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AIK |
Nightbirds on Nantucket
(age 10+) by Joan Aiken animals ... humor ... fantasy ... adventure Having had enough of life on board the ship that saved her from a watery grave, Dido Twite wants nothing more than to sail home to England. Instead, Captain Casket's ship lands in Nantucket, where Dido and the captain's daughter, Dutiful Penitence, are left in the care of Dutiful's sinister Aunt Tribulation. In Tribulation's farmhouse, life is unbearable. When mysterious men lurk about in the evening fog, the resourceful Dido rallies against their shenanigans with help from Dutiful, a cabinboy named Nate, and a pink whale. |
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AIK |
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
(age 10+) by Joan Aiken humor ... fantasy ... adventure Bonnie and her cousin Sylvia don't know the trouble in store for them when Bonnie's parents leave them in the care of the terrible Miss Slighcarp. |
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DUA |
Young Wizards Series (age 10+) by Diane Duane action ... adventure ... humor ... magic ... fantasy Publisher comments: Something stopped Nita's hand as it ran along the bookshelf. She looked and found that one of the books had a loose thread at the top of its spine. It was one of those So You Want to Be a . . . books, a series on careers. So You Want to Be a Pilot, and a Scientist . . . a Writer. But his one said, So You Want to Be a Wizard. I don't believe this, Nina thought. She shut the book and stood there holding it in her hand, confused, amazed, suspicious--and delighted. If it was a joke, it was a great one. If it wasn't . . . ? title: Deep Wizardry title: A Wizard Abroad |
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KOR |
No More Dead Dogs
(age 10+) by Gordon Korman the arts ... school ... humor Eighth-grade football hero Wallace Wallace is sentenced to detention attending rehearsals of the school play where, in spite of himself, he becomes wrapped up in the production and begins to suggest changes that improve not only the play but his life as well. |
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VAN |
Flipped
(age 10+) by Wendelin Van Draanen humor ... friendship ... growing up The first time she saw him, she flipped. The first time he saw her, he ran. That was the second grade, but not much has changed by the seventh. She says: "My Bryce. Still walking around with my first kiss." He says: "It's been six years of strategic avoidance and social discomfort." But in the eighth grade everything gets turned upside down. And just as he's thinking there's more to her than meets the eye, she's thinking that he's not quite all he seemed. This is a classic romantic comedy of errors told in alternating chapters by two fresh, funny new voices. Wendelin Van Draanen is at her best here with a knockout cast of quirky characters and a hilarious series of misunderstandings and missed opportunities. But underlying the humor are two teens in transition. They are each learning to look beyond the surface of people, both figuring out who they are, who they want to be, and who they want to be with. |
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STR |
The Bartimaeus Trilogy (age 10+) by Jonathan Stroud humor ... adventure ... action ... fantasy ... magic Nathaniel is a young magician's apprentice, taking his first lessons in the arts of magic. But when a devious hotshot wizard named Simon Lovelace ruthlessly humiliates Nathaniel in front of everyone he knows, Nathaniel decides to kick up his education a few notches and show Lovelace who's boss. With revenge in his mind, he masters one of the toughest spells of all: summoning the all-powerful djinni, Bartimaeus. But summoning Bartimaeus and controlling him are two different things entirely, and when Nathaniel sends the djinni out to steal the powerful Amulet of Samarkand, Nathaniel finds himself caught up in a whirlwind of magical espionage, murder, blackmail, and revolt. title: The Amulet of Samarkand title: The Golems Eye title: Ptolemy's Gate |
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SCH |
The Wednesday Wars
(age 10+) by Gary Schmidt school ... humor ... growing up ... historical Meet Holling Hoodhood, a seventh-grader at Camillo Junior High, who must spend Wednesday afternoons with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, while the rest of the class has religious instruction. Mrs. Baker doesn't like Holling, he's sure of it. Why else would she make him read the plays of William Shakespeare outside class? But everyone has bigger things to worry about, like Vietnam. His father wants Holling and his sister to be on their best behavior: the success of his business depends on it. But how can Holling stay out of trouble when he has so much to contend with? A bully demanding cream puffs; angry rats; and a baseball hero signing autographs the very same night Holling has to appear in a play in yellow tights! As fate sneaks up on him again and again, Holling finds Motivation...the Big M...in the most unexpected places and musters up the courage to embrace his destiny, in spite of himself. |
