King and the Dragonflies (Scholastic Gold)

King and the Dragonflies (Scholastic Gold)
Author: Kacen Callender
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2020-02-04
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 133812935X

A 2021 Coretta Scott King Honor Book! Winner of the 2020 National Book Award for Young People's Literature! Winner of the 2020 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction and Poetry! In a small but turbulent Louisiana town, one boy's grief takes him beyond the bayous of his backyard, to learn that there is no right way to be yourself. FOUR STARRED REVIEWS! Booklist School Library Journal Publishers Weekly The Horn Book Twelve-year-old Kingston James is sure his brother Khalid has turned into a dragonfly. When Khalid unexpectedly passed away, he shed what was his first skin for another to live down by the bayou in their small Louisiana town. Khalid still visits in dreams, and King must keep these secrets to himself as he watches grief transform his family. It would be easier if King could talk with his best friend, Sandy Sanders. But just days before he died, Khalid told King to end their friendship, after overhearing a secret about Sandy-that he thinks he might be gay. "You don't want anyone to think you're gay too, do you?" But when Sandy goes missing, sparking a town-wide search, and King finds his former best friend hiding in a tent in his backyard, he agrees to help Sandy escape from his abusive father, and the two begin an adventure as they build their own private paradise down by the bayou and among the dragonflies. As King's friendship with Sandy is reignited, he's forced to confront questions about himself and the reality of his brother's death. The Thing About Jellyfish meets The Stars Beneath Our Feet in this story about loss, grief, and finding the courage to discover one's identity, from the author of Hurricane Child.

Hurricane Child

Hurricane Child
Author: Kacen Callender
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Total Pages: 168
Release: 2018-03-27
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1338129325

Lambda Literary Award Winner: “Lush descriptions bring the Caribbean environment to vivid life . . . An excellent and nuanced coming-of-age tale.” —School Library Journal A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year and Winner of the Stonewall Book Award Being born during a hurricane is considered unlucky where twelve-year-old Caroline Murphy lives, and she has had her share of bad luck lately. She’s hated and bullied by everyone in her small school on St. Thomas of the US Virgin Islands. A spirit only she can see won’t stop following her. And—worst of all—Caroline’s mother left home one day and never came back. But when a new student named Kalinda arrives, Caroline’s luck begins to turn around. Kalinda, a solemn girl from Barbados with a special smile for everyone, becomes Caroline’s first and only friend—and the person for whom Caroline has begun to develop a crush. Now, Caroline must find the strength to confront her feelings for Kalinda, brave the spirit stalking her through the islands, and face the reason her mother abandoned her. Together, Caroline and Kalinda must set out in a hurricane to find Caroline’s missing mother—before Caroline loses her forever. “Absorbing descriptions of the island . . . a folkloric tale about overcoming old narratives and creating new ones.” —Publishers Weekly “Callender draws readers in and makes them identify with Caroline’s angst and sorrow and joy and pain [and] has readers rooting for Caroline the whole way.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Tarnished Are the Stars

Tarnished Are the Stars
Author: Rosiee Thor
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Total Pages: 346
Release: 2019-10-15
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1338312286

The Lunar Chronicles meets Rook in this queer #OwnVoices science-fantasy novel, perfect for fans of Marissa Meyer and Sharon Cameron. A secret beats inside Anna Thatcher's chest: an illegal clockwork heart. Anna works cog by cog -- donning the moniker Technician -- to supply black market medical technology to the sick and injured, against the Commissioner's tyrannical laws.Nathaniel Fremont, the Commissioner's son, has never had to fear the law. Determined to earn his father's respect, Nathaniel sets out to capture the Technician. But the more he learns about the outlaw, the more he questions whether his father's elusive affection is worth chasing at all.Their game of cat and mouse takes an abrupt turn when Eliza, a skilled assassin and spy, arrives. Her mission is to learn the Commissioner's secrets at any cost -- even if it means betraying her own heart.When these uneasy allies discover the most dangerous secret of all, they must work together despite their differences and put an end to a deadly epidemic -- before the Commissioner ends them first.

