Like her idol, Sherlock Holmes, Ingrid Levin-Hill uses her intellect to solve a murder case in her home town of Echo Falls.
Whales on Stilts
Anderson, M.T.
Three middle school students must stop a mad scientist from taking over the world with an army of whales.
The Lost Years of Merlin (Lost Years of Merlin Trilogy, Book 1)
Barron, T.A.
A young boy who has no identity nor memory of his past washes ashore on the coast of Wales and finds his true name after a series of fantastic adventures.
Peter and the Starcatchers (The Starcatchers Series, Book 1)
Barry, Dave
Soon after Peter, an orphan, sets sail from England on the ship Never Land, he befriends and assists Molly, a young Starcatcher, whose mission is to guard a trunk of magical stardust from a greedy pirate and the native inhabitant of a remote island.
Basketball (or Something Like It)
Baskin, Nora R.
Hank, Nathan, Jeremy, and Anabel deal with the pressures and excitement of middle school basketball.
The Last Knight
Bell, Hilari
An anachronistic knight errant takes a criminal as squire, mistakenly frees a woman charged with murdering her husband (brother to his father's liege), and becomes captive in her keep.
Shakespeare Stealer (The Shakespeare Stealer Series, Book 1)
Blackwood, Gary
Widge is an orphan with a rare talent for shorthand. His fearsome master has just one demand: steal Shakespeare's play "Hamlet"--or else. Widge has no choice but to follow orders, so he works his way into the heart of the Globe Theatre, where Shakespeare's players perform.
Daughter of the Wind
Cadnum, Michael
A tale of love, kidnapping, and revenge during Viking times. The story allows the reader to experience life in a village off the coast of Denmark.
Little Brother
Doctorow, Cory
There's been another major terrorist attack and the Department of Homeland Security has clamped down big time. It's up to Marcus, computer geek, to save everyone from this police state.
The London Eye Mystery
Dowd, Siobhan
When their cousin Salim disappears into thin air during a ride on the London Eye ferris wheel, Ted and his sister Kat try to solve the mystery.
Corydon and the Island of Monsters
Druitt, Tobias
Corydon, an outcast Greek boy with the leg of a goat, learns that he is part of an old prophecy and joins forces with Medusa and other "monsters" known in Greek mythology in confrontation with mortal heroes fighting for the Olympian gods.
Shadow Spinner
Fletcher, Susan
When Marjan, a 13-year old crippled girl, joins the Sultan's harem in Ancient Persia, she gathers for Scheherazade the stories which will save the Queen's life in this clever spin-off of the Arabian Nights stories.
Inkheart (Inkheart Trilogy, Book 1)
Funke, Cornelia
Meggie's father Mo has an interesting talent: when he reads aloud, things, and sometimes people, come out of their stories and into the real world! But now the evil Capricorn wants to use Mo's talents to bring himself great wealth and power. Then Meggie discovers that maybe Mo isn't the only one who can read things to life.
Stardust
Gaiman, Neil
Living in a Victorian countryside town overshadowed by an imposing stone barrier, Tristran is compelled to retrieve a fallen star for the woman he loves and crosses to the wondrous other side of the barrier, where he encounters dangerous rivals for the star.
I, Coriander
Gardner, Sally
In 17th century England, Coriander, a girl who has inherited magical power form her mother, must discover how to harness this magic to save herself.
The Red Necklace: A Story of the French Revolution
Gardner, Sally
During the French Revolution, Yann a 14-year old magician's assistant, witnesses the death of this employer and the evil that ensues.
Found (The Missing Series, Book 1)
Haddix, Margaret P.
In trying to figure out his roots, 13-year-old Jonah and his friend Chip are plunged into a mystery involving the FBI, a smuggling operation, and an airplane that appeared out of nowhere.
The Goose Girl
Hale, Shannon
A magical retelling of the Grimm's fairy tale of a princess who must become a goose girl before she can become a queen.
Into the Wild
Hunter, Erin
For generations, four clans of wild cats have shared the forest according to the laws laid down by their warrior ancestors, but now there is trouble. In the midst of this turmoil appears an ordinary house cat named Rusty, who may turn out to be the bravest warrior of them all.
The Akhenatan Adventure (Children of the Lamp Series, Book 1)
Kerr, Phillip
When 12-year old twins Philippa and John discover that they are descended from a long line of djinn, their mother sends them away to their Uncle Nimrod, who takes them to Cairo and starts to teach them about their extraordinary powers.
The Stonekeeper (Amulet Series, Book 1)
Kibuishi, Kazu
Emily and her brother Navin descend into a dark and dangerous world below their great grandfather's mansion hoping to save their mother, who's been kidnapped by a large creature with tentacles.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series, Book 1)
Kinney, Jeff
Greg Heffley is thrust into middle school, where undersized weaklings share the hallways with kids who are taller, meaner, and already shaving. The hazards of growing up are uniquely revealed through words and drawings as Greg records them in his diary.
