Summer Reading

Incoming 6th Grade Recommended Summer Read

Death by Whoopee Cushion by Vicki Grant

Read along with us this summer and stay tuned for a book club celebration in September!

The best Halloween costumes. The funniest pranks. An endless supply of chocolate fudge that looks exactly like dog poo. Most kids would love it if their parents owned a joke shop.

But twelve-year-old Manya isn't like most kids. She's an aspiring scientist. The cheap laughs at Pranks-a-Million don't interest her - but the science behind the pranks does. After all, even edible snot and stink bombs rely on chemical reactions.

Manya and her best friend, Isaac, are thrilled when their parents agree to sign them up for Serious Science. The after-school class is everything they've ever dreamed of: the science is fascinating, their teacher is supersmart, and none of the experiments he gives them is designed to stink, explode, or embarrass anyone.

Things are looking up until one day Manya comes back from Serious Science to find two police officers in the store. A trick cigar bought at Pranks-a-Million burned off a customer's eyebrows. Later, one of their Toe Jam Donuts makes someone sick. Just a couple of pranks gone wrong? Maybe. But when a whoopee cushion kills an innocent person, the joke is over. The cops swoop in and arrest Manya's parents for murder.

It's up to Manya now to prove their innocence. Suddenly, the science behind all those embarrassing pranks becomes very important indeed.  

Incoming 7th & 8th Grade Recommended Summer Read

Junius Leak and the Spiraling Vortex of Doom by Allan Wolf

Read along with us this summer and stay tuned for a book club celebration in September!

When thirteen-year-old Junius Leak - expert on waterbodies and creator of the encyclopedic Amazing Waterbodies of the World - steps foot on Uncle Spot's rickety dock on Lake Peigneur, the truth assails him: he may love waterbodies, but that doesn't mean they love him back. The latest in a long line of Junius Leaks, he's the first to be doomed to ten days of awkwardness and boredom on a houseboat with a relative he doesn't know while his parents "work on" their marraige. Delcambre, Louisiana, where Junius was born, is awash in unwelcome suprrises. He determines to learn why his mom left town when he was a baby - and to conquer his fear of water at the same time. But the lake has other plans for him, plans tied to a hundred-year-old family feud and a swashbuckling mystery. When disaster strikes, Junius must dive deep within to emerge an unlikely hero. Alternating viewpoints spin the perceptions of a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) - and the wry voice of a lake with a long memory - into an inventive tale of sunken treasure and buried secrets anchored by a dramatic true event.