Handpicked by Amazon kids’ books editor, Seira Wilson, for Prime Book Box – a children’s subscription that inspires a love of reading. Selected for the 2019-2020 Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year A determined 12-year-old girl bikes across the country in this quirky and charming debut middle grade novel. Introverted Bicycle has lived most of her life at the Mostly Silent Monastery in Washington, D.C. When her guardian, Sister Wanda, announces that Bicycle is going to attend a camp where she will learn to make friends, Bicycle says no way and sets off on her bike for San Francisco to meet her idol, a famous cyclist, certain he will be her first true friend. Who knew that a ghost would haunt her handlebars and that she would have to contend with bike-hating dogs, a bike-loving horse, bike-crushing pigs, and a mysterious lady dressed in black. Over the uphills and downhills of her journey, Bicycle discovers that friends are not such a bad thing to have after all, and that a dozen cookies really can solve most problems. A Junior Library Guild selection!

The Adventures of a Girl Called Bicycle

Children's Books

Uss, Christina

Growing Up & Facts of Life

Margaret Ferguson Books

Ten-year-old Rupert Brown inadvertently finds himself spending Christmas with the wealthiest family in town and is astonished to discover a world he never knew existed. Rupert lives with his parents and many siblings in a small house in the poorest section of Steelville, Ohio. When he spends Christmas with his classmate Turgid Rivers, he is offered all the food he can eat, and the opportunity to win wonderful prizes in the family games—prizes he hopes to take home so he can share his Christmas bounty with his family. But after he loses everything in the last game, Rupert resigns himself to going home empty handed. Feeling secretly guilty, all of the adults in Rivers family try to make it up to him by taking Rupert on one unlikely adventure after another, embroiling him in everything from time travel to bank robberies. But can anything he experiences make up for what he has lost? Deftly blending magical realism with heartbreak, hope, and a wide cast of eccentric characters, Polly Horvath weaves a tale that is darkly funny and deeply poignant. Very Rich is a bittersweet and quirky story that celebrates the unique nature of human experience. A Junior Library Guild selection!

Very Rich

Horvath, Polly

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Best friends Nixie and Grace spend every afternoon together . . . until Nixie's mom gets a new job and Nixie must attend the after-school program, without Grace. Third graders Nixie Ness and Grace Kenny have been best friends since they were two-years-old. They have always spent every afternoon after school at Nixie's house until Nixie's mom announces that she has a job, which means she won't be there to watch the girls after school, which means Nixie will have to go to the after-school program and Grace will be spending her afternoons at their classmate, Elyse's, house. Nixie begrudgingly starts the after-school program, joining the cooking camp. And it turns out that the other children at cooking camp are nice, and the recipes they make are delicious. But Nixie can't really enjoy being an after-school superstar until she finds a way to overcome her jealousy about Grace and Elyse's budding friendship. Perfect for fans of Judy Moody, Ivy and Bean, and Clementine, this new chapter book series features recurring characters, and each book will highlight one activity they do at their after-school program. The books are illustrated in black and white and include a bonus activity that corresponds to the book's plot. Nixie Ness: Cooking Star features a recipe for morning glory muffins. The next book in the After-School Superstars series, Vera Vance: Comics Star, is scheduled for release in Spring 2020.

Nixie Ness: Cooking Star (After-School Superstars)

Mills, CLaudia

Vera Vance: Comics Star (After-School Superstars)

Third grader Vera Vance has signed up for the comics camp after-school program, but her mother would much rather she focus on academics, athletics, music. . . anything but comics! Vera loves all things comic books, so she can't wait for the comics after-school class to start--even though her mother wonders whether it's educational enough. But Vera is determined to participate, and starts developing her own comic about Big Spoon and Little Spoon with the encouragement of her enthusiastic friend Nixie and instruction from teachers who are accomplished cartoonists themselves. As the weeks go by, the after-school teachers announce that for the final class, students will go on a field trip to a local comic-con--and they can even enter a page from their comics in a contest that will be judged there! Vera isn't surprised when her mother says she can't go. But maybe Big Spoon and Little Spoon can convince her mother to accept her passion. Vera Vance: Comics Star follows Nixie Ness: Cooking Star in the After-School Superstars chapter book series. Perfect for fans of Judy Moody, Ivy and Bean, and Clementine, the series is illustrated in black and white and each book includes a bonus activity that corresponds to the book's plot. A Junior Library Guild Selection!

Arts, Music & Photography

Once Upon a Winter Day

A boy learns that nature is full of stories to tell when he finds and follows a mouse's tracks in a wintery wood. A boy learns that nature is full of stories to tell when he finds and follows a mouse's tracks in a wintery wood. Milo wants a story, but his mom is too busy to entertain him. Instead, she encourages him to go out and play in the snow. At first, Milo is disappointed - he doesn't want to play outside, he wants a story. But when he starts to follow a trail of mouse-prints, he discovers signs of activity all around, prompting him to ask, "What happened here?" Before long, he's using his imagination -- depicted in lush wordless spreads that capture the vividness of Milo's fantasies -- to fill in the gaps. By the time Milo comes home, he's the one with stories to tell. A must have for the winter season, Liza Woodruff's Once Upon a Winter Day is a fun read-aloud that shares details about animal behavior from a child's perspective. A Bank Street Best Childrens Book of the Year!

