most importantly . . . how do you explain that you’re not where you belong, and you just want to go home?

Get ready to find danger, adventure—and maybe even a lot of laughs—with the fourth book in the deluxe illustrated hardcover Stonesword Saga Chapter Book series, the only official Minecraft chapter book series!

Based on the most popular video game of all time, this all-new chapter book series takes a group of intrepid Minecraft players deeper into the game than ever before. This time, Harper and her friends tackle a real-life ecological crisis. The bees around their school and the Stonesword Library are disappearing—and a splinter of the Evoker King has taken on the form of a bee colony with a hive mind! Could there be a connection with the rip they've seen growing bigger and darker in the Minecraft sky? And will their actions make things better or worse? Find out in the next amazing instalment of the Minecraft Stonesword Chapter Book series.

© 2023 Mojang AB. All Rights Reserved. Minecraft, the Minecraft logo, the Mojang Studios logo and the Creeper logo are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.

In the sixth book of the Alien Next Door series, Harris explains Valentine's Day to Zeke, and Zeke develops a crush!

Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and Harris explains the holiday and its traditions to Zeke. When Zeke gets an anonymous valentine, Harris is excited to help him figure out who sent it, but Zeke is confused at the customs of Earth, and his efforts to get a girl to notice him by doing what Harris tells him to don't go quite right. Will Zeke be able to turn things around and show his valentine his feelings?

"The next Wonder." -- Good Morning America

An extraordinary novel-in-verse for fans of Starfish and A Kind of Spark about a neurodivergent girl who comes to understand and celebrate her difference.

Selah knows her rules for being normal.

She always, always sticks to them. This means keeping her feelings locked tightly inside, despite the way they build up inside her as each school day goes on, so that she has to run to the bathroom and hide in the stall until she can calm down. So that she has to tear off her normal-person mask the second she gets home from school, and listen to her favorite pop song on repeat, trying to recharge. Selah feels like a dragon stuck in a world of humans, but she knows how to hide it.

Until the day she explodes and hits a fellow student.

Selah's friends pull away from her, her school threatens expulsion, and her comfortable, familiar world starts to crumble.

But as Selah starts to figure out more about who she is, she comes to understand that different doesn't mean damaged. Can she get her school to understand that, too, before it's too late?

This is a moving and unputdownable story about learning to celebrate the things that make us different. Good Different is the perfect next read for fans of Counting by 7s or Jasmine Warga.

A Netflix Original series!
The New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling Last Kids on Earth series presents Quint Baker and Dirk Savage in their own epic adventure!

June Del Toro went on a wild flight in a super-rad solo episode; now get ready for the dynamic duo: it's Quint and Dirk! Picking up after the events of The Last Kids on Earth and the Doomsday Race, adventure abounds as the best buddies encounter new monsters and embark on a postapocalyptic quest for the ages. You won't want to miss this essential Last Kids story that includes crucial details about the next book in the series!

Bella learns that sometimes following your dreams is easier said than done in this fourth book of the Craftily Ever After chapter book series!

Bella is a computer whiz and loves brainstorming new gadgets to make. So when she spies a flier for a citywide robotics competition, the young inventor’s wheels start spinning. She can’t wait to start building and programming! There’s just one problem: all the kids on her school’s robotics team are older. Bella must find a way to prove herself to the big kids. Now the competition is heating up—both in the craft clubhouse and at school. Will Bella find the confidence to follow her dreams and conquer the competition?

With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, the Craftily Ever After chapter books are perfect for emerging readers.

Bella, Emily, Maddie, and Sam decide to create their very own start-up—a lemonade stand!—in this fifth book of the Craftily Ever After chapter book series.

Bella, Emily, Maddie, and Sam have been hard at work in their craft studio—so busy in fact, that their supplies are starting to dwindle. It’s time to stock up! In order to add a little money to their piggy bank, the friends decide to combine their skills and use the last of their allowance to create their very own business: a lemonade stand! But something’s not quite right. While the stand looks fabulous, the lemonade is…not. And where are all their customers? Can these crafty entrepreneurs save their business before it’s too late?

With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, the Craftily Ever After chapter books are perfect for emerging readers.

Lovable, distractable Nina Soni and her friends and family return in another entertaining tale of big plans gone awry and amusing solutions with unexpected consequences.

