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Recommendations
See what La Grange Public Library staff members have to recommend.
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Katie the Catsitter
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by Colleen AF Venable; Illustrated by Stephanie Yue
Katie takes a summer job as a catsitter to raise money for camp, but these aren't normal cats. There are 217 of them and each one has a special skill, like Jolie the computer hacker and Gracie the language expert who can meow in 82 languages. Their owner might not be normal either. In fact, Katie starts to suspect that she might be a notorious supervillain that has been prowling New York City.… Continue
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Sky Gazing
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by Meg Thacher
Who hasn’t stared up at the sky and wondered about the stars, the sun, the moon and the planets? Readers are given a tour of the solar system and deep space with no telescope or binoculars required. Kids will learn how to spot and observe planets, identify constellations throughout the seasons, how the Earth’s moon was formed and why there are phenomena such as eclipses, meteor… Continue
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The Van Gogh Deception
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by Deron Hicks
This mystery novel for middle-grade readers, a 2021 Bluestem Award nominee, will keep you on the edge of your seat. The story focuses on a boy with amnesia who recalls all kinds of information about art, but doesn't remember his name or how he came to be sitting in the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. all alone. The boy and his new friend race across the city to solve both the mystery… Continue
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Bedtime for Sweet Creatures
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by Nikki Grimes, Pictures by Elizabeth Zunon
This sweet, beautifully illustrated story imagines the ordinary routine of bedtime as an animal-filled journey. When the red-pajama clad child isn't sleepy, they delay bedtime by growling like a bear, questioning like an owl and hunting for water like a sly wolf. From tigers, to squirrels, to snakes, the little child dodges around bedtime until they are finally tired enough to sleep, curling up… Continue
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Everything Sad is Untrue (a true story)
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by Daniel Nayeri
Daniel tells stories. As a middle schooler from Iran, he fills his time in his new classroom in Oklahoma sharing stories about what it was like living in Iran and what it's like being "the refugee kid in the back of the class." This beautiful tale illustrates how we are all connected, and how when we listen to one another's stories, we can no longer be enemies. Highly recommended for older… Continue
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Genesis Begins Again
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by Alicia Williams
Genesis has an awful lot to handle for a 13-year-old. She and her family have been evicted several times because her father’s paycheck goes toward alcohol and gambling and her mom’s pay doesn’t cover the rest. Dad’s words hurt when he’s drunk; the most hurtful of them that Genesis is too black, like him, and not enough like her light-skinned mom. Even her black… Continue
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Measuring Up
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by Lily LaMotte
When Cici and her family emigrate from Taiwan to Seattle, Cici misses her grandmother, A-má, more than anything. Determined to buy A-má a plane ticket to visit for her birthday, Cici signs up for a six-week cooking competition. She must decide whether she should cook the delicious Taiwanese dishes A-má taught her, or learn new recipes to please the American judges. Readers… Continue
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Twins
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by Varian Johnson
Maureen and Francine are identical twins, but even though they look alike, there are a thousand ways in which they’re different. Now in sixth grade, Francine wants to be viewed as an individual, while Maureen is still happy to be part of a pair. For the first time, Maureen fears that she and Francine are growing apart. Can Maureen find the confidence to navigate middle school without her… Continue
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Doodleville
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by Chad Sell
Ever wish your doodles and drawings would come to life? That's exactly what Drew is dealing with in Doodleville. Drew loves drawing, but faces challenges when her doodles come alive and escape while on a visit to the Art Institute of Chicago. Deciding it is time to take her talents to the next level, Drew draws a monster she names Leviathan. Just like the other doodles, this particular monster… Continue
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Mia Mayhem is a Superhero!
