ENGLE, Margarita. Mountain Dog. illus. by Loga and Aleksey Ivanov. Holt. 2013. ISBN 9780805095166. JLG Level: A : Intermediate Readers (Grades 3–5).

When his mother is sent to prison for cruelty to animals, Tony moves in with his great uncle Leo whom he’s never met. Life in the Sierra Mountains is completely different from his Los Angeles world. He has his own room, a friendly dog who loves him at first sight, and a patient foster father who has much to teach him. Leo is a search-and-rescue volunteer, and his dog Gabe has also been trained to find people lost deep in the mountains. Tony alternates between his curiosity of the nature around him and his fear of loving things he could lose. Engle uses free verse and the voices of Tony, Leo, and Gabe to strengthen the reader’s empathy for the boy, allowing them to feel the struggles that the mountain dog sees.

HARLEY, Bill. Charlie Bumpers vs. the Teacher of the Year. illus. by Adam Gustavson. Peachtree. 2013. ISBN 9781561457328. JLG Level: A+ : Intermediate Readers (Grades 3–5).

Charlie Bumpers never means to get into trouble, but it always seems to find him. The year he enters fourth grade, he is horrified to learn that his teacher will be Mrs. Burke, last year’s teacher of the year. Charlie’s problem is that last year, he threw his shoe, which hit her in the head. “If I ever see you throw another shoe in school, you will stay in from recess for the rest of your life,” she promised. Now Charlie is in her class. How can he stay out of trouble with a teacher who’s just waiting for him to make a mistake? What’s even worse is that she surrounds him with perfect kids who never, ever make mistakes. His parents refuse to get him transferred. Charlie is stuck and is destined to be in a war that he can never hope to win; he just wants to survive it.

HILL, Kirkpatrick. Bo at Ballard Creek. illus. by LeUyen Pham. Holt. 2013. ISBN 9780805093513. JLG Level:  A : Intermediate Readers (Grades 3–5).

After the Alaskan gold rush when miners began to drift to other places, Mean Millie leaves town, giving up her baby. Miners Arvid and Jack are charged with delivering the child to the orphanage. After one look at the nuns, the two new friends decide to keep her. Everyone at Ballard Creek is delighted with the new addition to their family, for she becomes part of the life of all who lived at the mining camp. Bo, as she becomes known, learns Eskimo and English. She learns to cook and help in the cookshack. Reminiscent of a Little House book, Hill shares Bo’s life with her papas through the course of a year―from birthday and Fourth of July parties, to everyday life, and the excitement of the unexpected.

MARTIN, Lisa and Valerie. Anton and Cecil: Cats at Sea. illus. by Kelly Murphy. Algonquin. 2013. ISBN 9781616202460. JLG Level: A+ : Intermediate Readers (Grades 3–5).

Brothers are often different from each other. The cats Anton and Cecil are no different. Cecil would love nothing more than to sail on one of the ships that come into their harbor. Anton is quiet and cautious. He’d rather stay on dry ground. As fate would often have it, Anton is taken against his will to be a rat-catcher on the largest ship ever to dock in their harbor. Cecil must rescue him from this dangerous fate, so he forces his way onto the next vessel. Pirate ships, mysterious whales, kind cooks, and huge rats fill out this survival tale, and the brothers’ adventure teaches lessons about facing fears, family, and friendship.

RHODES, Jewell Parker. Sugar. Little, Brown. 2013. ISBN 9780316043052. JLG Level: A : Intermediate Readers (Grades 3–5).

In the time of Reconstruction on the banks of the Mississippi, 10-year-old Sugar and the other former slaves still do hard labor harvesting sugar cane. Blacks are still separated from whites, and not much has changed except that the workers get paid for their efforts. But since the end of the Civil War, it’s mostly old folks that remain on the plantation, so Mister Wills hires Chinese men to strengthen his labor force. Sugar, who’s almost always in trouble anyway, crosses the racial line when she plays with the plantation owner’s son. The new workers stir up her curiosity with their shiny black hair, linen pants, new food, and new customs. Sugar can’t resist being with them either. In a time when things are changing, the strong-minded girl rushes headfirst, bringing all races together, but at what cost? Things are a’changing, but not everyone is happy about it. Rhodes’s enlightening historical novel introduces a little known thread of history about Chinese immigrants working in the South after the Civil War.

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Junior Library Guild is a collection development service that helps school and public libraries acquire the best new children’s and young adult books. Season after season, year after year, Junior Library Guild book selections go on to win awards, collect starred or favorable reviews, and earn industry honors. Visit us at www.JuniorLibraryGuild.com.

CLEMENTS, Andrew. In Harm’s Way: Benjamin Pratt & the Keepers of the School. illus. by Adam Stower. S & S/Atheneum. 2013. ISBN 9781416938897. JLG Level: A+ : Intermediate Readers (Grades 3–5).

