Book Haul: Middle Grade and Kidlit Edition

Hey you guys! In this book haul, I’ll be showing you some of the middle grade & kidlit books we’ve gotten in the last month or so.

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There are so many younger ones running about in our family! We love getting kidlit and middle grade books, because we can always find someone who wants to read em!  I have to tell you, I love hearing a tiny voice on the phone “Aunt Bunny, do you have in any new books I can read?”  Ummm.. YES!!!!!!!!!  *also, when did I become everyones Aunt?  Who cares, they are reading!

Books mentioned in this video:


Island of Thieves
by Josh Lacey
2013-10-08
from HMH Books for Young Readers


Tales from Lovecraft Middle School #4: Substitute Creature
by Charles Gilman
2013-09-24
from Quirk Books


Chronal Engine
by Greg Leitich Smith
2013-11-19
from HMH Books for Young Readers


Sophie Hartley and the Facts of Life
by Stephanie Greene
2013-11-19
from Clarion Books


Nick and Tesla’s High-Voltage Danger Lab: A Mystery with Electromagnets, Burglar Alarms, and Other Gadgets You Can Build Yourself
by Bob Pflugfelder
2013-11-05
from Quirk Books


The Mesmer Menace: Gadgets and Gears, Book One
by Kersten Hamilton
2013-11-19
from Clarion Books


Scaly Spotted Feathered Frilled: How do we know what dinosaurs really looked like?
by Catherine Thimmesh
2013-10-01
from HMH Books for Young Readers


Flo & Wendell
by William Wegman
2013-09-26
from Dial


Sea Turtle Scientist (Scientists in the Field Series)
by Stephen R. Swinburne
2014-01-07
from HMH Books for Young Readers


Sometimes I Forget You’re a Robot
by Sam Brown
2013-10-17
from Dial

More Details:

Island of Thieves by Josh Lacey

Release Date: 2013-10-08

“Only boring people get bored…Interesting people can always find something to be interested in.” That’s what Tom Trelawney’s father says, anyway. Tom shouldn’t have been interested in playing with matches but he was…bored. Now the shed is in ashes and strange Uncle Harvey is the only one willing to have him stay while his parents vacation     Tom soon discovers Harvey is going to South America on a treasure hunt and though nephews aren’t invited, he manages to tag along. Before it’s over he’ll drive a car, fire a gun and run for his life. Tom realizes that life may be about following the rules, but survival may be about breaking them.

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Tales from Lovecraft Middle School #4: Substitute Creature by Charles Gilman

Release Date: 2013-09-24

When a giant nor’easter dumps a blanket of snow on the village of Dunwich, Massachussetts, Robert Arthur and his friends find themselves marooned inside Lovecraft Middle School. The kids have no choice but to spend the night—while snacking on cafeteria food, sleeping on classroom floors, and facing off against a mysterious substitute teacher who may have a sinister secret. The latest adventure in the Lovecraft Middle School series features more adventures, more outrageous monsters, and another terrifying lenticular cover!

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Chronal Engine by Greg Leitich Smith

Release Date: 2013-11-19

When Max, Kyle, and Emma are sent to live with their grandfather, they think their summer is ruined. But after Emma is kidnapped at the exact time that her grandfather predicted, Max and Kyle are forced to believe his story about the time machine in the basement.     To save Emma, Max, Kyle, and their new friend Petra must take the trip of a lifetime — to the Cretaceous period. Soon they find themselves dodging killer insects, velociraptors, and the terrifying T. rex. Can these three contemporary teens hunt down a kidnapper, forage for food, and survive long enough to return home?

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Sophie Hartley and the Facts of Life by Stephanie Greene

Release Date: 2013-11-19

Sophie Hartley, age ten, does not want to be a teenager. She vows she’ll never be like her older sister, Nora, who has tantrums about her hair and almost everything else. Her older brother Thad is preoccupied with his girlfriend of the moment and doesn’t seem to like the family anymore. No, Sophie likes being who she is right now, helping out at home, doing art projects, and hanging out with her two best friends.   And another thing. Next year Sophie’s class will see the movie about body changes, and her classmates are already buzzing about it. Sophie doesn’t want to know about that embarrassing stuff yet. Does that mean she’s immature? How can she prove otherwise?   As usual, Sophie faces challenges and challengers with determination and resourcefulness. With the same down-to-earth, realistic, humorous take on friendships and family relationships praised in the three previous Sophie Hartley books, this new story brings the indomitable Sophie a step closer to growing up without compromising her sense of herself.

