Even if it weren’t an interesting tale about two orphan girls, a boy who appears out of nowhere and a mysterious revenge plot happening across the ocean in Ireland, The Great Unexpected would draw readers in with its clever prose and fluent storytelling. Award-winning author Sharon Creech (Walk Two Moons, The Wanderer) comes through once again with a compelling, entertaining read that is at once mysterious and familiar.

Preteen Naomi tells the story from her side of the Atlantic, introducing us to her best friend Lizzie and explaining how they both became foster children. Their small-town lives are fairly predictable, and summers are usually lazy and sweet. So it is no surprise that Naomi is nonplussed by the arrival of the strange boy Finn, whose entrance by falling from a tree is only the first of many “unexpected” things to happen. Naomi is not sure that the series of unexpected events are always that “great,” but Lizzie is certain that their world can only be improved by it all.

Creech does a wonderful job of weaving two threads of the story together in such a way that the ending is not wholly unexpected for the reader, but extremely surprising for Naomi and Lizzie. If The Great Unexpected is your first Sharon Creech book, then you are in for a treat, because you have many other treasures to uncover.

Margi Preus, who won a Newbery honor for Heart of a Samurai, returns with another riveting work of historical fiction. Shadow on the Mountain tells the story of the Nazi occupation of Norway through the experiences of a boy named Espen and his younger sister, Ingrid.

The story begins in 1940, when 14-year-old Espen begins taking tentative steps to help the resistance. Espen has no doubts whatsoever where his allegiance lies, but he finds that some of his friends and classmates think differently. Why is his best friend Kjell riding in a car with soldiers? And how far will his soccer teammate Aksel go to please the occupying soldiers?

Shadow on the Mountain covers nearly five years in Espen’s life, as he takes on increasingly dangerous assignments. Preus captures the tension, fear and determination of Espen and Ingrid, and recounts the changes that take place as normal life disappears.

This fine novel, which includes an author’s note, a timeline, a bibliography and even a recipe for invisible ink, is based on extensive research. Preus had the opportunity to interview Erling Storrusten, who was a teenager in the town of Lillehammer during the Occupation, and many of the incidents are based on his experiences. The result is an authentic coming-of-age story, perfect for readers fascinated by the diary of Anne Frank or Lois Lowry’s classic, Number the Stars.

“I want to paint my whole life over in tangerine.” That metaphor is apropos for Sugar Mae Cole, who could use some brightness in her life right about now.

She has seen a lot in her 12 years. She has a deadbeat, absentee (and unfortunately reappearing) father—Mr. Leeland, who promises much more than he delivers. And her mother, Reba, keeps believing he’ll keep his word, someday, and that they’ll become a family.

When hard times hit, Sugar and Reba are left homeless and must head to a shelter. When Reba can’t find work, clinical depression sets in—and Sugar is sent to foster care while Reba undergoes treatment.

Thanks to her strong wit and will, her love of writing (inspired by her favorite teacher Mr. B) and her cuddly canine companion Shush, Sugar quickly sets forth on her own quest to find the meaning of “home.” Is it a place? A person? A feeling?

Newbery Honor-winner Bauer (Hope Was Here) masterfully crafts a well-paced story with realistically drawn characters. The narrative is full of details (Salvation Army shirts, scamming for free dog food and painting her neighbor’s door bright purple) that vibrantly illuminate Sugar’s new world—one in which she learns how to trust, how to make friends and how to bring her mother a “sweeter” life.

While it may be cliché to say “home is where the heart is,” Bauer takes that phrase and eloquently illustrates it. Her skill in bringing Sugar and Reba to life creates a gentle tale of hope, of heart and of a heroine simply not willing to give up searching for her place in the world.

It comes as no surprise that award-winning author Andrew Clements has written another great story. Clements has an ability to get right to the heart of his young characters, tapping into their feelings as they figure out who they are, and Jordan Johnson in About Average is no exception.

In fact, Jordan doesn’t feel she is exceptional at all—at anything. She has average grades, is a mediocre violin player, and is better at assisting the coach of the soccer team than she is playing on it. With only one week before the end of sixth grade, Jordan feels she has not accomplished anything worth notice and is doomed to be “average” her whole life.

