The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle
By Janet Fox Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group Pages: 400 Lexile: 740L Age Range: 10 – 14 Years ABOUT “Keep calm and carry on.” That’s what Katherine Bateson’s father told her, and that’s what she’s trying to do: when her father goes off to the war, when her mother sends Kat and her brother and sister away from London to escape the incessant bombing, even when the children arrive at Rookskill Castle, an ancient, crumbling manor on the misty Scottish highlands. But it’s hard to keep calm in the strange castle that seems haunted by ghosts or worse. What’s making those terrifying...
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By Heather Hepler Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group Pages: 256 Age Range: 12 Years ABOUT A confection of a novel, combining big city sophistication with small town charm. When her mother moves them from the city to a small town to open up a cupcake bakery, Penny’s life isn’t what she expected. Her father has stayed behind, and Mom isn’t talking about what the future holds for their family. And then there’s Charity, the girl who plays mean pranks almost daily. There are also bright spots in Hog’s Hollow-like Tally, an expert in Rock Paper Scissors, and...
Read MoreAudacity
By Melanie Crowder Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group Pages: 400 Age Range: 12 – 17 Years ABOUT A 2015 National Jewish Book Award finalist The inspiring story of Clara Lemlich, whose fight for equal rights led to the largest strike by women in American history A gorgeously told novel in verse written with intimacy and power, Audacity is inspired by the real-life story of Clara Lemlich, a spirited young woman who emigrated from Russia to New York at the turn of the twentieth century and fought tenaciously for equal rights. Bucking the norms of both her traditional Jewish family and...
Read MoreThe Stars of Summer: An All Four Stars Book
By Tara Dairman Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group Pages: 352 Age Range: 10 Years ABOUT Joan Bauer meets Ruth Reichl—Tara Dairman’s charming sequel to All Four Stars brings Gladys Gatsby to summer camp. In this charming sequel to All Four Stars, eleven-year-old foodie Gladys Gatsby now has her first published review under her belt and is looking forward to a quiet summer of cooking and reviewing. But her plans quickly go awry when her friend Charissa Bentley delivers Gladys’s birthday gift: a free summer at Camp Bentley. As Gladys feared, camp life is not easy: she struggles to...
Read MorePrincess Juniper of the Hourglass
By Ammi-Joan Paquette Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group Pages: 288 Lexile: 850L Age Range: 8 – 12 Years ABOUT In this royal adventure, Princess Juniper learns what it means to rule a kingdom—the perfect story for girls who love princesses AND adventure! For her thirteenth nameday all Princess Juniper wants is a country of her own. So when rumblings of unrest start in his kingdom, Juniper’s father decides to grant his daughter’s wish and sends her to a small, idyllic corner of the Hourglass Mountains until trouble blows over. Once there, Juniper discovers that ruling a...
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