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Nick and Tesla’s High-Voltage Danger Lab: A Mystery with Electromagnets, Burglar Alarms, and Other Gadgets You Can Build Yourself by Bob Pflugfelder

Release Date: 2013-11-05

Nick and Tesla are bright 11-year-old siblings with a knack for science, electronics, and getting into trouble. When their parents mysteriously vanish, they’re sent to live with their Uncle Newt, a brilliant inventor who engineers top-secret gadgets for a classified government agency. It’s not long before Nick and Tesla are embarking on adventures of their own—engineering all kinds of outrageous MacGyverish contraptions to save their skin: 9-volt burglar alarms, electromagnets, mobile tracking devices, and more. Readers are invited to join in the fun as each story contains instructions and blueprints for five different projects. In Nick and Tesla’s High-Voltage Danger Lab, we meet the characters and learn how to make everything from rocket launchers to soda-powered vehicles. Learning about science has never been so dangerous—or so much fun!

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The Mesmer Menace: Gadgets and Gears, Book One by Kersten Hamilton

Release Date: 2013-11-19

Welcome to the Amazing Automated Inn, home of twelve-year-old inventor Wally Kennewickett, his genius scientist parents, and his dashing dog, Noodles. From the lightning harvester on the roof to the labs full of experiments in the dungeon, the inn is a wonderful place for a curious boy and his loyal dog to live. That is, until President Theodore Roosevelt himself calls the elder Kennewicketts away, leaving Wally and Noodles to face the evil Mesmers, horrible hypnotists bent on controlling the minds of powerful people. It seems the inn is their first stop on the way to world domination . . . and only an ingenious boy, a staff of automatons, and a brave dachshund stand in their way!

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Scaly Spotted Feathered Frilled: How do we know what dinosaurs really looked like? by Catherine Thimmesh

Release Date: 2013-10-01

No human being has ever seen a triceratops or velociraptor or even the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex. They left behind only their impressive bones. So how can scientists know what color dinosaurs were? Or if their flesh was scaly or feathered? Could that fierce T.rex have been born with spots? In a first for young readers, the Sibert medalist Catherine Thimmesh introduces the incredible talents of the paleoartist, whose work reanimates gone-but-never-forgotten dinosaurs in giant full-color paintings that are as strikingly beautiful as they aim to be scientifically accurate, down to the smallest detail. Follow a paleoartist through the scientific process of ascertaining the appearance of various dinosaurs from millions of years ago to learn how science, art, and imagination combine to bring us face-to-face with the past.

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Flo & Wendell by William Wegman

Release Date: 2013-09-26

Acclaimed artist William Wegman combines his iconic photography with his background in painting to introduce two irresistible new characters based on his real-life puppies. Meet Flo. She’s a sophisticated big sister who’s part of a very artistic family.  She likes playing with paint and wearing sweaters her mother knits.  Flo also likes teasing her little brother, Wendell.  They play hide-and-seek, but Flo doesn’t look very hard.  They play dress up, too, but Wendell always gets the bad costumes.  Their parents wish they would get along, and they do try…sometimes. For every child who has experienced sibling rivalry, here’s a humorous look at what it takes to play nice. Perfect for fans of Maira Kalman, Ian Falconer, and dog lovers of all ages.

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Sea Turtle Scientist (Scientists in the Field Series) by Stephen R. Swinburne

Release Date: 2014-01-07

Dr. Kimberly Stetwart, also known as the Turtle Lady of St. Kitts, is already waiting at midnight when an 800-pound leatherback sea turtle crawls out of the Caribbean surf and onto the sandy beach. The mother turtle has a vital job to do: dig a nest in which she will lay eggs that will hatch into part of the next generation of leatherbacks. With only one in a thousand of the eggs for this critically endangered species resulting in an adult sea turtle, the odds are stacked against her and her offspring. Join the renowned author and photographer Steve Swinburne on a journey through history to learn how sea turtles came to be endangered, and what scientists like Kimberly are doing to save them. For the complete selection of books in this critically acclaimed, award-winning series, visit www.sciencemeetsadventure.com.

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Sometimes I Forget You’re a Robot by Sam Brown

Release Date: 2013-10-17

For fans of Todd Parr and Oliver Jeffers comes this debut picture book about a boy and his robot friend from the creator of the popular crowd-sourced comic blog, explodingdog.com For a little boy who’s always dreamed of having his own robot, actually getting one isn’t what he expected at all. The robot can’t fly, or swim, or even talk. All he does is beep beep beep like a toy. But his robot does have some hidden talents—and one of them is being a great friend. In this unexpectedly poignant story about adjusting expectations, Sam Brown shows that while no one is perfect, a good friend sure comes close.

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That’s it for this haul, guys!  Make sure to pop back by tomorrow for the next one in the WEEK OF BOOK HAULS! I think it’s a THRIFTY HAUL tomorrow!

Thanks for reading/watching guys! Hoping you found something for your own bookshelves in this post.  Have a great week!

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