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Chicken Feathers
By Joy Cowley

Relates the story of the summer Josh spends while his mother is in the hospital awaiting the birth of his baby sister, and his pet chicken Semolina, who talks but only to him, is almost killed by a red fox.

Where the Steps Were
By Andrea Cheng

Verse from the perspectives of five students in Miss D.'s third grade class details the children's last year together before their inner city school is to be torn down.

Suspect Red
By Laura Elliott

In 1950s Washington, D.C., teenaged Richard, a bookworm whose father works for the FBI, experiences effects of McCarthyism, beginning with book banning and ending with a threat to his half-Czech friend.

Tales of Bunjitsu Bunny
By John Himmelman

Although she can throw farther, kick higher, and hit harder than anyone else at school, Isabel, aka Bunjitsu Bunny, never hurts another creature--unless she has to.

Digby O'Day in the Fast Lane
By Shirley Hughes

Digby O'Day and Percy are best friends. This daring canine duo can find adventure anywhere , even entering an All-Day Race! Digby is sure he can win, especially with Percy as his co-driver. But when the race starts and Digby and Percy are quickly left in the dust, it seems like they don't stand a chance. They meet peril after peril-- a car that breaks down (and slides back to the edge of a cliff!), a near miss with an oncoming train, and worst of all, Digby's archenemy, Lou Ella, who is also in the race and will stop at nothing to win. In a day full of twists, turns, thrills, and surprises, anything can happen. Who will come out ahead? And will Lou Ella get her comeuppance?

Knock Out
by K. A. Holt

Told in assonant free verse, Levi was once a premature baby who suffered from respiratory problems; he recovered, and now in seventh grade, he struggles to demonstrate to his divorced mother and overprotective brother that he is okay--so when his father suggests he take up boxing, he falls in love with the sport, but he still must find a way to convince his family to set him free to follow his dream.

The Story of Ferdinand
Written by Munro Leaf
Illustrated by Robert Lawson

Ferdinand likes to sit quietly and smell the flowers, but one day he gets stung by a bee and his snorting and stomping convince everyone that he is the fiercest of bulls.

Mister Horizontal & Miss Vertical
Written by NoĆ©mie RĆ©vah
Translated from French by Claudia Bedrick
Illustrated by Olimpia Zagnoli

A book about the concepts of horizontal and vertical told through the story of a man who likes things that are on the horizontal and a woman who likes things that are vertical.

The Extraordinary Mr. Qwerty
By Karla Strambini

Mr Qwerty worries that his ideas might seem strange...so he keeps them under his hat. But extraordinary ideas refuse to stay hidden for long.

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