The Stupendous Switcheroo #3: Can't Go Home Again

The Stupendous Switcheroo #3: Can't Go Home Again
Author: Mary Winn Heider
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2024-11-12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 059342736X

The heroic cast of rag-tag, superpowered kids are back! In this third installment of the highly illustrated series, can the Stupendous Switcheroo change his fate from #1 undesirable prisoner to top student at the Valor Innovations Academy? When the Stupendous Switcheroo—Switch, for short—set out to rescue his mom from supervillain jail, he never imagined he could be captured instead. Now, Switch is plotting his escape—but a failed attempt quickly proves it’s an impossible mission. But then, mastermind Vin Valor offers Switch a bargain: he can remain a prisoner… or he can join the Valor Innovations Academy instead. Switch is reluctant to choose between two evils—but maybe the resources at VIA will help him finally find a way back home. What he finds instead is a web of sinister secrets—and the family robot, Al, who has snuck into VIA to be Switch’s sidekick in disguise! It turns out reclaiming his freedom isn't the hardest mission—but figuring out where to go next sure is....

Left Behind

Left Behind
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 130
Release: 2016-04-05
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0698177908

Another moving installment in Laurie Halse Anderson's award-winning Vet Volunteers series! When Sunita joins Dr. Gabe and another Vet Volunteer on a house call at a local horse farm, she is concerned to discover a lone lamb housed in one of the stalls. She knows that sheep are flock animals, and that without other sheep and lambs around, this little lamb will not thrive. Can she and her fellow Vet Volunteers help educate the owner, and find a new home for it with others of its kind?

The Music of Zombies

The Music of Zombies
Author: Vivian French
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2013-07-09
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0763663778

The web of power looks smooth and peaceful — until a new threat looms — in the fifth tale from the Five Kingdoms. Prince Albion expects a unique occasion when he starts planning Cockenzie Rood Day to celebrate his kingdom — and himself. What he doesn’t expect is boppings on the head and kidnapping, all because a zombie wants to play his fiddle in the talent contest. With a misbehaving path, a romantic bat, and a greedy butler to set them on their way, Gracie Gillypot and Prince Marcus are off on their fifth adventure. It’s up to a Trueheart, a resourceful prince, and Gubble the troll to stop the zombie before he does some giant damage to the Five Kingdoms.

Doodleville

Doodleville
Author: Chad Sell
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 147
Release: 2020-06-09
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1984894722

For fans of Svetlana Chmakova's Awkward and Raina Telgemeier's Smile comes an inventive new story from Cardboard Kingdom creator Chad Sell about a group of young artists who must work together when one of their own creations becomes a monster. Drew is just a regular artist. But there's nothing ordinary about her art. Her doodles are mischievous . . . and rarely do they stay in Doodleville, the world she's created in her sketchbook. Instead, Drew's doodles prefer to explore the world outside. But after an inspiring class trip to the Art Institute of Chicago--where the doodles cause a bit too much trouble--Drew decides it's time to take her artistic talents to the next level. Enter the Leviathan--Levi, for short. He's bigger and better than anything Drew has ever created before. He's a monster, but a friendly one. That is, until Levi begins to wreak havoc on Drew's other doodles--and on the heroes her classmates have dreamt up. Levi won't be easily tamed, and it seems there is a link between the monster's bad behavior and Drew's feelings. With the help of her loyal art club friends, will she be able to save Doodleville--and Levi--before it's too late?

The Cardboard Kingdom

The Cardboard Kingdom
Author: Chad Sell
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 147
Release: 2018-06-05
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1524719390

Perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier, Awkward, and All's Faire in Middle School, this graphic novel follows a neighborhood of kids who transform ordinary cardboard into fantastical homemade costumes as they explore conflicts with friends, family, and their own identity. "A breath of fresh air, this tender and dynamic collection is a must-have." --Kirkus, Starred Welcome to a neighborhood of kids who transform ordinary boxes into colorful costumes, and their ordinary block into cardboard kingdom. This is the summer when sixteen kids encounter knights and rogues, robots and monsters--and their own inner demons--on one last quest before school starts again. In the Cardboard Kingdom, you can be anything you want to be--imagine that! The Cardboard Kingdom was created, organized, and drawn by Chad Sell with writing from ten other authors: Jay Fuller, David DeMeo, Katie Schenkel, Kris Moore, Molly Muldoon, Vid Alliger, Manuel Betancourt, Michael Cole, Cloud Jacobs, and Barbara Perez Marquez. The Cardboard Kingdom affirms the power of imagination and play during the most important years of adolescent identity-searching and emotional growth. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY KIRKUS REVIEWS * THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY * SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL * A TEXAS BLUEBONNET 2019-20 MASTER LIST SELECTION "There's room for everyone inside The Cardboard Kingdom, where friendship and imagination reign supreme." --Ingrid Law, New York Times bestselling author of Savvy "A timely and colorful graphic novel debut that, like its many offbeat but on-point characters, marches to the beat of its own cardboard drum." --Tim Federle, award-winning author of Better Nate Than Ever