A long weekend and lots of snow sounds like a recipe for super-special fun to Nina. Best friend Jay is going skiing with his cousins, which is a little disappointing, but some family friends are going to visit and they've got two kids right about the ages of Nina and little sister Kavita. When Nina notices a strange car stopping at the house of neighbors she knows are out of town, she decides that it's time to be a Snow Spy--complete with a Snow Spy Snow Fort, to be built by Nina, Kavita, and new friends Priya and Nayan. Maybe together they can keep an eye on the neighborhood and figure out what MP (Mystery Person) is up to.

It’s Valentine’s Day, and The Critter Club is singing telegrams for charity—but will Ellie receive some of the love she is giving?

Valentine’s Day is coming up, and to raise money for a charity called Puppy Love, Ellie suggests that she and The Critter Club girls sell singing telegrams. The girls have a lot of fun writing and performing the songs, but all the holiday spirit makes Ellie wish someone would send her a singing telegram! Will Ellie get her wish?

With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, The Critter Club chapter books are perfect for beginning readers.

The #1 bestselling Magic Tree House series is ready to whisk you away across the world with Jack and Annie--this time to the African savanna!

Jack and Annie are on the playground at recess when they feel the magic tree house calling them. They sneak away and are whisked off on an adventure in South Africa, where a majestic rhino needs saving! There are a swooping helicopter, strict park rangers, and--most terrifying of all--poachers. How do you hide one of the largest land mammals in the flat terrain of the African savanna? Jack and Annie are going to need a little bit of magic for this mission!

Did you know that there's a Magic Tree House book for every kid?
Magic Tree House: Perfect for readers who are just beginning chapter books
Merlin Missions: More challenging adventures for the experienced reader
Fact Trackers: Nonfiction companions to your favorite Magic Tree House adventures

If you're looking for Merlin Mission #37: Dragon of the Red Dawn, it was renumbered as Merlin Mission #9 when the series was rebranded in 2017.

The highly-anticipated eighth book in the #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling series, with over 10 million copies in print!

Picking up after Quint and Dirk's Hero Quest, the Last Kids are happily reunited—but quickly faced with a monstrous new mission. Inside an other-dimensional fortress, the evil Thrull, alongside a vile new villain, is carrying out a sinister plan. Jack, Quint, June and Dirk must make their own plans to infiltrate the stronghold before Thrull gets any closer to completing the mysterious Tower, a structure that could ultimately spell doom for this dimension.

 

From New York Times bestselling author R.L. Stine, the master of horror for young readers, comes ten new stories that are sure to leave you shivering.

A boy who hates bugs starts to see them everywhere. A basketball player’s skin starts to almost drip off his hands—but no one else can see it. Three friends find a hole in the ground that just gets bigger, and bigger, and bigger... And each story is introduced by Stine himself, providing a personal touch sure to delight fans.

Laced with Stine’s signature humor and a hefty dose of nightmarish fun, Stinetinglers is perfect for fans of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and Stine’s own Goosebumps books. These chilling tales prove that Stine’s epic legacy in the horror genre is justly earned. Dive in, and beware: you might be sleeping with the lights on tonight!

A new addition to the bestselling Questioneers chapter book series following Ada Twist, the star of the Netflix TV show!

Blue River Creek has a problem: There's a pet thief on the loose! Or at least, Sofia and Iggy are convinced that there is, once their pets go missing. But as a scientist, Ada knows it's important not to jump to conclusions and to follow the facts. How will they find out what really happened to the town's pets? By using the Scientific Method of course! Through making a hypothesis, collecting data, and experimentation, the Questioneers must find the missing animals before even more pets disappear!

A clever and thought-provoking mystery that pays homage to classic Nancy Drew stories, perfect for fans of Wendy Mass and Trenton Lee Stewart.



Maizy always assumed she knew everything about her grandmother, Jacuzzi. So when a box full of vintage Nancy Drew books gets left at her mom's thrift store, Maizy is surprised to find an old photo of her grandmother and two other women tucked beneath the collection. Stranger still, when Maizy shows the photo to Jacuzzi she feigns ignorance, insisting the woman is someone else. Determined to learn the truth -- and inspired by the legacy of Nancy Drew -- Maizy launches her own investigation with the help of new friends, Nell and Cam. What they discover not only points to the origins of the iconic series, but uncovers a truth from the past that will lead to self-discovery in the present, connecting three generations of women. 



This intergenerational mystery filled with literary history, friendship, and family secrets delivers a captivating tribute to the world's most famous girl detective.

From the author of The Midnight Brigade, this heartwarming and humorous middle grade novel follows one boy's summer adventure at a peculiar farm in the middle of nowhere.



Charming and funny, Parker Kelbrook can wriggle out of anything he doesn't want to do. So when he's forced to take a job at the local pool--a threat to his beach-filled summer plans--he comes up with the perfect prank to get himself fired.



