Geraldine A House that Once Was

Geraldine is a giraffe and her family is moving.  She stands out in her new town, school and she hides because she's different.  she meets Cassie and the two become friends.  Geraldine accepts who she is and is proud of it.  Very relatable story...we've all felt that way at one time or another. 

Beautiful illustrations by Lane Smith.  Two kids discover a house in the woods and as they look through it wonder about who lived there, where did they go, why did they leave?  Search the pictures for clues as you read. 

The Special Ones by Em Bailey

Esther is a "Special One" along with 3 other people.  They are kept on a private farm where they live by rules created by their "captor".  In the evening they chat online with people who follow them through videos he publishes.  He "renews" people who don't follow the rules, and he is ALWAYS watching.  Esther gets notice that she will be renewed and she determines that she will escape before he kills her.  The questions remains, who is he and will he ever be caught or will he catch her again?

The Button War by AVI

Patryk and Jurek along with 5 other friends live in Poland during WWI.  The Russians are in charge of their village and are fighting against the Germans.  Some villagers want the Russians out and the Germans to take over, which happens, but that starts another battle.  The boys of the village are having a button war to see who can collect the best button off a soldiers uniform.  As you can probably tell, the button war and WWI will be escalating, so the question is...who will survive?

Great historical fiction.

Interview with AVI about Button War

What You Hide by Natalie D. Richards

Available December 4, 2018

Told in two voices, Spencer and Mallory, at first are not connected, but become connected shortly. Spencer is a climber and decides to scale the library and ends up breaking a window, for which he has to serve community service there.  Mallory's mom has a boyfriend who is not exactly pleasant and as she tries to get her mom to leave, Charlie comes home and confronts the both of them.  Mallory goes to stay with a friend for a night, but ends up spending a lot of time in the library.  A dead body shows up and the mystery of who the girl was and what else is hiding in the library begins to unravel both Spencer and Mallory. 

The suspense will keep you on the edge of your seat!

Carnival of Wishes and Dreams by Jenny Lundquist

Available February 12, 2019

One year ago the factory burned down, killing one man in the process and the town has never been the same.  Audrey, Grace and Harlow used to be best friends, but after the factory was destroyed, it seemed so was their friendship.  They each get an anonymous "pumpkin-gram" inviting them to meet at the Ferris Wheel at the Carnival of Wishes and Dreams at midnight.  Grace is moving to California with her mom to have a fresh start after her dad died, Audrey's mom left the family and her dad is not exactly acting dad like, and Harlow is being excluded and made fun of because her family owned the factory.  Who wants to meet them and will they ever get work through their past to become friends again?