By Gollie, they’re back! And fans of this easy reader series—the first won the 2011 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award—will be thrilled to reunite with the droll duo of wild-haired Bink and skinny but solemn Gollie in Bink and Gollie, Two for One.

In three slim but well-paced chapters, BFFs Bink and Gollie visit the state fair and are greeted with an array of equally tantalizing festivities, including the Whack-a-Duck game, an amateur talent show and a psychic fortune teller booth.

In the first, Bink—much to Gollie’s dismay—takes on a Don Knotts-lookalike carnie as she buoyantly tries to win the “world’s largest donut.” Down, but not out, they contemplate the talent show, amid the pickle jugglers and opera-singing cats.

While neither endeavor ends successfully, the two stick together, soon entering the tent of a fortune teller—who tells Bink exactly what she wants to hear. The prognosticator’s special is “two for one,” and that’s just what readers get with these friends—two distinctly different and charmingly audacious buddies.

While the playful, dry and easy-to-read dialogue by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee perfectly fits the characters, Tony Fucile’s dramatic imagery of the girls brings them to life. The wordless spreads are especially effective in conveying emotion, such as Bink’s excitement or Gollie’s trepidation.

These short, funny and tender-hearted tales peer even deeper into the life of two unlikely friends. Let’s hope the trio of DiCamillo, McGhee and Fucile team up yet again to see what mischief they—and Bink and Gollie—can get into!

Almost-11-year-old Libby Thump is told by her teacher at the end of fourth grade that she needs “to live up to her potential.” Libby is encouraged by this since it must mean she has potential, but worries what that is exactly. After she discovers the High Hopes Horse Farm, she believes her potential lies in her desire to be the world’s best horse rider.

A string of disappointments and obstacles keep Libby from becoming who she thinks she should be, and the reader will feel her pain every step of the way. The frustrations of adult expectations and of being the little sister are real and palpable. Gloriously, Libby eventually discovers that who you are is just as important as you will be.

Elise Primavera expertly draws us into Libby’s life, creating her world in simple prose that perfectly echoes the mind of a 10-year-old girl. Primavera also illustrates the book with pen and ink drawings that are a wonderful complement to the story. Her knowledge of horses and horse riding is evident—a major plus for all the horse-crazy girls who read this book.

There’s a scandal brewing at the 2012 Olympics, and if Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson are around, you might expect them to be on the trail of the story. In John Feinstein’s previous sports mysteries, teen sportswriters Stevie and Susan Carol have stopped a point-shaving scheme at the Final Four, uncovered doping at the Super Bowl and investigated the disappearance of a tennis phenom at the U.S. Open.

But this time around, Susan Carol isn’t one of the sleuths—she’s at the center of the action. In Rush for the Gold: Mystery at the Olympics, Susan Carol’s career as a high school swimmer takes off when she qualifies for the Olympic Team. Her father signs her up with a sports management team that takes the young swimmer in directions she doesn’t want to go, but the potential rewards are astonishing if she wins gold. When Stevie clashes with the overbearing agents, he starts to smell a rat, but can he reveal the truth if it costs Susan Carol a medal?

Feinstein, a best-selling author (A Season on the Brink) and former sports reporter, gives young readers an up-close view of athletics and deftly blends plot twists with insider details. Appearances by real-life figures like Michael Phelps are much more than cameos—they become part of the action. Good mysteries for kids should be complicated enough to be entertaining and believable enough for readers to identify with the characters. Feinstein succeeds at both; Rush for the Gold definitely wins a medal.

Charlie Collier is smart. Really, really smart. Ask him a question like “How many of each animal did Moses take on the ark?” and he’ll be able to tell you in about five seconds that Moses didn’t take any animals on the ark, it was Noah. But solving problems like this is too easy for Charlie—in fact, it’s become downright boring. Charlie decides he wants to put his thinking skills to the test. So, just like his hero Sam Solomon, Private Eye, star of such thrilling books as The Bouncing Czechs Caper and The Going for Baroque Caper, Charlie decides to become Charlie Collier, Snoop for Hire. In The Homemade Stuffing Caper, the first book in a new series by John Madormo, Charlie teams with his best friend Henry to open his own detective agency—Charlie solves the mysteries, Henry makes sure they get paid.

Charlie and Henry are happy solving the little mysteries around town, making a little money and keeping Charlie’s brain going. His crazy grandmother thinks it’s a great idea as well. So does Eugene, the old man who volunteers at the library and loves Sam Solomon as much as Charlie. But Charlie’s parents don’t think it’s a good idea at all, and they try their best to end Charlie’s career. Even Charlie begins to doubt what he is doing when suddenly, his brain stops giving him all the answers!