Once Parker's father catches wind of his latest scheme, he decides enough is enough, and Parker is sent halfway across the country to work on a farm alongside five other kids who aren't his biggest fans. As Parker learns to roll up his sleeves and keep his head down, strange things start happening. And after he awakens one morning to find a seventeen-hundred-pound dairy cow on the roof of a barn, he suspects that something magical and mysterious is growing in the farm's fields.



Adam Borba presents a whimsical new story about a boy's discovery that mistakes and miracles can have serious consequences.

"Irish Twins Myles and Beckett, Artemis Fowl's younger brothers, return in their third and most bizarre adventure yet. *"Like its bestselling progenitors, a nonstop spinoff afroth with high-tech, spectacular magic, and silly business."--Kirkus (starred review) For almost two years, Lord Teddy Bleedham-Drye, the Duke of Scilly, has been plotting revenge against the Fowl Twins, who humiliated him in Book One. Teddy plans to give them exactly what they deserve: permanent death. He threatens Myles with his weaponized jet and Beckett and Specialist Lazuli succeed in disarming the aircraft and causing an accident that kills the duke. But does it really? Ghosts, clones, and fairy magic come to play in this ultimate and ridiculous showdown between the twins and their worst enemy. Complete your middle grade fantasy collection with these best-selling fan favorites: Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer Airman by Eoin Colfer The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan Rick Riordan Presents The Storm Runner by J.C. Cervantes Artemis Fowl is now a major motion picture streaming on Disney"--

You've heard the tale of the little mermaid. But did you know that the mermaid was really a rock star? Or that the prince was burping under the sea? Be part of that world as you swim your way through three twisted takes on the classic fairy tale. Will YOU CHOOSE the path to your happily ever after?

Eva Wingdale is rocking out in a band with her friends, in this New York Times bestselling early chapter book series just-right for newly independent readers.

Pick a book. Grow a Reader!

This series is part of Scholastic's early chapter book line, Branches, aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow!

Eva is ready to rock out at the Woodlandstock Music Festival! But when another band can't make it, Eva and her friends are ready to step in. Will they be able to form their own band in time to save the festival? And who will be their band's star singer? With speech bubbles, easy-to-read text, and adorable characters, this bestselling series is perfect for newly independent readers!

In Diper Överlöde, book 17 of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series from #1 international bestselling author Jeff Kinney, Greg Heffley is finding out that the road to fame and glory comes with some hard knocks.



When he decides to tag along with his brother Rodrick's band, Löded Diper, Greg doesn't realize what he's getting into. But he soon learns that late nights, unpaid gigs, fighting between band members, and money troubles are all part of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle.



Can Greg help Löded Diper become the legends they think they are? Or will too much time with Rodrick's band be a diper överlöde?

Kacen Callender, National Book Award winner of King and the Dragonflies, delivers a stunning novel that invites readers into a child's struggles with mental health, and their journey to wholeness.

Moon's depression is overwhelming. Therapy doesn't help, and Moon is afraid that their mom hates them because they're sad. Moon's only escape is traveling to the spirit realms every night, where they hope they'll never return to the world of the living again.

The spirit realm is where they have their one and only friend, Wolf, and where they're excited to experience an infinite number of adventures. But when the realm is threatened, it's up to Moon to save the spirit world.

With the help of celestial beings and guard-ians, Moon battles monsters and shadows, and through their journey, they begin to learn that a magical adventure of love and acceptance awaits them in the world of the living, too.

This story of hope shows readers that our souls blossom when we realize that we are as worthy and powerful as the universe itself.

The Wellington snow slide of 1910 was--and still is--the deadliest avalanche in America's history. Lauren Tarshis's story of one child surviving the frozen nightmare pounds with page-turning action and heartwarming hope.

The snow came down faster than train crews could clear the tracks, piling up in drifts 20 feet high. At the Wellington train depot in the Cascade Mountains, two trains sat stranded, blocked in by snow slides to the east and west. Some passengers braved the storm to hike off the mountain, but many had no choice but to wait out the storm.

But the storm didn't stop. One day passed, then two, three . . . six days. The snow turned to rain. Then, just after midnight on March 1, a lightning storm struck the mountain, sending a ten-foot-high wave of snow barreling down the mountain. The trains tumbled 150 feet. 96 people were dead.

The Wellington avalanche forever changed railroad engineering. New York Times bestselling author Lauren Tarshis tells the tale of one girl who survived, emerging from the snow forever changed herself.