Clements does a beautiful job of drawing the reader completely into Jordan’s world in just one day of school. As we go through her day, class by class, we are able to not only see the world as Jordan does, but to feel it intensely as well. Jordan struggles to be nice to the mean girl because she doesn’t want to be the kind of person whose emotions are controlled by bullies. Jordan daydreams in class—pulling up memories of the past year of small personal discoveries—and slowly pieces together that she is more than the lists she makes or the goals she thinks she ought to achieve.

About Average is a small book, and a brief look at a young girl, but Clements has packed it full of heart-rending and heart-warming vignettes that let us know Jordan almost as well as she knows herself. At the end of the day, a truly devastating disaster is averted by her own remarkable abilities, but by then Jordan already knows she is unique and wonderful and well above average.

A young boy named Baz longs to see the world beyond his dusty village, so when he is apprenticed as a weaver, he believes his life has finally begun. However, it is when his cruel master trades him for a sword that his life gains meaning. Baz becomes an apprentice to a magician named Tadis, who takes him on a journey through desert, water and mountains to discover the depths of his own soul and his place in the universe. They face starvation, loneliness, peril and uncertainty, but as they traverse the earth, Baz begins to open his eyes to the mysteries of life and discovers the magic behind the journey itself. Just as a river twists and transforms, Baz grows into a young man who understands that he is just one small—but still significant—part of a wide, wonderful world.

Author Kate Banks, whose past works include Max’s Castle and Dillon Dillon, crafts a powerful story of enlightenment with sparse yet rich prose, vibrant images and simple, touching characters. Caldecott winner Peter Sís punctuates the story with delicate, medallion-sized illustrations that look much like ancient etchings. With their gentle tale, Banks and Sís become philosopher kings to children, imparting to them the quiet beauty of all things.

The excitement and adventure of a children’s book can captivate a young reader, but it is the deeper meaning that can make a book a lifelong favorite. The Magician’s Apprentice will enchant children with its danger and magic, but its brilliant philosophy, reminiscent of Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha, will fascinate more mature readers. This is a story to be rediscovered again and again.

Sometimes it’s the smallest thing that can bring about the biggest change in your life. For Georges, it’s a sign in the basement of his new apartment building that simply reads: “Spy Club Meeting—TODAY.” In Liar & Spy, the new book by Rebecca Stead, author of the Newbery Medal-winning When You Reach Me, Georges (the “s” is silent) attends the mysterious Spy Club meeting. It is there that he meets Safer, a 12-year-old eccentric loner and self-proclaimed spy, and his younger sister Candy, who loves to eat (what else) lots and lots of candy. Georges needs a friend, since he has been uprooted from his home as a result of his father’s job loss, and his mom is spending lots of extra time at the hospital where she works. He finds that friend in Safer, who also needs someone in his life.

Safer has decided, after careful observation through the front-door camera in his apartment building, that Mr. X, who lives in a top-floor unit, must be a criminal. After all, he only wears black, he leaves his apartment at strange times and he carries different types of luggage. Georges’ first assignment as a member of the Spy Club is to learn as much as he can about Mr. X. However, as Safer’s missions and demands grow increasingly dangerous (and maybe illegal), Georges must decide how far he will go for his only friend.

Liar & Spy is much more than its short length suggests. It is filled with twists and turns, and will force young readers to examine what they, and those around them, “know” to be true. Georges must make hard decisions, and come to some stark realizations, about friends, families and what truth really is. Like When You Reach Me, Liar & Spy keeps readers in suspense until the very end and will be enjoyed by anyone who loves a good story. And that’s the truth!

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Read an interview with Rebecca Stead for Liar & Spy.

Charlie Joe Jackson is back! Fans of Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to Not Reading will not be surprised to learn that his new adventure is titled Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to Extra Credit. Being the slacker that he is, Charlie Joe has waited almost too late to earn good grades. If he doesn’t get his failing grades in order, his parents will send him to an intensively boring summer camp where reading is the main activity.

Mind you, it’s not that Charlie Joe can’t do the work, he just doesn’t have the ambition to do it. He likes goofing around more than buckling down, and this attitude has landed him in trouble again. As in the previous book, Charlie Joe adds “tips” between the chapters on how to succeed—usually by listing the things he should have done himself, but didn’t. These tips are hilarious and right on the money: “Remember that Science is not recess” and “If a teacher is giving you extra credit, do not injure them in any way.”

