Having a dad who writes articles for travel journals in pretty cool. Grace and Jaden get to tag along on many business trips. They get to see beautiful countries and experience amazing trips, hikes, food, and friends. Grace and Jaden’s dad is on assignment in Greece and they get to tag along! Greece is filled with so much beauty and mythology. Grace is excited to explore the country but becomes a little nervous once she learns they will spend a few days on a boat to explore the islands. Things get a little scary as they travel through caves, ruined cities, and experience a storm at sea. What trouble will Jaden get in to here? Can Grace get over her fear of the ocean in order to enjoy the trip? Paired to the nonfiction title Paleontologists.
Grace and her brother, Jaden, were adopted by two wonderful people. Grace was adopted from China and Jaden from America. Their parents are history buffs and share their love of history through teaching and writing. Grace loves tagging along as their dad writes for travel magazines. She gets to explore amazing places and experience things that most kids her age don’t. Grace is from China but she doesn’t remember it. She was adopted at a young age and now her and her family are going back to adopt her younger sister! Before the new edition comes to the family, Grace, Jaden, and her dad adventure to the Great Wall of China. But a series of mishaps makes this adventure take a turn for the worst. Will Grace and her family survive the Great Wall of China? These adventure books are perfect for your fluent reader. They develop independent reading through longer, complex sentences, rich vocabulary, and minimal illustrations. Paired to the nonfiction title Great Wall of China.
Grace, Jaden, and Joy get to visit historical places around the world. Having a mom who is a history professor and a dad who writes for travel magazines has its benefits. Grace and Jaden love exploring their new surroundings and going on adventures with new friends. France is filled with wonderful museums, delicious restaurants, and, of course, history. Grace, Jaden, and their newest sister, Joy are spending the summer in Paris with their parents! While their parents are busy working, Sophie, the babysitter, has them explore the attic. The kids find a mysterious painting and decide to track down the artist. But did they get in too deep? Could this painting actually be worthy millions? Who is the guy that keeps following them? Can Grace, Jaden, and Sophie find the answers and help they need before it’s too late? Adventure books with longer, complex sentences, rich vocabulary, and minimal illustrations are perfect for fluent readers. Paired to the nonfiction title A Look at Renaissance Art.
The Nylund kids are experienced world travelers thanks to their mom. Having a mom who works for the UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, means they get to tag along for amazing world adventures. They each record their trips in their travel journals so that can always have the memories… and because they have to share what they learned with their teachers and classmates! The family is packing up and shipping out to Italy! Excited and desperate to leave Chicago’s winter weather, the Nylund family meets one obstacle after another. A huge ice storm in New York before their flight, losing Ollie in the Roman Catacombs, a crab taking a chunk out of Samal’s foot, and an encounter with a viper threaten to terminate this trip. Will their luck ever turn around so they can enjoy their time in Italy? Adventure books with longer, complex sentences, rich vocabulary, and minimal illustrations are perfect for fluent readers. Paired to the nonfiction title STEM Guides to Maps.
Twins, Samal and Anara, live in New York City with their mom and little brother, Oliver. Living in New York City is an adventure alright but sometimes the kids travel with their mom who works for the United Nations. A family vacation is very different for the Nylund family! Samal and Anara are excited to start their adventure in Cairo with their mom and younger brother. Everything is so different from their home in New York City. The girls learn the importance of understanding the culture of other parts of the world. Can the girls blend in and not draw negative attention their American clothes? Will Samal survive her snorkeling adventure? Will the kids make it out of the protest safely? Adventure books with longer, complex sentences, rich vocabulary, and minimal illustrations are perfect for fluent readers. Paired to the nonfiction title Pyramids of Egypt.
Having parents who travel the world for work has its benefits. Twins, Tomas and Marisol, are able to tag along on many or their parents’ trips exploring new cultures, making new friends, and maybe a few adventures. Tomas and Marisol never thought such a beautiful place would be so dangerous. The twins are eager to see all the animals they can but they never considered poachers invading their camp, stampedes, or the hot savannah sun. Are Tomas and Marisol cut out for Kenya? What did the poachers want from a bunch of researchers? Will the Perez family make it out of the African savannah safely? Adventure books with longer, complex sentences, rich vocabulary, and minimal illustrations are perfect for fluent readers. Paired to the nonfiction title STEM Guides to Travel.
