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Staff
Picks for Kids
Our Youth Services Librarians select outstanding books each month to recommend
to young readers.
| Summer 2008 | |
Hildy looks forward to a visit from her cousin, Winston, but when he arrives he bores her and annoys all of her friends by declaring his superior intelligence and expertise on every subject, until Moose convinces him to try something different. Grades 1 - 3 |
What do Gaby Lopez, Michael Robles, and Cynthia Rodriguez have in common? These three kids join other teens and tweens in these ten short stories. Filled with annoying siblings, difficult parents, and first loves, these stories are a masterful reminder of why adolescence is one of the most frustrating and fascinating times of life. Grades 4 - 8 |
When her cousin Francis shrinks to the size of a thumb after playing around with her Uncle Godfrey's magic collections, Ibby knows that she will need to find her long-lost uncle in order to undo the magic they have done and restore Francis to his rightful size! Grades 3 - 6 |
Nine-year-old Allie Finkle has rules for everything and is even writing her own rule book, but her world is turned upside-down when she learns that her family is moving across town, which will mean a new house, school, best friend, and plenty of new rules.Nine-year-old Allie Finkle has rules for everything, but her world is turned upside-down when she learns that her family is moving across town, which will mean a new house, school, best friend, and plenty of new rules.Grades 4 - 7 |
Spring 2008 |
All the kids in Freddy's class want to be chosen to take home the class hamster for the weekend. Freddy can hardly believe his good luck when he is chosen. But he's forgotten that his mom can't stand the idea of having animals in the house. Can Freddy hide the hamster from his mom? And what will happen when the hamster gets loose and starts running around the house? Grades 2 - 4 |
Ten all new cases allow the reader to match wits with ten-year-old crime-buster, Encyclopedia Brown, as he locates stolen jewels, retrieves a stuffed tiger, and more. Grades 2 - 5 |
When Pete the poodle's performance becomes less than stellar at the Circus Martinez and he is bumped from being the star of the show, he gets utterly depressed, but a new friendship with a grizzly bear named Fremont turns things around as the two help each other in their own unique ways. Grades 3 - 6 |
When Sammy makes a deadly mistake and his enemy, Heather, gets the blame for it, Heather is determined to get her revenge and plans to do so at the Farewell Dance - despite the fact that Sammy's date is going to be her very own brother.Grades 4 - 8 |
Winter 2007-2008 |
With not enough clients to keep her as busy as she would like to be, Sylvia decides to use her great observation techniques and culinary skills to stir up the new business she needs. Grades 2 - 5 |
Kirsten and Walk, seventh-graders at an elite private Marin school, alternate telling how race, wealth, weight, and other issues shape their relationships as they and other misfits stand up to a mean but influential classmate, even as they are uncovering a long-kept secret about themselves. Grades 6 - 10 |
Having always lived as the outsider of the social circle at school, Emma-Jean decides to use the mathematical logic her to fix the problem. But when her logical approach doesn't work with people, Emma-Jean realizes that she will need to use a new approach to implement the changes she so eagerly wants. Grades 3 - 6 |
When Deet's father is jailed for using drugs, Deet learns that prison is not what he expected, nor are other people necessarily the way he thought they were.Grades 5 - 9 |
Fall 2007 |
An examination of sibling rivalry provides insight into the relationships of brothers and sisters, as the six-year-old Pain and his eight-year-old sister, The Great One, engage in an age-old conflict. Grades 2 - 4 |
When he is captured by two of the queen's cats, Bob the Rat prolongs his life by sharing fresh-baked cookies and stories of his ancestors, whose escapades are remarkably similar to those of well-known fairy tale heroes. Grades 2 - 5 |
Forced to move away from their home and live with his grandmother so that his father can get the cancer treatment he needs, Dexter has a hard time adjusting. After getting into a fight at school on his first day, Dexter is forced to rethink his actions by a teacher who believes there is more to the story than what was first told. Grades 3 - 5 |
Facing her twelfth birthday, Winnie Perry has an entirely new set of dramas to deal with in her life, such as fitting in at her junior high and enduring the embarrassment of bra shopping with her mother at the local mall.Grades 5 - 8 |
After he is given his grandfather's old lawnmower and begins mowing lawns to earn a bit of money, a twelve-year-old boy becomes rich. His business grows to overseeing many other lawnmowers, he meets a financial adviser, and he makes a good investment in a prizefighter named Joey Pow. Grades 5 - 9 |
Orphaned after a fever epidemic, Creel unwittingly befriends a dragon and unknowingly inherits a simple pair of blue slippers that can either save or destroy her kingdom, which is on the verge of war.Grades 6 - 10 |
| Summer 2007 | |
A class visit to the Gross-Me-Out exhibit at the science museum inspires Stink Moody to create a variety of terrible smells to put on the sneakers he plans to enter in the World's Worst Super-Stinky Sneaker contest. Grades 2 - 4 |