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by Kara West
Meet Mia, an ordinary eight-year-old who finds out she has an extraordinary super-secret, she’s A SUPERHERO! All her life, Mia thought she was a super klutz. It turns out, most of her accidents are really the results of her superpowers, and now, she can perfect them in her afterschool Program for In-Training Superheroes, a.k.a. THE PITS. With graphic illustrations on almost every page, this… Continue
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Battle of the Bad-Breath Bats
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by David Bowles
Cousins Malia, Ivan and Dante are visiting their Aunt Lucy for the summer. On the way to a waterpark, they meet an old woman who suggests they take a shortcut through an alley. They come out on 13th Street, but it's really a strange world filled with dangerous beasts. This beginning chapter book series is perfect for kids ages 5-8 who love “scary” stories that are also funny.… Continue
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Stella Endicott and the Anything-is-Possible Poem
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by Kate DiCamillo
This is the newest addition to the Tales from Deckawoo Drive series about the neighbors of Mercy Watson, the clever, adventurous, toast-eating pig! Stella is starting second grade, and her teacher, Miss Liliana, believes in “listening closely and speaking softly and singing loudly.” She also believes, like Stella, that anything is possible in stories and poems! But, Stella’s… Continue
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Show Me a Sign
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by Ann Clare LeZotte
The year is 1805 and 11-year-old Mary Lambert is Deaf, but so are many others living in Martha's Vineyard. Almost everyone is comfortable using sign language, so Mary has never felt isolated or unusual. Everything changes when a researcher arrives and decides to study Mary to determine the cause of widespread deafness on the island. Mary must save herself and prove there is nothing wrong with… Continue
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The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read
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by Rita L. Hubbard
Imagine learning to read at age 116! Born into slavery in 1848, Mary Walker's long life spanned from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement. However, she was always too busy raising her family, working, cooking, cleaning, babysitting and selling sandwiches to raise money for her church to learn to read. This beautiful picture book biography demonstrates that with perseverance and dedication,… Continue
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Facts vs. Opinions vs. Robots
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by Michael Rex
On the surface this book is quite silly, but even robots need help learning the differences between facts and opinions! In this book, there are seven different robots (FACT), each with differently shaped heads, bodies and arms (FACT), but which robot is the best (OPINON)? Which one has the best dance moves (OPINION)? We'll also look for more information if we don’t have enough to make a… Continue
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The List of Things That Will Not Change
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by Rebecca Stead
When Bea’s dad prepares to get remarried, Bea discovers she is about to get her greatest wish of all, a stepsister. When things aren’t as perfect as Bea hoped and the changes in her life bring unexpected challenges, Bea turns to a list that her parents gave her when they first got divorced, the list of “Things That Will Not Change.” This funny and heartfelt book is perfect… Continue
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Nightbooks
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by J.A. White
Alex is on his way to destroy his nightbooks, his notebooks filled with original scary stories, when he is trapped by the witch, Natacha. Natacha loves his scary stories and listens to one each night, which is the only thing keeping Alex alive. With his nightbooks running out of stories and writer’s block preventing him from creating more, Alex will have to figure out how to escape from her… Continue
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A Good Kind of Trouble
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by Lisa Moore Ramee
Seventh-grader Shayla doesn’t like getting into trouble—it makes her palms itch and it definitely makes her parents mad. But when the new school year springs some changes on her, like having the elementary school bully, Bernard, as her lab partner, joining the track team, and following her sister’s footsteps by getting involved with Black Lives Matter, Shayla starts getting into… Continue
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New Kid
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by Jerry Craft
7th grader Jordan loves to write comics about his life and dreams of going to art school. When his parents send him to a private academic school instead, he finds that he is one of the only kids of color in his grade and struggles to find his place. Published in 2019, New Kid was the winner of the Newbery Medal, Coretta Scott King Author Award and Kirkus Prize for Young Readers' Literature. This… Continue
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Stef Soto, Taco Queen
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by Jennifer Torres
All seventh grader Stef Soto wants is to get away from her Tia Perla, her family’s taco truck. Born to overprotective immigrant parents, Stef wants a little more freedom, like the ability to walk a few blocks to meet her dad after school so she won’t get teased for being picked up in a rundown taco truck. However, when her family’s livelihood is in danger because of new laws… Continue
