Giveaways

Just one week left to donate books and nominate a library for this year’s Great Library Giveaway!  Thanks to all of you who have already contributed.  Here’s a list of ten more titles that will be gracing the shelves of our lucky winner:

Around the World by Matt Phelan

Phelan’s Around the World, though fiction, is grounded in historical fact and quotes from primary sources, proving an exciting base for history lessons or a path to the exploration of nonfiction. Three famous individuals are presented, each of whom circumnavigated in the world in his or her own way: Thomas Steves by bicycle, Nellie Bly by ship and rail, and Joshua Slocum by sail boat. The pacing and speed of each journey is captured by the graphic novel layout, which combines text, image, maps, and other materials, each adding a layer to the reader’s understanding. Sprightly line drawings and colorful washes capture the emotion and drive of each character, bringing a rush of thrilling speed to each adventure.

Breakaway by Andrea Montalbano

Twelve-year-old LJ knows her place in the world is on the soccer field. When she’s out there scoring goals, everything’s right. But lately her competitive spirit has been getting the best of her, and she begins to alienate all her friends. Popular girl Tabitha, who spends most of her time on the bench, would give anything for LJ’s confidence and ability on the soccer field. Meanwhile, LJ secretly admires Tabitha’s world of money and friends. So when it’s LJ on the bench instead of Tabitha, she figures out a few things she never expected, and realizes that sometimes it takes more skill to make others look good instead of yourself.

Guys Read: The Sports Pages by John Scieszka

A lineman with something to prove

A vendetta against a baseball legend

The rise of a real-life NHL all-star

The luckiest grapefruit in sports history

Open up “The Sports Pages,” the third volume in the Guys Read Library of Great Reading, and you’re in for all of this and more. From fiction to nonfiction, from baseball to mixed martial arts and everything in between, these are ten stories about the rush of victory and the crush of defeat on and off the field. Compiled by kid-lit all-star Jon Scieszka, “Guys Read: The Sports Pages” is a thrilling collection of brand-new short stories from some of your favorite authors and athletes.

Northward to the Moon by Polly Horvath

When Jane’s stepfather gets fired from his job as a French teacher—turns out he doesn’t speak French—Jane feels the warm glow of possibility. Soon, the family is on the road, driving through the night, on the cusp of an adventure that will take them across the continent. Wise, moving, and filled with humor, this Parents’ Choice Gold Award-winning follow-up to the acclaimed My One Hundred Adventures by a National Book Award winner illuminates the strange and complicated ways in which people become families.

Small Medium at Large (Joanne Levy)

After she’s hit by lightning at a wedding, twelve-year-old Lilah Bloom develops a new talent: she can hear dead people. Among them, there’s her overopinionated Bubby Dora; a prissy fashion designer; and an approval-seeking clown who livens up a séance. With Bubby Dora leading the way, these and other sweetly imperfect ghosts haunt Lilah through seventh grade, and help her face her one big fear: talking to-and possibly going to the seventh-grade dance with-her crush, Andrew Finkel.

Sprinkles and Secrets by Lisa Schroeder

Twelve-year-old Sophie has always dreamed of becoming an actress and being in front of the camera. So when she’s offered an opportunity to audition for a TV commercial spot—and a chance to make her dreams come true—she’s over-the-moon happy. But then she finds out what exactly she’ll be advertising: the scrumptious, ever-popular brownies from Beatrice’s Brownies. And there’s just one problem with Beatrice’s Brownies….the brand is the number one competitor to It’s Raining Cupcakes, the shop owned by her best friend Isabel’s family.

Sophie has a tough choice to make: Follow her dreams or betray her best friend. What’s a girl to do?

The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Bartoletti has taken one episode from her Newbery Honor Book, HITLER YOUTH, and fleshed it out into thought-provoking novel. When 16-year-old Helmut Hubner listens to the BBC news on an illegal short-wave radio, he quickly discovers Germany is lying to the people. But when he tries to expose the truth with leaflets, he’s tried for treason. Sentenced to death and waiting in a jail cell, Helmut’s story emerges in a series of flashbacks that show his growth from a naive child caught up in the patriotism of the times , to a sensitive and mature young man who thinks for himself.

The Shocking Truth About Electricity by Jennifer Swanson

What do you call a power failure? A current event! Get it? If you don’t get this joke, you need this book! It’ll teach you everything you need to know about the power that powers your world. The answers might shock you!

Trouble in the Trees by Yolanda Ridge

Eleven-year-old Bree is happiest when she’s climbing the trees at Cedar Grove, her urban townhouse complex. She’s the best climber around, even better than an older boy, Tyler, who drives her crazy with his competitiveness. When Ethan, a younger boy, falls from a tree and hurts his elbow, the neighborhood council bans all tree-climbing in Cedar Grove. If Bree chooses to ignore the bylaw, her family could be kicked out of their home, so she vows to change the rule instead. After giving a presentation to the Neighborhood Council, she realizes this is not a battle she can win on her own, but rallying the Cedar Grove troops is more difficult than she imagined.