Determined not to be weird all his life like his neighbor, Charley Maplewood decides to throw himself a tenth birthday party, complete with a "house of horrors" theme, but first he will have to make some friends to invite.Grades 4 - 6 |
Fearing that her legal guardian plans to abandon her to return to France, ten-year-old aspiring scientist Lucky Trimble determines to run away while also continuing to seek the Higher Power that will bring stability to her life. Grades 4 - 7 |
Humphrey, the pet hamster of Longfellow School's Room 26, relates the ups and downs experienced by his human classmates as they begin a project to create a model town complete with houses and community services.Grades 3 - 6 |
Twelve-year-old Lewis and his best friend Rose Rita investigate a strange old house in their home town and discover that they may be dealing with powerful ancient Hawaiian spirits. Grades 4 - 7 |
30 more humorous episodes from the classroom on the thirtieth floor of Wayside School, where students learn to tango, face the cafeteria's dreaded Mushroom Surprise, and study a hobo during Show and Tell. Sequel to "Sideways Stories from Wayside School.Grades 3 - 6 |
| April 2007 | |
Hank Zipzer, whose love of science does not extend to doing science projects, finds a great experiment--disassemble the cable box to slow the program directory scroll--but trouble, in the shape of an iguana, finds him once again. Grades 4 - 8 |
Lunchbox is an ordinary basset hound until he is abducted by aliens, zapped by a mental enhancer, and sent back to convert Earth's garbage into food--a task that would be easier if he had opposable thumbs, or at least tentacles.Grades 3 - 6 |
| March 2007 | |
The continuing adventures of Ramona, as she faces good and bad times during her third-grade year, becoming newly aware of the strength and durability of her loving family. Grades 3 - 6 |
In 1949 Los Angeles, thirteen-year-old Francine Green finds it best to lay low and keep to herself, especially with people being investigated and blacklisted for speaking their minds (possible Communists), yet when Sophie Bowman suddenly shows up at her school and makes her protests known, Francine Green's deferential attitude is forever changed as she begins to question her own values. Grades 5 - 10 |
| February 2007 | |
While his parents are on a cruise, twelve-year-old Nicholas spends his summer in Brooklyn visiting his Grandma and Uncle Frankie. Nicholas Borelli has the time of his life and learns about his Italian-American heritage, and his viewpoint of his father's childhood neighborhood completely changes Grades 4 - 7 |
After Logan receives a face full of magic dust from a man in the reference section of the library, he finds the only way to stop his incessant punning is to find oxymorons, anagrams, and palindromes to fulfill the requirements of three quests.Grades 2 - 4 |
| January 2007 | |
When their friend Jonathan goes missing after a visit from a stranger, Flavia Gemina, Nubia, and Lupus follow the rumors and clues that lead them to Rome and the Golden House of Emperor Nero, in a historical mystery about the destruction of Jerusalem set in A.D. 79. Grades 4 - 7 |
Poppy the field mouse, accompanied by her troublesome son Junior, his skunk friend, and Uncle Ereth the porcupine, responds to a summons to return to her ancestral home, Gray House, to save the mice there from destruction by a bulldozer.Grades 3 - 6 |
| December 2006 | |
After finding a dragon's tooth while on a stroll through the woods, Digory is excited to take it back home to show everyone, but when the tooth is shown and people begin to assume that he actually slaughtered the dragon, Digory has to find a way to set the record straight before things get out of hand! Grades 2 - 4 |
Fourth in a series of tales told through oddly illustrated letters, newspaper articles, and police reports about the town of Geyserville. A middle school principal's bathroom renovation project leads to the discovery of stolen Roman antiquities. Grades 4 - 7 |
| November 2006 | |
While escaping from the strange men that are after him in future London controlled by a dictatorial government, Jimmy Coates discovers he is a genetically engineered superkid and possesses many unusual talents for an eleven-year-old boy. Grades 5 - 10 |
Fifteen-year-old Victor Flores journeys north in a desperate attempt to cross the Arizona border and find work in the United States to support his family in central Mexico. Grades 4 - 8 |
| October 2006 | |
Mouse--who lives inside an oak tree--and his downstairs neighbor, Mole, discover that when they help each other, housecleaning and other daily tasks are much easier. Grades 1 - 2 |
While working on a project for an after-school club, Julia, a Korean American girl, and her friend Patrick learn not just about silkworms, but also about tolerance, prejudice, friendship, and patience. Julia and the author discuss the book’s plot and developments between chapters. Grades 5 - 8 |
| September 2006 | |
Four fifth-grade students--a geek, a class clown, a teacher's pet, and a slacker--as well as their teacher and mothers, relate events surrounding a the geek’s computer programmed to complete homework assignments. Grades 3 - 6 |
Fletcher Moon, the “youngest detective in the world”, is framed for a crime he did not commit, he must team up with the biggest crime family in town, escape and hide from the authorities, and solve the case within twelve hours to clear his name. Grades 5 - 8 |
The show-off
Facts of life : stories 
Ibby's magic weekend 
Moving day
Stop that hamster!
