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Rez Dogs by Joseph Bruchac

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2022 Boston Globe–Horn Book Fiction and Poetry Award Honor Book

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“Hidden throughout this moving novel in verse, old stories are discovered like buried treasures.” KIRKUS
“Bruchac , who is Abenaki, pens a spare novel-in-verse that richly addresses an array of subjects, including Wabanaki legends and beliefs, residential schools, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the difficulties of online schooling with insecure Wi-Fi.” Publishers Weekly

Malian loves spending time with her grandparents at their home on a Wabanaki reservation. She’s there for a visit when, suddenly, all travel shuts down. There’s a new virus making people sick, and Malian will have to stay with her grandparents for the duration.

Everyone is worried about the pandemic, but Malian knows how to keep her family and community safe: She protects her grandparents, and they protect her. She doesn’t go outside to play with friends, she helps her grandparents use video chat, and she listens to and learns from their stories. And when Malsum, one of the dogs living on the rez, shows up at their door, Malian’s family knows that he’ll protect them too.

Told in verse inspired by oral storytelling, this novel about the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the ways Malian’s community has cared for one another through plagues of the past, and how they keep caring for one another today.

Find out more about the author, and listen to him read some of his poems, on his website:
https://www.josephbruchac.com 

Indiana Bones and the Lost Library by Harry Heape ill. Rebecca Bagley

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“Heape has written another fast-paced, funny mystery; Bagley’s expressive illustrations enhance the atmosphere. Returning bad guys Philip Castle and Ringo continue to be outsmarted by the clever Aisha, Indiana’s one-liners are as snappy as ever, and Satnam and Celia’s side plot is heartwarming. Another fun addition to this adventure-filled series.” KIRKUS 

Indiana Bones is back for a second dogtastic detective escapade! Once again he and his bestest friend, Aisha, have to gather their wits, courage and plenty of snacks to sniff out clues and solve a twisty mystery.

On the hunt for the Avenger’s lost treasure, the intrepid travellers set off on another trek, this time to the Temple of Diana at Ephesus. But nothing is ever simple for our heroes, and the slippery Serpent and stinky Ringo are still hot on their tails, determined to thwart their every move. An irresistible comical adventure.

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Zo and the Forest of Secrets by Alake Pilgrim

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When Zo decides to run away from home, she isn’t scared; after all, she knows the island like the back of her hand. But, as she journeys through the once-familiar forest, terrifying creatures and warped visions begin to emerge. With a beast on her heels and a lost boy thrown into her path, could a mysterious abandoned facility hold answers? Zo must unravel the secrets of the forest before she is lost in them forever…

Blake Pilgrim’s stories have twice won the regional prize for the Americas in the Commonwealth Short Story Competition. They have been published by The Center for Fiction in New York, the Small Axe Journal, and in the groundbreaking international anthology New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby (Myriad Editions and HarperCollins).

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Happytown Must Be Destroyed by James Harris

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Leeza’s parents are ordinary. Unfit, grumpy, a bit embarrassing. Totally normal, right?
Until today. Today they are jogging. Eating salads and enjoying them. Smiling all the time. They’re happy. Really, really happy. Who could complain about that?
Leeza, that’s who.
Because it looks like someone’s brainwashing everyone in town. Who’s going to save the world? Oh no! It looks like it might have to be Leeza. OK then. Let’s do this. You coming?

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Monster Hunting For Beginners by Ian Mark ill. Louis Ghibault

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Published in hardback in 2021 and now (2022) in paperback. A new title in the series is scheduled for next year (2023).

Monster Hunting isn’t as easy as it looks. And Jack should know. Because an ogre has just appeared in his garden and tried to EAT HIS AUNT. (She was the winner of the World’s Worst Aunt competition, but that’s Not The Point).

After (sort of accidentally) defeating the ogre, Jack finds himself apprenticed to a grumpy, 200-year-old monster hunter called Stoop and heading off to Cornwall, where more ogres are causing havoc. All he has are his wits, his catapult and a magical – sometimes unreliable – book called Monster Hunting for Beginners. Jack’s a bit worried he might not be the hero everyone’s waiting for. But then again, how many terrifying, bloodthirsty monsters can there really be?

