2013 Children's Choices-Advanced Readers (Grade 5-6)

Living in America's most famous residence might seem glamorous at first--it's the most fun place any kid could live! There's a bowling alley in the basement, chefs are always available to prepare whatever you're craving, and sometimes presidential aides will even help you with your homework! But life isn't always easy for the youngsters who call the White House home. They're always in the spotlight, and those pesky Secret Service agents are always around. For every perk, there's a problem. From Washington to Obama, see the White House through the eyes of the children and grandchildren. Filled with wacky, weird, and wonderful stories, it shows what it's like to call the president Dad (or Granddad or Uncle). Find out what schools they went to, what mischief they caused, and what pets they had. There are first-person accounts from letters and interviews, fascinating photos, original illustrations, and even a section that follows the children after they left the White House.

Did you know that lemons can power lightbulbs, or that some goats climb trees? You'll find 300 more wacky facts like these in Weird but True 4!--the latest addition to the blockbuster National Geographic Kids Weird but True series. This fourth installment in the successful Weird but True series has all-new facts and illustrations, creative type treatments, and more cool photos. Brain-bending facts cover a broad range of topics, including science, animals, food, weather, pop culture, outer space, geography, and just about everything else under the sun.

Releases simultaneously in Reinforced Library Binding: 978-1-4263-1021-8 , $16.90/$18.95 Can

"Introduces the reader to a wealth of extraordinary life forms"-- P. [4] of cover.

If dying on his thirteenth birthday was not bad enough, Ed Bagley becomes a putrid zombie pursued by his demonic, severed arm.

Describes some acts of bravery and heroism performed by Air Force personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Shortly after midnight on May 2, 2011, two large helicopters swooped down on a home in Abbottabad, a small city in northern Pakistan. As the helicopters reached the ground, a group of American fighters spilled out. Soon, loud blasts filled the air as the commandos—all members of a group known as the Navy SEALs—blew apart walls and doors and shot their way in. The SEALs were looking for the world's most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden. The secret raid was risky, but if anyone could carry out the mission successfully, it was the Navy SEALs. Members of this special operations force are among the best-trained fighters in the world. Young readers will follow this elite group of soldiers on their raid and explore the context for their mission, from the 9/11 attacks by Al Qaeda to the war against terrorists in Afghanistan. Large, full-color photos, grade-appropriate text, and a narrative format will keep kids turning the pages as they learn about our nation's military heroes.

Greek tragedy has never been so funny

Zozimos' journey to the kingdom of Sticatha has been anything but smooth. He's survived enslavement, battled golems and a ravenous Cyclops, and generally served as plaything to gods and goddesses looking for a good laugh. All for the sake of reclaiming the Sticathan royal throne--stolen from him by an evil witch, aka his stepmother.

You'd think that a stickman would catch a break after all that, but you'd be wrong. Arriving home only brings crazy family members and a return trip to sea, where mercenary centaurs and giant boar gods keep Zozimos questing and readers laughing. It would all be an epic tragedy if it wasn't so funny.

Traces Spider-Man's entire career from his high school beginnings as Peter Parker to his love affair with the enchanting Mary Jane. "With foreword by Stan Lee and full details of Spidey's powers granted from the bite of an irradiated spider, as well as significant adventures, battles, loves, allies, and enemies, this all-inclusive book has a strong focus on storylines and conflicts within Spider-Man's world. Come to find out how your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man came to be created in 1962 and how the character has developed over the years. Full of interesting facts and dynamic comic book art, Spider-Man: Inside the World of your Friendly Neighborhood Hero is the tell-all to the famous Amazing Spider-Man." -- Publsihers Description

"When Shadow, a bomb-sniffing spaniel, goes missing in the middle of war-torn Afghanistan, his soldier-owner is devastated. Meanwhile, Shadow makes friends with a local Afghan boy, and sees a whole other side of the war. But as Christmas draws ever closer, the question is - will Shadow and his trainer ever be reunited...?" --Publisher description.

Hey, buster! Normal life is a total yawn. Break out of boredom with Ruby Redfort, the super-awesome teen detective series from multi-million-copy bestseller Lauren Child... Want to know more? Of course you do, bozo. Here''s the low-down on Ruby Redfort: she''s a genius code-cracker, a daring detective, and a gadget-laden special agent who just happens to be a thirteen-year-old girl. She and her slick sidekick butler, Hitch, foil crimes and get into loads of scrapes with evil villains, but they''re always ice-cool in a crisis. In this first book, we go right back to Ruby''s beginnings as an agent. When an anonymous caller sets Ruby a challenge, it''s not long before she finds her way into the HQ of the most secret of secret agencies - SPECTRUM. They need her help to crack a code but her desk job soon spirals into an all-out action adventure, as Ruby uncovers the dastardly plans of the formidable Fool''s Gold Gang...

Ten-year-old Jane Doe, the only student average enough to be excluded from the town of Remarkable's School for the Remarkably Gifted, is joined at her public school by the trouble-making Grimlet twins, who lead her on a series of adventures involving an out-of-control science fair project, a pirate captain on the run from a mutinous crew, a lonely dentist, and a newly constructed bell tower that endangers Remarkable's most beloved inhabitant--a skittish lake monster named Lucky.