Twins, Anara and Samal, love to travel with their mom and little brother, Oliver. Having a mom that works for UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, means the family gets to travel to the coolest places. Sometimes their dad or their grandma from Finland, Vovo, are able to tag along and visit the most amazing places. India is totally better than spending all summer at camp. Traveling through busy citifies and India’s countryside, the Nylund’s experience rickshaws, spicy foods, and, Ollie’s favorite, history. Things get complicated when the kids encounter the many homeless children, mistreatment of Anara’s beloved elephants, and 13 hour “surprise” trip. Can the Nylunds survive India’s hot, humid weather? Will they make it through the mountains to the Valley of Flowers? Can they help all the homeless children wandering in India? These adventure books are perfect for your fluent reader. They develop independent reading through longer, complex sentences, rich vocabulary, and minimal illustrations. Paired to the nonfiction title A Listen to World Music.
Tomi and Marisol’s lives aren’t like most 12 year olds. Having parents who are traveling researchers can make having a regular life tricky. The cool part is that they have friends all over the world and get to have amazing adventures! Puerto Rico does sound tempting especially when battling a cold, Chicago winter. Who wouldn’t enjoy swimming in the ocean and lounging on the beach? Except that’s not exactly how things work when you have a scientist and a historian for parents. The twins are packing their bags and traveling so their mom can study the Antillean crusted hummingbird in the rainforest. Tomi and Marisol like a good adventure, but sometimes end up where they shouldn’t!These adventure books are perfect for your fluent reader. They develop independent reading through longer, complex sentences, rich vocabulary, and minimal illustrations. Paired to the nonfiction title STEM Jobs with the Environment.
Country hopping is what these twins do best! Tomi and Marisol are homeschooled by their history professor dad and well-known biologist mom. Their classroom is the world as they travel deep into rainforest or out to remote islands. The twins are having adventures and making new friends along the way as they learn about new cultures and countries. The Perez family is out and about in South Korea! Tomi and Marisol are spending their summer vacation away from Chicago while their dad teaches at the local university. These expert travelers are ready to explore the palaces, temples, and volcanic park that South Korea offers. Along the way they rekindle an old flame of Aunt Bernadette’s, get on TV with a Korean K-Pop star, and find themselves in a river without a paddle! The twins and their aunt accidentally end up crossing the border into North Korea and are detained. Will they ever get out? Adventure books with longer, complex sentences, rich vocabulary, and minimal illustrations are perfect for fluent readers. Paired to the nonfiction title STEM Jobs in Music.
Queeneka loves fashion, and a good mystery. So when there were missing kickball at Watson Elementary she was on the case! Who would take the kickballs? Why is Mr. Hambrick giving her the evil eye? And why are fourth graders so mean? Making a new friend along the way, Queeneka and Keely question suspects, encounter giant fourth graders, and learn that everyone is embarrassed about something. These mysteries are perfectly suited to keep readers guessing as they solve for clues. With longer sentences and fewer illustrations, they are just the right fit for your early fluent reader. Paired to the nonfiction title Everyone Goes to School.
For as long as he can remember, Matt has wanted to play basketball. Now, as he tries out for the team at his new middle school, he realizes that the easy days of elementary ball are over and that this is a much more serious game. Dealing with a hard-driving coach, competitive teammates and his own insecurities in a new school, Matt needs to call on all his skills, both on and off the court, to make the team and keep his head above water. When he is involved, albeit unwittingly, in tagging a store with racist graffiti, Matt finds himself in more trouble than he bargained for. And when he fights back against an aggressive teammate and is threatened with suspension from the team, he learns that it is not only game-time decisions that count, but also the choices made after the crowd has gone home and the gym is silent.
Nick and Kia get excited when their school gym teacher announces a "three-on-three" basketball tournament. The two most dedicated players in grade three, they know they'll be tough to beat. But when Nick finds out they'll be up against teams in grade four and five, he is ready to throw in the towel before they start. How can shrimps like them ever hope to beat the older kids? Kia, however, is undaunted. They need a third player for their team anyway, she reasons, so why not go after the best player in the school? Marcus is bigger, tougher and in grade five. But it's not as easy as Kia thinks to convince Marcus to join their team. And there's no guarantee the older boy won't change his mind before the tournament begins. Marcus is often uneasy around them, but worse, Kia and Nick find themselves making enemies of some of the kids in the upper grade. Nick realizes it's going to take more than skill at basketball to win this tournament and make friends with Marcus without becoming targets for the older kids off the court. Book 1 in the series.
Murphy and his three friends, Danny, Jeff and Albert, are making the transition from the tribal elementary school to the community middle school. They are all trying out for the middle school's soccer team, and they're pretty confident that The Formidable Four will all make the team. But once the tryouts begin, Albert, the tribal-school superstar, plays like a second stringer. Murphy's new friend, Molly, is determined to help the boys find out what's wrong with Albert, but when they discover the truth, they realize that Albert is playing a whole different game.