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Keep Dancing, Lizzie Chu by Maisie Chan

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Keep trying, keep laughing, keep dancing! A heart-warming novel from the Jhalak Prize winning author of DANNY CHUNG DOES NOT DO MATHS.

Twelve-year-old Lizzie Chu lives in Glasgow with her grandad Wai Gong, and he’s been acting a little strange lately. He is becoming forgetful, and spends a lot of time talking to his statue of Guan Yin – the Chinese goddess of compassion, kindness and mercy. Lizzie is worried about Wai Gong, but doesn’t really know what to do to help him. She’s already got a lot on her plate with caring for him, doing the shopping and everything else on top of schoolwork and the usual trials of being twelve! Then Lizzie comes up with a madcap plan. She’s going to take Wai Gong on the trip of a lifetime, to Blackpool – to the Tower Ballroom, where he always longed to go, to dance with his late wife Grandma Kam. To rekindle that love for dancing and to see if Wai Gong can find his mojo again. The only problem is – just how on earth is she going to get him there? With a little help from her friends Chi and Tyler, some ingenious costumes and an older brother with a beat-up Mini, Lizzie might just make it – and maybe she will be able to help Wai Gong get better after all?

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The Consequence Girl by Alastair Chisholm

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 7 Jun 2022

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The world of Colony is in ruins. No one knows what caused society to begin tearing itself apart – but the secret may lie with Cora, a girl living on the mountainside far away from others. Cora possesses an extraordinary gift: the power to see back in time, from an event back to its causes. Even more incredibly, sometimes she can change events. But the present is looking for Cora, and she is forced on the run – and must decide who she is, what she can do… and how to fix the future.

With incredible twists and turns, and a hugely gripping story, The Consequence Girl is a brilliantly-imagined, ambitious and high-concept adventure from one of the most exciting new voices in children’s fantasy and science fiction.

Video from the ReadingZone

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The Blackthorn Branch by Elen Caldecott

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Cassie’s older brother Byron has fallen in with the wrong crowd — it’s soon clear these boys are wild, reckless and not human at all. They are tylwyth teg – Fair Folk, who tempt humans down into the dark places of the world. And Byron is tempted.

When he goes missing, Cassie and her cousin, Sian, follow his trail to an old abandoned railway tunnel which goes down and down into Annwn, the underworld. Here they find that the tylwyth teg are restless — and angry. Their leader, Gwenhidw, wants to protect Annwn from the damage humans are doing to the world. Byron is part of her plan. But Cassie won’t let her big brother be part of anyone’s plan. Can she rescue her brother before it is too late?

Looking for Emily by Fiona Longmuir

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A gripping, fast-paced mystery adventure, with brilliant twists and turns, from a fresh and exciting new voice in children’s books.

When twelve-year-old Lily moves to the sleepy seaside town of Edge, she’s sure that nothing exciting is ever going to happen to her again. But when she stumbles upon a secret museum hidden in the middle of town, she realises that there might be more to her new home than meets the eye. The Museum of Emily is filled with the belongings of one seemingly ordinary girl – a girl who, many years ago, disappeared from the town without a trace. With the help of her new friends Sam and Jay, Lily is determined to solve the mystery and find out who Emily was, why she disappeared and who has created the strange, hidden museum.  A one-of-a-kind mystery, a brilliant trio of protagonists, and an action-filled story.

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Magicborn by Peter Bunzl

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The first in an enthralling new historical-fantasy adventure series from the bestselling author of The Cogheart Adventures.

The year is 1726 and the Royal Sorcerer of England is on the hunt for those who are Magicborn. When Tempest is captured, she is taken to Kensington Palace alongside a boy like her, Thomas. Trapped, Tempest and Thomas find their magic flickering to life and with it long-buried memories. For they are the lost prince and princess of Fairyland, bound by a deadly curse. But now the fairies are coming to get them, and with the truth revealed…can they both survive?

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