List
Cool Reads 2024 (Grades 3-5)
Magic, mysteries, misfits, and mayhem are just a tasty morsel of what you’ll encounter in this year’s list of great fiction, graphic novels, and nonfiction for kids in grades 3-5.
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Duel
2023 by Bagley, JessixaGet this itemSixth-grade Lucy is brand-new to middle school, and when her older sister GiGi--the undisputed queen bee of eighth grade--humiliates her in the cafeteria, Lucy snaps and challenges her to a fencing duel.
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The Eyes & the Impossible
2023 by Eggers, DaveGet this itemFree dog Johannes' job is to observe everything that happens in his urban park and report back to the park's three bison elders. However, changes are afoot, including more humans, a new building, a boatload of goats, and a shocking revelation that changes his view of the world.
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Tasty: A History of Yummy Experiments
2023 by Elliott, Victoria GraceGet this itemHow did cheese happen? Who pickled the first pickle? Explore the history of innovative food in this nonfiction graphic novel filled with facts, legends, and recipes. Have you ever wondered how some of our favorite foods came to be? Learn about the true stories behind pickles. Get a recipe for how to make your favorite pizza. Every chapter will give you a story to read and a recipe to taste.
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Mystery at the Museum
2023 by Friel, HelenGet this itemIn an interactive adventure puzzle book, join William the Hippo and friends to solve the mystery and save the exhibition. At night, when the Metropolitan Museum of Art is closed and all the visitors have gone home, the adventures begin. A special exhibition is about to open, and everyone is excited. However, the boxes holding the exhibits are locked with puzzles that need to be solved. The curators are struggling to figure them out, and it's up to you to help William and his friends save the exhibition.
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Eagle Drums
2023 by Hopson, Nasugraq RaineyGet this itemWinter approaches, and there's much for PiKa's family to prepare. PiKa must travel up the mountain to collect obsidian--the same mountain where his two older brothers disappeared. When he reaches the mountaintop, he is confronted by a terrifying eagle god named Savik. What follows is a harrowing journey to the home of the eagle gods, where PiKa faces unexpected trials that teach him lessons about the natural world, the past that shapes us, and the community that binds us.
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The Order of Things
2023 by Langley, KaijaGet this itemWith her "best and only true friend" Zee Ellis admitted to study violin at a Boston STEAM charter school, 11-year-old April Jackson enters sixth grade determined to fulfill her own musical dreams by taking drum lessons with Zee's dad. Music and her deepening bond with Papa Zee ground April, but she worries about his possibly stress-induced health scare. After reluctantly promising to keep Zee's cardiac symptoms secret, his sudden death leaves April feeling regretful and "dreaming solo," and she must reach out to her community to compose her new normal.
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The Story of Gumluck the Wizard
2023 by Rex, AdamGet this itemGumluck, a young, naíve wizard, does his best to help the local townspeople (and a small friendly ghost) with his sometimes critical raven sidekick, Helvetica.
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15 Secrets to Survival
2023 by Richards, Natalie D.Get this itemForced to participate in an extra credit project in the middle of nowhere, classmates Baxter, Abigail, Turner, and Emerson must survive the wilderness with only a survival handbook and each other after their instructor goes missing.
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The Brinkley Yearbooks
2023 by Sax, SarahGet this itemEveryone knows the most stressful day of middle school is picture day, and this yearbook-worthy series opener begins with reinventing yourself, drama, popularity, and the friends who see you through. Seventh-grader Viv never looks forward to picture day. It's just another day where she wears a boring braid and no one notices her. But enough is enough. This year, she's taking matters into her own hands.
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The Labors of Hercules Beal
2023 by Schmidt, Gary D.Get this itemHerc Beal is no superhero, although he's named after a mythical hero. He's the smallest kid in his class, so when his homeroom teacher at his new middle school assigns him to duplicate the mythical Hercules's amazing feats in real life, he's skeptical. After all, there are no Nemean Lions on Cape Cod, and not a single Hydra in sight. Missing his parents and wishing his older brother wasn't working all the time, Herc takes his first steps along the road that the great Hercules himself once walked. Soon new friends, human and animal, are helping him.
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Sisters of the Lost Marsh
2023 by Strange, LucyGet this itemLiving in fear of their father, six cursed sisters sneak out to visit Full Moon Fayre, but when Grace, the oldest sister, goes missing, they must battle inner doubts and the legends that have haunted their family to save her.
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A Royal Conundrum
2024 by Yee, LisaGet this itemEver since her grandmother Mimi's death, East Asian American tween Olive Cobin Zhang--who "never fit in" at school and hardly sees her busy parents--has felt especially alone. Worse, her mother abruptly sends her to a former castle turned prison, then converted into a "reforming arts school." But the prestigious boarding school is a cover. Olive is recruited for an experimental group of covert child operatives to serve as the eyes and ears of the pseudo-government crime-fighting organization No One Can Know, or NOCK.
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