New Fiction for Kids

Secrets at Sea by Richard Peck

Helena is big-sister mouse to three younger siblings,

living a snug and well-fed life within the ancient walls of the Cranston

family home.  When the Cranston humans decide to sail away to 

England to find a husband for one of their daughters, the

Cranston mice stow away in the name of family solidarity.

And so begins the scamper of their lives as Helena, her

siblings, and their humans set sail on a life-changing voyage into the

great world of titled humans..and titled mice, and surprise endings for all.

Titanic: Book one, Unsinkable by Gordon Korman 

The Titanic is meant to be unsinkable, but as it begins its

maiden voyage, there's plenty of danger waiting for four of 

its young passengers.  Paddy is a stowaway, escaping a deadly past.

Sophie's mother is delivered to the ship by police - after she and 

Sophie have been arrested.  Juliana's father is an eccentric whose riches

can barely hide his madness.  And Alfie is hiding a secret that could

get him kicked off the ship immediately.

The lives of these four passengers will be forever linked

with the fate of Titanic.  And the farther they get from shore,

the more the danger looms.....

The Cheshire Cheese Cat by Carmen Ara Deedy & Randall Wright

Tired of dodging fishwives' brooms and carriage

wheels, alley cat Skilley yearns for the comfort of

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, a popular London inn.

When he hears that the innkeeper is in need of a mouser, he 

hatches a scheme so audacious it will surely set him up

for the rest of his nine lives.

Once installed at the Cheese, Skilley looks forward to

a life of ease.  But a resident mouse named Pip uncovers Skilley's

scandalous secret, and the desperate cat is forced to make a pact 

with him.  The two become allies, and harmony reigns until they

are drawn into an intrigue involving a tyrannical cook, a strange

visitor hidden in the attic, and an evil tomcat called Pinch.

The ensuing mayhem threatens the peace of Ye Olde

Cheshire Cheese - and the entire British Empire!

With the Might of Angels by Andrea Davis Pinkney

Twelve-year-old Dawnie Rae Johnson's life turns upside

down after the Supreme Court rules in favor of desegregation in

the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education.  Her parents

decide that Dawnie will attend Prettyman Coburn, a previously

all-white-school - but she'll be the only one of her friends to enroll 

in this new school.

Not everyone in Hadley supports integration, though, and much of the 

town is outraged at the decision.  As she starts school, Dawnie endures the 

harsh realities of racism.  but the backlash against her attendance of

Prettyman Coburn is more than she's prepared for, and she begins

to wonder if the hardship is worth it.  Will Dawnie be able to hold on to the 

true meaning of justice and remain faithful to her own integrity?