Encyclopedia Brown cracks the case 
Pete & Fremont 
Sammy Keyes and the dead giveaway
Sly the sleuth and the food mysteries
If a tree falls at lunch period 
Emma-Jean Lazarus fell out of a tree
Do not pass go
Soupy Saturdays with the Pain and the Great One
How to save your tail 
Dexter the tough 
Twelve 
Lawn boy 
Dragon slippers 
Stink and the world's worst super-stinky sneakers
The big one-oh 
The higher power of Lucky
Trouble according to Humphrey
The house where nobody lived
Wayside School is falling down
Day of the iguana 
Lunchbox and the aliens
Ramona Quimby, age 8 
The loud silence of Francine Green
Nicky Deuce : welcome to the family 
Punished!
The assassins of Rome
Poppy's return
Digory the dragon slayer 
Regarding the bathrooms : a privy to the past
Jimmy Coates, assassin?
Crossing the wire
Upstairs Mouse, Downstairs Mole
Project Mulberry
The Homework Machine
Half-Moon InvestigationsSelected Previous Staff Picks
With the student council election underway, strange threats towards some of the candidates begin appearing all over the school and so Chet the Gecko and Natalie the mockingbird must read the notes, follow the clues, and discover who is behind the dirty political games being imposed on their classmates at Emerson Hicky Elementary. Grades 3 - 6 |
Thinking that luck--rather than hard work--has helped her succeed on the court and at school, ten-year-old Mia panics and turns to her twin brother for help when her lucky gold basketball goes missing from her charm bracelet. Grades 2 - 4 |
A fictionalized account of the adventures of eighteen-year-old Perce Blackborow, a stowaway on the Endurance, part of the 1914 Shackleton Antarctic expedition. After their ship was crushed by ice, they endured many hardships, including losing the toes of his left foot to frostbite, during the nearly two-year return journey across sea and ice. Grades 5 - 12 |
Edward Tulane, a cold-hearted and proud toy rabbit, loves only himself until he is separated from the little girl who adores him and travels across the country, acquiring new owners and listening to their hopes, dreams, and histories.Grades 3 - 6 |
Three years after being released from Camp Green Lake, Armpit is trying hard to keep his life on track, but when his old pal X-Ray shows up with a tempting plan to make some easy money scalping concert tickets, Armpit reluctantly goes along.Grades 5 - 9 |
With their father jailed for sinking a river boat, Noah Underwood and his younger sister, Abbey, must gather evidence that the owner of this casino is emptying his bilge tanks into the waters around their Florida Keys home.Grades 5 - 10 |
Babymouse, an imaginative and dreamy mouse, dreams of being queen of the world, but try’s settling for an invitation to the most popular girl's exclusive slumber party. Grades 1 - 3 |
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, also of How to Train Your Dragon, is the smallest, slowest, clumsiest of 12 year old boys of in the 1000 AD Viking tribe training to be a pirate. Grades 3 - 6 |
Humphrey the hamster, the writing, talking hamster of "The World According to Humphrey", returns to Mrs. Brisbane's class after the winter break. He discovers a new class pet, Og the frog, along with some other surprises which give Humphrey the opportunity to reflect on the meaning of friendship. Grades 4 - 7 |
Somehow Adam has become a co-editor for his middle/elementary school newspaper. Known as good at everything and involved with everything, he is fully overextended. Adam helps piece together a newspaper that gets the community talking. Articles look at a city code enforcement of driveway basketball hoops, and culminate by going head to head with the principal, who wanted them to publish a small article thanking the estate of a local resident for a donation for "general improvements." It turns out the donation was $75,000 and was meant to help needy children, but was used to her office/bathroom instead. Grades 6 - 10 |
Part of the new “Ready Freddy” series. Freddy hates to do homework, so when the teacher assigns an oral report, he has a hard time deciding on what animal report on. His best friend Robbie volunteers to help, by seeing what animals are out at night at Freddy's house. They have a sleepover, sneak out to watch for animals and …. Grades 2 - 4 |
Ned Begay's life is very different compared to most Americans. As a young Navajo, he was required to attend a white boarding school where he survived years of anti-Indian teaching and told that Navajo is a useless language. But in 1943, he joined the Marines as part of a special Navajo group called the “Code Talkers”. This group develops and transmits wartime radio code based on their native Navajo language, experiencing battles, discrimination, and comradeship rarely expressed in first person World War II stories. Grades 4 + |
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"My Weird School" continues in book 3 with the 2nd grade class spending time in the library. The Librarian is missing, instead other people are there each day (George Washington, Johnny Appleseed, and Little Miss Muffet) teeling stories and showing off books. Who is this person and where is the new Librarian? Grades 2 - 3 |
