New in November Fiction for Middle Grades

  Never Say Die byAnthony Horowitz.  Although it has been 6 years since the last Alex Rider mission was published, Never Say Die picks up six weeks after Scorpio Rising ended.  Terrorism, assassination, and a gripping story.  Ian Fleming’s worthy successor for teen boys. Gr 5+   Lexile 760

    The Perfect Score by Bob Buyea :  Mandated student testing.  Students don’t like it, teachers don’t like it.  So it’s okay to cheat, right?  The voices five 6^th graders give varying perspectives on this ethical dilemma.  Buyea gives each narrator a compelling back story, as he did in the popular Mr. Terupt series.  Gr. 4-7 Lexile 710

  Mr. Lemoncello’s Great Library Race:  The kids from the Alexandriaville  Library are  ready for another fantastically fun challenge.  Mr. Lemoncello’s newest game uses virtual reality technology to recreates historical figures and events.  Then it’s time to get out into the real world for a race around the globe.  Of course there is a plot, but the real star of the book is the dream library & its puzzle genius creator. Gr. 4-8   Lexile 750

  Myth Raiders 1: Medusa's Curse  Fast paced fantasy adventure for young readers not yet ready for the Percy Jackson books.  Two pen pals who agree to meet discover they have independently each happened upon halves of an ancient artifact.  When put together, the Heart of Light transports our questers  to ancient Greece, where they must find other pieces of  The Shield of Light in order to protect humanity against the Dark Forces. Gr. 3-5

  The Magnificent 12:the Power by Michael Grant.  Final installment of a four-part fantasy adventure.  Twelve-year-old Mack MacAvoy and a team of other twelve-year-olds travel the globe to find the rest of the Manifica team so they can defeat the Pale Queen and save the world from destruction. Infused with humor and world travel.   Gr. 3-7

  Laura Ingalls isRuining My Life by Shelley Tougas.  . Charlotte’s mom has just moved the family across the country to live in Walnut Grove.  What she defines as adventuresome, Charlotte feels is flightiness.  After trying to write a prairie girl story for years, a dream comes as an omen to move close to the source.  But this place is worse than everywhere else the family has lived—it’s freezing in the winter, it’s small with nothing to do, and the people talk about Laura Ingalls all the time. Charlotte is convinced her family will not be able to make a life on the prairie—until the indomitable spirit of Laura Ingalls starts getting to her, too.     Gr. 4-7  Lexile 580