Stu Truly is the coming-of-age story of 12-year-old Stu as he struggles to navigate the murky waters of adolescence when he finds himself living a lie-that seems to be growing beyond his control-to impress the new girl in school. When Stuart Cornelius Truly first sets eyes on the new girl, Becca, he staples his finger to his seventh-grade history assignment. The second time he sees her, he coughs up a bite of her lunch-a vegetarian roasted pepper sandwich-all over her sweater, and promptly lies, claiming that he, too, is a vegetarian. Their third encounter goes more smoothly, but Stu's lie turns out to be harder to keep than he expected, especially since his family owns a butcher shop. In this hilarious, heartwarming, contemporary middle grade novel, Stu suddenly begins to realize the opposite sex exists (and isn't so bad, after all!). Can Stu learn to successfully navigate old friends, new crushes, and horror-filled school dances, or will his lie, intended to impress his crush, actually cause his world to fall apart?

Stu Truly

Children's Books

Richards, Dan

Humor

Yellow Jacket

Emma Woods knows just how to fix all her peers' problems-or so she thinks-in this first book in the brand-new middle grade series Ask Emma, from the bestselling creators behind the Cupcake Club series! When 13-year-old Emma Woods gets that tingling feeling in her fingertips, she knows she's on to a great idea-and starting an advice blog for her classmates at Austen Middle may be one of her most brilliant ones yet! Who better to give advice on friendship, style, school, and even crushes than someone who's going through it too? But when Ask Emma goes live, she quickly realizes not everyone sees it that way. Suddenly, Emma is bombarded with peers asking her to help them postpone quizzes, get out of detention, and cut gym class short. This wasn't exactly what she had in mind. . . .What's worse, someone is posting hurtful comments, telling her to mind her own business. Despite her good intentions, Emma's blog seems to only be getting her-and her friends--deeper and deeper into trouble. Will Ask Emma come to an end before it's really begun? Or can Emma find her voice, write what's in her heart, and truly stand up for what she believes in? This book will include an appendix on cyberbullying resources.

Ask Emma (Ask Emma Book 1)

Berk, Sheryl

Berk, Carrie

Computers & Technology

Frenemies (Ask Emma Book 2)

When Emma and her two best friends find themselves at odds with one another, can Emma find a way keep the trio from becoming a duo? Find out in this second book in the brand-new middle grade series, Ask Emma, from the bestselling creators behind The Cupcake Club series! Emma Woods is used to speaking her mind. She does it every day on her blog, Ask Emma. When her classmates at Austen Middle have a problem, Emma has an opinion on how to fix it. So when she learns her crush, Jackson Knight, is going to Washington, DC, to attend the National Student Congress, Emma is upset that she wasn't picked as a representative. When Principal Bates tells Emma the NSC needs students who are calm, cool, and collected---and neutral---Emma vows to be just that for forty-eight hours to prove to Mrs. Bates that she can do it. But staying Swiss is proving more difficult than Emma thought it would be, especially when it comes to dishing out advice on her blog. Now her silence is causing more trouble than her opinions. Her best friends, Izzy and Harriet, misinterpret her restraint as negligence and stop speaking to her. Can Emma find a way to get her friends back and still stay cool as a cucumber?

Growing Up & Facts of Life

Emma Woods knows just how to fix all her peers' problems-or so she thinks-in the next installment of the middle grade series Ask Emma, from the bestselling creators behind the Cupcake Club series!Back from a remarkable trip to Washington DC, 13-year-old Emma Woods thinks Jackson Knight is about to become her first boyfriend. But when Jax seems to suddenly turn icy, Emma is left in the cold. As if Emma's life couldn't get more complicated, Austen Middle School is hosting its first-ever Sadie Hawkins dance, where girls invite a partner. While Emma gives advice to her friends and classmates, she also has to figure out what to do about her own situation. Should she forget about Jackson? Or is this the perfect opportunity to make her move? Filled with humor, drama, and heart, book three in the Ask Emma series will have readers begging for more.

Boy Trouble (Ask Emma Book 3)

This middle grade, magical realism debut about a young girl who sets out to discover the truth behind her mother's disappearance is The Secret Garden meets the Book Scavenger series! Floralie Laurel, freshly expelled from Mrs. Coffrey's School for Young Girls, works as a flower seller in an English village with her guardian brother, Tom, miles and miles away from their real home in France. Tom and Floralie are drowning in debt, but fortunately, Grandmama arrives to save them. Unfortunately, Grandmama's idea of "saving" means sending Floralie to the Adelaide Laurel Orphanage for Unfortunate Children and shaping her into a proper lady-i.e., ridding her of imagination, daydreams, paintings, and poetry. Before Grandmama can take her away, Floralie discovers a hidden box of dried flowers and a letter from her mother, who had mysteriously disappeared years ago. The letter promises that the flowers will lead Floralie to Mama if Floralie decodes them with a floriography-a dictionary of flower meanings-written by Claude Monet's gardener. Accompanied by an orphan boy who speaks only on paper, a blind librarian, and a thieving dormouse, Floralie sets off for Monet's house in France to find Mama. But Mama's fate may not be quite as Floralie expected, and the gardener may be hiding secrets deeper than Monet's water lily ponds....

