Growing Life

Nate knows he's meant for big things. REALLY big things. But things don't always go your way just because you're awesome. Nate barely survives his dad's toxic oatmeal before rushing off to school - minus his lunch. He body slams the no-nonsense principal. He accidentally insults his least favorite teacher, the horrifying Mrs. Godfrey (aka Godzilla). And school has barely started!

It’s been a year since Peter and his pet fox, Pax, have seen each other. Once inseparable, they now lead very different lives. Pax and his mate, Bristle, have welcomed a litter of kits they must protect in a dangerous world. Meanwhile Peter - newly orphaned after the war, racked with guilt and loneliness - leaves his adopted home with Vola to join the Water Warriors, a group of people determined to heal the land from the scars of the war.

On a family trip to Paris, Greg Rich's parents disappear. They're not just missing from the city - they're missing from the century. So, Greg does what any other 14-year-old would do: He travels through time to rescue them. Greg soon finds out that his family history is tied to the legendary Three Musketeers. But when he meets them, they're his age, and they'll only live long enough to become true heroes if he can save them.

In Friends Forever?, third in Tina Wells’s delightful middle-grade series, Zee and the rest of her class from the Brookdale Academy are off on a camping trip to compete in an environmental scavenger hunt. Zee is extra psyched because her best friend, Ally, is visiting from Paris. It should be fabulous having all her friends in one place, but for some reason everyone is fighting!

The great news: The prize is $1 million! With it, 13-year-old Whisper Nelson could buy jewelry, clothes, and pay for college. She could even send her sister to college! To win, she must kick a goal past a professional soccer player. The bad news: She hates sports - all sports - with a passion! After her infamous soccer goal four years ago, to the other team's advantage, Whisper vowed to never play sports again.

Jimmy, David, and Henry are psyched. It's summer, school's out, and they are on their way to California, where they will be able to do some major skating. But on the plane, the unthinkable happens: They are hijacked by terrorists. As frightened as they may be, they take action and they succeed. Sort of. They may have beaten the terrorists, but now their plane has crashed in the middle of nowhere and all of a sudden, their summer vacation is about finding food, shelter, and a rescue. Can three normal 12-year-old boys find a way to get by without fast food and skate parks?

When a mysterious new witch arrives at the academy, the celebrations are cut short. As the witch begins recruiting faeries into her rival school of witchcraft, it becomes clear she has dark intentions. And soon Brystal's friend Lucy becomes embroiled in an ominous plot against mankind. Elsewhere, the fragile peace is on the brink of shattering. Outrage has spread throughout the kingdoms in opposition to the legalization of magic.

Morgan and Eli, two Indigenous children forced away from their families and communities, are brought together in a foster home in Winnipeg, Manitoba. They each feel disconnected, from their culture and each other, and struggle to fit in at school and at their new home—until they find a secret place, walled off in an unfinished attic bedroom. A portal opens to another reality, Askí, bringing them onto frozen, barren grounds, where they meet Ochek (Fisher).

After facing a flamethrowing Little League hurler, 13-year-old “Stosh” Stoshack time-travels back to 1942 to join Satchel on an unforgettable road trip to the Negro League World Series. With nobody out and the series on the line, Stosh watches as Old Satch intentionally walks three straight batters, waves all but his catcher off the field, and then challenges the best hitter in baseball.

George and Harold are fourth-grade buddies who love practical jokes. When their latest prank drives their science teacher over the edge, their clueless principal, Mr. Krupp, quickly hires a replacement: Professor Pippy P. Poopypants. Of course, George and Harold can’t resist making fun of the Professor’s silly name. But then the Professor retaliates by forcing everyone in town to change their own names to be equally silly - with colossal consequences!

Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all. Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he's seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.

Louis is a Trumpeter Swan, but he has no voice. Leaving his wild and beautiful home, he finds a young human friend, Sam Beaver, who helps him learn to read and write. When he returns to the lake, Louis discovers his education isn't enough: the beautiful swan he loves, Serena, can't read his declarations of love, and he can't trumpet them. Louis' resolution to win the swan of his desire launches him on an adventure that will take him far from home and lead where fate and love have a few surprises in store.

The Mysterious Benedict Society is up against a new mission, significantly closer to home. After reuniting for a celebratory scavenger hunt, Reynie, Kate, Sticky, and Constance are forced to go on an unexpected search—a search to find Mr. Benedict. It seems that while he was preparing the kids' adventure, he stepped right into a trap orchestrated by his evil twin Mr. Curtain. With only one week to find a captured Mr. Benedict, the gifted foursome faces their greatest challenge of all.

Amari Peters has never stopped believing her missing brother, Quinton, is alive. Not even when the police told her otherwise, or when she got in trouble for standing up to bullies who said he was gone for good. So when she finds a ticking briefcase in his closet, containing a nomination for a summer tryout at the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, she’s certain the secretive organization holds the key to locating Quinton - if only she can wrap her head around the idea of magicians, fairies, aliens, and other supernatural creatures all being real.

Lexie and her cousin Eleni are super-crazy-mega-extra-seriously close. They're like twins who aren't actually twins, if that's possible. But when Lexie tells a terrible, jealous lie, her whole family is split apart. It's up to Lexie to bring them all back together and fix her relationship with Eleni. After a few calamitous escapades, Lexie has discovered that there are all sorts of truths and all sorts of lies too.... But when is the truth more hurtful than a lie?

In the series finale of Maz Evans' best-selling Who Let the Gods Out? series, Elliot faces his darkest period yet. As well as facing up to his fears, he realises that the future of mankind - and the survival of everything he holds dear - is at stake. But can a bunch of misfit gods, a lost constellation and a mortal boy stand up to the daemon hordes?

Quiet outsider Tillie is known around school for using her camera to find lost things, but when a boy named Jake needs help finding his dad, Tillie faces her biggest challenge yet. Ever since Tillie Green's car accident left her with a severe limp, she's kept herself hidden behind her camera. Through the lens, she watches her family and classmates, spotting the small details and secret glances that tell a much bigger story than what people usually see. Students call her "Lost and Found", because her camera knows when you last had your headphones.

Inspired by Hobbs’ own journey through the Rio Grande’s canyons near the border with Mexico, Take Me to the River is a thrilling tale. Fourteen-year-old Dylan and his cousin are paddling the Rio Grande when they see six Black Hawk helicopters fly into Mexico. The army won’t say what’s happening, but they do tell the boys a hurricane is approaching. Undeterred, the boys continue their journey, unaware of what lies ahead.

Author of the award-winning Miss Bridie Chose a Shovel, Leslie Connor has also won great acclaim for ,i>Waiting for Normal. Addie's life has always been all or nothing. And now that Dwight and mommers are divorced, Addie's stuck in a tiny trailer on a Schenectady corner with a mom who's rarely there. Finding friendship at the gas station across the street, Addie clings to the ever-dimming possibility that one day she'll have a normal, happy home.

Welcome to Nowhere, Arizona, the least livable town in the United States. For Gus, a bright 13-year-old with dreams of getting out and going to college, life there is made even worse by Bo Taylor, Nowhere's biggest, baddest bully. When Bo tries to force Gus to eat a dangerously spiny cactus, Rossi Scott, one of the best racers in Nowhere, comes to his rescue - but in return she has to give Bo her prized dirt bike.