The Seer of Shadows
Avi

 “An intriguing ghost story. Details about photographic processes add authenticity, while the book’s somber ending will leave spines tingling.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review) )

“This tale proves that the time-honored ghost story, capably researched, well-paced and fusing the Gothic elements of mystery, madness and romance, can still thrill in the hands of a skilled craftsman.” (Kirkus Reviews )

“In perhaps his best work yet, Avi has created a truly chilling tale that will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned and the lights are turned out.”

Cicada Summer
Andrea Beaty

Lily, who hasn’t spoken since the accident that killed her brother two years ago, does nothing to contradict the general notion that she is now brain damaged. She finds comfort in the openhearted affection of an elderly neighbor and in reading Nancy Drew mysteries on the sly. After Tinny, a troubled new girl in their small Illinois town, discovers that Lily is hiding the fact that she can still read, Lily finds it increasingly difficult to maintain the facade that has been her emotional shield. A present-tense account of scenes leading up to her brother’s death, inserted in italics at intervals within the primary first-person narrative, heightens the level of intensity as the main story progresses and the parallel narrative approaches that shrouded but clearly traumatic event. Written with clarity and fine attention to craft, this accessible novel reveals the secret in Lily’s past just as she reaches out to solve the mystery that shadows Tinny’s present.

Masterpiece
Elise Broach

James lives an invisible existence in a grand apartment on the Upper East Side. His mother, busy with her new husband and baby and her climb up the Manhattan social ladder, has little time for him. By contrast, Marvin, a beetle whose overprotective, extended family resides behind James’ mother’s kitchen, gets more attention than he wants. The two find friendship when James’ artist father gives him a pen-and-ink set, and Marvin discovers his talent for “drawing,” crafting delicate, museum-quality miniatures with his legs. When Marvin and James find themselves embroiled in a plot to steal a Dürer drawing from the Metropolitan Museum, they must find creative ways to communicate to foil the thieves and protect the masterpiece. Murphy’s own pen-and-ink spot art reflects the text’s sweet insouciance. With suspense, art history, complex family relationships (human and arthropod), and a resonant friendship, this enjoyable outing will satisfy the reserved and adventurous alike.

Obi, Gerbil on the Loose
M.C. Delaney

Obi, a young gerbil named for the Jedi knight in Star Wars, lives a cushy existence with the Armstrongs until they go on vacation, leaving a neighbor boy to feed all the pets. Unfortunately, Tad doesn’t know about Obi (headphones prevent him from hearing her frantic yelps), so he doesn’t feed her. Hungry Obi finally breaks out of her cage, beginning an adventure that takes her to the attic (where she meets an elderly mouse who shows her secret passageways and escape routes); the kitchen (home to three particularly nasty cats); and a bedroom, where she finds a boa constrictor and a tarantula. Themes of self-reliance and loyalty are woven into the story as Obi learns to assert herself, take care of her needs, and reassure herself that her owner, Rachel, did not forget about her care. Small, black line drawings add drama and emotion to a book that will be popular with young pet lovers; the ending hints at more Obi stories to come.

Kenny & the Dragon
Tony DiTerlizzi

What do you do when your new best buddy has been designated a scourge by the community and marked for imminent extermination? Just ask Kenny Rabbit. When the simple folks in the sleepy little village of Roundbrook catch wind that there's a dragon running loose in the countryside, they get the wrong idea and the stage is set for a fight to the death. So it's up to Kenny to give his neighbors front-row seats to one of the best-known battles in history -- the legendary showdown between St. George and the dragon -- without losing a friend in the fray.

The Gollywhopper Games
Jody Feldman 

Gil Goodson's future happiness depends on winning the Golly Toy & Game Company's ultimate competition. If Gil wins, his dad has promised that the family can move away from all the gossip, false friends, and bad press that have plagued them ever since The Incident. Inside the toy company's fantastic headquarters, Gil will have to master trivia, solve puzzles, and complete physical stunts—and he'll have to do it better than all of the other kids competing.

Oh, and did we mention that Gil's every step—and every mistake—will be broadcast on national television? Hold on tight, because the ride of his life is about to begin!

The Girl Who Could Fly
Victoria Forester

In this terrific debut novel, readers meet Piper McCloud, the late-in-life daughter of farmers. Her parents revel in conformity, so it’s disconcerting at best when Piper shows a talent for flying. Homeschooled and kept away from outsiders, Piper is lonely. Finally, her parents let her go to a community picnic, where she thinks she’ll meet new friends. Instead, she terrifies the neighbors by flying up to catch a ball during a kids’ game. In no time, the McCloud farm is besieged. Then, out of a helicopter comes the empathetic Dr. Letitia Hellion, who whisks Piper off to a secret school for kids with special talents. But are things there what they seem to be? No. Forester gets almost everything right here. The story soars, just like Piper, with enough loop-de-loops to keep kids uncertain about what will come next. Her plainspoken heroine has a big heart and a strong streak of defiance, and Piper’s reactions always seem true, even in the midst of sf machinations. Many other characters are also clearly set within the context of their lives, giving them dimension sometimes lacking in supporting casts. Best of all are the book’s strong, lightly wrapped messages about friendship and authenticity and the difference between doing well and doing good. Give this to fans of Trenton Lee Stuart’s The Mysterious Benedict Society (2007).

Eleven
Patricia Reilly Giff

Sam is almost 11 when he discovers a locked box in the attic above his grandfather Mack’s room, and a piece of paper that says he was kidnapped. There are lots of other words, but Sam has always had trouble reading. He’s desperate to find out who he is, and if his beloved Mack is really his grandfather. At night he’s haunted by dreams of a big castle and a terrifying escape on a boat. Who can he trust to help him read the documents that could unravel the mystery? Then he and the new girl, Caroline, are paired up to work on a school project, building a castle in Mack’s woodworking shop. Caroline loves to read, and she can help. But she’s moving soon, and the two must hurry to discover the truth about Sam.

