Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney

For me, summer vacation is basically a three-month guilt trip.
Just because the weather's nice, everyone expects you to be outside all day "frolicking" or whatever. And if you don't spend every second outdoors, people think there's something wrong with you. But the truth is, I've always been more of an indoor person.
The way I like to spend my summer vacation is in front of the TV, playing video games with the curtains closed and the lights turned off. (1)

It's here! The fourth installment of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney has arrived! In Dog Days, Greg is dealing with the effects of a bad economy. His family can't afford the country club pool like Rowley's dad, so he's forced to endure the town pool. Heather the life guard makes it bearable, but Greg is forced to pay for all the smoothies that he and Rowley ordered. They start a lawn mowing company together even though neither one has access to a lawn mower, but Greg is NOT going to step over the dog turds that cover the yard. When Greg's dad has to pick him up early from a not so fun camping trip with Rowley's family, which included no television or video games, Greg gets worried that he's going to be sold, and calls the cops. Greg's story is anything but predictable.

AMY

Fade by Lisa McMann

"We've done complete background checks on all the teachers. Everyone comes up squeaky clean. And now we're stuck. Cabe, Janie, this is why I had you at the all-nighter. I'm looking for any information you can give me about Fieldridge teachers who might be sexual predators in their spare time. Are you up for the challenge? This one could be a bit dangerous. Hannagan, chances are, the predator is male. If we can determine who we're after, we may need to use you as bait so we can nail him. Think about it and get back to me on how you feel about it. If you don't want to do this assignment, you're off the hook. No pressure." (14-15)

In Fade, the sequel to Lisa McMann's Wake, Janie Hannagan is becoming decidedly more hands-on with her second police investigation. Rather than relying on her dreams, she puts herself in the thick of things trying to track a sexual predator. While she's gaining more control over her dream powers, she's also realizing that there might be consequences to them that she was never aware of originally. On top of that, she's trying to keep her overly-protective boyfriend a secret from everyone and deal with senior year responsibilities. When she begins to get in over her head, who will help her distinguish what is real and what is the dream world?

AMY

Wake by Lisa McMann

She closes her eyes. Tries to think. Holds up a weak finger, letting him know she needs a moment. But she feels the next one coming already. She doesn't have much time. And she has to prepare him. She doesn't have a choice.
"Cabel. Do not freak if--when--I do that again, okay? Do NOT stop the bus. Do NOT tell a teacher, oh God, no. No matter what." She grips the armrests and fights to keep her vision. "Can you trust me? Trust me and just let it happen?"
The pain of concentration is excruciating. She is cringing, holding her head. [...] Cabel is gawking at Janie. "Okay," he says. "Okay." (74)

In Lisa McMann's first book Wake, seventeen year old Janie Hannangan is getting fed up with her special ability to jump uncontrolably into people's dreams. It's been happening ever since she was eight, with increasing frequency now that her classmates are falling asleep in school and on fieldtrips. She's kept her curse a secret, until classmate Cabel starts trying to determine what's different about Janie. Her ability reveals that Cabel also has his own secrets to hide, and they just might be more than she ever realized.

AMY

Years of Dust: The Story of the Dust Bowl by Albert Marrin

"At noon, darkness enveloped the earth. It seemed like an evil spirit had splashed an immense bucket of black paint across the sky. Within minutes, from horizon to horizon, the sun disappeared and noontime became "midnight." But such a midnight! There was no moon, mo stars, no meteorites flashing across the heavens. Instead, billowing clouds of dust, some rising more than two miles into the air, whipped across the plains. Driven by howling winds, the clouds easily overtook speeding cars. As the dust fell back to earth, it drifted like dirty, crunchy snow, choking roads and bringing trains to a grinding halt. Worse, the dust buried crops and livestock, destroying farmers' homes and livlihoods." (2)

Award winning author Albert Marrin presents a comprehensive discussion of the Dust Bowl in his newest book Years of Dust. Marrin takes readers all the way back to the 1700s to explain how pioneers and westward expansion effected the economy and ecology of the plains and led to the dust storms. He also talks about the effects of the storm, which caused over 2 million people to leave the area in search of a better life. Finally, he talks about possible solutions to the problems, dust storms around the world, and how events around the world can effect our planet. Filled with black and white photos, drawings, and charts that tell the story, children and adults will be enthralled.

AMY

Emmy and the Home for Troubled Girls by Lynne Jonell

Emmy Addison was an ordinary girl--almost.
She had straight dark hair, skinny legs with a scrape on one knee, and no particular talent that she knew of. If you didn't count the fact that her parents were rich (very), her best friend was a boy (and a soccer star), and she could talk to rodents (and they talked back), she was very ordinary indeed. (1)

For fans of the first book in the series, Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat, Lynne Jonell's Emmy and the Home for Troubled Girls starts off about a month later. Emmy is looking forward to being a normal girl this summer, now that things are back to normal. But no matter how much she tries to distance herself from the rodent community in an effort to make human friends, Miss Barmy is still on the loose, and five girls are still missing. In fact, Miss Barmy has convinced everyone that she has changed, and is planning a beauty paegant for the whole community. Emmy doesn't believe it for one second, and sets off to discover the secret plan that involves stolen jewels by shrinking herself once again. When Sissy gets injured and Emmy blames herself, will Emmy and her friend Joe be stuck in the rat world forever?