The Apprentice
Llorente, Pilar M.
Arduino, a 13-year-old boy from a family of prestigious tailors, convinces his father to apprentice him to a master painter, only to find that the Maestro is ill-tempered, miserly and, out of jealousy, has secretly imprisoned a gifted, orphaned apprentice in the attic.
Strongbow: The Story of Richard and Aiofe
Llywelyn, Morgan
This novel tells the dramatic story of the Norman conquest of Ireland in the 12th century. Amidst the carnage, love blossoms between Aoife, an Irish princess, and Richard de Clare, the great Norman knight.
Granuaile
Llywelyn, Morgan
In the 16th century, Granuaile, the Pirate Queen, warrior and leader, was the terror of the North Atlantic and the most feared woman in Ireland. Heading a large army and a fleet of ships, she lived by trading and raiding and demanding tribute from all who sailed through her territory. Told partly through letters written to her son Tibbot, it charts the gradual decline of the Gaelic chieftains and traditions of Ireland as Elizabeth Tudor, the 'Virgin Queen' of England, extended her power throughout Ireland by bribery and slaughter.
Marie, Dancing
Meyer, Carolyn
Marie, a poor ballet student in Paris, becomes a model for Edgar Degas's famous statue, "The Little Dancer."
Mary, Bloody Mary (The Young Royals Series)
Meyer, Carolyn
Henry VIII's oldest daughter, Mary, trained not to weep in public, puts on a steely front but lives in constant fear of her father's tyranny. The novel begins in 1527 when 11-year-old Mary learns that she has been betrothed to the middle-aged king of France. The novel ends in 1536, just after Henry VIII takes his third wife, Jane Seymour, and things begin to look a bit more optimistic for Mary. The author's characterization of the Catholic queen demonstrates there was much more to Mary than the deeds that earned her a sanguinary nickname.
Bloody Jack (Bloody Jack Adventures, Book 1)
Meyer, L.A.
Desperate to escape the streets of London, a thirteen-year old orphan disguises herself as a boy and hides on a British warship in search of pirates.
Eragon (Inheritance Series, Book 1)
Paolini, Christopher
In Alagaesia, a 15-year old boy of unknown lineage called Eragon finds a mysterious stone that weaves his life into an intricate tapestry of destiny, magic, and power, peopled with dragons, elves, and monsters.
Parzival: The Quest of the Grail Knight
Paterson, Katherine
An adaptation of the German epic story, in which Parzival wants to prove himself worthy of knighthood by searching for the Holy Grail.
The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials Trilogy, Book 1)
Pullman, Philip
Accompanied by her daemon, Lyra Belaqua sets out to prevent her best friend and other kidnapped children from becoming the subject of gruesome experiments in the Far North.
The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series, Book 1)
Riordan, Rick
When Percy Jackson learns that the father he never knew is Poseidon, God of the Sea, he becomes involved in a quest to save the world from a catastrophic war between the gods.
Holes
Sachar, Louis
Stanley Yelnats is under a curse and now has been unjustly sent to a boys' detention center called Camp Green Lake. Everyday the boys must dig holes, according to the warden. Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this tale of crime, punishment, and redemption.
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again
Tolkien, J.R.R.
The adventures of hobbit Bilbo Baggins in a land inhabited by dwarves, elves, goblins, dragons, and humans (Middle Earth). He sets off to recover a stolen treasure from the great dragon Smaug, the terror of the countryside.
Heir Apparent
Velde, Vivian Vande
While playing a total immersion virtual reality game of kings and intrigue, 14-year old Giannine learns that demonstrators have damaged the equipment to which she is connected, and she must win the game quickly or be damaged herself.
The Storm Thief
Wooding, Chris
With the help of a golem, two teenaged thieves try to survive on the city island of Orokos, where unpredictable probability storms continually change both the landscape and the inhabitants.
The Ravenmaster's Secret
Woodruff, Elvira
Eleven-year-old Forrest lives at the Tower of London, where his father is Ravenmaster, the yeoman warder whose job is to guard prisoners and care for the famous ravens that live within the walls. Though often lonely, Forrest makes three friends: a raven, a young rat catcher, and, more dangerously, a Scottish girl imprisoned in the Bloody Tower. Soon the children become involved in an intrigue that is both dangerous and treasonous.
Queen's Own Fool
Yolen, Jane
In 1559, when a ragtag troupe of traveling entertainers is snatched from the sodden streets of Rheims to amuse the bored visiting French court, 13-year-old Nicola Ambruzzi impresses the queen with her wit and honesty. The beautiful young Mary takes the girl under her protection as "the queen's own fool," commissioned to speak the truth boldly amid the fawning lies and schemes of the courtiers. Around them swarm secret plots, duplicity, and betrayal; death is a constant threat.
