Non-fiction

El Deafo, by CeCe Bell (Graphic Novel) (eBook download available)
In this insightful and humorous graphic novel memoir, Bell portrays growing up with a giant hearing aid strapped to her chest. Themes of navigating a new school, sleepovers, finding a true friend, and a first crush make this book universal in appeal.

Electric Ben: The Amazing Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin, by Robert Byrd
A beautifully realized labor of love and affection brings to life one of our brightest founding fathers. Ben Franklin's multiple geniuses might be too large to be contained in a simple narrative, but Byrd finds a way to convey with warmth and enthusiasm an appreciation for the long and influential life that Franklin lived as printer, inventor and statesman. Byrd's sparkling marriage of text and illustration lowers the barriers to comprehending the brilliance, energy, passion and inventiveness of this early American phenomenon. (biography)

The Great Fire, by Jim Murphy (audio available)
A young reader's account of the Great Chicago Fire combines archival photographs and drawings with personal accounts by its survivors and carefully researched historical documents.

Olympians Series: Zeus, Hera, Hades, Athena, Poseidon, by George O’Connor (graphic novels)(Choose ANY title in the series)
These 5 riveting graphic novels balance carefully researched retellings with strong characterizations, satisfying humor, and superhero-style action. Stunning artwork and compelling scripts relate five thrilling stories about the headstrong Athena; provide fresh perspective on Hera and her role in the fraught-with-trials tale of Heracles; and introduce world-shaking Zeus, from sheltered boyhood to Titan-toppling melees to ascendance to the throne, and more!

September 11, 2001, by Andrew Santella
Recounts events of September 11, 2001, when terrorists flew into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, discusses what is known of the terrorists, and relates how America has responded to the tragedy.

Walt Disney: His Life in Pictures, edited by Russell Schroeder
Walt Disney’s name is as well-known and beloved as the many cherished characters he brought to the big screen. With numerous photographs and illustrations, this pictorial biography tells the story of how these characters came to be, as well as the story behind the man who created them. (biography)

Chasing Lincoln’s Killer, by James L. Swanson (audio available)
Based on the book Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer, this factual account tells of the events that followed President Lincoln's assassination that brought his killer and accomplices to justice through a review of letters, government reports, trial transcripts, and newspaper articles.

Fiction

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy, by Jeanne Birdsall (choose ANY title in the series) (audio & large print available)
While vacationing with their widowed father in the Berkshire Mountains, four lovable sisters, ages four through twelve, share adventures with a local boy, much to the dismay of his snobbish mother.

No Talking, by Andrew Clements (audio and large print available)
The noisy fifth grade boys of Laketon Elementary School challenge the equally loud fifth grade girls to a "no talking" contest.

Once Upon a Marigold, by Jean Ferris (audio available)
A young man with a mysterious past and a penchant for inventing things leaves the troll who raised him, meets an unhappy princess he has loved from afar, and discovers a plot against her and her father. Though this is a love story, it's not the soppy sort. Winning characters, unabashedly lame jokes, and a fresh, energetic telling will appeal to boys and girls alike. And for traditionalists, the story features a true fairy-tale ending, with happiness for those who deserve it and justice for all.

Turtle in Paradise, by Jennifer Holm (eAudio, audio CD& eBook & playaway available)
Eleven-year-old Turtle is not one to suffer fools gladly. And she runs into a lot of fools, especially the no-goods her starry-eyed mother meets. So it's a tough little Turtle who arrives in Key West in June of 1935. She's been sent to Florida to stay with relatives because her mother's latest housekeeping job doesn't allow children. Unfortunately, Mama has neglected to tell Aunt Minnie she's coming, and Turtle gets the stink eye from cousins with monikers like Buddy and Beans. As Turtle soon learns, everything is different in Key West, from the fruit hanging on trees to the scorpions in nightgowns to the ways kids earn money. She can't be part of her cousins' Diaper Gang (no girls allowed), which takes care of fussy babies, but when she finds a treasure map, she hopes she'll be on Easy Street like Little Orphan Annie. Holm uses family stories as the basis for this tale, part romp, part steely-eyed look at the Depression era.

Regarding the Fountain: A Tale in Letters, of Liars and Leaks, by Kate Klise (choose ANY "Regarding the" titles)
When the principal asks a fifth-grader to write a letter regarding the purchase of a new drinking fountain for their school, he finds that all sorts of chaos results.  

Island, Dive, Everest, or Titanic by Gordon Korman (choose ANY title in any of these adventure trilogies)

How I Survived Middle School, by Nancy E. Krulik (choose ANY title in the series)
Jenny McAfee is just trying to survive middle school and help comes in the most unexpected place--a Web site called www.middleschoolsurvival.com. Just like her new favorite Web site, this series comes complete with survival quizzes and tips throughout, and is sure to become required reading for any girl entering middle school. There are 12 books in this series.

Rules, by Cynthia Lord (audio CD, eAudio, large print available)
Frustrated at life with an autistic brother, twelve-year-old Catherine longs for a normal existence but her world is further complicated by a friendship with a young paraplegic.

The Boy Who Saved Baseball, by John H. Ritter (audio available)
The fate of a small California town rests on the outcome of one baseball game, and Tom Gallagher hopes to lead his team to victory with the secrets of the now disgraced player, Dante Del Gato.

The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trent Lee Stuart (choose ANY title in the series) (audio available)
After passing a series of mind-bending tests, four children are selected for a secret mission that requires them to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules.

Little House in the Big Woods, by Laura Ingalls Wilder (choose ANY of the Little House titles) (audio & large print available)
A year in the life of two young girls growing up on the Wisconsin frontier, as they help their mother with the daily chores, enjoy their father's stories and singing, and share special occasions when they get together with relatives or neighbors.