It all begins with a dog. A poor peasant couple leaves their baby daughter with only a dog for a babysitter. When they return, they find the dog covered in blood. Crazy with grief, they kill the dog only to find their daughter safe and sound in her crib. Years later, their daughter Jeanne sees…
Picks by Mary S. - Page 2 of 2
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The Charmed Children of Rookskill Castle by Janet Fox
Something is terribly wrong at the castle. Is it haunted by ghosts? Is it a secret hideout for Nazi spies? Or is it under the control of an evil witch? Twelve-year-old Kat and her siblings have been sent to boarding school in the castle in order to avoid the bombing in London. But when the…
Tru & Nelle by G. Neri
When Nelle and Tru first meet, they don't seem to have much in common. Nelle's a tomboy, and Tru likes fancy clothes. It's their mutual love of mysteries that brings them together. Soon they have formed their own detective agency and are off solving cases and having adventures. One particularly funny scheme involves a…
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
Every year the villagers in the Protectorate sacrifice a baby to the "evil" witch of the forest. And every year, this witch (who isn't evil at all) wonders why these crazy people abandon their babies. Before the child can be torn to bits by wild animals, the witch, whose name is Xan, rescues it and…
Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Think of a piece of music. In this song, there are three harmonies that come together to make the melody. Each of these three children’s stories is one of those harmonies. Friedrich lives in Nazi Germany. All he wants is to be left alone to play music, but first he needs to rescue his father…
Lunch Witch by Deb Lucke
It's hard to be a witch in modern times because no one believes in magic anymore. So what is an out-of-work witch who makes terrible tasting brews to do? You guessed it--become a lunch lady in the school cafeteria. Perfect, right? Except there's one problem. A student named Madison guesses she is a witch and…
The Stratford Zoo Midnight Revue Presents: Macbeth by Ian Lendler
Maybe you've heard of Shakespeare from plays like Romeo and Juliet--sappy--or Othello: boring! But I promise you, this Shakespeare play is not like anything you've ever read before. The animals are putting on the play MacBeth at the zoo. There will be yummy snacks--peanuts, bananas, and even earthworms. You'll want to make sure you get a good seat--not behind the…
Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
Things have not been going well for ten-year-old Bud. First, Todd, his foster brother, sticks a pencil up his nose while he’s sleeping. Then when he defends himself, Todd beats him up and Bud is the one who is punished by being locked overnight in the shed. There he sees a huge vampire bat, which…
Greenglass House by Kate Milford
It's the middle of winter at Greenglass House, a smuggler's inn on the side of a steep hill. The only way up is a creaky old cable car or a long hike up the stairs. The house used to belong to the famous smuggler Doc Holliday, who disappeared mysteriously some years ago. Twelve-year old…
