Intermediate (ages 9-14)

Material appropriate for intermediate age groups

Many Thousand Gone: African Americans from Slavery to Freedom

Recounts the journey of Black slaves to freedom via the underground railroad, an extended group of people who helped fugitive slaves in many ways.

Tomfoolery: Trickery And Foolery With Words

Alvin Schwartz and Glen Rounds team up once again to preserve the heritage of American folklore in this hilarious compilation of word tricks and verbal hocus-pocus. The compilation of funny folklore has lots of riddles with ridiculous answers, very tall talk and an endless array of tales.

Sukey and the Mermaid

Unhappy with her life at home, Sukey receives kindness and wealth from Mama Jo the mermaid.

Papa Alonzo Leatherby

When Papa Alonzo Leatherby’s tall tales about New England freeze solid one extra cold winter, they have to be thawed out and preserved in ingenious ways.

The Great Hamster Massacre

Anna and her brother, Tom, have always wanted a pet. And after their latest pestering campaign, their mother finally gives in and lets them choose a pair of hamsters from the local pet shop. But their happiness soon turns to horror when the hamsters are found mysteriously dead in their cage. Anna and Tom launch a full-scale investigation to determine who—or what—is behind the hamster homicides. Can they solve the case of the Great Hamster Massacre? Katie Davies’ irresistibly funny mystery and Hanna Shaw’s spot-on illustrations combine for a quirky, delightful read that is part detective tale, part diary, and altogether hilarious.

Seven Sorcerers

“Nin had never liked Wednesdays, but this one took the cake. On this Wednesday she woke up to find that it was raining buckets and that her little brother had ceased to exist.” Nin Redfern wakes up one Wednesday to discover that her little brother, Toby, has vanished and no one — not her mother, not her grandparents — can remember him. Only Nin can, and she’s going to get him back. But when Bogeyman Skerridge (who always gets his child) comes for Nin too, she realizes that finding Toby is going to be a lot harder then she thought. Toby is trapped in the House of Strood, which is located in another land called The Drift, and Skerridge can’t — or won’t — help her find him. Left with no choice, Nin heads into The Drift with her new friend Jonas. The Drift is filled with the fabulous and the terrible, but a plague is slowly killing all the magical things. The Seven Sorcerers who ruled there might have been able to prevent it, but in the end, even they have succumbed. Can Nin find Toby before he falls victim to a terrible fate in the House of Strood and before the plague makes it impossible for them to get home? Can she and Jonas avoid the tombfolk, mud men, and various creatures who want to stop them? And what is the secret of the Seven Sorcerers?

Belladonna

A lyrical coming-of-age story about a boy, a girl, and a horse – and how a chance encounter can lead to a life of intrigue and learning, a life beyond imagining. When Thomas Rose first spots the girl hidden by the roadside, she looks as drab as a lark, with only her red kerchief giving her away. But French Helene, who goes by “Ling,” is no ordinary bird. Tiny Ling enchants Thomas with her wild spirit and tales of a circus where she danced atop her beloved horse, Belladonna. But the horse has been sold, and Ling must fetch her back. Now Thomas’s life as a clever but unschooled wheelwright’s son is about to change. Their search leads to painter George Stubbs, who euthanizes ailing animals in order to study their anatomy. Stubbs draws eerie horses that stride as if they could move out of the paper world into the real one – but he assures his young friends that their horse is safe at a nearby estate. As Ling and Thomas devise a risky plan to recover Belladonna, Stubbs hires Thomas as an apprentice, teaching him to read and write as well. In this fascinating story, Mary Finn incorporates a real eighteenth-century artist into a beautifully imagined tale of adventure and young romance.

Septimus Heap, Book Six: Darke

In the sixth book of the ‘Magykal’ series, Alther Mella has been Banished, a Dark Domaine engulfs the Castle, and a Darke dragon is on the loose. Septimus must use all of his skills to save the Castle and the Wizard Tower from destruction; He must enter the Darke. But he cannot do this alone. With the help of Jenna, Alther Mella, Marcellus Pye, and his estranged brother, Simon Heap, Septimus and Marcia Overstrand, the Extraordinary Wizard, battle the spreading Darkenesse. Will Septimus succeed in protecting his Magykal world?