Intermediate (ages 9-14)

Material appropriate for intermediate age groups

Well Between The Worlds

Lyonesse is the land of legends and magic. It’s the forgetten land where King Arthur once resided with Merlin and his Knights of the Round Table. But thousands of years after the great king walked this country, it has become a place of shadows, where men hunt and capture the monsters that lurk below in the dark depths of the sea. Lyonesse is slowly sinking, and it is up to one boy, Idris, to save his people and his land. Can he stand up to the forces of evil that aim to stop him? Sam Llewellyn’s book in two parts LYONESSE has its roots in the world of Arthurian legend, but Sam has made the story and characters his own, drawing on a range of sources to create a fabulously rich and fresh adventure for every child, not just those with an interest in King Arthur. Sam Llewellyn worked as an editor and fine art dealer until he decided that life was too short. Since then, his novels, published in twelve languages, have earned him a reputation as one of the world’s master storytellers and writers of maritime thrillers. Many of his books are founded in personal experience. While researching them he has (among other things) chased pirates in the South China Sea and raced large ships in France.

The Singing: The Fourth Book Of Pellinor (Pellinor Series)

The climactic volume of the epic quartet follows the Bards of Edil-Amarandh on a vital quest to merge their powers against a nameless evil. In an increasingly battle-ravaged land, Maerad, Cadvan, and Hem desperately search for one another as they make their separate journeys. The Black Army is advancing north, and even as Maerad faces a mighty confrontation with the Landrost to save Innail, all of the Seven Kingdoms are threatened with bitter and devastating defeat. Yet in Maerad and Hem lives the secret to the mysterious Singing, and legend holds that if they release the music of Elidhu together, they have the power to defeat the Nameless One. Can brother and sister find each other in time to fight this all-powerful enemy, and are they strong enough — even reunited — to defeat him before all is lost?

Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story

By the time WWII ended in Europe, the Blumenthal family–Marion, her brother Albert, and their parents–had lived in a succession of refugee, transit, and prison camps for more than six years, not only surviving but staying together. This memoir is written in spare, powerful prose that vividly depicts the endless degradation and humiliation suffered by the Holocaust’s innocent victims, as well as the unending horror of life in the camps.

A Most Dangerous Journey: The Life of an African Elephant

Deep in the hot African grasslands Ndovu is born, and begins the lessons of survival for his dangerous journey through life. Eventually he will face many hazards, including famine, drought, a devastating earthquake, and that most deadly of all predators–man.

How To Scratch a Wombat: where to find it…what to feed it…why it sleeps all day

For more than thirty years, author Jackie French has lived in the Australian bush, coexisting with wild wombats. In this cross between memoir and natural history, Jackie shares her often hilarious adventures with her wombats neighbors and describes their physiology, history, and habits. Bruce Whatley adds pencil drawings in both comic and realistic styles.

Emperors of the Ice: A True Story of Disaster and Survival in the Antarctic, 1910-13

Apsley George Benet Cherry-Garrard has always dreamt of becoming an explorer. So in the spring of 1910, when Captain Robert Falcon Scott offers young “Cherry” the position of Assistant Zoologist aboard the Terra Nova, Cherry considers himself the luckiest man alive. Cherry’s luck, however, will soon change. Far off in the icy unknown of Antarctica, where temperatures plummet below –77°F, exploration is synonymous with a struggle for life. Frostbite, scurvy, hidden ice chasms, and packs of hungry killer whales are very real dangers. But even these perils don’t prepare Cherry for the expedition he and two other crew members embark upon to collect the eggs of Emperor penguins. Along the way, he will face the elements head-on, risking life and limb in the name of science. Rife with captivating details of survival in an icy wilderness, and illustrated with dozens of photographs from the actual journey, this reimagining of the famous 1910 expedition to the South Pole, told in Cherry’s voice, is an unforgettable tale of courage and camaraderie.