Reading at Home

Kids know just what to expect from each new book in the beloved Magic Tree House series, and Twister on Tuesday will not disappoint! Jack and Annie’s adventure takes them back to the Kansas prairie in the 1870s. At a one-room schoolhouse there, they meet a teenaged teacher, some fun kids, and a big, scary bully. But the biggest and scariest thing is yet to come! The book concludes with several pages of factual information about twisters, pioneer life on the prairie, and pioneer school books. 

After a fire kills her parents, eleven-year-old Martine must leave England to live with her grandmother on a wildlife game reserve in South Africa, where she befriends a mythical white giraffe. Martine sees the white giraffe one stormy night from her bedroom window. When a local woman tells her that she has “the gift,” Martine begins to sense that there is something very unique and special happening. From that moment, she begins her journey to save the animal from poachers. 

Winner or washout? When it comes to tackling third grade, Clementine is at the top of her game—okay, so maybe not all the time. After her teacher announces that the third and fourth graders will be putting on a talent show, Clementine panics. She doesn’t sing or dance or play an instrument. She can’t even hop with finesse. And as if she didn’t feel bad enough, her perfect best friend, Margaret, has so many talents, she has to alphabetize them to keep them straight. As the night of the big Talent-Palooza draws closer, Clementine is desperate for an act, any act. But the unexpected talent she demonstrates at the show surprises everyone—most of all herself.

So what if he’s legally blind? Even with his bottle-thick, bug-eyed glasses, Paul Fisher can see better than most people. He can see the lies his parents and brother live out, day after day. No one ever listens to Paul, though—until the family moves to Tangerine. In Tangerine, even a blind, geeky, alien freak can become cool. Who knows? Paul might even become a hero!

The adventures of Despereaux Tilling, a small mouse of unusual talents, and the princess he loves, the servant girl who longs to be a princess, and a devious rat determined to bring them all to ruin.

Every morning, Judy measures Stink, and it’s always the same: three feet, eight inches tall. Even the class newt is growing faster than he is. Then one day, the ruler reads three feet, seven and three-quarters inches! Can it be? Is Stink shrinking?  

When Stargirl enrolls at Mica High, all of the students are in awe, but she especially captures the attention of junior Leo Borlock. With her long, flowing hair, plain face, and eccentric outfits, her classmates don’t know whether to love Stargirl for daring to be different, or hate her for breaking the rules of high school. At first, they embrace her uniqueness by imitating her, and then, just as quickly, they turn on her for being unusual. Despite her status as outcast, Leo and Stargirl become a couple, and he experiences what it’s like to be shunned. In hopes of gaining acceptance, Leo encourages her to become normal. Together, both Leo and Stargirl learn a lesson about conforming to the will of the group versus being yourself.

Since he was little, Capricorn “Cap” Anderson has lived on a farm commune and been homeschooled by his hippie grandmother, Rain. When Rain is injured in a fall, Cap is forced to attend the local middle school. Although he knows a lot about Zen Buddhism, nothing has prepared him for the politics of public school. 

When his mother dies without revealing his full name, Rump endures teasing for his half-name until he discovers his ability to spin gold. Rump’s talent entangles him in a dire curse and prompts a fantastical quest to discover his true identity.

2016 Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award Nominee; 2016 Bluestem Award Nominee

Rocky is perfecting the tricks for his magic show when Judy Moody offers to be his assistant. Rocky agrees, but it turns out that Judy—or Stella the Spectacular, as she calls herself—is the most UN-spectacular assistant ever. Is Rocky’s magic good enough to mend their friendship? 

Who says princesses don’t wear black? When trouble raises its blue monster head, Princess Magnolia ditches her flouncy dresses and becomes the Princess in Black! 

To Mr. and Mrs. Watson, Mercy is not just a pig—she’s a porcine wonder. And to Mercy, the Watsons are an excellent source of buttered toast, not to mention that buttery-toasty feeling she gets when she snuggles into bed with them. This is not, however, so good for the Watsons’ bed. BOOM! CRACK! As the bed and its occupants slowly sink through the floor, Mercy escapes in a flash—“to alert the fire department,” her owners assure themselves. But could Mercy possibly have another emergency in mind—like a sudden craving for their neighbors’ sugar cookies? 

