Author: Ben Guterson
RU Level: 5th Grade

Elizabeth comes home from school to find a locked house and a letter, a bus ticket, and three dollars taped to the front door from her uncaring aunt and uncle with directions to spend the winter holidays at a resort: Winterhouse. She finds Winterhouse to be wonderful but full of puzzling secrets and mysteries which she determines to solve. She finds a magical book in the library with puzzles and answers only she can see and is surprised to discover other unknown abilities. As the clues come together she discovers that she is connected to the mystery and the only one who can save the hotel and the people she has grown to love. 

Suspenseful, full of charm, puzzles and word play and set in a place one wishes to visit. This is the first book in a trilogy so there will be more fun to come!

Author: Jonathan Auxier
RU Level: Secondary

Set during Victorian England, Nan is an accomplished chimney sweeper--a job which is unusual for a girl. One day she gets stuck in a chimney with a fire set burning below and is rescued by a Golem made from soot and ash. Nan not only raises this Golem but tries to bring about change in the working conditions for chimney sweepers in the process. How do these two improbable things mix?

Will be enjoyed by students who like thoughtful, well-written historical fantasy.

Author: Andrew Clements
RU Level: 5th Grade

Alec likes to read so much that he reads all the time. After Principal Vance tells Alec he can no longer read instead of paying attention in class, Alec brainstorms a solution and forms an extended day club so he can sit and read. How to make sure no one else joins and disturbs his reading peace? Name it something so no one else will want to be in it. Alec is in for an unexpected surprise!

Humorous with great messages about handling bullies, recognizing and resisting labels, being comfortable with who you are and changing how one looks at things. Another great book by a popular author.

Author: Liesl Shurtliff
RU Level: 5th Grade

The first in the "Time Castaways" series, The Mona Lisa Key is part fantasy, part mystery. Mateo, Ruby and Corey are late and so they break one of their parents' important rules and ride the subway to school. When the subway turns into a ship that travels through time they find themselves transported to the middle of an art heist, a word series baseball game, visiting with the Queen of England, etc., all while trying to solve a mystery. The very surprising ending sets up the reader to delve into the next book.

Author: Becker
RU Level: 2nd Grade

Following the fun of Even Superheroes have Bad Days--also on RU 2nd Grade Level, the superheroes now show how they handle when they blow it!

"Even superheroes sometimes slip up and err. And when that happens, do they say, “It’s not FAIR?” or give up in despair? NO! “Ashamed Superheroes who goofed up somehow . . . First STOP . . . then CONSIDER what’s best to do now.”  Whether they’ve nabbed the wrong guy by mistake or bashed into a planet while zooming through space, all superheroes ‘fess up their mess-up, get on with their day, and keep on saving the world in the most super way!"

Author: M.T. Anderson, Eugene Yelchin
RU Level: Secondary

The elfin historian, Brangwain Spurge, is sent,by catapult into the Goblin Kingdom to spy while under the guise of delivering a historical peace offering. An elf hasn't returned from this kind of mission in over 100 years! The goblin Werfel is assigned to be Brangwain's host. Are they friends? Are they enemies? Because of a series of extraordinary events these two find themselves in the middle of a war and certain death. Brangwain sends mind messages back to his elfin superior which are shown as consecutive  full page illustrations; however, the narrative of the same event described by Werful is not the same!

This book may be read on many different levels from a good, fun story to political satire. The use of conflicting illustrations/narrative provides a fun twist. Many believe that this book should have been the 2019 Newbery winner.
                                                         
                                                         While suggested for secondary readers, some advanced middle-grade readers may enjoy the humor and illustration/text combination of the story without worrying about the deeper meaning. A little violence is described but is not graphic.