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SWI |
Gulliver's Travels
(age 10+) by Jonathan Swift fantasy ... humor The unusual voyages of Englishman Lemuel Gulliver carry him to such strange locales as Lilliput, where the inhabitants are six inches tall; Brobdingnag, a land of giants; an island of sorcerers; and a nation ruled by horses. |
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LOW |
Taking Care of Terrific
(age 10+) by Lois Lowry humor ... adventure Taking her overprotected young charge to the public park to broaden his horizons, fourteen-year-old baby sitter Enid enjoys unexpected friendships with a black saxophonist and a bag lady until she is charged with kidnapping. |
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TWA |
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
(age 10+) by Mark Twain adventure ... humor While floating down the Mississippi River in the nineteenth century, a boy and a runaway slave experience many adventures, involving a feuding family, two scoundrels pretending to be royalty, and Tom Sawyer's aunt, who mistakes him for Tom. Sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. |
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HIA |
Flush
(age 10+) by Carl Hiaasen humor ... adventure ... nature Noahs dad is sure that the owner of a casino boat is flushing raw sewage into the harbor. Now Noah is determined to succeed where his dad had failed, and do whatever it takes to prove that the boat owner is dumping illegally. |
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PUL |
Count Karlstein
(age 10+) by Philip Pullman humor ... family ... adventure ... spooky In the mountains of Switzerland the wicked Count Karlstein plots to abandon his two nieces in a hunting lodge as prey for the Demon Huntsman and his ghostly hounds. |
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SAC |
Holes
(age 10+) by Louis Sachar humor ... mystery ... friendship Stanley Yelnats is under a curse. A curse that began with his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather and has since followed generations of Yelnats. Now Stanley has been unjustly sent to a boys' detention center, Camp Green Lake, where the warden makes the boys ``build character'' by spending all day, every day, digging holes: five feet wide and five feet deep. It doesn't take long for Stanley to realize there's more than character improvement going on at Camp Green Lake. The boys are digging holes because the warden is looking for something. Stanley tries to dig up the truth in this inventive and darkly humorous tale of crime and punishment, and redemption. |
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PRA |
The Johnny Maxwell Trilogy (age 10+) by Terry Pratchett action ... war ... science fiction ... humor ... adventure The alien spaceship is in his sights. His finger is on the Fire button. Johnny Maxwell is about to set the new high score on the computer game Only You Can Save Mankind. Suddenly: ``We wish to talk.'' Huh? ``We surrender.'' The aliens aren't supposed to surrender. Now what is Johnny going to do with a fleet of alien prisoners who know their rights under the international rules of war and are demanding safe-conduct? It's hard enough trying to save Mankind from the Galactic Hordes. It's even harder trying to save the Galactic Hordes from Mankind. But it's just a game, isn't it? Isn't it? title: Only You Can Save Mankind title: Johnny and the Dead |
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RAS |
The Westing Game
(age 10+) by Ellen Raskin humor ... mystery When an eccentric millionaire dies mysteriously, sixteen very unlikely people are gathered together for the reading of the will...and what a will it is! |
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HOR |
Everything on a Waffle
(age 10+) by Polly Horvath growing up ... family ... humor Eleven-year-old Primrose, living in a small fishing village in British Columbia, recounts with surprising humor her experiences and all she learns about human nature and the unpredictability of life after her parents are lost at sea. |
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ENZ |
The Number Devil: a Mathematical Adventure