AMY

Making Mischief: A Maurice Sendak Appreciation by Gregory Maguire

"I won't attempt to name Sendak's theme. I will look at the body of his work casually, colloquially, admiringly, from several different approaches in order to show you what I see, and why I think the word genius isn't grade inflation." (4)

The author Gregory Maguire, of Wicked fame, sets out to show the world his long withheld appreciation of the work of Maurice Sendak. In Making Mischief, Maguire compares his art not only against other works of his own art, but also to such classics as William Blake and Chuck Jones and lesser known artists like Iona and Peter Opie and William Nicholson. While people familiar with art will probably get the most out of this book, the last chapters are enjoyable to everyone. In these, Maguire showcases the four popular categories (flying, reading, children, and monsters) that are noticably recurring in Maurice Sendak's works. In chapter four, Maguire picks his top ten pictures from Sendak's body of work. Finally, and probably the most eye-opening, is chapter five, which collects a hodge podge of Sendak's illustrations to retell the Caldecot winning story of Where the Wild Things Are. Fans of Sendak will definitely want to look at this.

AMY

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

Martin threw Edward.
And Edward sailed naked through the air. Only a moment ago, the rabbit had thought that being naked in front of a shipload of strangers was the worst thing that could happen to him. But he was wrong. It was much worse being tossed, in the same naked state, from the hands of one grubby, laughing boy to another.
Amos caught Edward and held him up, displaying him triumphantly.
"Throw him back," called Martin.
Amos raised his arm, but just as he was getting ready to throw Edward, Abilene tackled him, shoving her head into his stomach, and upsetting the boy's aim.
So it was that Edward did not go flying back into the dirty hands of Martin.
Instead, Edward Tulane went overboard. (44)

Edward Tulane is a tiny China rabbit. Do not under any circumstances, call him a doll. He belongs to Abilene and lives in a house on Egypt Street. Well, at least that was the case until he was thrown overboard while on a cruise. Now he's on a marvelous adventure where is drowned, thrown, burried, and almost eaten by a dog. With pictures by Bagram Ibatoulline that remind me of The Runaway Bunny, fans of the Velveteen Rabbit who have grown up should read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo.

AMY

Here, There Be Dragons by James A. Owen

The apparition grasped his hand in return, pumping it frenetically. "At last, at last!" he exclaimed. "So happy to make your acquaintance, John, my dear, dear boy. And what better place than here at Sir Arthur's home-away-from, eh? So grand, so grand. Yes..."
Jack and Charles exchanged skeptical glances and Jack twirled a finger at his temple.
The little man continued undeterred. "I trust you can take it from her, correct?" he said, thrusting the oilskin-wrapped parcel in John's direction. "You know what must be done. The professor would not have left you unprepared for this."
John waved the parcel away. "I haven't the slightest idea what you are talking about. We've only just ourselves come from the professor's house, and I haven't known of his death for but the last day."(17)

John, Jack, and Charles all find themselves at the apartment of a recently murdered professor on a cold and stormy night. Although they've never met eachother before, they become entangled in an adventure when Bert presents them with the Imaginarium Geographica, an atlas of imaginary worlds. The Winter King however, is after the book, and all three are sent fleeing on one of seven Dragon ships. In a story that weaves mythology with recognizable classic fantasy, James Owen's Here, There Be Dragons presents a journey to the ends of the world with the tales of King Arthur, elves, and Captain Nemo assisting the three unlikely heroes.

AMY

Korgi Book 2 by Christian Slade

If you liked the first one, you're sure to enjoy Korgi Book 2: The Cosmic Collector by Christian Slade. Ivy and Sprout are back with more mysterious visitors. This time however, they're stealing the wings off the Mollies, the people who live in Korgi Hollow. Ivy and Sprout head off to reclaim their wings in an adventure that leads to some speculation about the old ruins outside of town. Christian Slade's line drawings are fabulous and readers of all ages will delight in the expressive nature of the illustrations.

AMY

Korgi: Sprouting Wings by Christian Slade

I bet you didn't realize that corgis, those cute little round dogs that look like oversized daschounds, could be the star of a new graphic novel series. But Christian Slade does just that with Korgi Book One: Sprouting Wings. In this book, the action is conveyed not through words, but through beautiful pencil drawn pictures. The story begins by introducing Ivy and her corgi dog Sprout, who live in the magical world of Korgi Hollow. It's a peaceful woodland world, until visitors come and lead to some startling discoveries for both Sprout and Ivy.

AMY

Peace, Love, and Baby Ducks by Lauren Myracle

All day long, I get comments on: (a) how awful my hair looks, and, (b) how hot my sister is. I don't get it. Do people not consider the possibility that maybe they're being the tiniest bit insensitive, saying things like, "Omigod, you must have wanted to kill your stylist," and then informing me how incredibly gorgeous Anna is? (45)

Fans of Lauren Myracle will want to read her newest book, Peace, Love, and Baby Ducks. After being gone for the entire summer, sophomore Carly returns to find her freshman sister Anna has grown, and the boys at their ultra-exclusive Catholic high school are noticing. While Carly tries not to be jealous, it's hard to ignore everyone's comments. Tension rises when Carly tries to distinguish herself from the rest of the rich Barbies, which she feels Anna is trying to become. Add in a hot exchange student who every girl desires and an unsupervised party, and the girls come to realize what is really important.

AMY