Intermediate (ages 9-14)

Material appropriate for intermediate age groups

Forever Truffle

In Truffle the Rockstar, Truffle wants to form a band with his best friends Flo and Riad. They can already picture themselves on stage, wowing the crowd with epic songs. They still have to learn how to play instrument but that’s just a minor detail! Ever since Truffle asked Nina to be his girlfriend, they have been shy around each other. In Truffle Loves Nina, Truffle asks his parents, his friend Riad, his big brother, Louis, and the man who works at the library, for advice on how to let his heart do the talking. In truffle Tackles Existence, Truffle attends his great-grandmother’s funeral, which gets him thinking about the world around him. Are grandparents young once, too? Does Rocket, the dog that his family had to give up, still think about him sometimes? Do people stop loving each other if they don’t see each other anymore?

Celebrate With Me!: Recipes, Crafts, And Holiday Fun From Around The World

“Celebrate at the tables of artists, designers, and chefs with this book that offers families the chance to share in a world of parties, festivals, and holidays. Each spread features a different holiday and offers a step-by-step recipe, a craft activity, a personal story, and different ways to observe the holiday. With contributions from chefs such as Erin Gleeson and Joanne Chang; artists and authors including Dow Phumiruk and Queenie Chan; and designers such as Marta Veludo and Juliet Sargeant, Celebrate with Me! brings together personal stories and parties from around the world in a unique and engaging way that is sure to delight children and their families”–

Vincent Ventura And The Curse Of The Weeping Woman / Vincent Ventura Y La Maldición De La Llorona

“Vincent Ventura, monster fighter extraordinaire, can’t believe the house at 666 Duende Street has attracted yet another creepy creature! In fact, this time there are several unusual beings, including two boys who disappear and reappear-are they ghosts?!? And the lady in white with fiery glowing eyes who calls out for them? Is she … La Llorona?!? And who is the other young woman? The next day at school, Vincent and his cousins Bobby and Michelle meet a new substitute teacher, Ms. Malin Che, who just moved into the haunted house. What is her connection to La Llorona and the unusual children? At least this time, the kids have new friends to help solve the mystery: Sayer, who they helped in a previous battle with trolls, or duendes, and Zulema, a witch owl who was the target of evil witches. As the relationship between Vincent and Zulema evolves, becoming more complex and exciting, so too does the current case! Two new beings turn up: a hideous figure dressed as a Mexican cowboy whose face is devoid of flesh and a second spooky woman! Ms. Che, a Latin American folklore expert, tells them about el Charro Negro and the weeping women collectively called Cihuateteos. This bilingual book for intermediate readers, the fourth installment in Garza’s Monster Fighter Mystery series, follows the nail-biting battle for the souls of two boys! Will Vincent and his friends be able to save them from the monsters’ clutches?!

Marie Curie: A Life Of Discovery

“A graphic account of a pioneering scientist who conducted innovative research on radioactivity. Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different sciences, and first woman to become a professor at the University of Paris.”

The Second Chance Of Benjamin Waterfalls

Benjamin Waterfalls comes from a broken home, and the quickest fix he’s found for his life is to fill that emptiness with stuff he steals and then sells. But he’s been caught one too many times, and when he appears before a tough judge, his mother proposes sending him to boot camp at the Ojibwe reservation where they used to live. Soon he is on his way to Grand Portage, Minnesota, to live with his father, the man Benny hasn’t seen in years. Not only is boot camp not what he expects, but his rehabilitation seems to be in the hands of the tribal leader’s daughter, who wears a mask. Why? Finding the answer to this and so many other questions prove tougher than any military style boot camp. Will answers be enough for Benny to turn his life around and embrace his second chance?

The Night Bus Hero

“Getting in trouble is what Hector does best. He knows that not much is expected of him. In fact, he gets some of his most brilliant prank ideas while sitting in detention. But how far is too far? When Hector plays a prank on a homeless man and is seen and shamed by a schoolmate, he reaches a turning point. He wants to be viewed differently and decides to do something that will change his fate for the better. But will anyone take him seriously?”–Dust jacket.

Last Fallen Moon (A Gifted Clans Novel)

Riley Oh ventures into the Spiritrealm, where she hopes to convince Saint Heo Jun to become the new patron god of the Gom clan and restore their healing powers.

Staking A Claim, The Journal Of Wong Ming-Chung, A Chinese Miner, California, 1852

In 1852, during the height of the California Gold Rush, ten-year-old Wong makes the dangerous trip to America to live with his uncle, exchanging the famine and war of his native country for brutal bullies and grueling labor in America, Wong joins his uncle and countless others in the effort to strike it rich on the great Golden Mountain. Unfortunately, he, and most of the rest of the dreamers, soon discover that there’s no such thing as a Golden Mountain, only dirt, mud, and occasionally tiny flecks of gold dust flecks that are to be turned over to the owners of the mines, in return for barely livable wages. However, someone as clever and resourceful as Wong will have to find other ingenious ways of making money if they’re going to make it in America. But can they overcome the bitter, racist white Americans to find success?

The Boy Who Met A Whale

“Razi, a local fisherboy, is watching turtle eggs hatch when he sees a boat bobbing into view. With a chill, he notices a small, still hand hanging over the side. Inside is Zheng, who’s escaped a shipwreck and is full of tales of sea monsters and missing treasure. But the villains who are after Zheng are soon after Razi and his sister, Shifa, too! And so begins an exhilarating escapade in the shadow of the biggest sea monster of them all”