Bart is an eternal optimist. At thirteen years old, he’s had a hard life. But Bart knows that things won’t get any better if you have a negative attitude. His mother has pushed him into boxing lessons so that Bart can protect himself, but Bart already has defense mechanisms: he is relentlessly positive…and he loves opera.
Intermediate (ages 9-14)
Material appropriate for intermediate age groups
The Door That Led To Where
When sixteen-year-old AJ Flynn finds a mysterious key at his new job at a London law firm, he and his scrappy friends begin a series of journeys to 1830 where they discover a crime only they can solve.
The Gilded Cage
“An American farm girl discovers that she’s an English heiress but claiming her fortune leads to danger and intrigue”
The Singing Bones
Wicked stepmothers, traitorous brothers, cunning foxes, lonely princesses: There is no mistaking the world of the Brothers Grimm and the beloved fairy tales that have captured generations of readers. Now internationally acclaimed artist Shaun Tan shows us the beautiful, terrifying, amusing, and downright peculiar heart of these tales as never before seen.
The Vanishing Throne
Aileana Kameron is the Falconer, born to hunt and slay the faeries who prey on mankind but now, in 1847, the great battle is past, Edinburgh lies in ruins, and Aileana is a prisoner of the Fae prince Lonnrach, whose sister murdered her mother, and somehow she must find a way to escape, before he can steal her memories.
Trickster Tales (World Storytelling)
People of all ages love to watch the escapades of tricksters. In modern times, we watch Bugs Bunny, Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote even Ace Ventura and Bart Simpson. But these contemporary characters have roots in antiquity. The trickster is a universal archetype, found in every culture: Anansi among the African people, Coyote in the American Southwest, Raven in the Pacific Northwest, Rabbit in the American South, the leprechaun in Ireland, Fox in South America.
Mightier Than The Sword: World Folktales For Strong Boys
From China to Burma, Afghanistan to America, this collection of fourteen familiar and little-known stories tells the tales of sons, brothers, kings, and trolls–men and boys united by a common heroism that comes from strength of character, wisdom, and compassion. These stories show that brains trump brawn every time.
Mission Mumbai
Dylan, an aspiring photographer, is spending a month in Mumbai with his friend Rohit Lal and his family, but knowing nothing of Indian culture, he cannot seem to do anything right (do not hit cows!)–and the situation is made worse by the tensions within the Lal family over whether Rohit should be raised in India, which Mr. Lal’s wealthy sister is pushing for.
Nothing Up My Sleeve
Sixth graders Dominic, Loop, and Z stumble upon a new magic shop in town and can’t wait to spend their summer mastering cool tricks to gain access to the Vault, a key holders-only back room bound to hold all kinds of secrets.
Poison Is Not Polite
In 1930s England, schoolgirl detectives Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong are at Daisy’s home for the holidays when someone falls seriously, mysteriously ill at a family party, but no one present is what they seem–and everyone has a secret or two–so the Detective Society must do everything they can to reveal the truth no matter the consequences.