November Picks

Check out these new and noteworthy books in the MCS Media Center!


Scream Street by Tommy Donbavand -- Books 1-6 (Grades 4-6)

When Luke Watson turns into a werewolf for the third time, the Government Housing of Unusual Lifeforms (G.H.O.U.L.) moves his family to Scream Street — a frightful community of vampires, zombies, witches, and sundry undead. Though Luke quickly makes friends, he vows to find a way to take his terrified parents home. The secret to opening the exit, he learns, is collecting six powerful relics the founding fathers left behind. But with a sinister landlord determined to thwart Luke at every turn, will he even get past the first hurdle alive?



An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo (Grades 4-6)  

Lizzie and Karl’s mother is a zoo keeper; the family has become attached to an orphaned elephant named Marlene, who will be destroyed as a precautionary measure so she and the other animals don’t run wild should the zoo be hit by bombs. The family persuades the zoo director to let Marlene stay in their garden instead. When the city is bombed, the family flees with thousands of others, but how can they walk the same route when they have an elephant in tow, and keep themselves safe? Along the way, they meet Peter, a Canadian navigator who risks his own capture to save the family. 


 

The Moon Over High Street by Natalie Babbitt (Grades 4-6) 

Joe Casimir needed help with the choice he had to make. But how do you choose the person who will help you choose? Mr. Boulderwall, the millionaire, knew exactly what he wanted Joe to choose. And millionaires are experts at making choices. Well, aren't they? But Vinnie, the number-two man down at Sope Electric, didn't much approve of millionaires. He said to Joe, "Listen, kid, all of 'em act like they're the only ones with a ticket to the show!" But he didn't have any real advice to offer. Joe's Gran didn't either, as it turned out, and neither did Aunt Myra.  




The Year of the Book by Andrea Cheng (Grades 4-6) 

In Chinese, peng you means friend. But in any language, all Anna knows for certain is that friendship is complicated. When Anna needs company, she turns to her books. Whether traveling through A Wrinkle in Time, or peering over My Side of the Mountain, books provide what real life cannot—constant companionship and insight into her changing world. Books, however, can’t tell Anna how to find a true friend. She’ll have to discover that on her own. In the tradition of classics like Maud Hart Lovelace’s Betsy-Tacy books and Eleanor Estes’ One Hundred Dresses, this novel subtly explores what it takes to make friends and what it means to be one.


 
Bad Kitty for President by Nick Bruel (Grades 3-6)

The votes are in--it's a Bad Kitty landslide!

It's time to elect a new president of the Neighborhood Cat Coalition! Who will win the election? The candidate chosen by the kitties on the right side of the street or the candidate chosed by the kitties on the left side of the street? When election time rolls around, one candidate (guess who?) will discover that she never bothered to register to vote and the entire election will be decided by a surprise, last minute absentee ballot sent by Old Kitty.




Treasury of Inspirational Stories for Children by James Herriot (Grades 3-6 or a great read aloud for all grades!)

James Herriot's Treasury of Inspirational Stories for Children collects all of the beloved veterinarian's delightful tales for young readers--all of them perennial favorites.
This complete edition is a wonderful addition to the libraries of all readers, great and small. From the moving holiday miracle of The Christmas Day Kitten to the adorable, rascally antics of Smudge, the Little Lost Lamb, here are Herriot's masterful stories for children gathered together in one classic volume for the entire family to share and treasure. Features: Moses the Kitten * Only One Woof * The Christmas Day Kitten * Bonny's Big Day * Blossom Comes Home * The Market Square Dog * Oscar, Cat-About-Town * Smudge, the Little Lost Lamb



And the Soldiers Sang by J. Patrick Lewis (Grades 5-6)

You will be home before the leaves have fallen from the trees. So said Kaiser Wilhelm II to his German army in August 1914. But World War I would rage for more than 4 years, taking the lives of nearly 10 million soldiers. Some of the most unrelenting combat was waged along the infamous Western Front, where, for one unforgettable Christmas in 1914, enemies set guns aside and came together in friendship. And the Soldiers Sang, written by J. Patrick Lewis, recounts this unlikely truce through the perspective of a young soldier named Owen Davies, who travels from the green country of Wales to the muddy battlefields of Belgium.




Clarice Bean, That's Me by Lauren Child (Grades 1-3)

When your annoying little brother shares your room, your older brother is in the tunnel of adolescence, your dad hides in his office swaying to Frank Sinatra, and your mother listens to foreign language tapes in the bathtub, what can you do to get away from it all? Meet the irrepressible Clarice Bean on her search for a little peace and quiet amid the wonderfully wacky chaos of a large extended family.