“If you love fantasy, funny humor, flatulence, and friends, then Aaron Reynolds has written the perfect book for you!” —DAN SANTAT, author of The Aquanut, Sidekicks, and The Adventures of Beekle

Fart Quest: The Troll's Toe Cheese is the fourth book in a hilarious Dungeons & Dragons inspired series by New York Times bestselling author Aaron Reynolds.

They've destroyed an evil creature with stink gas, collected barf from a truly hideous monster, and dug through a dragon's dookie for magical treasure. Now, Fart, Pan, Moxie, and TickTock are facing their scariest challenge yet—an angry mom!

The Great and Powerful Kevin has promised Pan, who lost her mother when she was a baby, that she could see her mom one last time. But instead, shes sees a distorted spirit of her mother, transformed into an evil creature bent on revenge against those who caused her death.

Meanwhile, some new information comes to light, and Fart and friends head out on a rescue mission. Deep within the goblin caves, they search for evidence of their long lost masters, facing goblins, fire rats, floor fiends, and a troll with some seriously disgusting toenails along the way.

In this epic addition to the Fart Quest series, our adventurers discover that a true hero is not measured in the sum of their mistakes—but in the difference they make in spite of them.

“If you love fantasy, funny humor, flatulence, and friends, then Aaron Reynolds has written the perfect book for you!” —DAN SANTAT, author of The Aquanut, Sidekicks, and The Adventures of Beekle

Another fart-tastic installment in the middle-grade adventure series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Aaron Reynolds and illustrator Cam Kendell.

The Great and Powerful Kevin has a new quest for our heroes...seek out another disgusting ingredient for his mysterious project.

High in the Frostflung Mountains lies the lair of a fearsome dragon named Glacierbane. Pan, Moxie, Fart and TickTock must venture there and fish a dragon-digested object from deep within a pile of dragon doo.

But Pan isn’t having it. She’s not sure why, but she doesn’t trust Kevin. But when she learns of a kidnapped prince that needs rescuing from Glacierbane, suddenly this quest seems a whole lot more heroic.

Our young heroes will face their toughest challenges yet as they team up with a valiant knight, brave the air-islands of Frostflung, fight yetis and snow goblins, solve puzzles and riddles, face a dragon, and seek the poo they need.

Simon Seahorse meets a shark in this second book of The Not-So-Tiny Tales of Simon Seahorse chapter book series—and it turns out sharks make for great stories…and great friends!

Simon and Olive love playing “I Spy” in Coral Jungle because there are so many things to see! There are different types of coral, seagrass, and all sorts of fish. But one day they spy…a shark! They swim away as fast as they can, but the shark catches up to them and introduces herself. And it turns out Simon and Olive—and all of Coral Grove—have a lot to learn about sharks.

With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, The Not-So-Tiny Tales of Simon Seahorse chapter books are perfect for emerging readers.

In this second book of a brand new-chapter book series, aspiring astronaut Astrid designs a rocket!

After seeing the big Space-E rocket launch, Astrid just knows she’s going to be exploring space in a rocket of her own someday! And in honor of the big launch, Astrid and her fellow Shooting Stars will be building rockets of their very own. What’s more exciting is the guest helper, Luke, who actually worked on the Space-E team!

The Shooting Stars are working towards more points on the Astro Board and Astrid is hoping she can impress Luke enough to score a tour of Space-E headquarters. But it turns out that Luke’s design might not be the best—and Astrid isn’t sure if she should speak up. Can Astrid use her voice to show there is more than one solution for a perfect take-off?

Bestselling author Natalie Lloyd returns with her most personal book to date, a story about a girl who--armed with her trusty, snazzy wheelchair--refuses to let her brittle bone disease stand in the way of adventure.

Twelve-year-old homeschooled Olive is tired of being seen as "fragile" just because she has osteogenesis imperfecta (otherwise known as brittle bone disease) so she's thrilled when she finally convinces her parents to let her attend Macklemore Elementary. Olive can't wait to go to a traditional school and make the friends she's always longed for, until a disastrous first day dashes her hopes of ever fitting in.

Then Olive hears whispers about a magical, wish-granting hummingbird that supposedly lives near Macklemore. It'll be the solution to all her problems! If she can find the bird and prove herself worthy, the creature will make her most desperate, secret wish come true.

When it becomes clear that she can't solve the mystery on her own, Olive teams up with some unlikely allies who help her learn the truth about the bird. And on the way, she just might learn that our fragile places lead us to the most wonderful magic of all . . .

Award-winning author Amy Sarig King takes on censorship and intolerance in a novel she was born to write.