The Flourishing of Floralie Laurel

Moser, Fiadhnait

Arts, Music & Photography

When Sam's best friend Reagan dies after her heart suddenly gives out, Sam must learn to deal with her grief and ultimately discover who she is without her best friend by her side. Fourteen-year-old Sam thinks she has all summer to hang out with her best friend, Reagan. But then her life changes forever. Sam's world, once filled with school, basketball, and Reagan, has now abruptly changed and she must learn to navigate high school on and off the court without her best friend. But when Reagan suddenly "reappears," Sam clings to her friend's presence, even as it hurts rather than helps her grief. Can Sam learn to accept herself without her other half? This authentic, powerful story of friendship, grief, and discovering yourself is a can't-miss debut novel from Maura Ellen Stokes.

Fadeaway

Stokes, Maura Ellen

Sports & Outdoors

This historical middle grade novel written in free verse, set against the backdrop of the desegregation battles that took place in Houston, Texas, in 1972, is about a young boy and his family dealing with loss and the revelation of dark family secrets. Ten-year-old Paulie Sanders hates his name because it also belonged to his daddy-his daddy who killed a fellow white man and then crashed his car. With his mama unable to cope, Paulie and his sister, Charlie, move in with their Aunt Bee and attend a new elementary school. But it's 1972, and this new school puts them right in the middle of the Houston School District's war on desegregation. Paulie soon begins to question everything. He hears his daddy's crime was a race-related one; he killed a white man defending a black man, and when Paulie starts picking fights with a black boy at school, he must face his reasons for doing so. When dark family secrets are revealed, the way forward for everyone will change the way Paulie thinks about family forever. The Colors of the Rain is an authentic, heartbreaking portrait of loss and human connection during an era fraught with racial tension set in verse from debut author R. L. Toalson.

The Colors of the Rain

Toalson, R. L.

Literature & Fiction

While helping her granny Collette evacuate to a makeshift shelter in Brooklyn during Superstorm Sandy, Lily uncovers secrets of her grandmother's past as a member of the French Resistance during WWII. Queens, 2012. Hurricane Sandy is flooding New York City, and Lily is at a nursing home with her grandmother, Collette. Lily visits Collette often, as she is beginning to lose her memories. When the National Guard shows up to evacuate the building and take them to safety at the Park Slope armory in Brooklyn, Lily's granny suddenly produces a red box she's hidden in a closet for years. Once they get to safety, Lily opens the box, where she finds an old, beautiful Montblanc pen. Granny tells Lily that the pen is very important and that she has to take care of it, as well as some letters written in French. But Lily loses the pen in the course of helping other nursing home residents, and as she searches the city trying to find it, she learns more about her grandmother's past in France and begins to uncover the significance of the pen with the help of her best friend, a quirky pen expert, and a larger-than-life, off-Broadway understudy. Told in alternating sections (2012 and 1944), this engaging book explores a deep friendship during difficult times and the importance of family.

Skylark and Wallcreeper

Carelli, Anne O'Brien

The Prophet Calls

Gentry Forrester feels lucky to live among God's chosen people in the Prophet's compound, but when music is outlawed, Gentry and her older brother, Tanner, sneak out of the community. When they return, all bets are off as the Prophet exercises his control. Born into a polygamous community in the foothills of New Mexico, Gentry Forrester feels lucky to live among God's chosen, apart from the outside world and its "evils." On her thirteenth birthday, Gentry receives a new violin from her father and, more than anything, she wants to play at the Santa Fe Music Festival with her brother, Tanner. But then the Prophet calls from prison and announces he has outlawed music in their community and now forbids women to leave. Determined to play, Gentry and Tanner sneak out. But once they return, the Prophet exercises control from prison, and it has devastating consequences for Gentry and her family. Soon, everything Gentry has known is turned upside down. She begins to question the Prophet's teachings and his revelations, especially when his latest orders put Gentry's family in danger. Can Gentry find a way to protect herself and her family from the Prophet and escape the only life she's ever known? This realistic, powerful story of family, bravery, and following your dreams is a can't-miss debut novel from Melanie Sumrow.

Sumrow, Melanie

How far would you go to say goodbye? Martin and Charlie are journeying 421 miles across England to find out, but are they prepared for what they find when they get there? Thirteen-year-old Martin and his younger brother Charlie are on a very special journey. They're traveling 421 miles all the way from Preston in northern England to the very tip of Cornwall in the southwest. By train, bus, and taxi, they are determined to get there to catch a glimpse of the dolphin that regularly visits the harbor and made last year's family vacation so special. But is that the only reason they are going? Mom stays in bed all day and Dad is always at work. Martin is doing his best to be a good big brother, but Martin must come to terms with why he and Charlie are making the journey to Cornwall in the first place. Charlie and Me is an unforgettable novel that is funny, adventurous, and heartbreaking.

Charlie and Me: 421 Miles from Home

Lowery, Mark

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