Intermediate (ages 9-14)

Material appropriate for intermediate age groups

Hiroshima Dreams

Lin can’t explain the knowledge she has of the future, of what people will say or what will happen. It’s a gift she shares with Obaasan, her grandmother, who has recently come from Japan to live with Lin’s family. But seeing the future is more than knowing whether or not a boy will call. What is Lin to make of the visions she has of a day long ago, when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima? Acclaimed author Kelly Easton’s poignant coming-of-age novel about a girl with psychic abilities is rich in imagery and memorable characters.

The Silver Cup

It’s the year 1095, and fifteen-year-old Anna longs for a different life in her small German village. But as the seasons turn, the year proves anything but ordinary. Her beloved youngest cousin disappears, and another cousin, Martin, runs away to join a murderous army of renegade Crusaders. When Anna risks everything to rescue Leah, an orphaned Jewish girl whose only connection to her former life is a silver cup, the two girls forge a friendship that defies the intolerance of their time. Filling her story with fascinating period details, debut novelist Constance Leeds paints a rich, colorful picture of an eleventh-century life marked by courage, will, and most of all-hope.Winner of the 2008 IRA Children’s and Young Adult Book Award in the Intermediate Fiction Category.

Genocide

Some view the systematic killing, rape, and destruction of homes in Darfur as a grave humanitarian crisis. For others, it’s a clear example of the ultimate crime against humanity — genocide. This book helps young readers understand these and other difficult questions. Providing an overview of the history of genocide worldwide, the book explores the paradox that while a person who murders another person can be tried and even executed for the crime, a person who murders hundreds or thousands of people usually goes free. Using case studies of acts of genocide throughout history, the book points out the unique character of each while at the same time establishing important links between them.

Clockwork

An apprentice clockmaker facing failure…a writer with a story he can’t control….a girl whose courage will need to match her kindness…a prince whose mechanical heart is winding down…a clockwork knight with murderous tendencies…and a doctor who just may be the Devil. Their stories come together piece by piece in this chilling tale where nothing is as it seems, but like the gears of a strange and wonderful clock, everything fits together.

Little Fur: The Legend Begins

Little Fur is a half elf, half troll, as tall as a three-year-old human child, with slanted green eyes, wild red hair that brambles about her pointed ears, and bare, broad, four-toed feet. Little Fur loves and tends to the Old Ones, the seven ancient trees that protect her home, a small, magical wilderness nestled magically in a park in the midst of a large, bustling human city. When she learns that evil forces are out to destroy her beloved trees, the intrepid halfling must embark on an ambitious and dangerous journey into the human world and down into an ancient cut in the earth, in search of a way to save not only the Old Ones, but the Earth Spirit itself.

The Arrival

A man gives his wife and daughter a last kiss and boards a steamship to cross the ocean. He’s embarking on the most painful yet important journey of his life – he’s leaving home to build a better future for his family. Shaun Tan evokes universal aspects of an immigrant’s experience through a singular work of the imagination. He does so using brilliantly clear and mesmerizing images. Because the main character can’t communicate in words, the book forgoes them too. But while the reader experiences the main character’s isolation, he also shares his ultimate joy.

This book is a wordless picturebook.

The Battle for Skandia: Ranger’s Apprentice

Still far from their homeland after escaping slavery in the icebound land of Skandia, Will and Evanlyn’s plans to return to Araluen are spoiled when Evanlyn is taken captive by a Temujai warrior. Though still weakened by the warmweed’s toxic effects, Will employs his Ranger training to locate his friend, but an enemy scouting party has him fatally outnumbered. Will is certain death is close at hand, until Halt and Horace make a daring, last-minute rescue. The reunion is cut short, however, when Halt makes a horrifying discovery: Skandia’s borders have been breached by the entire Temujai army. And Araluen is next in their sights. If two kingdoms are to be saved, an unlikely union must be made.

Eulalia!

Lord Asheye of Salamandastron has a prophecy: A new Badger Lord must take his place and reign over the legendary badger fortress. But who is this young warrior who shuns both armor and sword? And how is he to be found? Mad Maudie, a feisty haremaid of the Long Patrol, is just the one to track him down. Meanwhile, the unsuspecting future Badger Lord has been captured by a scurrilous group of Sea Raiders led by the infamous fox, Vizka Longtooth, who intends on conquering Redwall Abbey. It is up to our young hero to defend Redwall so that he may fulfill his destiny as leader of Salamandastron.

Quantum Prophecy: The Gathering

Years after the supposed disappearance of the world’s superhumans, the secret identities of three newly endowed superheroes are mysteriously leaked to the press, and the teenagers must take refuge at a hidden military installation that houses and trains other new superhumans.

Mouse Noses on Toast

When Paul Mouse overhears a customer in a restaurant ordering mouse noses on toast, he assumes it must be a joke. Mouse noses on toast is a myth. But when the waiter asks if that would be with or without whiskers, Paul knows it’s no joke. So begins a laugh-out-loud funny ride involving mouse activists and cheese addicts.