When Mac first opens his classroom copy of Jane Yolen's The Devil's Arithmetic and finds some words blacked out, he thinks it must be a mistake. But then when he and his friends discover what the missing words are, he's outraged.

Someone in his school is trying to prevent kids from reading the full story.

But who?

Even though his unreliable dad tells him to not get so emotional about a book (or anything else), Mac has been raised by his mom and grandad to call out things that are wrong. He and his friends head to the principal's office to protest the censorship... but her response doesn't take them seriously.

So many adults want Mac to keep his words to himself.

Mac's about to see the power of letting them out.

In Attack of the Black Rectangles, acclaimed author Amy Sarig King shows all the ways truth can be hard... but still worth fighting for.

Isabel and Rollo are back … but, who’s in the doghouse now? Isabel’s dog, Rollo — “the cutest, funniest puppy” — just doesn’t seem like himself lately. Besides not fitting into her best friend Zoë’s doll clothes anymore, he’s become much harder to handle. Like when he pulls away from both girls to chase a squirrel — then keeps running! Or when he eats everyone’s ice cream right off the table! Sure, Isabel bent the rules (or, um, had no rules?) for Rollo when he was a baby. But now he’s a teenager — and he’s out of control!! Is there a cure for this? Has Isabel created a monster?! Kids won’t be able to look away!

"After a disastrous field day competition at school, Greg decides that when it comes to his athletic career, he's officially retired. But after his mom urges him to give sports one more chance, he reluctantly agrees to sign up for basketball. Tryouts are a mess, and Greg is sure he won't make the cut. But he unexpectedly lands a spot on the worst team. As Greg and his new teammates start the season, their chances of winning even a single game look slim. But in sports, anything can happen. When everything is on the line and the ball is in Greg's hands, will he rise to the occasion? Or will he blow his big shot?"--Provided by publisher

Mona learns to find her voice over the course of a year that sees her immigrating from Dubai to Canada in this novel for fans of Front Desk by Kelly Yang.

Mona Hasan is a young Muslim girl growing up in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, when the first Gulf War breaks out in 1991. The war isn’t what she expects — “We didn’t even get any days off school! Just my luck” — especially when the ground offensive is over so quickly and her family peels the masking tape off their windows. Her parents, however, fear there is no peace in the region, and it sparks a major change in their lives.

Over the course of one year, Mona falls in love, speaks up to protect her younger sister, loses her best friend to the new girl at school, has summer adventures with her cousins in Pakistan, immigrates to Canada, and pursues her ambition to be a feminist and a poet.

Nevermoor meets How to Train Your Dragon in the thrilling conclusion to the Frostheart trilogy!

After escaping the towering city of Aurora and fighting for the safety of Solstice--the secret sanctuary of misunderstood Song Weavers--Ash has the battle of a lifetime ahead of him. A battle for his freedom. For the freedom of Song Weavers in every Stronghold. And even for the leviathans, the giant beasts that lurk under the snow, but who may be just as poorly understood as the Song Weavers who can communicate with them.

But a battle is the last thing Ash wants ever since he's come face to face with the person he has been tirelessly searching for: his mother. And yet the two of them are up against a common enemy, the largest, most ferocious ancient leviathan called the Devourer, known by local legend as the World Eater for the way it consumes anything and everything in its path.

In a fight that will take the pathfinders, yeti, Song Weavers, and even leviathans working together, how can Ash get them all on the same side when he and his mother can't even agree on how to defeat this beast? If Ash and his ragtag crew of friends aboard the Frostheart can't stop the Devourer, Ash's family reunion will be short-lived.

An instant #1 New York Times bestseller!

This “timely and compelling” (Kirkus Reviews) middle grade novel about courage, hope, and resilience follows an Asian American boy fighting to keep his family together and stand up to racism during the initial outbreak of the coronavirus.

When the coronavirus hits Hong Kong, ten-year-old Knox Wei-Evans’s mom makes the last-minute decision to move him and his siblings back to California, where they think they will be safe. Suddenly, Knox has two days to prepare for an international move—and for leaving his dad, who has to stay for work.

At his new school in California, Knox struggles with being the new kid. His classmates think that because he’s from Asia, he must have brought over the virus. At home, Mom just got fired and is panicking over the loss of health insurance, and Dad doesn’t even know when he’ll see them again, since the flights have been cancelled. And everyone struggles with Knox’s blurting-things-out problem.