Max knows his mom can't afford to send him to summer camp. But he really, really wants to go. He needs a break from looking after his autistic brother, Duncan. And from his mom's new boyfriend. He is surprised when his mom says that he can go after all. But there's a catch. There are spots available at the camp for families with special needs. A grant would cover Duncan's fees, and Max could attend at no charge. If he goes as Duncan's escort. This is the second story featuring Max and Duncan after Maxed Out.
Sam and Annabel are on vacation with Annabel's parents in Italy. While visiting the small hilltop town of Civita, they hear rumors of looted gold from World War II buried somewhere in the town's network of underground tunnels and caves. Once again the two friends cross paths with their old nemesis, Humphrey Battleford, but he is not the only one in pursuit of the gold. An intimidating man named Kurt, the grandson of a ruthless Nazi, is also snooping around. After Annabel is kidnapped, Sam must solve the mystery of the hidden treasure to save his friend. This is the fourth mystery featuring Sam and Annabel, after Stolen, Bones and Lost.
In 1930 nine-year-old Miriam travels by train from Brooklyn to her grandparents' farm in upstate New York. Her grandparents are kind, generous people, but they aren't exactly ideal playmates for a lonely girl. When Miriam is not doing homework in the kitchen with Bubby or helping prepare meals for the migrant workers that Zayde hires to help out on the farm, she plays with the barn kittens born just before she arrived. Those kittens are her only friends, until the day Miriam discovers a young girl hiding in the barn. Cissy and her brother, Joe, who's one of Zayde's farm hands, are on the run from an abusive uncle back in Mississippi. Miriam and Cissy hit it off immediately. But their friendship is tested when Miriam is forced to choose between keeping a promise and doing the right thing.
Junior Canadian Ranger Tommy Toner has a terrible secret. During the annual JCR summer camp in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, he plays a prank which has unexpected and destructive results. Ashamed and afraid of what people will think, he keeps quiet, even though the guilt eats away at him. Tommy and his old friends Colly and Jaz team up to take part in a JCR competition at camp. They decide to search on horseback for the legendary Bushman, a Sasquatch-like creature who has been sighted near Whitehorse. But is the Bushman real or is he simply a terrifying creature of myth and legend? What Tommy and his friends discover puts all their lives in danger, and only the truth can save them.
More than anything, twelve-year-old Max wants to play hockey like he used to. But since the death of his dad, his mom does more crying than mothering, and Max has to take his special-needs brother, Duncan, with him everywhere he goes. The team needs Max to win the upcoming game against the Red Eagles, but one practice with Duncan makes it evident that it's not safe to leave him unattended on the sidelines. With only a week to figure out how he can play in the big game, Max is feeling the pressure. Will he find a way to be a good teammate, a good brother and a good son, or is it too much for one kid?
When Renata is chosen to play the lead role in the school musical, students who used to ignore her start saying hello and congratulating her in the hall. She is happy until it becomes evident that Karin, a wealthy girl who expected to get the lead role, will go to great lengths to ruin Renata's reputation.
Pirates are ready to loot Atlantis. Paisley and Ben build a submarine to travel to the hidden city to save it.
Paisley and Ben build a time machine so they can see first-hand what dinosaurs looked like.
A bully makes life awful for Paisley. An unlikely ally helps her build a machine that could shed some light on the bully's behavior.
In the shadows lurking between midnight and morning, the imagination reigns. Real and imagined become simply words with shifting boundaries and slippery definitions.
For as far back as Kyle can remember, he spent summers at Gram's cottage on the lake--fishing all day, and hanging out with the whole family. But this year is different. His father has moved out, his grandmother has died, and his mother is selling the cottage because they can't afford the upkeep. Sally Derby takes readers to a small lake in 1970s Michigan, where thirteen-year-old Kyle comes to understand that loss isn't forever, and that people are more complicated than they seem.
Juggling soccer, school, friends and family leaves John with little time for anything else. But one day at the local community center, following the sound of drums, he stumbles into an Indigenous dance class. Before he knows what's happening, John finds himself stumbling through beginner classes with a bunch of little girls, skipping soccer practice and letting his other responsibilities slide. When he attends a powwow and witnesses a powerful performance, he realizes that he wants to be a dancer more than anything. But the nearest class for boys is at the Native Cultural Center in the city, and he still hasn't told his family or friends about his new passion. If he wants to dance, he will have to stop hiding. Between the mocking of his teammates and the hostility of the boys in his dance class, John must find a way to balance and embrace both the Irish and Cree sides of his heritage.
