Some Kind of Happiness - Claire Legrand

Some Kind of Happiness - Claire Legrand

Things Finley Hart Doesn't Want to Talk About

Her parents, who are having problems.
Being sent to her grandparents' house for the summer.
Never having met said grandparents.
Her blue days- when life feels overwhelming, ant it's hard work to keep her head up.

Up until now, Everwood has only existed in Finley's journal. Now that she's at her grandparents' house, she discovers that it really exists in the woods behind their house.

She realizes that Everwood holds more secrets than she could have imagined. With the help of her cousins, they set out to save Everwood.

Suggested Level: Middle School

Waiting on Wednesday - Scythe

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine

Scythe - Neal Shusterman

From Goodreads:

In a world where disease has been eliminated, the only way to die is to be randomly killed ("gleaned") by professional reapers ("sythes"). Citra and Rowan are teenagers who have been selected to be scythe's apprentices, and -- despite wanting nothing to do with the vocation -- they must learn the art of killing and come to understand the necessity of what they do.

Only one of them will be chosen as the scythe's apprentice. And when it becomes clear that the winning apprentice's first task will be to glean the loser, Citra and Rowan are pitted against one another in a fight for their lives. 

Release Date: November 22, 2016

Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers

Middle Grade New Releases - May 24, 2016

Clatter of Jars - Lisa Graff
It's summertime and everyone is heading off to camp. For talented kids, the place to be is Camp Atropos, where they can sings songs by the campfire, practice for the Talent show, and take some nice long dips in the lake. But what the kids don'e know is that they've been gathered for a reason -- one that the camp's director want to keep hidden at all costs. Companion to A Tangle of Knots (Junior Library Guild Selection)






Exile for Dreamers - Kathleen Baldwin
Tess can't get away from her dreams. They bring nothing but death and grief, and she refuses to accept that she may be destines for the same madness that destroyed her mother. Until her dreams become the only means of saving Lord Ravencross, the man she loves. Book 2. (For library programming for book 1, visit Spirit of Texas - Kathleen Baldwin)



Mayday - Karen Harrington
Wayne Kovok lives in a world of After. After his uncle in the army was killed overseas. After Wayne and his mother survived a plane crash while coming back from the funeral. After he lost his voice.

Wayne has always used his love of facts to communicate. Without his voice, how will he wow the prettiest girl in school? How will he stand up to his drill-sergeant grandfather? And how will he share his hopes with his deadbeat dad? It's not until Wayne loses his voice completely that he realizes how much he doesn't say.

Return to the Isle of the Lost - Melissa de la Cruz
Mal's an expert at intimidating her enemies, but she's broken the habit since leaving her villainous roots behind. So when she and her friends Evie, Carlos, and Jay all receive threatening messages demanding they return home, Mal can't believe it. Sure, she's King Ben's girlfriend now, and she's usually nice to her classmates, but she still didn't think anyone would be silly enough to try and push her around. Book 2





Summer of the Lost and Found - Rebecca Behrens
Nell Dare expected to spend her summer vacation hanging out with friends in New York City. That is, until her botanist mom dragged her all the way to Roanoke Island for a research trip. To make matters worse, her father suddenly and mysteriously leaves town, leaving no explanation or clues as where he went -- or why?

Middle Grade New Releases - May 17, 2016

Billy Sure Kid Entrepreneur and the Haywire Hovercraft - Luke Sharpe
Billy Sure, inventor and CEO of Sure Things Inc., must track down a haywire hovercraft that's gone missing with his sister on board. Book 7.










Platypus Police Squad: Never Say Narwhal - Jarrett Krosoczka
Frank Pandini Jr. is the mayor of Kalamazoo City, and everyone is celebrating--everyone except for Zengo, O'Malley, and Cooper, who can't seem to close a single case. To make matters worse, a mysterious hulking shadow has appeared in waters around KC. Could this spell the end for the Platypus Police Squad? Book 4





Some Kind of Happiness - Claire Legrand
Things Finley Hart Doesn't Want to Talk About

• Her parents, who are having problems. (But they pretend like they're not.)
• Being Sent to her grandparents' house for the summer.
• Never having met said grandparents.
• Her blue days - when life feels overwhelming, and it's hard to keep her head up. (This happens a lot.)

Finley;s only retreat is the Everwood, a forest kingdom that exists in the pages of her notebook. Until she discovers the endless woods behind her grandparents' house and realizes the Everwood is read and hold more mysteries than she'd ever imagines.

What Elephants Know - Eric Dinerstein
Abandoned in the jungle of the Nepalese Borderlands, two-year-old Nandu us found living under the protective watch of a pack of wild dogs. From his mysterious beginnings, fate delivers him to the King's elephant stable, where he is raised by unlikely parents-the wise head of the stable Subba-sahib and Devi Kali, a fierce and affectionate female elephant. (Junior Library Guild Selection)

Draw the Line - Laurent Linn

Draw the Line - Laurent Linn

The Adrian Piper isn't necessarily the run of the mill high school student. He is an artist with his own website superhero, Graphite. Graphite gives him a place to express himself and what is going on in his life without revealing his identity.

Adrian is caught up in the events of a hate crime. He goes from being the quite, closeted boy in school to being vocal and out.

The book contains illustrations of Graphite.

Release Date: May 17, 2016
Received an ARC at Texas Library Association Annual Conference

Suggested Level: High School (language, violence, off page sex, LGBT)

Middle Grade New Releases - May 10, 2016

Magic Mirror - Susan Hill Long

A founding girl with a crooked leg and a crutch doesn't expect life to be easy. Indeed, Maggie's dearest wish is to simply not feel so alone. So when she spies a man behind bars in a magic mirror said to show one's truest desire, she feels sure he is the father she's always longed for -- and she sets off on a quest to find him. 

Royal Wedding Disaster - Meg Cabot

Olivia Grace Clarisse Mignonete Harrison still finds it hard to believe she's a real live princess of Genovia who gets to live in an actual palace with a loving family, two poodles, and her very own pony! Of course things aren't going exactly like she imagined. Being a princess is way more complicated tham she expected. Fortunately, Grandmere is always happy to help...but her half sister, Mia, is so busy ruling the country, she barely has time for her own wedding. Book 2

Save Me a Seat - Sarah Weeks

Ravi has just moved to the United States from India and has always been at the top of his class; Joe has lived in the same town his whole life and has learning problems--but when their lives intersect int he first week of fifth grade they are brought together by a common enemy and the need to take control of their lives. (Junior Library Guild Selection)

Six Kids and a Stuffed Cat - Gary Paulsen

It seemed like a normal school day, until a horrible storm forced the very cautious school administration to make everyone hole up in a safe place. Six students find themselves stuck in a tiny, questionably smelly space--a school bathroom--with a stuffed cat for entertainment. Hijinks ensue and the unexpected happens. 

Theodore Boone: The Scandal - John Grisham

When an anonymous tip leads the school board to investigate a suspicious increase in scores at another local middle school, Theo finds himself thrust in the middle of a cheating scandal. With insider knowledge and his future on the line, Theo must follow his keen instincts to do what's right in the newest case for clever kid lawyer Theo Boone. Book 6

Waiting for Augusta - Jessica Lawson

In early 1960 Alabama, eleven-year-old Ben, carrying an urn with his father's ashes, sets out on an eventful journey to the Augusta National, "the Sistine Chapel of golf courses," to make peace with this father. (Junior Library Guild Selection)