As racism skyrockets during COVID-19, Knox tries to stand up to hate, while finding his place in his new country. Can you belong if you’re feared; can you protect if you’re new? And how do you keep a family together when you’re oceans apart? Sometimes when the world is spinning out of control, the best way to get through it is to embrace our own lovable uniqueness.

Hailed as "the heir to Roald Dahl" by The Spectator, the UK's #1 bestselling children's author, David Walliams, will have fans of Stuart Gibbs and Gordan Korman in stitches!

David Walliams burst on to the American scene with his New York Times bestseller Demon Dentist, and now he's bringing his signature humor to this story of a ten-year-old orphan and a 10,000-year-old mammoth.

When Elsie, an orphan on the streets of Victorian London, hears about the mysterious Ice Monster--a woolly mammoth found at the North Pole--she's determined to discover more....

Luckily, a chance encounter brings Elsie face to face with the creature, sparking the adventure of a lifetime--from London to the heart of the Arctic!

Travel back in time to the world of the dinosaurs! Children will be inspired to discover the prehistoric world with these character-driven adventure stories for children aged 5 to 7 years old.

Travel through time to the world of the dinosaurs in this exciting prehistoric fiction series for children.

Jamie has just moved to Ammonite Bay, a stretch of coastline famed for its fossils. He’s a member of the Dinosaur Club—a network of kids around the world who share dinosaur knowledge, help each other identify fossils, post new dino discoveries, and talk about all things prehistoric. Jamie is exploring Ammonite Bay when he meets Tess, another member of Dinosaur Club who lives in Ammonite Bay. Tess shows Jamie her favorite place—a secret cave with fossils all over the walls. But what’s that strange tunnel at the back? Together they go through the tunnel and they discover some dinosaur footprints. Jamie and Tess walk along them…and the two new friends discover they have traveled back to the time of the dinosaurs!

It’s amazing, but dangerous, too—and they’ll definitely need help from the Dinosaur Club…

In this adventure, Jamie and Tess find themselves caught in a terrible storm. During the chaos, a stegosaurus egg is swept away downriver. It’s up to Jamie and Tess to recover the egg and return it to its mother before it’s too late!

Julie and the Phantoms meets Amina's Voice! This is a sweet, powerful, and joyous novel about a Muslim girl who finds her voice on her own terms... by joining her school's most popular band.

This book is perfect for fans of The First Rule of Punk and Save Me a Seat.

Twelve-year-old Nimra Sharif has spent her whole life in Islamic school, but now it's time to go to real school.

Nimra's nervous, but as long as she has Jenna, her best friend who already goes to the public school, she figures she can take on just about anything.

Unfortunately, middle school is hard. The teachers are mean, the schedule is confusing, and Jenna starts giving hijab-wearing Nimra the cold shoulder around the other kids.

Desperate to fit in and get back in Jenna's good graces, Nimra accepts an unlikely invitation to join the school's popular 8th grade boy band, Barakah Beats. The only problem is, Nimra was taught that music isn't allowed in Islam, and she knows her parents would be disappointed if they found out. So she devises a simple plan: join the band, win Jenna back, then quietly drop out before her parents find out.

But dropping out of the band proves harder than expected. Not only is her plan to get Jenna back working, but Nimra really likes hanging out with the band--they value her contributions and respect how important her faith is to her. Then Barakah Beats signs up for a talent show to benefit refugees, and Nimra's lies start to unravel. With the show only a few weeks away and Jenna's friendship hanging in the balance, Nimra has to decide whether to betray her bandmates--or herself.

Rain Reign meets Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World in this heartfelt novel about a neurodivergent thirteen-year-old navigating changing friendships, a school trip, and expanding horizons.



Thirteen-year-old Ellen Katz feels most comfortable when her life is well planned out and people fit neatly into her predefined categories. She attends temple with Abba and Mom every Friday and Saturday. Ellen only gets crushes on girls, never boys, and she knows she can always rely on her best-and-only friend, Laurel, to help navigate social situations at their private Georgia middle school. Laurel has always made Ellen feel like being autistic is no big deal. But lately, Laurel has started making more friends, and cancelling more weekend plans with Ellen than she keeps. A school trip to Barcelona seems like the perfect place for Ellen to get their friendship back on track. Except it doesn't. Toss in a new nonbinary classmate whose identity has Ellen questioning her very binary way of seeing the world, homesickness, a scavenger hunt-style team project that takes the students through Barcelona to learn about Spanish culture and this trip is anything but what Ellen planned.



Making new friends and letting go of old ones is never easy, but Ellen might just find a comfortable new place for herself if she can learn to embrace the fact that life doesn't always stick to a planned itinerary.

