Reviews & Recommendations

The Lost Library
by Rebecca Stead & Wendy Mass

• "Not a scary mystery, but a very nice book."
  Rating: 5/5 stars
  --Joanna, 3rd grade

Impossible Creatures
by Katherine Rundell

• "This book was incredibly eventful and exciting. It immediately hooked me. Anyone who reads it is in for a treat. I would highly recommend this book."
  Rating: 5/5 ⭐s
  --Emilyn, 5th grade

Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow
by Jessica Townsend

• "Such an interesting story! Some frights but amazing bravery."
  Rating: 10/10
  --Hayden, 3rd grade

Sweet Valley Twins: Best Friends
by Francine Pascal, Nicole Andelfinger (illust. by Claudia Aguirre)

• "So cool and entertaining! I read the whole thing in one day!"
  Rating: 5∞+⭐s
  --Jordyn, 4th grade

The Wednesday Wars
by  Gary D. Schmidt
(Genre: Historical Fiction)

• Set during the Vietnam War, this is the story of one boy's 7th-grade year. It is full of heart, humor, and hijinx, including a loose class pet and having to wear tights in a Shakespeare play (cringe).

Book Scavenger (#1 in series)
by  Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
(Genre: Mystery)

• Travel around San Francisco with two friends who are trying to solve a bookish mystery and outsmart some bad guys along the way. Lots of codes and puzzles in this one!

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street (#1 in series)
by  Karina Yan Glaser
(Genre: Realistic Fiction)

• Get to know this charming family who live in New York City. In this first book, the Vanderbeeker kids have to try to save their family home from a grumpy landlord who wants to make them move.

Holes
by  Louis Sachar
(Genre: Realistic Fiction/Humor/Mystery)

• This is a modern classic and award-winning book that takes you to the desert where a rag-tag team of boys is being punished for crimes by being forced to dig big holes. But there's more going on... a mystery, a curse, and some of the worst (but funniest) adults you'll ever meet in a book.

Charlie Thorne Series
by Stuart Gibbs
(Genre: Adventure/Spy Mystery)

• This is an exciting book/series about a super-smart girl who gets caught up in the world of spies and saving the world.

The Next Great Paulie Fink
by Ali Benjamin
(Genre: Realistic Fiction)

• A story about a girl just trying to fit in in her new school amidst a mysterious legend of a student, and also featuring new friendships, a soccer rivalry, pranks, and some goats.

In the Beautiful Country
by Jane Kuo
(Genre: Novel in Verse (poetry)/Historical Fiction)

• A quick read because it is in verse/poetry, this is an eye-opening tale of a girl new to the US from Taiwan and learning to fit in. 

By the Great Horn Spoon
by Sid Fleischman
(Genre: Historical Fiction/Humor)

• A boy goes on an adventure -- sailing around South America to get from the East Coast to get to San Francisco for the Gold Rush. (He has cool butler traveling with him, too.)