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.