Skeleton Creek

Patrick Carman

An abandoned mine; scary figures showing up in windows with strange hammering noises inside; an accident that lands one of the main characters in the hospital. What more could a mystery reader ask for? The author delivers all of this and more in this novel. This first installment of a proposed series paves the way by hooking the reader from the outset. Ryan?s leg has been injured in an accident. He has been forbidden from seeing his best friend, Sarah. Despite this, he and Sarah communicate through email and video. The videos are actually online for the reader and the passwords are provided in the book. Each video takes the reader deeper into the mystery. There is a ghost and deadly warnings trying to dissuade the two from delving into the mystery. However, like all good sleuths, the teens ignore warnings.

Everything for a Dog

Ann M. Martin

Fans of Martin's A Dog's Life who are eager to know what happened to Bone, the brother of stray puppy Squirrel, will find the answer in this beautifully crafted companion novel. The story is told from the alternating perspectives of Bone and two boys who enter his life. Henry is an 11-year-old whose deepest desire is to have a dog. Charlie is lucky enough to already have a dog, but that doesn't ease his grief over the recent loss of his older brother, RJ ("He can't help but think, as he fondles Sunny's silky ears, that RJ was the one who named Sunny; that Sunny had, in fact, been RJ's dog"). Meanwhile, Bone, still a stray and not yet aware of the boys' existence, bounces from one family to another, experiencing a mixture of joyful moments as well as events that lead to betrayal and abandonment. Each point of view is compelling on its own, but the smooth convergence of the characters' heartwrenching histories shows exceptional engineering and artistry. Animal lovers of all ages will cherish this moving tale of man's-or in this case, boy's-best friend.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Dog Days

Jeff Kinney

Early in this hilarious what-I-did-on-my-summer-vacation account, Greg Heffley cynically records his clueless mother’s promise that despite tight budgets, it would still be “the best summer ever.” Boy, was she wrong! Instead, the summer brings a long list of miseries: the anxiety-provoking shower at the public pool, a falling-out between Greg and his best friend, and, worst of all, “family togetherness.” Now and then, Greg stumbles across some good times, but they involve things that many middle-school guys would never admit enjoying, such as tabloids, beauty parlors, and soap operas. Kinney weaves in some real-life ironies: Greg, star of one of the best-selling kids’ book series in publication, declares, “Anything that doesn’t involve reading sounds pretty good to me”; he is bummed that he is not yet a reality-TV star (a real-life blockbuster movie is in the works); and he unsuccessfully attempts to become a cartoonist, which is how Kinney got his start.

ZooBreak

Gordon Korman

Griffin Bing, "The Man With The Plan," and his full complement of co-conspirators from Swindle (2008) are back. Animal whisperer Savannah's Capuchin monkey Cleopatra turns up missing, and a suspicious banana leads Savannah to the conclusion that Cleo's been monkey-napped. They find her in a run-down floating zoo, but adults and authorities are no help in getting the monkey back. Griffin already has worries enough, since his best bud, the narcoleptic Ben, is about to be shipped off to a special school for those with sleep disorders. Even so, everyone agrees to a plan to spring Cleo--but they end up having to spring the whole zoo. The plan to hide 40 animals from parents and police and Mr. Nastase, the awful zookeeper, only works for so long, prompting Griffin to move on to plan three.... Possibly more improbable and even sillier than the first, Korman's second tale of 11-year-old Mr. Fix-it Griffin and his friends is a page-turning adventure that reads like a Disney movie waiting to be made. The author's fans will be more than pleased, and those unfamiliar with the first will likely look it up.