Then, everything changes. Scarlett Alexander, the prettiest girl in Charlie’s grade and Charlie’s secret crush, hires him to find her grandfather’s parrot, Socrates. However, this case turns out to be much more than Charlie anticipates—in fact, it becomes a full-blown detective case filled with danger that puts Charlie to the test. The Homemade Stuffing Caper is an exciting mystery, full of jokes and puns, as well as brainteasers and lots of detective work. Charlie is not your usual hero and relies on an excellent supporting cast, including Henry, Scarlett and a few surprises as well. This may be the first mystery you don’t want the detective to solve, because you won’t want it to end!

All of us have felt like an outcast at some time—at home, in school, around friends. In The Prince Who Fell From the Sky, the newest book from John Claude Bemis, Casseomae struggles with that feeling. Although she raised the chief of her clan, the other members treat her with fear and call her a witch, forcing her to live apart from the rest of them. If you feel like this sounds like a lot of books, you would be right, except for one thing—Casseomae and her clan are bears. In fact, the entire book is told from the point of view of the forest animals.

Casseomae has led a difficult life, living on her own, raising the orphan cub that grew to be chief while never being able to have cubs of her own. As the story begins, a pack of coyotes chase a rat into Casseomae’s den, and the rat, Dumpster, becomes Casseomae’s companion. Together, they go investigate when a huge . . . something . . . falls and crashes into the forest.

It has been many years since the animals of the forest, led by the Ogeema (wolves), rose up against the Skinless Ones (humans) and took back the world. However, when Casseomae and Dumpster arrive at whatever it is that has fallen from the sky, they discover that not all of the human race had been wiped out. There are two dead humans inside the airplane and, most surprising, one living human boy who climbs out.

Casseomae makes a split-second decision to save the boy from the approaching coyotes and wolves and to help him survive. With Dumpster and Pang, a shabby dog who invites himself on their journey, Casseomae is determined to take the boy across the forest to what she hopes is safety. Full of action, mishaps and humor, The Prince Who Fell From the Sky is perfect for animal lovers and adventure lovers alike.

If only fourth-grader Anna Wang could read My Side of the Mountain, A Wrinkle in Time and her other beloved books all day long instead of worrying about making friends. It doesn’t help that she doesn’t own matching sweater sets like some of the “whispering” girls in class, that she’s ashamed to admit that her Chinese mother cleans apartments, and that she has to waste time each weekend at Chinese school, learning words she’ll never remember. In the softly affirming The Year of the Book, it’s time for Anna to open up to more than a book.

When classmate Laura’s separated parents argue dangerously, the girl must spend time with Anna’s family for Chinese New Year. Together they discover a mutual love for reading, sewing fabric bags and wanting to feel connected. Soon the once reserved Anna finds friends all around, from her chatty crossing guard and observant teacher to fellow Chinese American Camille, who could use Anna’s help to pass the fourth grade.

Abigail Halpin’s small sketches—as sweet as Anna herself—add to the charm of her expanding world. In addition to making new friends, she relishes her classroom writing assignments and finds gems of happiness all around, whether in the paper airplanes she makes with her “ABC” (American Born Chinese) father and brother, the tiny cereal boxes her father brings home from the convenience store or the Chinese characters she’s finally beginning to understand. And somehow Anna’s mother doesn’t seem as clueless about American culture anymore. Just as Anna’s favorite books take all forms, so too do her Chinese culture and community.

Sentimental without being cloying, The Year of the Book will create a new chapter in young readers’ own lives as they see the connections among reading, family and friendship.

Katie Sutton (parent trainer extraordinaire) offers up a comprehensive manual for effective handling of grown-ups in this delightful novel. Thirteen-year-old Katie knows quite a lot about Grown-Up Studies, since she’s had to pay particular attention to the effective control of her mom, a widow who has just begun dating.

Katie and her two siblings live with their mom in Brindleton, a sprawling English town with posh houses—and public housing units like the one where the Suttons live. Katie’s manual takes the form of a summer journal, and the impetus for completing her Users’ Guide to Grown-ups is Stuart, her mum’s first boyfriend since her husband died.

“I suppose my main problem with Stuart is that he’s turned up in our lives at all,” admits Katie. And with Stuart’s strong environmental values (including no logos on T-shirts), Mum has every intention of keeping him around. The situation calls for drastic action from Katie and her sister Mandy. Added to this decidedly unwelcome summer romance are Katie’s own tribulations in matters of the heart.

First published in the U.K., Diary of a Parent Trainer is a story of love, friendship and family that arrives in the U.S. just in time for summer reading. But a word to the wise: Parents, watch out! Your young reader may apply some of the information in this manual to ensure your optimum performance as a Grown-Up.

