RUMP:  THE TRUE STORY OF RUMPELSTILTSKIN by Liesl Shurtliff

Genre:  Fantasy (fractured folktale)

Tells the tale of Rumpelstiltskin’s childhood and youth. You learn why his name is so important, how he is able to spin straw into gold, and why a first-born child is his reward for helping the miller’s daughter-turned-queen.

Rump discovers he has a gift for spinning straw into gold, but his best friend, Red Riding Hood, warns him that magic is dangerous, and she’s right. With each thread he spins, he weaves himself deeper into a curse.

Perfect for fans of Gail Carson Levine’s Ella Enchanted or Adam Gidwitz’s A Tale Dark and Grimm.

 

 

THE RED THREAD SISTERS by Carol Peacock

Genre: Realistic Fiction

A story about friendship, family, and love.  After an American family adopts eleven-year-old Wen from a Chinese orphanage, she vows to find a family for her best friend, too. Wen has spent the first eleven years of her life at an orphanage in rural China, and the only person she would call family is her best friend, Shu Ling. When Wen is adopted by an American couple, she struggles to adjust to every part of her new life, but the hardest part of all is knowing that Shu Ling remains back at the orphanage, alone. Wen knows that her best friend deserves a family and a future, too. But finding a home for Shu Ling isn’t easy, and time is running out

 

 

HALF A CHANCE by Cynthia Lord

Genre:  Realistic Fiction

Lucy, with her mother and her photographer father, has just moved to a small rural community in New Hampshire, and with her new friend Nate she plans to spend the summer taking photos for a contest, but pictures sometimes reveal more than people are willing to see. Nate will learn about the power of art to show truth. And Lucy will learn how beauty can change lives . . . including her own.

Click Here for Half A Chance Book Trailer by Liliana Martinez

 

CAPTURE THE FLAG by Kate Messner

Genre:  Action/Adventure

Three kids get caught up in an adventure of historic proportions!

Anna, José, and Henry are complete strangers with more in common than they realize. Snowed in together at a chaotic Washington D.C. airport, they encounter a mysterious tattooed man, a flamboyant politician, and a rambunctious poodle named for an ancient king. Even stranger, news stations everywhere have announced that the famous flag that inspired “The Star-Spangled Banner” has been stolen! Anna, certain that the culprits must be snowed in too, recruits Henry and José to help catch the thieves and bring them to justice.

 

THE BRAIN SUCKER by Glenn Wood

Genre: Fantasy

Lester Smythe has a black heart and reminded me of Gru (from Despicable Me). He’s invented a dangerous brain-sucking machine that removes the goodness from its victims, and he’s using it to rid the world of all human kindness. But Lester didn’t count on thirteen-year-old Callum McCullock and his two best friends, Sophie and Jinx. The trio vow to destroy the brain sucker. And nothing will stand in their way.  It’s up to these three unlikely heroes of the story to save the day (and the world from becoming a miserable place).

If you’re after a fun story, full of adventure, mystery, magic, exciting gadgets, and great characters, then this book is exactly what you’ve been looking to read.

Jeremy Corbett reads the prologue to my book – The Brain Sucker

 

VIEW FROM THE 32nd FLOOR by Emma Cameron

Genre:  Realistic Fiction

Please don’t judge a book by it’s cover, so please don’t let the cover turn you off!

Living on the thirty-second floor of an apartment block, William, a quirky character who likes to change his name every day, has a clear view of his neighbors in the building opposite building.  With his new friend Rebecca, he decides that they will get to know all of their neighbors and hatch a plan that will bring them all together. Can they succeed?

This is a touching story of friendship, community and the importance of making people feel connected to one another.

Source:  Follett Summaries