Please enable JavaScript
All Books | Page 14 | LitPick Book Reviews
All Books
Little Wings: Willa Bean's Cloud Dreams
Kristi Valiant, Cecilia Galante
Synopsis: Cecilia Galante, the author of The Patron Saint of Butterflies, makes her Stepping Stones debut with a sweet series about a lovable curly-haired cupid.

Most cupids have soft straight hair, rosy cheeks, and silky white wings. Not Willa Bean! She has a crazy mess of hair, a million-bajillion freckles, and bright purple wings with silver tips. And lately those bright purple wings with silver tips have been giving Willa Bean an awful lot of problems. They won't fly! Cupid Academy is starting soon, and what if she's the only cloudbound cupid there? Nope, nope, nopeity, nope. Willa Bean just has to make her wings behave!
Publication Date: 12/27/11
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Little Wings: Be Brave, Willa Bean!
Kristi Valiant, Cecilia Galante
Synopsis: Cecilia Galante, the author of The Patron Saint of Butterflies, makes her Stepping Stones debut with a sweet series about a lovable curly-haired cupid.

Willa Bean is all wiggly with excitement. Her best friend Harper is coming for a sleepover! Willa Bean wants to make Snoogy Bars and play tricks on her big sister. But Harper has a different idea. She wants to go for a night flight. Willa Bean is not okay with that. Why? Willa Bean is scared of two things . . . flying up high . . . and the dark!
Publication Date: 12/27/11
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Abraham Lincoln
Sal Murdocca, Natalie Pope Boyce, Mary Pope Osborne
Synopsis: The #1 bestselling chapter book series of all time celebrates 25 years with new covers and a new, easy-to-use numbering system! Getting the facts behind the fiction has never looked better.

Track the facts with Jack and Annie!


When Jack and Annie got back from their adventure in Magic Tree House Merlin Mission #19: Abe Lincoln at Last!, they had lots of questions. What was it like to grow up in a log cabin? How did Lincoln become president? What was his family like? Why did the US fight the Civil War? Find out the answers to these questions and more as Jack and Annie track the facts. Filled with up-to-date information, photos, illustrations, and fun tidbits from Jack and Annie, the Magic Tree House Fact Trackers are the perfect way for kids to find out more about the topics they discovered in their favorite Magic Tree House adventures. And teachers can use Fact Trackers alongside their Magic Tree House fiction companions to meet common core text pairing needs.

Did you know that there’s a Magic Tree House book for every kid?

Magic Tree House: Adventures with Jack and Annie, perfect for readers who are just beginning chapter books
Merlin Missions: More challenging adventures for the experienced reader
Super Edition: A longer and more dangerous adventure
Fact Trackers: Nonfiction companions to your favorite Magic Tree House adventures

Have more fun with Jack and Annie at MagicTreeHouse.com!
Publication Date: 12/27/11
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Abe Lincoln at Last!
Sal Murdocca, Mary Pope Osborne
Synopsis: Are you ready for a presidential adventure? Jack and Annie are! They are whisked back to Washington, D.C., in 1861. Jack can’t wait to meet Abraham Lincoln himself! But the new president is too busy to see them, as he is desperately trying to save a nation in crisis. It’s a race against time as Jack and Annie try to aid a president and a troubled nation!

Did you know that there’s a Magic Tree House book for every kid?

Magic Tree House: Adventures with Jack and Annie, perfect for readers who are just beginning chapter books
Merlin Missions: More challenging adventures for the experienced reader
Super Edition: A longer and more dangerous adventure
Fact Trackers: Nonfiction companions to your favorite Magic Tree House adventures

Have more fun with Jack and Annie at MagicTreeHouse.com!
Publication Date: 12/27/11
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
An Accidental Adventure We Dine With Cannibals
Synopsis: When we last saw Oliver and Celia Navel, they had fallen into the clutches of Sir Edmund S. Titheltorpe-Schmidt III and were doomed to spend their entire summer vacation doing his deadly bidding.

In their second unwanted adventure, We Dine with Cannibals, Oliver and Celia will travel from the ruins of ancient temples to the shadowy forests of the Amazon. They'll need all their reality TV survival skills when they ride a llama, race the rapids, and even fly an airplane! If that's not enough excitement for you (it is decidedly too much excitement for Oliver and Celia Navel), they'll be forced to learn the proper etiquette for a cannibal feast and confront the strangest and most brutal rite of passage ever devised by human imagination: dodgeball.

