The Graveyard Book

Growing up in a graveyard is normal if you don't know anything about the world outside its gates. Nobody Owens, or as his friends and family call him, "Bod" can only remember living in the graveyard, traipsing around tombs, and talking to people whose names are on the crumbling gravestones. What he doesn't remember is climbing out of his crib as a toddler, bumping down the steps to the open front door, and toddling down the road to his graveyard narrowly escaping the dreadful fate of his family. Instead of meeting an untimely death, Bod grows up in the graveyard learning about the world from its dead inhabitants. In addition to learning about reading, writing, and arithmetic, Bod learns about fading, haunting, and dream walking.

Bod slowly comes to learn that outside the graveyard lie danger that his guardians Silas and Ms. Lupescu, his parents the Owens', and his friend and witch Liza Hempstock cannot protect him from. The man in black, "The Man Jack" that was sent to kill he and his family is still looking to finish the job he started many years before.

The story is engaging and quite spooky and the characters are relatable for young readers- Bod goes through some of the same developmental milestones as today's tweens like testing rules and pushing boundaries with some astonishing consequences. If you set down to read this volume, prepare to get comfortable- bring a drink and snack because you won't want to put this down. I would strongly recommend this to fans of Avi and Margaret Peterson Haddix.


Gaiman, Neil. (2008). The Graveyard Book. New York: Harper Collins. 312 pages. ISBN 9-780-060-53092-1.

Ages 9-11
Rating: Outstanding
Winner of the Newberry prize 2009

The dark-thirty : Southern tales of the supernatural

The hour before sunset is called dark-thirty in the south- these haunting tales reflect the horror of living in a time when African Americans lacked any semblance of political power. The stories explore many aspects of the African America experience from slavery and emancipation, to desegregation and the terror generated by the Ku Klux Klan.

McKissack, Pat. (1992). The dark-thirty : Southern tales of the supernatural. New York: Knopf. 122 pages. ISBN: 978-0-679-81863-2.

Ages: 8-12

Rating: Outstanding

Newberry Honor Book 1993

Coretta Scott King Award 1993

The Westing Game

This classic award winning mystery for tweens still captures the attention of modern audiences after 30 years in print. The story begins with an unusual group of people being offered apartments in a prestigious lake side apartment building. After their neighbor, town legend, and local millionaire Sam Westing is murdered in his own home, a group of unlikely heirs are summoned together for the reading of his will. In order to collect their inheritance they must first solve the mystery of his death and find his killer. All of the sixteen  gathered are potential killers and potential heirs to the Westing fortune- they are divided into groups of two and given different clues to the mystery... two words.

None of the heirs are who they seem and through the process of solving the mystery of Sam Westing's death, each person learns more about their neighbors than they had wanted to know. As the story unravels, it appears that one person is the killer, and then the next, until everyone looks guilty except the young, innocent, Turtle Wexler. The cast of characters is diverse and the mystery will keep young readers engaged. Readers will make guesses about the heart of the mystery and will disagree with the narrator, gasp when surprising facts are revealed, and never guess how the story ends.

Raskin, Ellen. (1978). The Westing Game. New York: Dutton. 185 pages. ISBN 978-0-142-40120-0.

Ages 10+
Rating: Outstanding
Newberry Winner 1979

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Lush illustrations situated on the page to resemble a movie screen accompany the text to create a world that young readers can fall right into. The story is that of a 12 year old orphan, Hugo, who lives in a bustling train station in Paris at the turn of the century. After his father is killed in a fire, he goes to live with his uncle in the train station, where he earns his keep by helping him keep the clocks of the station working and keeping perfect time. Hugo's one obsession is all that he has left of his father- the mystery of the automaton. At the time of his death, his father, a clockmaker, was working on repairing an automated figure, a small man who was seated at a desk with a pen in hand as if ready to deliver a message. The only physical thing that Hugo has left of his father is the notebook that details the automaton's inner workings.

In his quest to fix the automaton, Hugo is caught stealing toys from a stand in the train station and the owner, a very grumpy old man forces him to empty his pockets. When he sees the notebook, he is transfixed and refuses to return it to Hugo until he works off payment for all the toys he has stolen from the toy stand.

The story itself is captivating and the mystery of the automaton will keep even the most reluctant readers engaged with the help of the illustrations. The illustrations keep the story moving, as a picture is worth a thousand words. Younger tweens interested in mysteries, film, magic, and machines will be amazed and entertained by this work. 