Woodruff, Liza

Animals

Cozy up with this wintry journey! A girl and her father race their plow through a snowstorm. Will they make it to the train station in time? And who's waiting for them? This timeless seasonal classic captures the thrill of snow and the warmth of family. In the midst of a whirling snowfall, a girl and her father pile into their big red snow plow. Through slippery streets, up winding hills, they race-- clearing the snow and heading for the train station to meet a very special traveler. Accomplished author April Jones Prince's beautiful rhyming text is just right for one or two readers. Featuring expressive paintings by the beloved illustrator of the New York Times best selling series The Very Fairy Princess, Christine Davenier, Snowy Race is a perfect rhyming read-aloud. Curl up with this sweet journey all winter long!

Snowy Race

Prince, April Jones

Literature & Fiction

The Space Between Before and After

When Thomas' mother disappears, he tells himself she must be safe. Somewhere. And sometimes, the stories we tell take on a life of their own . . . One morning, ten-year-old Thomas's mother tells him about a dream she had about taking a trip by herself. That seems strange, because lately, his mother has been too depressed to even leave the house. Maybe it's a good sign. But when Thomas gets home from school, she's gone. The police search everywhere, and although they find her car, they can't find her. Without any clear answers, Thomas will have to find his own. With the help of his friends-- and a shared story they create to explain what has happened, a fantasy involving a perilous quest only his mother can complete-- Thomas finds a way to work through his anxiety and grief, reach out to his father, and recognize that even if his mother never comes back, he can still hold a place for her in his heart and mind. This heartbreaking, beautiful novel about loss and grief explores the ways in which young people must face unimaginable tragedies-- and how imagination and compassion can bring some light to the days after.

Stauffacher, Sue

It's 1941 and ten-year-old Norman Mineta is a carefree fourth grader in San Jose, California, who loves baseball, hot dogs, and Cub Scouts. But when Japanese forces attack Pearl Harbor, Norm's world is turned upside down. One by one, things that he and his Japanese American family took for granted are taken away. In a matter of months they, along with everyone else of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast, are forced by the government to move to internment camps, leaving everything they have known behind. At the Heart Mountain internment camp in Wyoming, Norm and his family live in one room in a tar paper barracks with no running water. There are lines for the communal bathroom, lines for the mess hall, and they live behind barbed wire and under the scrutiny of armed guards in watchtowers. Meticulously researched and informed by extensive interviews with Mineta himself, Enemy Child sheds light on a little-known subject of American history. Andrea Warren covers the history of early Asian immigration to the United States and provides historical context on the U.S. government's decision to imprison Japanese Americans alongside a deeply personal account of the sobering effects of that policy. Warren takes readers from sunny California to an isolated wartime prison camp and finally to the halls of Congress to tell the true story of a boy who rose from "enemy child" to a distinguished American statesman. Mineta was the first Asian mayor of a major city (San Jose) and was elected ten times to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he worked tirelessly to pass legislation, including the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. He also served as Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of Transportation. He has had requests by other authors to write his biography, but this is the first time he has said yes because he wanted young readers to know the story of America's internment camps. Enemy Child includes more than ninety photos, many provided by Norm himself, chronicling his family history and his life. Extensive backmatter includes an Afterword, bibliography, research notes, and multimedia recommendations for further information on this important topic. Corecipient of The Flora Stieglitz Straus Award A California Reading Association Eureka! Nonfiction Gold Award Winner A Junior Library Guild Selection A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year A Horn Book Best Book of the Year

Enemy Child: The Story of Norman Mineta, a Boy Imprisoned in a Japanese American Internment Camp During World War II

Warren, Andrea

History

A kitten insists that his little-girl owner write an adventure story suitable for a TIGER and learns that you should be careful about what you wish for when the story becomes too scary. When a little girl starts to write a story about her kitten playing with yarn, he doesn't like it one bit. He wants a story for his alter-ego TIGER--one that has pep and pizzazz--so the girl creates an adventure that the kitten jumps into. Darkness surrounds him (No light, no problem! says the kitten), venomous vipers drop from the trees (Snakes? I've got this), hungry hyenas circle the tiger--and suddenly the kitten begins to wonder if there can be such a thing as too much adventure. As the story gets scarier and scarier, he realizes that what one wants and what one needs are sometimes two different things. This time, he needs a quieter story. A colorful and inventive picture book about a creative girl and her kitten.

A Quieter Story

Thistle Tate is only seventeen, and a bestselling author. It's too bad she's also a liar. It seems like Thistle has everything. Her Lemonade Skies series is wildly popular, with droves of diehard fans waiting for the next--and final--book. She's even started dating her best friend, Liam, the one person who knows everything about her. Including Thistle's deepest secret: she's not really the author of the books. But as she gets to know one of her super-fans--and her handsome, charming brother Oliver--Thistle's guilt starts to weigh on her. How can she build friendships when her life is built on lies? All Thistle wants is for the last book to be written, so she can leave this ruse behind her for good. But as the book's deadline looms, a dramatic turn of events puts everything in jeopardy--Lemonade Skies, Thistle's relationships, and even her own identity. Is she a victim, a fraudster, or both? Lies, jealousy, secrets. . . It's only a matter of time before something gives--and Thistle's world comes undone. For fans of Rainbow Rowell and E. Lockhart, this suspenseful novel is a perfect read for teen bookworms everywhere. With an insider's look at the publishing world and a thrilling love triangle, The Undoing of Thistle Tate will keep you turning pages until the very end.

The Undoing of Thistle Tate

Teen & Young Adult

Detweiler, Katelyn

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Books by Margaret Ferguson Books