Bird Lake Moon
Kevin Henkes

Mitch Sinclair, 12, is at Bird Moon Lake because his parents are divorcing. But there are tense moments with his grandparents, so Mitch fantasizes about moving into the empty house next door. Then Spencer Stone and his family, who own the cottage, arrive. Spencer and younger sister love the lake, but it’s also the place where their barely remembered brother, Matty, drowned at age four. Told in overlapping chapters, the story is spare. Mitch tricks Spencer into thinking Matty is haunting them; then he does something worse. After the boys become friends, the truth becomes both barrier and bridge. As in his Newbery Honor Book Olive’s Ocean (2003), every word counts, moving the story forward moment by moment. Yet the writing is as evocative as it is precise: fireflies are “pinpricks of topaz.” Emotions are just as carefully carved, turning characterization into portraiture; the children stand out in relief, against the deceptive tranquility of the lake. Some children may find the story too quiet or the ending too abrupt. But Henkes knows children and their secrets, and readers will lean close to hear the whispers.

Piper Reed: Navy Brat
Kimberly Willis Holt

In her first chapter book for younger readers, which is apparently the first in a series, award-winning author Holt tells a lively family story that draws on her experiences of growing up a Navy brat. For nine-year-old Piper, it is sometimes hard being the middle kid, especially now that the family is once again going to a new base. When they get to Pensecola, Florida, the first day of school is "not everyone's, just ours." It doesn't help that Piper is dyslexic. But she copes in class, and she creates a club to make friends. The family stuff is the heart of the story, not only the constant moves and Dad's being away on duty six months at a time but also the tension, laughter, and love in Piper's relationships with her bossy older sister and her talented younger one. Davenier's occasional black-and-white pictures capture the daily family dramas. Readers will look forward to the next book.

Safe At Home
Mike Lupica

Nick Crandall feels like he doesn’t belong anywhere. He doesn’t fit in with his new foster parents. They don’t know the first thing about sports—and he’s not exactly the model student they want him to be. It’s only a matter of time until they realize he’s not the right kid for them. And Nick certainly doesn’t belong playing varsity baseball. He’s only twelve years old! His teammates want a catcher their own age. But Nick needs to prove that he belongs—to his parents, to his team, and to himself.

11 Birthdays
Wendy Mass

Amanda and Leo, born on the same day, have celebrated their birthdays together for 10 years. Still feeling hurt from an unkind remark Leo made at last year’s party, Amanda spends her eleventh birthday without her now-estranged friend to share the fun. In the days that follow, both Amanda and Leo discover that they are caught in a time loop, waking up each morning to find themselves repeating their eleventh birthdays. They soon renew their friendship and begin to experiment by making different choices throughout the day, partly for the thrill of acting without long-term consequences and partly from their fear of never escaping this mysterious time trap. From the double-entendre title to the solid character portrayals to the clarity and wit of the writing, this novel offers a fresh twist on the familiar themes of middle-grade family and school dynamics. The mysterious power that rewinds time eventually seems less important than the power that Amanda finds within herself. Emboldened by the idea of daily do-overs, she discovers that small changes in her attitude and actions result in sometimes-subtle, sometimes-monumental shifts in results for herself, her family, and her friends. A rewarding choice for readers and a natural for booktalks and discussion groups.

Mogo, the Third Warthog
Donna Jo Napoli

As in Napoli’s Ugly (2006), the protagonist here is a young animal learning to survive on its own. The last of three male warthogs born in his litter, Mogo always walks behind his mother and his just-slightly-older brothers in the last position, the most vulnerable to the many predators on the savanna. In a convincing first-person narrative, Mogo tells how he survives after his mother forces the three brothers out on their own. Instincts, learned lessons, and reasoning are on his side, but luck and an unlikely friendship with a lone baboon also come into play. Though the final art for Judge’s illustrations was not seen, the sketches look very promising. Readers with no particular interest in African animals may find themselves unexpectedly caught up in this well-told, life-or-death adventure tale, while children who love animals, even those as apparently unlovable as the warthog, will be in their element here.

Someone Named Eva
Joan M. Wolf

Eleven-year-old Milada lives with her family and plays with her best friend in Czechoslovakia. Life seems to be normal, with stories of Hitler and Germany far away. But one night, soldiers come into the house and take the family in different directions. Milada finds herself in a room with other girls who look surprisingly like herself--blond hair, fair skin, light colored eyes. Milada and the other girls are taught to be good German girls and prepared to fit into their new lives. But as she becomes German Eva, Milada realizes she is forgetting who she really is. Danger is never far away, even in her new family, as the war continues to destroy the country. How can Milada remain true to her identity as everyone around her wants her to become someone else? Is anyone from Milada's real life left? Based on a true story, the book is compelling and readers will easily feel the struggles faced by children in a horrible time.

The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake
Laurence Yep

On the evening of April 17, 1906, neither eight-year-old Henry nor his friend Ching is aware that the earth beneath their San Francisco homes is shifting. Devotees of "penny dreadfuls," both boys long for excitement, not their fathers' ordinary routine lives. When the earthquake shakes the city and a firestorm breaks out, Henry and his parents scramble in the chaos and battle the fire, but must ultimately evacuate their home. Ching and his father survive the collapse of their Chinatown tenement, and flee to the ferry through the debris and turmoil. In the midst of catastrophe, the boys realize that their fathers are real-life heroes. Henry and Ching's stories are told in alternating chapters with a few interruptions for the insertion of earthquake information. Told in the present tense, the narration provides a "you are there" sense of immediacy and will appeal to readers who enjoy action-packed survival stories.