Julia Gillian (and the Quest for Joy)

Julia Gillian (and the Quest for Joy)
Author: Alison McGhee
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2010-07
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 0545033527

A new school year has started for Julia Gillian, and so far, it's not going very well. Her best friend, Bonwit Kellar, doesn't seem to want to be her best friend anymore. Learning to play trumpet, once Julia Gillian's heart's desire, is much more difficult than it looks. And the school has hired an interim lunch monitor, the all-too-strict Mr. Wintz. As Julia Gillian's music teacher would say, "Where is the joy?". Thankfully, Julia Gillian soon learns that sharing problems is often the only way to solve them, and that life is only as complicated-or joyful-as we want it to be.

Roll with It

Roll with It
Author: Jamie Sumner
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2020-09
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1534442561

Twelve-year-old Ellie, who has cerebral palsy, finds her life transformed when she moves with her mother to small-town Oklahoma to help care for her grandfather, who has Alzheimer's Disease.

The Lonely Hearts Club

The Lonely Hearts Club
Author: Elizabeth Eulberg
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2010-06-01
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0545283175

Love is all you need... or is it? Penny's about to find out in this wonderful debut.Penny is sick of boys and sick of dating. So she vows: no more. It's a personal choice. . .and, of course, soon everyone wants to know about it. And a few other girls are inspired. A movement is born: The Lonely Hearts Club (named after the band from Sgt. Pepper). Penny is suddenly known for her nondating ways . . . which is too bad, because there's this certain boy she can't help but like. . . .

Longbow Girl

Longbow Girl
Author: Linda Davies
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2016-02-23
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0545853591

The stunningly written start to an exciting new trilogy about a smart, strong, bold girl who travels back in time to protect her family's past and ensure its future using her archery skills. Set in the wilds of the Welsh mountains, the brave and beautiful longbow girl, Merry Owen, discovers a river that takes her back in time to the autocratic kingdom of King Henry VIII. While there she finds she must compete in an archery tournament to save her ancestors' land from being seized by their aristocratic neighbors the de Courcys. Merry's best friend James de Courcy (and heir to the de Courcy wealth) follows her back in time and the two get tangled up in their families' ancient histories. There are forces working against them both in the past and the present. Will they be able to survive their pasts to save their futures?

Spin

Spin
Author: Lamar Giles
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Total Pages: 405
Release: 2019-01-29
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 1338219235

Even in murder, the music lives on. When rising star Paris Secord (aka DJ ParSec) is found dead on her turntables, it sends the local music scene reeling. No one is feeling that grief more than her shunned pre-fame best friend, Kya, and ParSec's chief groupie, Fuse -- two sworn enemies who happened to be the ones who discovered her body. The police have few leads, and when the trail quickly turns cold, the authorities don't seem to be pushing too hard to investigate further. But nobody counted on Paris's deeply loyal fans, ParSec Nation, or the outrage that would drive Fuse and Kya to work together. As ParSec Nation takes to social media and the streets in their crusade for justice, Fuse and Kya start digging into Paris's past, stumbling across a deadly secret. With new info comes new motives. New suspects. And a fandom that will stop at nothing in their obsessive quest for answers, not even murder...

One for the Murphys

One for the Murphys
Author: Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2012-05-10
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1101572124

From the author of the New York Times bestselling novel Fish in a Tree! Carley uses humor and street smarts to keep her emotional walls high and thick. But the day she becomes a foster child, and moves in with the Murphys, she's blindsided. This loving, bustling family shows Carley the stable family life she never thought existed, and she feels like an alien in their cookie-cutter-perfect household. Despite her resistance, the Murphys eventually show her what it feels like to belong--until her mother wants her back and Carley has to decide where and how to live. She's not really a Murphy, but the gifts they've given her have opened up a new future. "Hunt's writing is fearless and One For The Murphys is a story that is at once compassionate, thought-provoking and beautifully told. From the first page, I was drawn into Carley's story. She is a character not to be missed or forgotten." —Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award-winning author of Brown Girl Dreaming Winner of the Tassy Walden Award for New Voice in Children's Literature