All criminals be aware: The streets are no longer safe for your nefarious activities, thanks to the kids of the New Cut Gang! Thunderbolt, Benny, Bridie and Sharkey Bob are just some of the kids who make up the New Cut Gang in Philip Pullman’s new novel, Two Crafty Criminals!. Although most of the adults in town would probably not agree, the New Cut Gang see themselves as perfect citizens whose calling in life is to rid the streets of the criminal element, even if they have to break the rules to do it. In this novel, the Gang has to solve two mysteries: Thunderbolt’s Waxwork and The Gas-Fitter’s Ball.

The New Cut Gang first has to solve the mystery of where thousands of counterfeit coins are coming from—coins that are making stores very angry. Thunderbolt is very excited to catch the counterfeiter, until his father is arrested for the crime. It is then up to the New Cut Gang to both catch the real counterfeiter and save Thunderbolt’s dad! In the next story, valuable silver is stolen. With very few clues, only the New Cut Gang can solve the mystery and win a bet by getting the incredibly shy Dick Smith to propose to the beautiful Daisy Miller. After Dick is thrown in jail for the robbery, the New Cut Gang—along with a romantic Strong-Man named Orlando—must free Dick, solve the mystery and get Dick to the Gas-Fitter’s Ball in time to meet Daisy.

Two Crafty Criminals! is very different than Pullman’s His Dark Materials series. Reminiscent of T.D. Fitzgerald’s The Great Brain and Donald Sobol’s Encyclopedia Brown, these children don’t solve mysteries to help other people, but for their own personal (and financial) gain. Full of humor, mystery, bravery and deceit, the New Cut Gang will be the group that every reader will want to join!

How do you make the most of an unthinkable situation? Well, tweenage Stella—named after her long-gone father’s favorite song, “Stella by Starlight”—has always been able to make the best of things. But that ability is about to be tested in ways she never imagined.

With a misguided absentee mother, Stella has gone to live with her great-aunt Louise in Cape Cod. And with Louise’s blueberry pies, spacious garden and Linger Longer rental cottages, Stella might never want to leave—except for Louise’s foster child, Angel. With a tough, unflinching attitude, Angel (who has a penchant for Dum-Dums suckers and junk food) is not friend material.

The two are like oil and water until the unthinkable happens—to avoid a spoiler, we won’t say just what—forcing the two to team up to survive. Stella relies on her wits and her favorite Hints from Heloise (whom she idolizes) to hold down the fort in Louise’s unexpected absence, while Angel remains abrasive and unhelpful as ever.

As the summer goes on, their tug of war continues and their burdens grow—both physically and mentally. Soon, however, the two develop first a tacit understanding and then a deepening friendship. Their forced collaboration becomes true cooperation, as they discover that two can be much stronger than one.

What is the true meaning of family? And how can unexpected circumstances change the dynamics of a relationship? Those questions are at the core of this moving coming-of-age novel by Sara Pennypacker, best known for her Clementine chapter books. While two different young girls tackle the most challenging of circumstances, they learn their own strengths (and share them) and weaknesses (and aren’t afraid to show them).

Pennypacker has a fine insight into the minds and emotions of preteens and is able to create a realistic picture of what it’s like to stand up for oneself, while being brave enough to let others in.

Bones has everything she needs to be happy. It’s 1949 and 10-year-old Bones lives on the edge of a Florida swamp with her father Nolay, her mama Honey Girl and an assortment of animals, including her pig, Pearl. Nicknamed “Precious Bones” by her Grandma Spot, she spends her days helping around the house, in school or with her best friend, Little Man. Her world is turned upside down, however, when a Yankee real estate agent goes missing and is eventually found dead. Nolay, who ran the man off his land only a day earlier, becomes the number-one suspect in the murder, and even Bones thinks he might be guilty.

Bones and Little Man decide that the only way to save her father from going to jail is to solve the mystery of who really killed the Yankee, before the bumbling Sheriff LeRoy makes things worse. Bones sets out to find the truth, looking for clues, talking to her friend Mr. Speed, who sits outside of the General Store all day, and trying to avoid the terrifying Soap Sally, who kidnaps children and turns them into soap, and who may or may not be real.

Written by first-time author Mika Ashley-Hollinger, who grew up in Florida, Precious Bones is a novel filled with adventure and mystery, as well as fascinating glimpses of its distinctive setting. Precious Bones allows readers to see deep into a lifestyle that most people have never experienced, and meet wonderful (and not-so-wonderful) characters completely unique to this story. Readers who step into Bones’ swamp will find it very hard to leave.