Central Kansas Library System

A traumatic event near the end of the summers has a devastating effect on Melinda's freshman year in high school.

As World War II threatens the United States in 1941, fourteen-year-old Junior Bledsoe fights his own battles at home. Junior struggles with school and with anger—at his father, his insufferable granddaddy, his neighbors, and himself—as he desperately tries to understand himself and find his own aim in life. But he finds relief in escaping to the quiet of the nearby woods and tinkering with cars, something he learned from his Pop, and a fatherly...

While zoning out in Chemistry class, Lily scribbles some of her favorite song lyrics onto her desk. The next day, she finds that someone has continued the lyrics on the desk, and added a message to her. Soon, Lily and her anonymous pen pal are exchanging full-on letters -- sharing secrets, recommending bands, and opening up to each other. Lily realizes she's kind of falling for this letter writer. Only who is he? As Lily attempts to unravel the mystery,...

When Winnie's parents get divorced, her frustration at their constant fighting starts to grow until it's as big as a tree itself. By the end of fifth grade, Winnie decides that the only way to change things is to barricade herself in her treehouse until her parents come to their senses--and her friends decide to join. It's kids vs. grown-ups, and no one wants to back down first. But with ten kids in one treehouse, all with their own demands, things...

Autistic and nearly nonverbal, twelve-year-old Nova is happy in her new foster home and school, but eagerly anticipates the 1986 Challenger launch, for which her sister, Bridget, promised to return.

An astounding new feat of storytelling from Brian Selznick, the award-winning creator of The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck. A ship. A garden. A library. A key. In Kaleidoscope, the incomparable Brian Selznick presents the story of two people bound to each other through time and space, memory and dreams. At the center of their relationship is a mystery about the nature of grief and love which will look different to each reader. Kaleidoscope...

"Sometimes you've got a story you need to find the courage to tell." Ten-year-old Della has always had her older sister Suki: When their mom went to prison, Della had Suki. When their mom's boyfriend took them in, Della had Suki. When that same boyfriend did something so awful they had to run fast, Della had Suki. Loving, loyal, and fierce, Suki is Dell's own wolf--her protector. But who has been protecting Suki? Della might get told off for swearing...

Despite his overwhelming fear of interacting with people, Christopher, a mathematically-gifted, autistic fifteen-year-old boy, decides to investigate the murder of a neighbor's dog and uncovers secret information about his mother. Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched....

When Willa's upside-down magic rains, it pours. Clouds form under ceilings. Classrooms get flooded. Nory and the kids in Ms. Starr's Upside-Down Magic class always have umbrellas nearby, just in case. Willa hates being the source of such sogginess. And yet the more she rains, the worse she feels...and the worse she feels, the more she rains. Nory, meanwhile, can't wait to celebrate her first Bing Day-her town's magical holiday. There's even a parade!...

Carley uses humor and street smarts to keep her emotional walls high and thick. But the day she becomes a foster child, and moves in with the Murphys, she's blindsided. This loving, bustling family shows Carley the stable family life she never thought existed, and she feels like an alien in their cookie-cutter-perfect household. Despite her resistance, the Murphys eventually show her what it feels like to belong--until her mother wants her back and...