Mrs. Barr Has Gone Too Far by Dan Gutman

After noticing that A.J. and his friends’ geography knowledge could use some work, Mr. Cooper invites to class just the person to help. Globetrotter Mrs. Barr speaks seven languages and has visited nearly two hundred countries!

But why does she carry a suitcase everywhere she goes? And why does she open a window whenever she walks into a room? Perhaps Mrs. Barr has something to hide!

Book 9 in the My Weirder-est School series

6. Night Owl by Sarah Mlynowski 

It’s Big Night in Dunwiddle . . . and that means the whole school has a sleepover like no other. For one night every year, magic students run through the halls, hunting for the objects that will win them a super special prize.

Nory is super excited for the scavenger hunt. Not only because she likes winning, but also because if her team wins, she thinks there’s a chance her best friend Elliott won’t move away to attend super snobby Sage Academy.

Sebastian is a little less excited once the hunt is on. Yes, he has magical powers that help his team — like being able to see invisible things or anything that makes a sound. The problem is that the really loud sounds are hurting him . . . and nobody seems to care.

The kids in Upside-Down Magic know their five F’s (Flares, Flyers, Fuzzies, Flickers, and Fluxers) — but to win this night, a sixth F is the most important . . . Friendship.

book 8 in the Upside-Down Magic series

Out of Time by Geronimo Stilton

When Geronimo Stilton and his friends time travel to three different centuries seeking artifacts missing from the mouseum, they meet Alexander the Great, Queen Cleopatra, Francis Drake, and Mozart.

book 8 in the Journey of Time series

5. Sparkle Magic by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen

When a mermicorn’s horn starts to sparkle, that means she’s ready for Magic School! Sirena can’t wait to learn how to do ALL kinds of magic around the ocean! But magic isn’t as easy to learn as she’d hoped. And to make matters worse, her school partner, Lily is way better at magic than she is! It’s not fair! Turns out, it’s hard to do magic when you’re jealous or angry. Can Sirena learn to be a good friend and master her first magic lesson?

book 1 in the Mermicorns series

Eva’s New Pet by Rebecca Elliott

Eva can’t wait to get a new pet! But she can’t decide what kind of pet to get. Her pet needs to be cute, cuddly, friendly… and, of course, get along with her bat, Baxter. Eva’s friend Lucy has a great idea: They will pet-sit for all their friends to find out which animal is right for Eva! Chaos breaks out as they look after a bumblebee, a tortoise, a goldfish, and more. Will Baxter be able to help Eva discover which pet is just-right for their family?

book 15 in the Owl Diaries series

10. Scaredy-Pug by Kyla May

Bub the pug, Duchess the cat, and their human, Bella, are visiting Bella’s grandma. It’s so much fun to build forts and play dress-up in her attic… until Bub and Duchess see a ghost up there! Now they have a duty to protect their girl. Can this scaredy-pug and scaredy-cat face their fears to keep Bella safe?

book 5 in the Diary of a Pug series

2. The Bad Guys in Cut to the Chase by Aaron Blabey

A MYSTERIOUS DOORWAY! (Sure, it’s in the grossest restaurant in the world, but that doesn’t make it any less mysterious. OK?) Behold! What lies beyond?! An evil centipede? An alternate universe? A few decent explanations? VRRRING! NING! NING! NING!

Hey, was that a CHAINSAW?! Let’s see if you can read and run at the same time… GO! It’s the Bad Guys’ next adventure!

book 13 in The Bad Guys series

3. The Mermaid’s Dolphin by Coral Ripley

When Emily, Grace and Layla rescue a dolphin from a fishing net, they get swept away on a magical mermaid adventure! The girls are chosen to become Sea Keepers – guardians of the underwater world. The oceans desperately need their help, and not just because of pollution. . .

An evil mermaid named Effluvia has stirred up a storm of rubbish – and the Sea Keepers must stop her! Can they find a magic pearl and save a beautiful cove for the creatures who live there?

book 1 in the Sea Keepers series

Thea Stilton and the American Dream by Thea Stilton

Taking a road trip to San Jose along Route 66 while stopping in Chicago, St. Louis, and other iconic cities, the Thea Sisters are dismayed to learn that an unknown saboteur has wiped a special video game project off of a programmer friend’s computer.

book 33 in the Thea Stilton series

The New Class by Swapna Reddy

Miss Luisa’s School of Dance is a magical place. There are dancers and music. . . and bunnies that talk and do ballet! No one knows the bunnies are there. Then, Millie arrives. She’s new to ballet class and doesn’t know all the moves. But when all the other dancers are gone, she discovers the Ballet Bunnies! They can help Millie find her dancing feet–so long as she can keep the Ballet Bunnies a secret!

book 1 in the Ballet Bunnies series

Wave of the Sea Dragon by Tracey West

The evil wizard Astrid is ready to cast her dangerous False Life spell! To undo the spell, Drake and the other Dragon Masters will need the help of three special dragons — including a Sea Dragon. So Drake, Bo, and Opeli travel to the island of Kapua to find one. But the Dragon Masters have stolen something from Astrid… And Astrid will battle them to get it back!

book 19 in the Dragon Masters series

1. The Bad guys in They’re Bee-Hind You by Aaron Blabey

POP QUIZ! You are on the roof of a skyscraper. Every floor of that building has nasty things that just don’t like you. And you REALLY need to get to the basement. Whaddaya do?! (And no, you can’t just join the B-Team and fly away in their glamorous new spaceship.) Think quick, chico, because the multiverse is getting worse!

book 14 in The Bad Guys series

Miss Aker is a Maker by Dan Gutman

Principal Klutz has invited a special guest to Ella Mentry School. Her name is Miss Aker, and she’s going to show A.J. and his friends how to create cool things out of materials like balloons, straws, and even Popsicle sticks!

