Thomas Jefferson Middle Library: Playaways

It sucks being with Grandpa in this new town. It sucks that they left the old place without finding Rosco. Travis doesn't want to do anything, especially try to get by in his classes, which never seems possible, anyway. He's a Bluefish? -? stupid, angry, alone. Then, suddenly, there's a girl. Velveeta. She's up in his face and she's not backing down. She is as loud as he is quiet, as outgoing as he is shut in. She's pretty, in a funky, scarf-wearing sort of way, and she's smart? -? way smart ?- ?smart enough to figure out that Travis has a secret. And she should know. She has a few of her own. She's not sure what's up with him, but she's determined to find out. So is McQueen, the teacher who might just be the one to unleash something in Travis that has been held back for a very long time. With a cast of utterly believable characters, Pat Schmatz has crafted a story rich in moments of trust and connection, told with humor, heartbreak, and fearless honesty.

A heartbreaking and powerful story about a black boy killed by a police officer, drawing connections through history, from award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes.Only the living can make the world better. Live and make it better. Twelve-year-old Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat. As a ghost, he observes the devastation thats been unleashed on his family and community in the wake of what they see as an unjust and brutal killing.Soon Jerome meets another ghost: Emmett Till, a boy from a very different time but similar circumstances. Emmett helps Jerome process what has happened, on a journey towards recognizing how historical racism may have led to the events that ended his life. Jerome also meets Sarah, the daughter of the police officer, who grapples with her fathers actions.Once again Jewell Parker Rhodes deftly weaves historical and socio-political layers into a gripping and poignant story about how children and families face the complexities of todays world, and how one boy grows to understand American blackness in the aftermath of his own death.

After spending six years with his parents and his two sisters in an underground compound built by his father to protect them from a nuclear holocaust, Eli discovers that his father has perpetrated a monstrous hoax on them all.

For as long as she can remember, Rio has dreamed of the sand and sky Aboveof life beyond her underwater city of Atlantia. But in a single moment, all Rios hopes for the future are shattered when her twin sister, Bay, makes an unexpected choice, stranding Rio Below. Alone, ripped away from the last person who knew Rios true selfand the powerful siren voice she has long silencedshe has nothing left to lose.

They are outcasts. Hal, Stig, and the others - they are the boys the others want no part of. Skandians, as any reader of Ranger's Apprentice could tell you, are known for their size and strength. Not these boys. Yet that doesn't mean they don't have skills. And courage - which they will need every ounce of to do battle at sea against the other bands, the Wolves and the Sharks, in the ultimate race. The icy waters make for a treacherous playing field... especially when not everyone thinks of it as playing. John Flanagan, author of the international phenomenon Ranger's Apprentice, creates a new cast of characters to populate his world of Skandians and Araluens, a world millions of young readers around the world have come to know and admire. Full of seafaring adventures and epic battles, Book 1 of The Brotherband Chronicles is sure to thrill readers of Ranger's Apprentice while enticing a whole new generation just now discovering the books.