Tommy Greenwald’s first book was a big hit with the middle grades, especially reluctant readers. The continuation of Charlie Joe’s story is sure to draw the same crowd, but it’s refreshingly funny for anyone. Mild crushes and “who’s dating who” discussions make the book most appropriate for junior high students, but fourth graders and up should enjoy Charlie Joe and his entertaining efforts to stave off academic disaster.

Sixth grade hasn’t started out well for Minnie McClary. She lives in a new town because her father lost his job as a lawyer. She worries about her Uncle Bill, who after losing his leg in a helicopter crash in Iraq, lives in their basement and builds a model helicopter, trying to make sense of his war experiences. And Minnie’s language arts class erupts in chaos every day, having already chased away four substitute teachers.

Minnie is a small girl with a big heart who fears that she may have already committed social suicide by shouting “Stop it” to her wild classmates. Surprisingly, everyone listened and stopped their shenanigans. After her outburst, however, Minnie quiets her voice, trying to blend into her new surroundings.

Life seems more promising when Miss Marks takes over Minnie’s class. Wearing blue jeans and message-spouting tee shirts (LIVE OUT LOUD), Miss Marks looks more like a teenager than a teacher. She asks her students to fill their daily journals with meaningful writing and questions about life. Her goal is to teach her charges to write and think, which worries parents whose focus is standardized tests scores.

Minnie soon finds her first friend at school: an Iraqi girl named Amira, who covers her head with a scarf. Unfortunately, bullies relentlessly tease Amira, drawing mean portraits and yanking her scarf off her head. Meanwhile, a group of concerned parents protest Miss Marks’ unorthodox teaching methods.

Valerie Hobbs has written a fast-paced story with a likeable heroine. As is the case with most sixth graders, Minnie struggles to figure out her own identity. Just in the nick of time, however, she finds her voice, coming to the defense of both her teacher and her friend.

Minnie McClary Speaks Her Mind is a thoughtful novel about learning to ask important questions, and stopping to think before jumping to misguided conclusions.

Emily and Jackson are back.

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Newbery Medal-winning author of Shiloh and more than 100 other titles, introduced Emily Wiggins and her scrappy companion, Jackson, in Emily’s Fortune. In their first rip-roaring Western adventure, the two young orphans escaped the clutches of Emily’s evil uncle to make their way to kind Aunt Hilda in Redbud.

Emily and Jackson Hiding Out finds the friends eagerly embracing life on the farm with Aunt Hilda. But their troubles aren’t quite over. One day, while Aunt Hilda is in town, Emily and Jackson find a pathetic widow woman begging on the road. Ever mindful of Aunt Hilda’s edict to practice kindness, they offer to make her lunch. But when the widow woman is washing up, Jackson catches sight of something that makes his eyes grow wide. “What in shootin’ shivers did he see?”

A tiger tattoo! The widow is no other than Emily’s evil Uncle Victor—who has hatched a nefarious kidnapping plot. There’s a bold rescue attempt and a nerve-racking finale before the bad guy is rounded up and order is restored once again.

Naylor’s latest will capture young readers with cliff-hanging chapter endings, humorous illustrations and a fun, old West design. The future looks bright for Emily and Jackson, but, then again, you never know: “Who in rushin’ rapids knows what might happen next?”

British author-illustrator Dave Shelton has written a unique story about, yes, a boy and a bear in a boat. There are no other characters (other than a sea monster) and the boy and the bear do not have names. They call each other simply “Boy” and “Bear.” The only location in the story is the sea. In this setting, Shelton is able to create a quietly powerful fable about friendship.

The boy boards the board from a nondescript jetty at the beginning of the story and persistently asks the bear, who is the captain of the small rowboat, if “they are there yet,” although where “there” is, is never discussed. With such a blank canvas, the conversations between the bear and the boy become the plot and the action. How these two learn to get along and survive through storms, hunger and boredom is not only the heart of the story, it is the story.

Shelton’s book is mostly a quiet study, with a few harrowing moments, and the reader is drawn slowly into their world. It takes a while to realize that the normal things one would wonder about a story—Why is the boy in the boat? Where are they going? What happens when they get there?—are not the kind to be asked of this book. The ending is as much a mystery as the beginning, but the answers to the right questions are given: who the boy and the bear are to each other, what their strengths are together and whether their friendship will be enough to be everything there is.

With marvelous illustrations by the author, A Boy and a Bear in a Boat would be a wonderful choice to share aloud with a child.