(age 10+) by Hans Magnus Enzensberg math/science/technology ... fantasy ... humor In twelve dreams, Robert, a boy who hates math, meets a Number Devil, who leads him to discover the amazing world of numbers: infinite numbers, prime numbers, Fibonacci numbers, numbers that magically appear in triangles, and numbers that expand without. As we dream with him, we are taken further and further into mathematical theory, where ideas eventually take flight, until everyone...from those who fumble over fractions to those who solve complex equations in their heads...winds up marveling at what numbers can do. |
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WRE |
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles (age 10+) by Patricia C. Wrede princesses ... knights/castles/dragons ... fantasy ... humor This series begins with Dealing With Dragons. Bored with traditional palace life, a princess goes off to live with a group of dragons and soon becomes involved with fighting against some disreputable wizards who want to steal away the dragons' kingdom. title: Dealing With Dragons |
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SPI |
Maniac Magee : a Novel
(age 10+) by Jerry Spinelli folklore ... humor ... bigotry ... realistic ... friendship ... sports After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life becomes legendary, as he accomplishes athletic and other feats which awe his contemporaries. |
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MER |
The Pushcart War
(age 10+) by Jean Merrill war ... humor ... enterprise A satire on modern city life depicting an outbreak of war between truck drivers and pushcart peddlers. |
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JON |
Howl's Moving Castle
(age 10+) by Diana Wynne Jones humor ... adventure ... fantasy In the land of Ingary, such things as spells, invisible cloaks, and seven-league boots were everyday things. The Witch of the Waste was another matter. In this giant jigsaw puzzle of a fantasy, people and things are never quite what they seem. Destinies are intertwined, identities exchanged, lovers confused. The Witch has placed a spell on the Wizard Howl. Does the clue to breaking it lie in a famous poem? And what will happen to Sophie Hatter when she enters Howl's castle? sequel: Castle in the Air |
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JAC |
The Redwall Series (age 10+) by Brian Jacques fantasy ... humor ... adventure Each dazzling story in the Redwall series is packed with wit, wisdom, humor, and blood-curdling adventure. title: Redwall title: Mossflower title: Mattimeo title: Mariel of Redwall title: Salamandastron title: Martin the Warrior title: The Bellmaker title: Outcast of Redwall title: Pearls of Lutra title: The Long Patrol: a Tale from Redwall title: Marlfox: a Tale of Redwall title: The Legend of Luke title: Lord Brocktree title: Triss: a Tale From Redwall title: Taggerung: a Tale From Redwall title: Loamhedge: a Tale From Redwall title: Rakkety Tam title: High Rhulain title: Eulalia! |
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HON |
Don't Pat the Wombat!
(age 10+) by Elizabeth Honey school ... humor Mark Ryder gives us the good, the bad, and the messy in this antic account of his friends' misadventures during a week of school-camp in the Australian Outback. Camp is everything the boys expect and more...there are caves to explore, mud fights, bad showers, great food, hidden candy, wombats, and leeches. Then disaster strikes: Mr. Cromwell (a.k.a. Crom the Bomb) arrives as a substitute chaperon. |
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HIA |
Hoot
(age 10+) by Carl Hiaasen mystery ... nature ... humor If Dana hadn't been sinking his thumbs into Roy's temples and mashing his face against the school-bus window, Roy might never have spotted the running boy. And the running boy is intriguing: he was running away from the school bus, carried no books, and...here's the odd part...wore no shoes. Sensing a mystery, Roy sets himself on the boy's trail. The chase introduces him to potty-trained alligators, a fake-fart champion, some burrowing owls, a renegade eco-avenger, and several extremely poisonous snakes with unnaturally sparkling tails. |
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ALE |
The Prydain Chronicles (age 10+) by Lloyd Alexander folklore ... humor ... fantasy ... adventure In the first book of the Prydain Chronicles, Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper to a famous oracular sow, sets out on a hazardous mission to save Prydain from the forces of evil. title: The Book of Three title: The Black Cauldron title: The Castle of Llyr title: Taran Wanderer title: The High King |