X-Men meets Spy Kids in this instant New York Times bestseller! Here’s the first book in a new middle-grade fantasy/adventure series from the author of The Unwanteds.

Fifteen years ago, eight supernatural criminals fled Estero City to make a new life in an isolated tropical hideout. Over time, seven of them disappeared without a trace, presumed captured or killed. And now, the remaining one has died.

Left behind to fend for themselves are the criminals’ five children, each with superpowers of their own: Birdie can communicate with animals. Brix has athletic abilities and can heal quickly. Tenner can swim like a fish and can see in the dark and hear from a distance. Seven’s skin camouflages to match whatever is around him. Cabot hasn’t shown signs of any unusual power—yet.

Then one day Birdie finds a map among her father’s things that leads to a secret stash. There is also a note:

Go to Estero, find your mother, and give her the map.

The five have lived their entire lives in isolation. What would it mean to follow the map to a strange world full of things they’ve only heard about, like cell phones, cars, and electricity? A world where, thanks to their parents, being supernatural is a crime?

An Indie Next Pick

"An enchanting read!"--Margaret Peterson Haddix, bestselling author of The Greystone Secrets

"A magical voyage of self-discovery."--Jenn Reese, author of A Game of Fox & Squirrels

"Truly marvelous."--Booklist (starred review)

The trick to all magic is: you can only see it if you know where to look.

The magic-infused town of Aldermere is the first place eleven-year-old Fin has ever felt safe--and she'll do whatever it takes to save her home when she accidentally unleashes a shadow self who wreaks havoc everywhere she goes. Emily Lloyd-Jones's middle grade debut is an enchanting exploration of self-discovery and finding the place you truly belong. Unseen Magic is for fans of A Wish in the Dark and A Tangle of Knots.

Aldermere is a town with its own set of rules: there's a tea shop that vanishes if you try to force your way in, crows that must be fed or they'll go through your trash, and a bridge that has a toll that no one knows the cost of. Some say that there may even be bigfoots wandering through the woods.

For Fin, Aldermere is her new home. But she's worried that she'll do something to mess it up--that she was the reason she and her mother have constantly moved from place to place for so long. When an upcoming presentation at her school's science fair gives her increasing anxiety, Fin turns to magic to ease her fears. The cost is a memory, but there are things from her past Fin doesn't mind forgetting. This will be the last time she relies on magic anyway, she's sure.

Except things don't go exactly as planned. And instead of easing her anxiety, Fin accidentally unleashes an evil doppelganger. Suddenly Aldermere is overrun with unusual occurrences--and Fin is the only one who knows why. She will have to face her fears--literally--to stop it.

Emily Lloyd-Jones crafts an atmospheric novel full of magic and mischief while exploring what it means to stand up to your fears and accept yourself. Unseen Magic is perfect for fans of Anna Meriano's Love Sugar Magic series and Natalie Lloyd's A Snicker of Magic.

True North Vincent feels lost and uneasy after the fear of a virus closes the border, meaning her mom can't return home from Canada. With her father working long hours as a nurse helping people who are sick with the virus, she's left at home with her grandma, who doesn't have the energy to keep up with True's adventures, or her older sister, always focused on her phone, or Georgie, her younger brother, whose severe asthma makes him more vulnerable to the virus. True is lonely and sometimes gets angry because she feels forgotten and unheard. True's mom tries to talk to her by phone, but True refuses; she just wants her mom home in-person, not just her voice.



True finds escape and comfort in working on her maps, a skill she learned from her mother who is a cartographer. Not only does it fulfill her remote learning class assignment, but it helps to pass the time in isolation. She also creates an elaborate treasure map for Georgie that spans the entire thick forest beyond her backyard. While exploring, True finds the new kid, Kyler, playing tenderly with a litter of newborn kittens in an old barn.



Kyler knocked out Dakota Sullivan's tooth during a fight and has a reputation of being a bully, so True waits until he's gone before approaching the kittens. The smallest kitten, the runt of the litter, looks sickly and has been abandoned by the mama cat. True names her Teacup; she knows exactly how it feels to not have a mom around when you need her most.



As Teacup's health worsens, True attempts to nurse the cat back to health by herself. Just when True thinks she and Kyler could be friends over their concern for Teacup, he starts acting strange and doesn't return her calls. To make matters worse, True's dad gets sick and must stay at the hospital, and then Georgie gets lost in the forest, and then their elderly neighbor gets the virus. True feels even more scared and alone. Running out of her own fixes and remedies, True reaches out and realizes that her family does care about her and wants to offer support and guidance to help her find her way through the unexpected challenges the virus and life bring.

