Faker Gordon Korman Scholastic Age 8-12 July 2, 2024 Is Trey really defined by what his family does? Confidence man, liar, criminal… Faker? Living a high-end life funded by his father’s career as a con artist, Trey and his little sister are in on the game, to reel in families in a series of prep schools and wealthy communities. Settling into what could be their biggest score yet—the big kahuna—a fictional electric car start-up looking for investors, he begins to question it all. An influential middle school ethics teacher and his activist daughter open Trey’s eyes to the morality of the “fam ..read more

Your Vote Matters: How We Elect the US President Rebecca Katzman Illustrated by Ellen Duda Scholastic Inc May 7, 2024 Age: 7-10 Selecting a new US President is no easy task, and neither is understanding how it all happens. With this fun and informative explanation of the process, journalist Rebecca Katzman introduces upper elementary schoolers to this aspect of the political process and just how important their voice is to the outcome. Combining civics, history, and governmental fun-facts (do you know how astronauts vote from space?), kids will cover basic facts about the presidency and gover ..read more

The Enigma Girls: How Ten Teenagers Broke Ciphers, Kept Secrets, and Helped Win World War II Candace Fleming Scholastic March 5, 2024 Age 8-12 It wasn’t just the boys doing their bit for the war effort during the harrowing years of World War II. Sibert Award-winner Candace Fleming follows The Enigma Girls, ten young women working with the British government, cracking ciphers and codes to help win the war. Based out of Station X at Bletchley Park, a once top secret center of the British intelligence, thousands of people (nearly ¾ of them young women, p. 237) worked night and day intercepting ..read more

The Dubious Pranks of Shaindy Goodman By Mari Lowe Levine Querdio Published November 7, 2023 Age 10-14 Awkward and excluded, 12-year-old Shaindy Goodman just wants to fit in with the girls at Bais Yaakov Middle School. When she’s invited by Gayil, the queen bee next door, to help with a series of pranks, she shrugs off her misgivings in favor of acceptance. Helping out with some harmless jokes, even if it means breaking into school, may be her chance to find friendship. Shaindy quickly realizes the pranks are more mean-spirited than high-spirited, and that only certain classmates are being ta ..read more

Talia’s Codebook for MathletesMarissa Moss Walker Books June 13, 2023 Ages 8 to 12 Talia loves cracking codes and doing math, but can’t seem to solve the puzzle that is middle school. Joining the mathlete team was supposed to help with her transition, but as the only girl on the team, the boys make her the outcast. When her mathlete best friend, Dash, gets too embarrassed to be best friends with a girl, and wants to hide their friendship, there’s only one thing Talia can do—make her own all-girls mathlete team! With her new friends by her side, Talia becomes determined to bring their team to ..read more

Four EyesRex Ogle Illustrated by Dave Valeza Graphix Ages 8 to 12 May 2nd, 2023 Rex thought sixth grade was going to be exciting, with new teachers, a fancy locker, and his best friend by his side. He was going to conquer the year with flying colors. Then his best friend starts hanging out with the popular crowd who don’t like the comics and who start bullying Rex for being short. Rex’s year can’t get any worse—until he finds out he needs glasses. Now, Rex has to deal with wearing glasses and being bullied for it, while navigating sixth grade, having no friends, and a family who don’t underst ..read more

Have you registered for the March 23rd Butler Lecture yet? What are you waiting for? Find out more. Now that you’re in, it’s time to get to know this year’s speaker. Pablo Cartaya is an internationally acclaimed author, screenwriter, speaker, and educator. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, NBC, and on Oprah’s Booklist. He has received multiple starred reviews from Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, School Library Journal, and Audiofile Magazine for his novels and audiobook narrations. Pablo has worked with Disney, Apple+, and Sesame Street on projects adapt ..read more

Good Different Meg Eden Kuyatt Scholastic Press March 7, 2023 Age 8-12 Always follow the rules for “normal” people: no crying in public, smile and nod, tell people you’re “fine.” But Selah doesn’t always want to be normal. In fact, she wants to be a dragon—escaping to fly free above the chaotic world below. She is pretty good at hiding her feelings in order to fit in, until an outburst at school pits Selah against her classmates, the school administration, and her mom. This leaves poetry (and her grandfather) as her only avenues to explore her feelings when speech fails her. A chance encounte ..read more

Into the GladesLaura Sebastian Delacorte Press October 25th, 2022 Ages 8 to 12 The Glades—a peaceful but magical swamp-like area filled with magical creatures—has been the home to best friends, Cecilia and Larkin, since they were young. But with the unexpected death of Cecilia’s father, Oziris, the leader of the village, the Glades has turned maliciously towards the townspeople like never before. Wrapped in anger and grief but determined to resurrect Oziris and break the curse on the Glades, Cecilia and Larkin, along with their two younger brothers, embark upon a journey through the Glades to ..read more

Whether sweet and silly or downright terrifying, ghosts and ghouls of all ages enjoy a good spooky story. And publishers did not disappoint this Halloween season, covering the gambit from gentle introductions to Halloween traditions to dark and twisty tales of the occult. So pick your favorite candy, pour yourself a mug of cider, and settle in for a read at your preferred level of spooky. BOARD BOOKS: For the youngest ghosties! The Monsters on the Broom By Annemarie Riley Guertin Illustrated by Shauna Lynn Panczyszyn Simon & Schuster/Little Simon July 2022 0-3 A group of young monsters de ..read more