*All summaries are from IndieBound

Our library giveaway is about halfway over – still plenty of time to donate books or nominate a deserving library! Another huge thanks to all of the authors, publishers, and our own Mixed-Up Files blog contributors who have donated books.

You can see the complete list of donated books here. For information on how you can donate a book to add to our collection, please visit our Great Library Donations page.

And to nominate a worthy public, school, or private library to receive the books, please go here.

Each of our spotlight posts will highlight ten or so of the books we will be giving away. Check out these terrific titles!

 The Smoky Corridor by Chris Grabenstein

Zack is about to start at his new school, and in addition to homework, school lunches, and bullies, Zack must also contend with a ruthless hit man seeking a lost treasure, a voodoo savvy ghost waiting to take possession of a new body, and a soul-sucking zombie in the basement. Suddenly homework doesn’t seem so bad. Once again Chris Grabenstein proves his mastery of the frightening and funny tale.

 The Great Wall of Lucy Wu by Wendy Wan-Long Shang

Lucy Wu, aspiring basketball star and interior designer, is on the verge of having the best year of her life. She’s ready to rule the school as a sixth grader and take over the bedroom she has always shared with her sister. In an instant, though, her plans are shattered when she finds out that Yi Po, her beloved grandmother’s sister, is coming to visit for several months — and is staying in Lucy’s room. Lucy’s vision of a perfect year begins to crumble, and in its place come an unwelcome roommate, foiled birthday plans, and Chinese school with the awful Talent Chang.

  Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary

Ramona just wants everyone to be happy. If only her father would smile and joke again, her mother would look less worried, her sister would be cheerful, and Picky-picky would eat his cat-food. But Ramona’s father has lost his job, and nobody in the Quimby household is in a very good mood.

Ramona tries to cheer up the family as only Ramona can — by rehearsing for life as a rich and famous star of television commercials.

 Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliet

When a book of unexplainable occurences brings Petra and Calder together, strange things start to happen: Seemingly unrelated events connect; an eccentric old woman seeks their company; an invaluable Vermeer painting disappears. Before they know it, the two find themselves at the center of an international art scandal, where no one is spared from suspicion. As Petra and Calder are drawn clue by clue into a mysterious labyrinth, they must draw on their powers of intuition, their problem solving skills, and their knowledge of Vermeer. Can they decipher a crime that has stumped even the FBI?

 Winterling by Sarah Prineas

Spirited young Fer travels through the Way to a magical world in which beings part human and part animal serve an evil ruler known as the Lady, and where she hopes to learn about her long-lost parents and her own identity.

 Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord

The state of Maine plans to shut down her island’s schoolhouse, which would force Tess’s family to move to the mainland–and Tess to leave the only home she has ever known. Fortunately, the islanders have a plan too: increase the numbers of students by having several families take in foster children. So now Tess and her family are taking a chance on Aaron, a thirteen-year-old trumpet player who has been bounced from home to home. And Tess needs a plan of her own–and all the luck she can muster. Will Tess’s wish come true or will her luck run out?

 The Yggyssey by Daniel Pinkwater

La Brea Woman is missing. Valentino, too. The ghosts of Los Angeles are disappearing right and left!
Iggy Birnbaum is determined to get to the bottom of this mystery, no matter what Neddie Wentworthstein and Seamus Finn say.

There’s just the little matter of traveling to another plane of existence, first…and then, of course, not pissing off a witch once she gets there.

 The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger

In this funny, uncannily wise portrait of the dynamics of a sixth-grade class and of the greatness that sometimes comes in unlikely packages, Dwight, a loser, talks to his classmates via an origami finger puppet of Yoda. If that weren’t strange enough, the puppet is uncannily wise and prescient. Origami Yoda predicts the date of a pop quiz, guesses who stole the classroom Shakespeare bust, and saves a classmate from popularity-crushing embarrassment with some well-timed advice. Dwight’s classmate Tommy wonders how Yoda can be so smart when Dwight himself is so clueless.

 The Other Half of My Heart by Sundee T. Frazier

When Minerva and Keira King were born, they made headlines: Keira is black like Mama, but Minni is white like Daddy. Together the family might look like part of a chessboard row, but they are first and foremost the close-knit Kings. Then Grandmother Johnson calls, to invite the twins down South to compete for the title of Miss Black Pearl Preteen of America. Minni has always believed that no matter how different she and Keira are, they share a deep bond of the heart. Now she’ll find out the truth.

 The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook by Joanne Rocklin

Oona and her brother, Fred, love their cat Zook (short for Zucchini), but Zook is sick. As they conspire to break him out of the vet’s office, convinced he can only get better at home with them, Oona tells Fred the story of Zook’s previous lives, ranging in style from fairy tale to grand epic to slice of life. Each of Zook’s lives has echoes in Oona’s own family life, which is going through a transition she’s not yet ready to face.  The truth about Dylan, and about Zook’s medical condition, drives the drama in this loving family story.

*All summaries are from IndieBound