The Keepers of the School thought that their work was done after the discovery of a secret hideaway for the Underground Railroad in the Captain Duncan Oakes School, ―no bulldozer could destroy the historical building. What Benjamin, Jill, and Robert learn is that their detective work only saved a portion of the structure. Determined to keep their enemy ―janitor Justin Lyman―at bay, their investigation is complicated by the hiring of some muscle and another pair of eyes to spy on the trio. The Keepers continue to unravel the puzzle of clues left by Captain Oakes. They must think like the mariner, “After three hooks pass, one will be brass.” Ben isn’t sure what skills he brings to the team, so in an effort to prove his worth, he tries to solve it on his own. Can he unlock the puzzle and save the school? Whether new to the series or not, readers will race through the chapters as solving the mystery leads the characters into harm’s way.

GIBBS, Stuart. Double Cross: The Last Musketeer. HarperCollins. 2013. ISBN 9780062048448. JLG Level: ME : Mystery/Adventure Elementary (Grades 2–6).

“All for one, and one for all.” The fourth musketeer, D’Artagnan, is also known as Greg, a time traveler whose future is in jeopardy if Michel Dinicoeur and Cardinal Richelieu have their way. King Louis XIII is also in danger if the Musketeers can’t break out of prison before they are hanged. With Milady de Winter in league with the Prince of Condé, and all three groups after the Devil’s Stone, time is of the essence. The Musketeers must save the King, and find the Stone first in order to stop events that can change the present and the future. Full of sword fights and daring escapes, this Musketeer adventure leaves readers as exhilarated as the characters themselves.

HEALY, Christopher. The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle. HarperCollins/Walden Pond. 2013. ISBN 9780062118455. JLG Level: ME : Mystery/Adventure Elementary (Grades 2–6).

In Book Two of The Hero’s Guide, our fearless princes have a new task―rescue Prince Liam from Briar Rose who is using him to acquire more power. The League reforms and a weak, but hilarious, plan throws them right into the castle of Raubar, the Bandit King―a ten-year-old self-made sovereign who enjoys being the bad guy. Rundark, who is a true villain, accepts the boy’s invitation to his castle because he can’t understand why a ruler with so little credibility as a criminal, can have the admiration of his men and the fear of the people. Once he unravels the mystery, Raubar is as good as dead, but the League of Princes bring their bungling, unheroic efforts to save the kingdom from Briar Rose’s misguided scheme, and cause chaos and laughter in their wake. Witty dialogue and eccentric characters take this fractured fairy tale to places less than happily-ever-after in this fun adventure.

MESSNER, Kate. Hide and Seek. Scholastic. 2013. ISBN 9780545419758. JLG Level: ME : Mystery/Adventure Elementary (Grades 2–6).

The Silver Jaguar Society has been protecting some of the world’s most important historical artifacts for centuries. With junior members José, Anna, and Henry on the case, the missing Jaguar Cup is sure to be found. On a trip to Costa Rica, the trio finds itself in the middle of a mystery―who sent the counterfeit cup to the exhibit and where is the real relic? A guest at the jungle lodge claims to have seen a species that doesn’t live in the area. A Society member secretly takes a great deal of money from one tourist. Suspects are everywhere. When José’s lack of self-confidence causes him to put his own life in danger, he begins to reconsider the value of teamwork, but is it too late for him to learn that lesson? Narrow escapes and short, cliff-hanger chapters create an adventure that seems like an afternoon at the movies.

SUTHERLAND, Tui T. and Kari Sutherland. The Menagerie. HarperCollins. 2013. ISBN 9780060780647. JLG Level: ME : Mystery/Adventure Elementary (Grades 2–6).

“Logan Wilde noticed the feathers as soon as he woke up.” He would later discover that they belong to a baby griffin. The move to Wyoming has been less than exciting and learning to live without his mom is difficult. His dad says that living in a new place will help him adjust, but Logan continues to have trouble making friends. Classmate Zoe and her family are responsible for the health and well-being of a mythical creatures menagerie. SuperNatural Animal Protection Agency (SNAPA) will arrive soon to inspect the facility, looking for infractions that could close them down. Though normally Zoe’s family would erase a stranger’s memory, Logan quickly becomes part of the group, as he has a knack for tracking the animals. Can they find the runaway cubs before the SNAPA agents arrive? Fantastical creatures in a dangerous, time-ticking situation builds tension in this adventure novel that keeps readers surprised at every turn.

Junior Library Guild is a collection development service that helps school and public libraries acquire the best new children’s and young adult books. Season after season, year after year, Junior Library Guild book selections go on to win awards, collect starred or favorable reviews, and earn industry honors. Visit us at www.JuniorLibraryGuild.com.