INCIDENT AT HAWKS HILL
Six-year-old Ben is very small for his age, and gets along better with animals than people. One June day in 1870, Ben wanders away from his home on Hawk’s Hill and disappears into the waving prairie grass. This is the story of how a shy, lonely boy survives for months in the wilds and forges a bond with a female badger. ALA Notable Book. Newbery Honor Book.
KEEP ON!
This stunning picture book offers a riveting account of African-American explorer Matthew Henson’s 1909 journey to the North Pole with Admiral Peary.
Matthew Henson was born just after the Civil War, a time when slavery had been abolished, but few opportunities were available for black people. As a child, Henson exhibited a yearning for adventure, embarking at age thirteen on a five-year voyage sailing the seven seas. Henson’s greatest adventure began when Robert Peary invited him to join an expedition to the North Pole. After many storms, injuries, and unimaginable cold, on April 1, Peary, Henson, and four Inuit men began the final 133-mile push to the Pole.
Award-winning author Deborah Hopkinson pays tribute to a great but under-recognized figure from America’s past in this remarkable story. Illustrator Stephen Alcorn’s large-format, stylized ink-and-watercolor illustrations capture all the action. Excerpts from Henson’s expedition diaries, a time line, and an epilogue place the story in its historical context.
LEGEND OF STARFIRE
The rhymes of Mother Goose meet A Wrinkle in Time in this sequel to A Sliver of Stardust, from Marissa Burt, the author of Storybound.
The Land of Nod used to be just a name in a nursery rhyme to Wren. But when she discovered the secret magic of stardust, she learned that some of those rhymes had secrets of their own—and the Land of Nod is real.
A few months ago, the evil Magician Boggen attempted to escape his exile on Nod and return to Earth. Wren stopped him, but Boggen is still out there. To save her world, Wren will travel farther than even she could have dreamed: to the heart of Nod itself, where she must defeat Boggen once and for all.
A fantastic adventure with a captivating world, inventive magic, and a dash of science, A Legend of Starfire is the perfect next read for fans of Madeleine L’Engle, John Stephens’s The Emerald Atlas, or Stefan Bachmann’s The Peculiar.
LIBERTY
LIGHTS, CAMERA, SHOPKINS!
This book also includes a full sheet of Shopkins stickers!
LIKE MAGIC
“An endlessly endearing story of three girls’ pursuit of friendship and the beauty and challenge of what it means to be 10.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Like Magic is truly a treasure.” —Liz Garton Scanlon, author of The Great Good Summer
“Debut novelist Vickers has created three appealing, diverse characters with distinct talents and voices. A sweet story of friendship.” —School Library Journal
“Themes of sharing, trust, and family never overshadow the story’s heart: a natural longing for friendship and the unfettered joy of finding it.” —Publishers Weekly
“Endearing. The setting and gracefully embedded ethnic differences add freshness to a story with a message that will stand the test of time: friendship is like magic.” —Booklist
For three ten-year-old girls, their once simple worlds are starting to feel too big.
Painfully shy Grace dreads starting fifth grade now that her best friend has moved away. Jada hopes she’ll stop feeling so alone if she finds the mother who left years ago. And Malia fears the arrival of her new baby sister will forever change the family she loves.
When the girls each find a mysterious treasure box in their library and begin to fill the box with their own precious things, they start to feel less alone. But it’s up to Grace, Jada, and Malia to take the treasures and turn them into something more: true friendship.