Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork

"Marcelo, are you ready?"

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Abstract: Marcelo Sandoval, a seventeen-year-old boy on the high-functioning end of the autistic spectrum, faces new challenges, including romance and injustice, when he goes to work for his father in the mailroom of a corporate law firm.

Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books; 312 pages

Scat by Carl Hiaasen

"The day before Mrs. Starch vanished, her third-period biology students trudged silently, as always, into the classroom."

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Abstract: Nick and his friend Marta decide to investigate when a mysterious fire starts near a Florida wildlife preserve and an unpopular teacher goes missing.

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf, 371 pages

Lucky Breaks by Susan Patron

"Eleven, Lucky thought from her seat at the back of the school bus, eleven, eleven, eleven, and the idea of it, the sound of it, threw off sparks in her head."

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Abstract: Having reached the mature age of eleven in the tiny California town of Hard Pan (population 43), Lucky discovers that there is still much to learn about friendship, parental trust, and the Milky Way galaxy.

Publisher: Ginee Seo Books - Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 179 page

When the Whistle Blows by Fran Cannon Slayton

"Every time I go to jump on a steam train as it chugs its way through Rowlesburg --"

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Summary: Jimmy Cannon tells about his life in the 1940s as the son of a West Virginia railroad man, loving the trains and expecting one day to work on the railroad like his father and brothers.

Publisher: Philomel Books; 162 pages

Happenstance Found by P.W. Catanese

"The boy felt as if he'd emerged, fully conscious and wholly formed, out of nothing."

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Abstract: A boy awakens, blindfolded, with no memory of even his name, but soon meets Lord Umber, an adventurer and inventor, who calls him Happenstance and tells him that he has a very important destiny--and a powerful enemy.

Publisher: Aladdin; 342 pages

It's Time for our First "Official" Reading List

How time flies! It's already time for us to put out our first "official" Mock Newbery Reading List for the year. We plan to have four reading lists over the course of the year.

What titles need to be on this first list? We really value your input & suggestions of titles! Just email your suggestions to mvoors@acpl.info or post your suggested titles here in the comments. We look forward to hearing from you.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

"So Mom got the postcard today."

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Summary: As her mother prepares to be a contestant on the 1980s television game show, "The $20,000 Pyramid," a twelve-year-old New York City girl tries to make sense of a series of mysterious notes received from an anonymous source that seems to defy the laws of time and space.

Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books; 208 pages

Emmaline and the Bunny by Katherine Hannigan

"Emmaline wanted a bunny."

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Abstract: Everyone and everything in the town of Neatasapin is tidy, except Emmaline who likes to dig dirt and jump in puddles, and wants to adopt an untidy bunny.

Publisher: Harper Collins; 94 pages