The Cardboard Kingdom #2: Roar of the Beast

The Cardboard Kingdom #2: Roar of the Beast
Author: Chad Sell
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2021-06-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0593125541

Perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier and All's Faire in Middle School, this sequel to the Eisner Award-nominated The Cardboard Kingdom follows the kids as they solve the mystery of a new neighborhood monster. A mystery is afoot in the Cardboard Kingdom. Vijay, the Beast, renounces his title after being bullied by neighborhood teenagers. No one--not his big sister Shikha or his friends--can seem to draw him back out of his shell. That very night is when it starts. At first, no one believes Nate, who breaks his leg trying to pursue what he saw from his bedroom window. But then there's another, and another. An unknown monster has been spotted roaming the Kingdom after dark. It's ghastly, it's quick, and it might even have giant tentacles. Or claws. Or wings. Okay, there might be some varied testimonies on what exactly this monster looks like. Forget Halloween--the newly minted Monster Mashers will go to any lengths to protect the Kingdom and uncover this mystery. But how did the monster get here? What does it want? And mostly importantly, who is behind its creation? The Cardboard Kingdom: Roar of the Beast was created, organized, and drawn by Chad Sell with writing from nine other authors: Jay Fuller, David DeMeo, Katie Schenkel, Molly Muldoon, Vid Alliger, Manuel Betancourt, Michael Cole, Cloud Jacobs, and Barbara Perez Marquez.

Doodleville #2: Art Attacks!

Doodleville #2: Art Attacks!
Author: Chad Sell
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 131
Release: 2022-11-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1984894757

Drew and her mischievous doodles are back—and planning a heist-in-reverse at the Art Institute of Chicago—in the sequel to Doodleville, which Lincoln Peirce calls “a masterpiece.” Drew never meant for this to happen. She didn’t mean for her doodle Mike to steal the centuries-old hat. She didn’t mean for Levi to steal the centuries-old baby (when he was supposed to be returning the coveted hat!). And she definitely didn’t mean to send the Art Institute of Chicago into a downward spiral of art-on-art combat. She just wanted to fix a simple mistake! Now everything’s gone wrong, and it’s mayhem at the museum. Drew is sure she’s going to become public enemy #1, wanted posters and all. But it turns out Drew and her art club might be the museum’s only chance at resolution and restoration. Can they fix it before centuries worth of masterpieces are destroyed forever?

Hey 13!

Hey 13!
Author: Gary Soto
Publisher: Holiday House
Total Pages: 116
Release: 2012-05-15
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0823426882

Being thirteen is happy, sad, humiliating, surprising, wonderful, awful, exciting, boring -- in other words, full of ups and downs. The thirteen-year-olds in Gary Soto's thirteen stories experience all this and more. In one story, a girl's world is turned upside down when she visits a college campus where she expects to find a rarified atmosphere of intellectual pursuit, only to meet a tour guide who is tattooed, overly pierced, hungover, and not at all focused on academics. In another, two girls test the attraction of their new bodies by flirting with boys at a mall and then find themselves in an uncomfortable and somewhat frightening situation. The stories in this book are about family relationships, friendships, self-worth, and questions of integrity.

Worst-Case Collin

Worst-Case Collin
Author: Rebecca Caprara
Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing
Total Pages: 388
Release: 2021-09-28
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1632899221

This poignant middle grade novel in verse follows twelve-year-old Collin who manages his anxiety by mapping out survival plans for any disaster or worst-case scenario. Collin is always prepared for something to go wrong. Ever since he lost his mom in a car accident, he's been journaling about how to overcome things like avalanches, riptides, or even a bad case of halitosis. Meanwhile, Collin's father grows more distant by the day, and has started hoarding things throughout their house. Determined to hide his home life from his friends, Collin navigates middle school alongside the hilarious and clueless Liam, and Georgia, who Collin may have feelings for. Can Collin learn to be vulnerable around those he loves, even when he can't control every possible scenario?

Downside Up

Downside Up
Author: Richard Scrimger
Publisher: Tundra Books
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2016-09-13
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1770498443

Fred is a sixth-grader reeling from the loss of his beloved dog, Casey. Every day he walks home from school bouncing Casey's old worn-out tennis ball. One day, the ball falls down a sewer grate, and Fred can't bear to leave it down there. He pries open the grate and stumbles down. Through the sewer, Fred enters a parallel universe: Casey is alive, his mom and sister are happier, and there's a version of Fred who's happier too. Spending time with Casey, Fred feels joy for the first time since his dog's death, but he slowly realizes that the loss of Casey is masking an even greater loss: the death of Fred's father. Fred brings his sister, Izzy, to this upside-down world of lost things in the hope of finding their father and bringing him back. Can everything that is lost be found again?