Young Readers Fiction

Twelve-year-old Anna Krawitz is imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto with her older sister, Lina, and their father. Happy days spent reading about anatomy and science in Papa’s bookshop are long gone, and the knowledge they have is used to help their neighbors through the illnesses caused by starvation and war.

When Princess Faith discovers a hidden garden within the castle walls, she asks for permission to plant a flower garden. When her father approves, she and her sisters share the experience, only to find out gardening isn’t all that easy.

12-year old Charley Cuffey is many things: a granddaughter, a best friend, and probably the best pitcher in all of Lee’s Mill. Set on becoming the first female pitcher to play professional ball, Charley doesn't need reminders from her best friend Cool Willie Green to know that she has lofty dreams for a Black girl in the American South. Even so, Nana Kofi's thrilling stories about courageous ancestors and epic journeys make it impossible not to dream big. She knows he has so many more to tell, but according to her parents, she isn't old enough to know about certain things.

Heavy is the crown James has been born to wear, especially as the first Black heir to the British throne. But with his father’s recent passing, and with a new boyfriend to hide, James is woefully unprepared for the sudden shine of public scrutiny. When his secrets come spilling forth across tabloid pages and the man he thought he loved has suddenly disappeared, James finds himself on the precipice of ruin. As every detail of his life becomes public knowledge, his sense of safety is shattered and the people he trusts the most become the likeliest suspects.

Twelve-year-old Ellie can’t help that she’s a witch, the most hated member of society. Determined to prove her worth and eschew her heritage, Ellie applies to the Fairy Godmother Academy—her golden ticket to societal acceptance. But Ellie’s dreams are squashed when she receives the dreaded draft letter to serve as a knight of King Arthur’s legendary Round Table. She can get out of the draft—but only if she saves a lost cause.

Aarón Medrano has been haunted by the onstage persona of his favorite DJ ever since his mother passed away. He seems to know all of Aarón’s deepest fears, like that his brain doesn’t work the way it should and that’s why his brother and father seem to be pushing him away. He thinks his ticket out is a scholarship to the prestigious Acadia School of Music. That is, if he can avoid blowing his audition.

Teens are busy exploring the world and their place within it. Many of them wonder about their purpose in life. They’re concerned about the environment and all the world’s problems, but they feel powerless to change anything because they’re just regular teenagers - right? Wrong. Some of the greatest changemakers in history were ordinary people who took small steps that led them to extraordinary things. Young people can start their journey now to becoming a hero in their own lives and change the world for the better.

Best friends Ellie Bettlebump and Caedmon Tuggle are different as the day is long. Caedmon’s a human, from a non-magical realm known as Wisconsin. Ellie, on the other hand, is full of magic—illegal magic. What they have in common is far more important, however. After the adventure of a lifetime, they are both officially Knights of the Round Table…in training. To graduate to the next level at the Knights Academy, they must complete three quests proving their heroism. If they fail, they’ll have to achieve the dreaded Impossible Quest, and repeat the same year forever.

Stella Cross's heart is poisoned. After years on the transplant waiting list, she's running out of hope that she'll ever see her 18th birthday. Then, miraculously, Stella receives the transplant she needs to survive. Determined to embrace everything she came so close to losing, Stella throws herself into her new life. But her recovery is marred with strange side effects: Nightmares. Hallucinations.

Anyone who's ever been underestimated or overshadowed will find inspiration in this empowering new book from Meena Harris, New York Times best-selling author of Kamala and Maya's Big Idea, which is based on a true story about her aunt, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, and her mother, Maya Harris.

Apolonia "Lina" Flores is a sock enthusiast, a volleyball player, a science lover, and a girl who's just looking for answers. Even though her house is crammed full of books (her dad's a bibliophile), she's having trouble figuring out some very big questions, like why her dad seems to care about books more than her, why her best friend's divorced mom is obsessed with making cascarones (hollowed eggshells filled with colorful confetti), and, most of all, why her mom died last year. Like colors in cascarones, Lina's life is a rainbow of people, interests, and unexpected changes.

Clothilde has lived her whole life in the shadows with her (sometimes) thieving and (always) ailing father. But when he fails to meet her one morning, sending her instead a mysterious ticket of half-paffage, Clo finds herself journeying across the sea to reunite with him. The ticket, however, leaves her on a sunless island inhabited only by creaking fishermen, a rumpled old woman, a piggish cat, and a moon-cheeked boy named Cary.

Twelve-year-old Erie has never lived life fully in the sunlight. After destructive wildfires wreaked havoc on the world around her, the government came up with a plan—engineer a plant that cannot burn. Thus, the fire-resistant lockwood was born. The lockwood protects Erie and her hometown of Prine, but it grows incredibly fast and must be cut back every morning. Only the town’s youngest and smallest citizens can fit between the branches and tame the plant. Citizens just like Erie. But one evening, Erie uncovers a shocking secret that leads her to question the rules of Prine.

If it’s one of those days, never fear: Your new friend the Curious Why will show you that there’s always something new to discover about the world around you! Do you want to know where the dinosaurs went? How crayons are made? Or what makes a bee sting?

The St. Charles Players present a unique telling of Jules Verne's classic underwater adventure, in a new multi-cast dramatization performed in exciting Radio Theatre style.

If you want to get to know Marina Ali-O'Connor, you need to know three things: One, despite her name, Marina is secretly afraid of the water. Two, she wanted to be one of the Oldest Siblings, but is stuck smack dab in the middle. Three, she's pretty certain she's the Extra Ali-O'Connor kid—the forgotten one. When Boom, a budding filmmaker exactly Marina's age, moves in across the lagoon, she decides that Marina's quest to become someone's favorite Ali-O'Connor would make a perfect documentary.

If you want to get to know eleven-year-old Samantha Ali-O’Connor, you need to know three things: One, she isn’t the only one of her siblings who is adopted, but she is the only one whose name isn't inspired by the ocean. Two, she and Harbor always compete with each other to be the best Oldest Sibling—and just about everything else. And three, she is determined to prove she's a real Ali-O'Connor by taking over the family business, repairing and chartering boats. Except there's a Capital-P Problem: Her mothers have been Serious Whispering about selling the business before summer's end!

When Poppy Song joined Mrs. Z's third-grade class at Curiosity Academy, she knew just how to connect with her classmates: baked goods. Her beloved grandmother Po Po used to own her own bakery, and Poppy has inherited Po Po's gift for making pineapple buns, egg tarts, and other sweets, which she gladly shares with the other kids in Mrs. Z's class. After her classmates hear about a fancy treat called Dragon's Beard candy, they can't wait for Poppy to make some and bring it in.

Guillermo "Memo" Castillo and Theo Chang have been best friends since they were in kindergarten, and now they're partners in Sorcery too -- the mega-popular collectible card game, that is. Memo and Theo are excited to attend the upcoming science fiction & fantasy fan convention not far from Peppermint Falls. They plan to dress up in costumes, play in their first-ever Sorcery competition, defeat that arrogant fifth grader Josh Harkan in the tournament, and have an awesome day.

For seventeen-year-old Maya, the equation for happiness is simple: a dream internship at MIT + two new science nerd friends + a perfect boyfriend = one amazing summer. Then Whit dumps her out of the blue. Maya is miserable until she discovers that her scientist mother, before she died, was conducting research on manipulating pheromones to enhance human attraction.