When feisty twelve-year-old Rebel McKenzie, an aspiring paleontologist, goes to spend the summer taking care of her older sister's seven-year-old son at the mobile home park in Frog Level, Virginia, she never expects to enter a beauty pageant or meet a hand model.

Fascinating and sometimes mysterious collection of presidential pets combined with fun poetry and factoids about the US presidents.

After running away from an orphanage, Pip arrives in the walled city of Hangman's Hollow, where children must hide to avoid imprisonment by citizens or danger from evil creatures in the surrounding forest, but new friend Toad asks his help in finding a lone girl.

Using a bogus name, the League of Picklemakers, sixth-grader Ben and three recruits start a prank-pulling club and receive funding from their middle school's PTA.

When seventh grader Georges (the S is silent) moves into a Brooklyn apartment building, he meets Safer, a twelve-year-old coffee-drinking loner and self-appointed spy. Georges becomes Safer's first spy recruit. His assignment? Tracking the mysterious Mr. X, who lives in the apartment upstairs. But as Safer becomes more demanding, Georges starts to wonder: how far is too far to go for your only friend?

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Ben Hatke brings back our intrepid space heroine for another delightful sci-fi/fantasy adventure. Zita is determined to find her way home to earth, following the events of the first book. But things are never simple, and certainly never easy, in space. Zita's exploits from her first adventure have made her an intergalactic megastar! But she's about to find out that fame doesn't come without a price. And who can you trust when your true self is being eclipsed by your public persona, and you've got a robot doppelganger wreaking havoc ...while wearing your face? Still, if anyone can find their way through this intractible mess of mistaken identity and alien invaders, it's the indomitable Zita, in "Legends of Zita the Spacegirl."Legends of Zita the Spacegirl" is one of "Kirkus Reviews'" Best Children's Books of 2012.

From a cotton plantation in the deep South, to a Kentucky horse farm, to a small household in the North, the varying settings and voices depicted in these poems reflect the rich patchwork of experiences and circumstances of African Americans affected by slavery. Using the American folk tradition of quilting as a structural framework, poet Cynthia Grady weaves together spiritual, musical, and quilting references with evocative imagery to express the pain, sorrow, and weariness as well as the joy and hope sustained by those living in slavery in America. African and American textile patterns and folk art motifs in Michele Wood's vibrant paintings create a moving witness and beautiful complement to the poetry. - Jacket flap.

The four princes erroneously dubbed Prince Charming and rudely marginalized in their respective fairy tales form an unlikely team when a witch threatens the whole kingdom.

Guided by tween "ghostorian" Virgil, readers will discover fascinating facts about calamitous events throughout history as they explore castles, palaces and dungeons and those infamous figures associated with each. For instance, did you know that many castles were made out of wood painted to look like stone? Or that wealthy prisoners in the Tower of London could keep servants? The book is chock-full of details that kids will find intriguing--dungeon life for prisoners, methods of turture, and even the most popular methods of poisoning enemies. So join Virgil and the other ghostly inhabitants for an historical adventure on the dark side.

Readers will get a lesson in history in this series of titles that looks at what happened in various historical places and how these happenings are tied to tales of ghosts, poltergeists and other unexplainable phenomena.

When she discovers an evil mask at the bottom of a trunk and puts it on, LuAnn's Halloween turns into a real nightmare because only an act of unbelievable kindness can remove it.

Twelve-year-old Frankie Joe Huckaby can't find anything good to say about Clearview, Illinois, where he must spend the next ten months living with a father he knows only through birthday cards, a stepmother he didn't know existed, and four half brothers intent on making him the "freak" of the town. When life in Clearview becomes unbearable, Frankie Joe hatches a plan to ride his bike back to the Lone Star Trailer Park in Laredo, Texas. For that he needs money, and so he opens Frankie Joe's Freaky Fast Delivery Service. But Frankie Joe hasn't counted on quirky clients, unpredictable winter weather, and his equally unpredictable new family.

When her crush, Brandon, reveals the animal shelter where he volunteers is in danger of being closed, Nikki and her friends enter an ice-skating competition to help raise money, an effort that is compromised by an interfering MacKenzie. Book #4

Dark Mansions (Scary Places) by Dinah Williams

When cardboard creatures come magically to life, a boy must save his town from disaster. Cam's down-and-out father gives him a cardboard box for his birthday and he knows it's the worst present ever. So to make the best of a bad situation, they bend the cardboard into a man-and to their astonishment, it comes magically to life. But the neighborhood bully, Marcus, warps the powerful cardboard into his own evil creations that threaten to destroy them all!

"Broxo, the only surviving member of a tribe of barbarians, spends his time on a mountain hunting and avoiding the man-eating walking dead until everything changes when Zora, a foreign princess, arrives on the mountain seeking Broxo's lost tribe"--

I've just had my best idea yet. The Boy Project. These charts, graphs, and observations are sure to help me uncover the mysteries of boys. Right? But I never expected where my research might take me. Like in the boy's bathroom. And to the principal's office. Or to facing off against the school's meanest girl and keeping secrets from my BFF. Still, if my project leads me to the right boy, all the craziness might be worth it. I hope....