Henry and the Bully

Henry loves to play soccer with his first grade classmates - at least until Sam, the second grade bully shows up and kicks the ball off the playground.  Henry tries to get help from his teacher, and mother - to no avail - and he has to find his own way to show Sam that he isn't afraid of a bully. There is a little surprise tucked in this picture book written and illustrated by Nancy Carlson.  It could be part of a discussion about school and playground rules at the start of a new school year.

Julia Gillian (and the Dream of the Dog)

The story of Julia Gillian continues as she enters middle school, and must deal with harder classes, trying to perfect her free throws, big scary 8th grade students, and a reading project with an uncooperative 3rd grader.  To top it off, her dog, Big Foot, is getting older, and showing signs that he might die soon.  Readers of the previous installments of this series (Julia Gillian (and the Art of Knowing) and Julia Gillian (and the Quest for Joy)) will want to follow her latest adventures in her south Minneapolis neighborhood.  This is another well-written book by Alison McGhee that deals with common life problems of tweens and pre-teens.

The Secret of Zoom

This book made the news this summer when President Obama bought a copy for his daughters at an Iowa bookstore.  It is the story of ten year old Christina, who lives a very sheltered life in an old mansion.  Her father is a mathematician who expects her to follow in his footsteps (she hates math!). Her mother, a scientist, disappeared when Christina was just a toddler.  After discovering a secret tunnel from her house to the forest, Christina learns that children from a local orphanage are being held in prison-like conditions and forced to mine a substance called zoom (a fuel). Zoom lies dormant until someone sings a sequence of notes with perfect pitch (none of the children have perfect pitch).  Only pitch-perfect Christina can save the day in this imaginative adventure story by Lynne Jonell.  This could be a good read-aloud for middle grades.

One Pup's Up

The daily life of a group of puppies is the focus of this counting and rhyming story by Marsha Wilson Chall.  From the first puppy to awake in the morning ("one pup's up"), to ten puppies who tussle and "show off a peppy puppy grin". But, they eventually tire, and fall back to sleep---until---one pup's up! The watercolor and ink illustrations by Henry Cole add to the energy and spunkiness of this simple story.  Fun to share with young children.

Whiteout

Need an instant cool-down on a hot summer day?  Maybe the first few sentences of this book will do the trick:

      Alone. Completely Alone. That's how it feels when you're in a whiteout blizzard.  You can't hear anything but the wind and the crunching of your feet on the snow.

Set in the fictional town of Greenville, Minnesota, this mystery is the third installment of the "Hunted" series by Walter Sorrells.  Sixteen year old Chastity and her mother have been running away from her father's killer for the previous two volumes, set in San Francisco and Alabama (it's not necessary to read these to enjoy volume three). Life feels nice and normal in rural Minnesota until Chastity finds her new music teacher shot to death in the school parking lot in the middle of a Minnesota blizzard.  This page-turning mystery will have teen readers staying awake to see if the killer is caught before it's too late for Chastity, her mother, and her new friend Katie.

The Princess and Her Panther

In this story, two young sisters decide to camp out in their backyard.  The older sister is a brave princess, while the younger one is a panther (who tries to be brave).  They venture across a vast sandy desert (a sand box), and set up a red velvet tent among the trees.  When it gets dark the spooky sounds start, and even the princess is having a hard time being brave.  Written by Wendy Orr, with acrylic paint illustrations by Minnesota's Lauren Stringer, this will be enjoyed by young girls especially.

The Me Nobody Knew

Shannon (the author of this book) was 13.  She hated her parents, her friends, her body, her life in general.  She struggled with drinking and drug experimentation. She was sexually assaulted, and tried to starve herself.  Sounds like a teen problem novel in the extreme, right?  It isn't--it's the author's autobiographical account of her teen years and how she found ways to survive the pain, and gradually find peace with the world and her life.  The book is written by Shannon McLinden, who tells the story of her teen years growing up in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. Overall, it's a hopeful, honest book (and a fast read) especially for girls who can have tremendous mood swings during their teen years.  A discussion guide is included for use by teachers, counselors, or book clubs.