Firedrake, a dragon, heads out from his northern Scotland home in search of the mythical dragon homeland because Humans are getting too close. Aided by Sorrel (a brownie) they set off, finding a rat with maps, an orphaned boy who joins them, and are hunted by Nettlebrand the dragon killer. Sequel now available Grades 4 - 10 |
RA first-person narrative from a camel's viewpoint about being sent from Egypt to serve in the United States Camel Corps from 1856-1860, and life in Texas and the Mojave Desert around the time of the Civil War. Grades 4 - 8 |
Ten short stories focusing on elementary school events. Written by well known and prolific children's authors, including Avi, Angela Johnson, Sarah Weeks and more, these intriguing tales all include a bio of the author relating to their school years. Grades 3 - 6 |
Shredderman, aka fifth grader Nolan, continues his crusade against class bullies with his webite, shredderman.com. This time he wants to help catch a tagger who has attacked downtown, a teacher's van, and a playground. Some crafty detective work, stealth, and reasoning enables Nolan to figure out who the culprit is and how to let the world know the truth. Grades 2 - 5 |
In Chet the Gecko’s ninth book, Chet and his partner, Natalie Attired, take on a case involving an classmate actor gone missing from the school musical, which caused Chet to be thrust into the play in place of the missing actor. Grades 3 - 6 |
Moose’s family has just moved to 1935 era Alcatraz Island so his dad can work and as both an electrician and guard. The needed pay during the Depression will help send Moose's "10 year-old" sister to yet another special school. Moose goes to school in San Francisco with the warden’s daughter where they continuously get into trouble. Grades 4-8 |
In this sequel to the City of Ember, the 400 people from the underground city of "Ember" are searching for a new place to live. They finally find a small town called "Sparks", which is one of the few towns now in existence, population 300. The Sparkites try to take care of these naive people who have never seen the sun, wide open spaces, weather, animals, fire and so much more. But as tensions rise and tempers flare, will this arrangment work, will Emberites be able to merge with Sparkites or will there be a war and will people die as a result? Grades 5-9 |
Fifth-grader Nora Rowley has always hidden the fact that she is a genius from everyone because all she wants is to be normal, but when she comes up with a plan to prove that grades are not important, things quickly get out of control. Grades 3-6 |
Fifth-graders Drake Doyle and Nell Fossey combine their detective and scientific investigation skills to solve a variety of cases, involving a noisy garbage can, endangered frogs, a stuck truck, and a mysterious love letter. Includes a section of scientific experiments and activities. Grades 2-4 |
Mr. Speed set up a website on a classroom computer for his students to type in their worries, and then their classmates can comment on the worry. Follow several of the students as they type in their worry and then explain, to the reader, about themselves and where the worry comes from. Mr. Speed is able to help the student with their worry, sometimes with the assistance of classmates. One of the student chapters was written by a reader as a website entry in Britian. Grades 4-8 |
Joe is able to time travel using vintage baseball cards. In this adventure, Joe goes back to 1947 to meet Jackie Robinson, turning into a black boy in the process. Grades 3-6 |
After she, her older brother, and their father move from Chicago to Maryland, Alice has trouble fitting into her new third grade class, but with the help of some new friends and her own unique outlook, she survives. |
Through a series of journal entries, eleven-year-old child prodigy Millicent Min records her struggles to learn to play volleyball, tutor her enemy, attend college, deal with her grandmother's departure, and make friends over the course of a tumultuous summer leading up to her senior year of high school. Grades 5-8 |
The possum always rings twice
The real lucky charm
Shackleton's stowaway 
The miraculous journey of Edward Tulane 
Small Steps
Flush
Babymouse : queen of the world
How to be a pirate / by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III ; translated from the Old Norse by Cressida Cowell
Friendship according to Humphrey
Adam Canfield of the Slash 
Homework hassles 
Code Talker : a novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two 
Mrs. Roopy is loopy 
Dragon Rider 
Exiled:
Memoirs of a Camel 
Tripping over the lunch lady and other school stories
Attack
of the Tagger
Give
My Regrets To Broadway : From The Tattered Casebook of Chet Gecko,
Private Eye
Al
Capone Does My Shirts
The
People of Sparks
The
Case of the Gasping Garbage
The
Worry Web Site
Jackie
and Me: A Baseball Card Adventure
Starting
with Alice
Millicent
Min: Girl Genius
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A
Department of the City
of Daly City |
A
Member of the Peninsula
Library System (PLS) |