The second installment of the Accidental Adventures series is just as funny, just as exciting, and just as kid-friendly as the first.
Publication Date: 11/14/11
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Love of the Game
John Coy
Synopsis:

Middle school is full of new challenges for Jackson, Gig, Isaac, and Diego, four sports-loving friends who have always stuck together. Lockers that won't open, older (and bigger) kids, classes that are far apart, tons of homework―there's a lot to get used to.

One thing the boys are looking forward to, however, is making the football team. Not every one will get what he wants, though, on the field and at home.

Publication Date: 11/08/11
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Pocket Cats: Feline Charm
Kitty Wells, Joanna Harrison
Synopsis: The third Pocket Cat has come to life, and this time the problem that needs solving is in Maddy's ballet class.  Ollie's tingling whiskers tell him that Maddy's best friend is about to give up on ballet, even though she loves it. When Maddy uses her new magic power to boost Rachel's confidence, Rachel lands the star part in the ballet school's big show . . . and Maddy is desperately jealous. On opening night, Rachel needs the cat magic more than ever, but is Maddy strong enough to put her best friend first?
Publication Date: 11/08/11
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Nathan Dee: Search For The Tree Of Life
Synopsis: Nathan Dee, a school teacher, finds out that his Father was the head of an underground government agency: ROSAA - Recovery of Outer Space Alien Artifacts. He didn't expect to be thrust into an adventure that would take him through the streets of Vancouver, across the ocean in a submarine, snowmobiling through the icy terrains of Alaska, and flying into Tibet. With exploding houses and cars, gun battles with the Chinese Military, kick butt fights with the Triads, and a rumble against Yeti's in the Himalayan mountains, Nathan has his hands full.
Publication Date: 11/07/11
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Magic Cake Shop
Josee Masse, Meika Hashimoto
Synopsis: Emma Burblee couldn't be more different from her parents if she tried. She'd rather dig for treasure in a park than try on the latest fashions or discuss her vain parents' favorite subject: themselves. When Emma mortifies her parents at a dinner party, her punishment is immediate. She must spend the summer with her Uncle Simon—a loathsome man with a huge appetite for food and get-rich-quick schemes.

Although Emma's days revolve around cooking and cleaning, there is one bright spot. Her uncle's sweet tooth means she gets to visit the town bakery, Mr. Crackle's Cake Shop, all the time. This world-renowned baker is as charming and kind as Uncle Simon is vile. But then Emma discovers a plot by Uncle Simon and one of his shady acquaintances; they've set their sights on ruining Mr. Crackle (and the entire dessert making industry for that matter). Can Emma stop their evil plan?

First-time author Meika Hashimoto's effervescent tale, filled with funny characters and adventures, will have readers checking their cupboards for mouth-watering ingredients and secret portals.
Publication Date: 10/25/11
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Flint Heart
John Rocco, John Paterson, Katherine Paterson
Synopsis: A robust and wildly entertaining fairy tale, freely abridged from Eden Phillpotts's 1910 fantasy and wryly retold by Katherine and John Paterson.

An ambitious Stone Age man demands a talisman that will harden his heart, allowing him to take control of his tribe. Against his better judgment, the tribe's magic man creates the Flint Heart, but the cruelty of it causes the destruction of the tribe. Thousands of years later, the talisman reemerges to corrupt a kindly farmer, an innocent fairy creature, and a familial badger. Can Charles and his sister Unity, who have consulted with fairies such as the mysterious Zagabog, wisest creature in the universe, find a way to rescue humans, fairies, and animals alike from the dark influence of the Flint Heart? This humorous, hearty, utterly delightful fairy tale is the sort for an entire family to savor together or an adventurous youngster to devour.
Publication Date: 09/27/11
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Zigzag Kids: Star Time
Alasdair Bright, Patricia Reilly Giff
Synopsis: In the fourth book in the Zigzag Kids series, it's showtime at the Zelda A. Zigzag Afternoon Center. Gina loves to sing and she's determined to be the star of the play. She's already told everybody she knows to come see her. But her friend Destiny wants to be the star, too!
Publication Date: 08/09/11
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The L.A Dodger
Mark Meyers, David A. Kelly
Synopsis: Now batting third—book #3 in a brand-new early chapter book mystery series where each book is set in a different American ballpark!