In this touching debut middle grade novel, a girl with hearing loss and a boy adjusting to life in a new country connect through their love of comics and get entangled in their own fantastical adventure.

Twelve-year-old Etta Johnson has Loud Days where she can hear just fine and Quiet Days where sounds come from far away and she gets to retreat into her thoughts. Etta spends most of her time alone, working on her comic book about Invincible Girl, the superhero who takes down super villain Petra Fide. Invincible Girl is brave, daring, and bold—everything Etta wishes she could be.

But when Louisa May Alcott, a friendly Goldendoodle from across the street, disappears, Etta and the dog’s boy, Eleazar, must find their inner heroes to save her. The catch? Louisa May has run onto a magical train that mysteriously arrived at the station near Etta and Eleazar’s houses. Onboard, they discover each train car is its own magical world with individual riddles and challenges that must be solved before they can reach the engine room and rescue Louisa May.

Only, the stakes are even higher than they thought. The train’s magic is malfunctioning and spreading a purple smoke called The Fear through the streets of Chicago. Etta and Eleazar are the only ones who can save the city, save Louisa May Alcott—and save each other.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Life on Mars is pretty standard…. until a mysterious virus hits. Don’t miss this timely and unputdownable novel from the bestselling author of The Fourteenth Goldfish.

Bell has spent his whole life--all eleven years of it--on Mars. But he's still just a regular kid--he loves cats and any kind of cake, and is curious about the secrets the adults in the US colony are keeping. Like, why don't they 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 in the hands of Jennifer L. Holm, beloved and bestselling author of The Fourteenth Goldfish, it can't help but feel like home.

From the author of Five Things About Ava Andrews comes a new middle grade stand-alone novel with STEM and activism themes, set against the backdrop of beautiful Zion National Park. With the perfect blend of humor and heart, this poignant story about family, grief, and changes beyond our control is perfect for fans of Rebecca Stead, Meg Medina, and Lynne Kelly.

When life doesn't make sense, twelve-year-old amateur astronomer Tuesday Beals has always looked to the stars above Zion National Park, where she lives. Her beloved late uncle Ezra taught her astronomy, but now their special stargazing sites are all she has left of him, along with his ashes and a poem that may be a riddle.

Then a new housing development next door threatens to ruin the night skies and her favorite astronomy spots. Desperate to focus on something besides the growing uncle-sized chasm between her and her mother, the park archeologist, Tuesday takes up photography with her best friend, Carter, after they find an abandoned camera. With this new way of seeing the universe, she tries to solve her uncle's riddle to save the land.

But one day, a photo reveals clues about an endangered animal--one that could halt construction. Will the discovery be enough to save the park and keep the rest of her world from falling apart?

Sal and Gabi Break the Universe meets Supernatural in a heartfelt, hilarious adventure about a trio of tight-knit, monster-loving siblings from acclaimed author Zoraida Córdova.

It takes a special person to end up in detention on the last day of school.

It takes a REALLY special person to accidentally burn down the school yard while chasing a fire-breathing chipmunk.

But nothing about Valentina Salazar has ever been "normal." The Salazars are protectors, tasked with rescuing the magical creatures who sometimes wander into our world, from grumpy unicorns to chupacabras . . . to the occasional fire-breathing chipmunk.

When Val's father is killed during a rescue mission gone wrong, her mother decides it's time to retire from their life on the road. She moves the family to a boring little town in upstate New York and enrolls Val and her siblings in real school for the first time.

But Val is a protector at heart and she can't give up her calling. So when a mythical egg surfaces in a viral video, Val convinces her reluctant siblings to help her find the egg before it hatches and wreaks havoc. But she has some competition: the dreaded monster hunters who'll stop at nothing to destroy the creature . . . and the Salazar family.

The phenomenally successful Bad Kitty series is purr-fect for fans of Dav Pilkey's Dog Man and Ben Clanton's Narwhal and Jelly series, reluctant readers, comic book fans, and cranky cats.

Bad Kitty will not be good until her owners cave and get her a cell phone in this next, full color chapter book in Nick Bruel's New York Times bestselling series.

Kitty has everything any cat could want--a warm bed, plenty of fresh litter, a machine that dispenses food whenever she wants! But Kitty isn't satisfied. She has her eye on something that will make her the happiest, most grateful cat in town.

Something all the other cats have but that her owners refuse to get her!

Something she desperately needs!

Kitty wants...a cell phone. And she can have one if she does all her chores with zero complaints.

But can she handle the responsibility? What do you think?