My Favorite Books

    My feet splash in the stream while icy water pours over my ankles. I trudge across logs and between rocks. My feet grow numb. How much farther? Will I find them? Another bend and a pile of sticks block the channel.I scramble onto the bank, stumble through the dense, whippy willows and crash...

Written by Andrea Beaty. Illustrated by David Roberts Ada Twist is a member of “The Questioneers” in a series of science-based books for middle grade readers. The first three books in the series are: Ada Twist, Scientist; Rosie Revere, Engineer; and Iggy Peck, Architect; and Sofia Valdez, Future Prez. Each book has an unlikely issue and the kids use critical...

Author: Melissa Wiley Pearl Donnelly grew up on a ranch near San Diego back in the early 20th century. Along with cattle, the family raises ostriches and sells their feathers for lady’s fancy hats. When she’s 11, Pearl’s rambunctious brothers are spotted by a movie producer. He hires them as stuntmen in the Western he’s...

Author: Tanya Lee Stone Almost Astronauts tells the story of a serious attempt to include women in the 1960s space program.In 1960 and 61, nineteen women went to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to participate in the rigorous tests given to the Mercury program astronauts. Randy Lovelace performed the testing at his family clinic, the Lovelace Medical...

Author: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley Ada Smith and her brother Jamie are evacuated from London at the start of World War 2. They are sent to a village far from the city, just like the Pevensie kids in Chronicles of Narnia. However, instead of a magical land in a wardrobe, Ada finds a pony in a...

Author: Christina Soontornvat Sai Arawan, apprentice to the Master Mapmaker, escapes family trouble on an expedition to the Southern Lands. Along the way, she finds more trouble from the disloyal crew, dragons, and greed. The story mixes nautical technology, Thai mythology, and the Age of Exploration to create an exciting fantasy adventure. Sai faces serious...