Annabelle Doll and Tiffany Funcraft are two dolls who have been best friends since they met in Kate Palmer’s house at 26 Wetherby Lane. In this sequel to The Doll People, they hitch a ride in Kate’s backpack and find themselves in the biggest adventure of their lives: a day at school! But when an attempt to return home lands them in the wrong house, they’re in far deeper trouble than they imagined. Along with a host of new doll friends, they also encounter Mean Mimi, the wickedest doll of all. Mean Mimi is mean—really mean—and she’s determined to rule all of Dollkind or else destroy it. Will the world ever be safe for dolls again? 

After Dan and Amy Cahill’s grandmother dies, Dan and Amy are given a choice. They can take $1,000,000 and walk away, or they can take the first clue to help them find the powerful treasure of their family. Dan and Amy take the first clue, but they aren’t the only family members to do so. Soon Dan and Amy are on a dangerous quest across multiple countries to try to track down the next clue before someone else in their family gets to it first. Dan and Amy don’t think they are smart enough or strong enough to win the challenge, but they learn about their own talents and get some unexpected help along the way.

Marvin, a beetle, and James, a human with whom he shares a house, work together to help recover a Dürer drawing stolen from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

2012 Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award Nominee; 2016 Bluestem Award Nominee

Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear when an asteroid knocks the moon closer to the Earth. Her focus shifts from her life as a high school student to her family’s survival as she comes to grips with the dramatic changes that follow. What will the future offer when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda records the events of each desperate day while she and her family struggle to hold on to their most priceless resource—hope.

Roy Eberhardt has just moved to Florida and is hating every minute of it—until he sees the running boy. Roy has spotted him a couple of times, running away from the school bus, with no backpack, no books, and no shoes. Who is he? And why is he running?

2005 Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award Nominee; 2003 Newbery Honor Book

Cousin Annie is coming! Henry and his big dog Mudge can hardly wait. But when Annie arrives, she is all dressed up. She says Henry’s fish tank smells and she does not like dog kisses. How can you have some fun with a cousin like that? Henry and Mudge find a way!

It was no ordinary life for a young girl: living among scholars in the hallowed halls of Jordan College and tearing through motley streets on mad quests for adventure. Lyra’s greatest adventure began the day she heard hushed talk of an extraordinary magical dust—found only in the vast Arctic expanse of the North—rumored to possess profound properties that could unite whole universes. But there were those who feared the particle and would stop at nothing to destroy it. Catapulted into a terrible struggle, Lyra is forced to seek aid from witches and armored bears. As she journeys into unbelievable danger, she does not have the faintest clue that she alone was destined to win, or to lose, this more-than-mortal battle.

Nick has plenty of ideas and most have gotten him into trouble at school. But now Nick’s in fifth grade, and it looks like his days as a troublemaker are over. Everyone knows that Mrs. Granger, the language arts teacher, has X-ray vision, and nobody gets away with anything in her classroom. To make matters worse, she’s also a fanatic about the dictionary, which is hopelessly boring to Nick. But when Nick learns an interesting tidbit about words and where they come from, it inspires his greatest plan yet: to invent a word. From now on, a pen is no longer a pen—it’s a frindle. It doesn’t take long for frindle to take root, and soon the excitement spreads well beyond his school and town. His parents and teacher would like Nick to put an end to all this nonsense. But frindle doesn’t belong to Nick anymore. All he can do now is sit back and watch what happens.

1999 Winner of Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award 

When seemingly unrelated and strange events start to happen and a precious Vermeer painting disappears, Petra and Calder combine their talents to solve an international art scandal.

Cam Jansen can find a mystery anywhere, even in the school lunchroom! When Jason opens his lunch box and finds only cookie crumbs, Cam’s amazing memory clicks into action.