It's spring break and Kate and Mike are off to Los Angeles to visit Kate's dad, a scout for the Dodgers. But all is not sunny in L.A.—strange things have been happening to Kate's dad. Pages have gone missing from his clipboard. He's gotten threatening phone calls. And he thinks he's being followed! Is someone after Mr. Hopkins's top secret scouting reports?

The L.A. Dodger includes a fun fact page about Los Angeles's Dodger Stadium.

Cross Ron Roy's A to Z mystery series with Matt Christopher's sports books and you get the Ballpark Mysteries: fun, puzzling whodunnits aimed at the younger brothers and sisters of John Feinstein's fans.
Publication Date: 07/26/11
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Arash the Archer: A Story from Ancient Persia
Synopsis:   Arash lives in the city of Ray in ancient Persia. At the age of twelve he is a capable archer. His dream is to shoot an arrow far enough to mark the border between the rival empires of Persia and Tooran. He believes that Simorgh the Queen of Birds has given him a message in the form of a riddle that will help him achieve his dream. But he is unaware that Ahriman the Devil and his Deevs are plotting against him.
  This book is inspired by the ancient story of Arash the Swift Arrow who with a single shot sent an arrow all the way to the Oxus River and marked the border between Persia and her rival empire of Tooran.
  The story introduces several other characters of Persian mythology including King Hooshang, Simorgh, Zahak, Ahriman and his Deevs, as well as the Zoroastrian philosophy of the constant battle between Good and Evil, to an audience of 8 to 12 year olds.
  Children with or without Persian heritage, might be more attracted to the mystery and intrigue in which the heroes are children their own age.
  3rd edition includes additions to the plot.
Publication Date: 06/30/11
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Problem with the Puddles
Tricia Tusa, Kate Feiffer
Synopsis: Eight-and-a-half years ago, when their beautiful baby girl was born, Mr. and Mrs. Puddle couldn’t agree on what to name her. So Mrs. Puddle calls her daughter Emily and Mr. Puddle calls her Ferdinanda. And everyone else? They call her Baby.

Having parents who agree to disagree does mean twice as many presents on your birthday, but it can complicate your life! When Baby’s parents can’t agree on what kind of dog to get, they get two—both named Sally. And one summer day, when rushing back to the city from their country house, the Puddles leave the Sallys behind. Will the Puddles agree to go back? What will become of the Sallys?
Publication Date: 06/07/11
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
The Gecko and Sticky: The Greatest Power
Stephen Gilpin, Wendelin Van Draanen
Synopsis: The Gecko & Sticky are a fabulous crime-fighting duo! This quartet of funny adventures will appeal to fans of superheroes both young and old, and would make terrific all-family read-alouds.

"Don't move a muscle!" shouts a strangely clad crook in the act of robbing a bank. But of course somebody does. That somebody is Dave Sanchez, and the crook is none other than the dastardly Damien Black, fresh out of prison and back to his villainous ways. But Dave and his gecko sidekick, Sticky, are on the case, and this time they have a trick up their sleeve--literally! It's an Aztec wristband that give its wearer powers like invisibility and flight. Asombroso, right? But power alone does not a superhero make, and they'll have to learn how to use it if they want to defeat their nemesis not once--but twice.

Don't miss all the Gecko & Sticky adventures:
1. The Villain's Lair
2. The Greatest Power,
3. Sinister Substitute
4. The Power Potion


From the Hardcover edition.
Publication Date: 05/10/11
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Calendar Mysteries: June Jam
John Steven Gurney, Ron Roy
Synopsis:

It's a mystery every month from popular A to Z Mysteries author Ron Roy! With the younger siblings of the A to Z Mysteries kids!

June is for Jam...

In the sixth book of the Calendar Mysteries - an early chapter book mystery series - Bradley, Brian, Nate, and Lucy want to make homemade strawberry jam for Father's Day. Unfortunately, it's not as simple as it first seems. Some sneaky creature is taking bites of their strawberries. Polly the pony, Pal the dog, and Josh the older brother are all suspects. If the kids can't protect the strawberry patch from the mystery chomper, they might be in a real jam!

Parents, teachers, and Librarians agree that these highly collectible chapter books are perfect for emerging readers and any kid who loves mysteries!

Publication Date: 03/22/11
Age Level: 8 - 12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction

Pages



RECENT BOOK REVIEWS