But what happens when they make a robot so smart, it plans to rule the world? Can anyone stop it?!

book 8 in the My Weirder-est School series

Bo and the Merbaby by Rebecca Elliott

Bo Tinseltail is excited to meet a merbaby. But when Bo and the other unicorns find the merbaby can’t swim, they decide to see if they can find someone who can help! Will they find what they’re looking for?

book 5 in the Unicorn Diaries series

7. Camp Time in California by Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and his sister, Annie, must go to California! They must look at nature! They must save the wilderness!

Save it from what, exactly? That’s what Jack and Annie must find out when the magic tree house lands in the tallest tree on earth. The nature around them is so grand and peaceful–is it really in danger? Two travelers, two sketchbooks, and one grizzly bear will show Jack and Annie that danger isn’t always seen with the eyes. Sometimes it’s felt with the heart.

book 35 in the Magic Tree House series

8. Eva at the Beach by Rebecca Elliott

Eva is visiting the beach with her best friend Lucy! They can’t wait to build sandcastles and make seashell necklaces. But Eva is secretly afraid to go swimming because of the big fish—like sharks!—that live in the sea. After Eva hears the “Legend of the Mermowls” and spots her classmate Sue in the water, the sea doesn’t seem so scary. Will Eva face her fears and maybe find some magic at the beach, too?

book 14 in the Owl Diaries series

Fifth-Grade Zombies by R.L. Stine

Scarlett Martenson and her friends are total zombie fans! With Ross as the brains, Annie as the makeup artist, Owen as the fright master, and Scarlett as their leader, the group is unstoppable as they terrorize their unsuspecting neighbors. But when Granny Z moves into the creepy, old, abandoned house at the bottom of the hill, things get rotten for the zombie club. Can Scarlett find a way to save herself and her friends or will things continue to decay?

book 14 in the Goosebumps SlappyWorld series

Garbage Dump Disaster by Geronimo Stilton

Hercule and Geronimo investigate a strange new case. There is a garbage thief in New Mouse City. They aren’t stealing just any trash, it’s all organic waste. They enlist the help of the head of the Recycling Center to help. In the end they find the thief is a colleague of Floras who has built a machine that turns organic waste into an energy source.

book 79 in the Geronimo Stilton series

4. Heat of the Lava Dragon by Tracey West

Evil wizard Astrid has trapped Drake’s friends in stone and she is getting closer to casting an even more dangerous spell! To stop her, Drake and Ana travel in search of Ka, a mysterious and greatly feared Lava Dragon. But who is Ka’s Dragon Master? Can a young girl find the dragon and stop Astrid — before it’s too late?

book 18 in the Dragon Masters series

Heidi Heckelbeck and the Snow Day Surprise by Wanda Coven

Winter is coming to Brewster. There’s a crisp, chill feeling in the air and everyone watches the clouds, waiting for snow to finally fall. But after a week of non-stop rain, Heidi Heckelbeck and her friends wonder if it will ever snow again. Dreams of building snowmen and ice skating in the park are quickly washing away, until Heidi uses a little magic to help Mother Nature. Now the town is in for a real snow day surprise!

book 33 in the Heidi Heckelbeck series

Howl of the Wind Dragon by Tracey West

Drake and Rori rush off to find a Wind Dragon — the final dragon needed to undo the False Life spell. But they soon learn that the Wind Dragon is being held captive! Can they rescue her and her Dragon Master, Quilla? They’ll need to hurry because evil wizard Astrid has already cast her terrible spell… Prepare for the Dragon Masters’ biggest battle yet! With engaging black-and-white artwork on every page, kids won’t be able to put down this action-packed book!

book 20 in the Dragon Masters series

9. Kitten Campout by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen

The purrmaids are going on their very first school sleepover, but Angel feels left out when she is paired with Cascade, a member of the Catfish Club.

book 9 in the Purrmaids series

Ivy and Bean Get to Work by Annie Barrows

It’s Career Day at Emerson Elementary School, and all the students have to choose what they want to be when they grow up. No problem. Ivy and Bean already have that all figured out. At least, they thought so, until they met Herman the Treasure Hunter. Now everyone in the second grade is looking for treasure—and finding it. Everyone except Ivy and Bean, that is. They need to get out their shovels and turn up some treasure on the double!

book 12 in the Ivy and Bean series

Pug’s Got Talent by Kyla May

Bub’s human, Bella, is putting on a pet talent show! Bub can’t wait to wow the audience with his skateboarding stunts, not to mention his snazzy costume. But when dress rehearsal doesn’t go as planned, Bub finds that it’s up to him — and his archenemy Duchess the cat — to make things right. Can he and Duchess work together to make sure the show goes on?

book 4 in the Diary of a Pug series

I Survived the Galveston Hurricane, 1900 by Lauren Tarshis

The city of Galveston, Texas, was booming. Perched on an island off the southern coast of Texas, Galveston had been founded in the 1830s. By 1900, it was Texas’s richest and most important city. Boats loaded up with American cotton and wheat steamed from Galveston to countries around the world. Arriving ships were crowded with immigrants. The streets, paved with crushed oyster shells, sparkled like they’d been sprinkled with diamonds.

True, this glittering city was prone to flooding. But just a few years before, a weather forecaster had said the idea of a hurricane striking Galveston was absurd.

So when a storm started brewing on September 8, 1900, no one believed it would be any worse than previous storms. They gathered on the beach to cheer on the wild waves. But what started as entertainment soon turned into a nightmare as those wild waves crashed into the city. By morning, hundreds of homes were destroyed. Eight thousand people were dead. The city had all but disappeared.

book 21 in the I Survived series