Intermediate (ages 9-14)

Material appropriate for intermediate age groups

If You Lived Here: Houses of the World

Step into unique homes from around the world and discover the many fascinating ways in which people live and have lived. If you lived in the mountains of southern Spain, your bedroom might be carved out of a mountain. If you lived in a village in South Africa, the outside of your house might tell the story of your family. And if you lived in a floating green house in the Netherlands, you could rotate your house to watch both the sunrise and sunset. With intricate bas-relief collages, Giles Laroche uncovers the reason why each home was constructed the way in which it was, then lets us imagine what it would be like to live in homes so different from our own. Showing the tremendous variety of dwellings worldwide—log cabins, houses on stilts, cave dwellings, boathouses, and yurts—this book addresses why each house is build the way that it is. Reasons—such as blending into the landscape, confusing invaders, being able to travel with one’s home, using whatever materials are at hand—are as varied as the homes themselves. List of Houses included: Dogtrot log house, based on dogtrots built in the southern U.S. Chalet, based on chalets built in the Austrian Alps. Pueblo, Taos, New Mexico Connected barn, based on connected barns common in northern New England. Cave dwelling, Guadix, Andalucia, Spain Palafitos (house on stilts), Chiloe Island, Chile Palazzo Dario, Venice, Italy Chateau La Brede, Bordeaux, FranceTulou, Hangkeng village, Yongding, China Half-timbered houses, Miltenberg am Main, Germany Greek island village houses, Astipalaia Island, Greece Decorated houses of Ndebele, Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa Yurt, based on yurts in Mongolia and other parts of central Asia. Airstream trailer, USA Floating house, Middleburg, the Netherlands Tree house, USA.

Earth-Friendly Buildings, Bridges and More

This dynamic title takes the form of Corry’s scrapbook. It’s a dazzling collection of postcards, brochures and other memorabilia documenting Corry’s research into green design. Kid-friendly language explains the engineering behind some of the planet’s most cutting edge towers, bridges, tunnels, domes, dams, dikes, locks and levees. These structures include the Vizcaya Bridge in Spain, where gondolas transport cars over the Nervion River, and the Channel tunnel, where trains speed between England and France in just 35 minutes.

Russia: The People

After years of unemployment and crushing inflation, Russians are looking to the future with hope of a new prosperity. This colorful revised edition takes a look at the new middle class and how the culture has been changing since the country

Russia: The Land

This new revised edition of Russia: the Land takes a fresh look at this country’s transformation over the past century. Russia’s economic growth has had an impact on the environment and on the ways of life of its peoples.

Spud Sweetgrass

Suspended from school for cussing at a mean teacher, John “Spud”’ Sweetgrass at least still has his job selling french fries from a curbside “chip wagon.” But he notices that something stinks — literally. It’s the smell of rancid cooking oil at a polluted Ottawa beach. His suspicions aroused, Spud follows Dumper Stubbs, a creepy delivery man who services local restaurants and chip wagons. Spud gets angry when he sees Dumper living up to his name, dumping oil into a storm drain and causing terrible pollution in the river. When Spud blows the whistle, he loses his job. Enlisting the help of his buddy Dink the Thinker, and Connie Pan — whom he calls his girlfriend though she isn’t exactly that — Spud thinks he has a chance of regaining his job and stopping the Dumper’s harmful activities. In the background of this offbeat farce are serious issues that Spud must also deal with, including his father’s death, his mother’s withdrawal into grief, and his own awkward transition through adolescence. Brian Doyle expertly interweaves comedy and important contemporary concerns of young people in this vivid story with a message.

Mr. And Mrs. Bunny: Detectives Extraordinaire!

In this hilarious chapter book mystery, meet a girl whose parents have been kidnapped by disreputable foxes, and a pair of detectives that also happen to be bunnies! When Madeline gets home from school one afternoon to discover that her parents have gone missing, she sets off to find them. So begins a once-in-a-lifetime adventure involving a cast of quirky and unforgettable characters. There’s Mr. and Mrs. Bunny, who drive a smart car, wear fedoras, and hate marmots; the Marmot, who loves garlic bread and is a brilliant translator; and many others.

Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match / Marisol McDreonald No Combina

Marisol McDonald, a biracial, nonconformist, soccer-playing pirate-princess with brown skin and red hair, celebrates her uniqueness.

The Adventures of Medical Man

Being sick or injured is no fun for children, but not knowing what is happening may be worse. Enter Dr. Michael Evans, who will explain to young readers everything they need to know when an illness or injury occurs. Uniquely structured around five different movie genres and one comic book, each chapter features a common illness or injury with Dr. Mike in the starring role, explaining the causes, symptoms and cures Whether it’s a nut allergy in the action-packed “They Came From Mars!,” a broken wrist in the bone-chilling “The Werewolf Who Snapped” or strep throat in the suspense-filled “Adventures of Medical Man and Wondrous Boy,” each story is packed with fascinating medical information. Other common conditions covered in the book include concussion, ear infection and asthma and are vividly explained. Complete with diagrams, sidebars and a glossary and dramatized by Gareth Williams’s stunning illustrations, this book will be a comfort to any child dealing with an injury or illness.

A Circle Of Cats

One a quiet day, when the wind was still, the creek could be heard all the way up to where the old beech stood.  Under its branches, cats would come to dream and be dreamed.  Black cats and calicos, white cats and marmalade ones, too.  But they hadn’t yet gathered the day the orphan girl fell asleep among its roots, nestling in the weeds and long grass like the gangly, tousle-haired girl she was.  Her names was Lillian.

Lillian is an orphan who lives with her aunt on a homested miles from anyone, surrounded by uncharted forest.  She wanders the woods, chasing after squirrels and rabbits and climbing trees like a possum.  Free-spirited and independent, Lillian is kindard soul to the many wild cats who gather around the ancient beech tree.  One day, while she is under the beech, Lillian is bitten by a poisonous snake.  The cats refuse to let her die, and use their magic to turn her into one of their own.  How she becomes a girl again is a lyrical, original folklore that begs to be read aloud.  Set in the hill country outside of the author’s fictional city of Newford, A Circle of Cats is the much anticipated first picture book by longtime friends Charles de Lint and Charles Vess, whose art is as magical as the story.

The Umbrella Queen

When Noot is finally allowed to paint umbrellas like the other women and girls in her village, she secretly hopes that she might be chosen as this year’s Umbrella Queen. Carefully, she creates serene flowers and butterflies- exactly as she has seen her mother and grandmother do for years.

But soon her imagination takes over, and Noot finds herself straying from the old patterns to the dismay of her family, who depend on the traditionally painted umbrellas for their livelihood.

Her parents tell her she must go back to the old designs and Noot obeys, knowing that the King is coming soon to name the one who has painted the most beautiful umbrella. After all, the King would never choose a queen who breaks from tradition…would he?