Grades 3-5
P.T. Wilkie loves living in a motel! He eats ice cream by the pool all day long, has a snack machine in his living room, and he has a giant alligator as a pet. The only thing the motel doesn’t have, though, is customers. If there aren’t any customers, then it will have to be closed, and P.T. could lose his home for good! Will he be able to save it before everything he loves goes down the tubes?
Grades 4-6
Sara Johnston-Fischer’s summer plans are cancelled when she finds out that she is going on a cross country train trip with her two sisters, one of their boyfriends and her two moms. It’s not what she had in mind, but it could be fun, right? Read This Would Make a Good Story Someday to find out what Sara’s summer has in store!
Grades 3-6
In book two of the Book Scavenger series, Emily and James are excited to crack all the mysterious codes that Mr. Quisling throws at them. They find his coded note and then uncover a bunch of encrypted messages in books by Mark Twain. Will they be able to crack them all?
Grades 4-6
This sequel to The Misadventures of Max Crumbly: Locker Hero picks up where the last book left off: Max had just escaped his locker after being stuffed there for a long three day weekend, surrounded by three criminals. Will he be a hero and save his middle school or a failure and let everyone down?
Ages 16+
16-year-old Kilee Brookbank’s life changed forever when she lit a candle in her home and an explosion left her homeless and with 3rd and 4th degree burns. Beautiful Scars is her story of strength, perseverance and her amazing road to recovery.
Grades 3-6
Perry’s mom is an inmate at Blue River Co-Ed Correctional Facility in Surprise, Nebraska. He was born and raised there, and he knows all the rules and all the inmates. The new district attorney, however, finds out about Perry’s living arrangements, and forces Perry to live “on the outside” in a foster home. Perry is determined to find answers about his mom’s crime and discover the truth about why she’s really behind bars.
Ages 18+
Billy Harney is the son of Chicago’s Chief of Detectives, and he followed in his father’s footsteps. His twin sister Patty is also a cop. Billy is involved in a shootout and left for dead, but amazingly survives. Now he’s charged with a double homicide and desperately wants to clear his good name. The problem is, he has no recollection of what went down in the hours preceding the events. He puts his detective work to good use, and finds a little black book that everyone in Chicago wants to get their hands on. He is happy he found the book because it will help him solve the case, but at the same time he is afraid that the truth might not set him free.
Grades 9-12
Sixteen-year-old Tatum isn’t looking forward to her summer whatsoever. She has recently been falsely accused of a crime and has been grounded by her step-mother until the end of time. Now that she has a lot more free time, she starts completing her required community service by day, and works on her secret graphic design business by night. Amid emails flying back and forth between her and her uber-cute new client, Tatum realizes she’s not the only one whose hiding secrets and tries desperately to amend things with her family.
Thanks to School Library Journal for a review copy of this book.
Grades 9-12
Claudia overhears a conversation at a party at the end of the summer, and now she’s on the bad side of the meanest girl in school. What’s more, Claudia and she are assigned to write a paper together, and they’re both auditioning for a part in the play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Along the way, Claudia gains an unexpected friendship, meets an adorable new guy, and starts to think that things aren’t so bad after all.
Thanks to School Library Journal for a review copy of this book.
Grades 3-5
Fourth grader Moxie McCoy is a confident detective who is determined to catch whoever stole her school mascot, Eddie the Owl. Usually, she works together with her best friend who has recently moved away. She calls on her little brother Milton instead, and together the two of them interview Moxie’s classmates, who are all potential suspects. Can the two rival siblings come together and solve the case?
Thanks to School Library Journal for a review copy of this book.
Michelle’s Bookish Life 