"Ross Maloy just wants to be a normal seventh grader. He doesn't want to lose his hair, or wear a weird hat, or deal with the disappearing friends who don't know what to say to 'the cancer kid.' But with his recent diagnosis of a rare eye cancer, blending in is off the table. Based on the author's real life experience" --

April is looking for an escape from the sixth-grade lunch hour, which has become a social-scene nightmare, so she signs up to be a "buddy bench monitor" for the fourth graders' recess. Joey Byrd is a boy on the fringes, who wanders the playground alone, dragging his foot through the dirt. But over time, April realizes that Joey isn't just making random circles. When you look at his designs from above, a story emerges... Joey's "bird's eye" drawings...

A retelling of a traditional West African tale that reveals how the mosquito developed its annoying habit. A mosquito annoyed the iguana, who frightened the python, who scared the rabbit, and now the whole jungle is in an uproar because the sun won't rise. The animals discuss the situation and decide to punish the mosquito. Even today, whenever we hear a mosquito buzz, we smack it hard!

Every spring, birds small enough to fit in the palm of your hand fly two thousand miles north to lay their eggs. This is the story of one tiny hummingbird's amazing journey.

"A celebrated science writer draws upon the most recent discoveries in paleoarchaeology and evolutionary biology to present the seven most important steps leading to Homo sapiens"--

"When twelve-year-old Zinnia Manning’s older brother Gabriel is diagnosed with a mental illness, the family’s world is turned upside down. Mom and Dad want Zinny, her sixteen-year-old sister, Scarlett, and her eight-year-old brother, Aiden, to keep Gabriel’s condition 'private'—and to Zinny that sounds the same as 'secret.' Which means she can’t talk about it to her two best friends, who don’t understand why Zinny keeps pushing them away,...

Twelve-year-old Maggie's stutter causes her much heartache and only her menagerie of pets, whom she can speak with fluidly, provide her comfort, but when she finds Rumpus, an abandoned snow leopard, in a forest in Cornwall, their chance encounter will change their lives forever.

"From two-time Newbery Medalist Kate DiCamillo comes a story of discovering who you are -- and deciding who you want to be. When Louisiana Elefante's granny wakes her up in the middle of the night to tell her that the day of reckoning has arrived and they have to leave home immediately, Louisiana isn't overly worried. After all, Granny has many middle-of-the-night ideas. But this time, things are different. This time, Granny intends for them never...

"When Lily and her family move in with her sick grandmother, a magical tiger straight out of her halmoni's Korean folktales arrives. The tiger offers Lily a deal- if Lily will open her grandmother's star jars and return what she stole, the tiger will heal her grandmother. But deals with tigers are never what they seem! With the help of her sister and her new friend Ricky, Lily must find her voice . . . and the courage to face a tiger. Tae Keller,...

Explores the diverse world of bats while explaining the characteristics and behaviors of varieties ranging from the giant flying fox to the tiny bumblebee bat.