Selznick, Brian. (2007). The Invention of Hugo Cabret. New York: Scholastic Press. 533 pages. ISBN: 978-0-439-81378-5.

Ages: 8-12
Rating: High Additional
Winner of the Caldecott Award 2008

No Girls Allowed

In graphic novel form, the stories of seven women from history are told. All of these women took on the appearances of men to reach their goals. The stories range from those of well known historical figures such as Mu Lan to the lesser known Viking pirate, Alfhild.




Hughes, Susan. (2008). No girls allowed: tales of daring women dressed as men for love, freedom and adventure. Toronto : Kids Can Press. 80 pages. ISBN: 978-1-554-53177-6.

Ages: 9-12
Rating: High Additional
2008 Cybil Award

The Shadows: The Books of Elsewhere, Volume 1

When Olive and her parents move into an old Victorian house it almost seems too good to be true. The old lady who lived there before had no living heirs, so all of her possessions (read: all of her old stuff) was inherited by Olive's family. The house is filled with furniture, old books, and most importantly tons of antique paintings. One day, while exploring the house, Olive notices a quick, but small movement in one of the paintings and senses that she's being watched.

After further explorations, she finds a pair of spectacles that allow her to enter any one of the paintings in the house. When she returns to the particularly strange painting, she meets a young boy named Morton who is particularly annoying and sets in motion a series of events that lead Olive to the truth about the old house, it's former inhabitants, and most importantly herself.

This story is cleverly written and just creepy enough to keep older tweens interested. Olive is a lonely and very intelligent and curious young girl. As she sets out to find out exactly what is happening in the paintings in her new house she makes some new feline friends who attempt to guide her and keep her safe. The conclusion of the mystery will surprise even the most astute readers and mystery solvers. Fans of Roald Dahl and Neil Gaiman will enjoy spending time with this young quirky protagonist.

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West, Jacqueline. (2010). The Shadows: The Books of Elsewhere. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers. 241 pages. ISBN: 978-0-803-73440-1.

website for the book: http://www.thebooksofelsewhere.com/
Ages 9-11
Rating: High Additional
2010 Cybils Award Winner

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Junior is a 14 year old Spokane Indian who grew up on a reservation outside of Spokane, Washington surrounded by poverty, alcoholics, and a dysfunctional family of loving, but screwed up adults. Junior copes with his environment by drawing cartoons that he considers his, "little lifeboats." When he decides to transfer to the nearby white town school and is seen as a traitor, white-lover, only his lifeboats keep him afloat along with a few special unexpected friends.

Alexie, Sherman. (2006). The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Little Brown. 230 pages. ISBN: 978-0-316-01369-7.

Ages 12+  

Rating: Outstanding

Winner of the National Book Award 2007

When You Reach Me

If you received a cryptic note under your door that says, "I'm coming to save your friend's life, and my own," would you worry? Well, this is exactly what happens to 12 year old Miranda. Things get even weirder. Her best friend Sal gets punched by some random kid they don't know walking home from school and he stops talking to her. A mentally ill homeless man appears on their block- alternately raving at traffic and passersby, laughing at the sky, and sleeping under a set of apartment building mailboxes. "Backpack, pocket, shoe" he says to Miranda one day. More notes appear under her door with increasingly personal information about her that no one should know, but her. When the key her mother leaves outside of their apartment for emergencies disappears, Miranda starts to get scared. Armed with her tattered and carefully studied copy of Madeline L'Engle's Wrinkle in Time, Miranda sets off to figure out exactly what's going on. If all of the strange occurrences and cryptic notes have anything in common, Miranda will figure it out. Set in New York City in the late 1970's, this story is part historical fiction, part fantasy, and part mystery. The story is well paced and character driven- their relationships are portrayed realistically. There is a fair share of middle school drama as friends grapple with the meaning of friendship between boys and girls, but it only enhances the protagonist's quest to figure out what all the notes are about and who they are from. This Newberry award winning book will appeal to a wide variety of readers- boys and girls alike.


Stead, Rebecca. (2009). When You Reach Me. New York : Wendy Lamb Books. 199 pages. ISBN 978-0-37585-086-8.

Ages 9-12
Rating: Outstanding
Winner of the Newberry Award 2010
Winner of the Newberry Medal 2010