Grades: FOURTH

Orville and Wilbur Riot are back in this hilarious fourth book of the Riot Brothers series.

Plastic snakes, lost mummies, and water parks? Hip hip hooroonie! Summer has just begun, and the Riot Brothers are ready for adventures. But their cousin Amelia E. Hart is coming for a weekend visit. Will she be boring? Not a chance! Whether solving mysteries or playing Holey Cheese-n-Peas, this zany trio is always up for an adventure.

"Kids are sure to enjoy the warm family dynamics between the imaginative and exuberant brothers—and their like-minded cousin—and the breakneck pace of this uproariously funny book."—School Library Journal

CHAPTER BOOK

Grades: SIXTH

Based on actual historical figures and events, this is a gripping survival story filled with fast friendships and cruel betrayals, cowardice and greed, and courage and generosity. Pierre Talon's remarkable adventure will captivate young readers.

When eleven-year-old Pierre Talon sets out in 1684 on what became the last, ill-fated expedition of the great French explorer Rene-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, he hopes to find help for his family, who are struggling in a settlement being decimated by hunger, illness, and Indian attacks. But the expedition to relocate the Mississippi River unravels when La Salle and his closest aides are murdered. Pierre falls deathly ill, and into the hands of the Hasinai Indians. To his surprise, he finds that the Hasinai have a well-ordered, prosperous, and peaceful community. Soon Pierre must choose between embracing the Hasinai ways or risking his life to hold on to his European identity.

HISTORICAL FICTION

Grades: SEVENTH

Reminiscent of a Jane Austen novel, this engaging story of a determined young spinster transformed by the power of love offers a vivid portrait of late nineteenth-century Appalachia.

Strangers have come to Viney's mountain, and she is furious! The arrogant invaders are leveling acres of forest in her beloved home in the Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee to establish a Utopian democratic settlement in 1880, the dream of English writer and labor pioneer Thomas Hughes. Sixteen-year-old Viney Walker is determined to sabotage their plans, but her sister Lizzie is thrilled, convinced that she will find a wealthy husband among the newcomers. However, the independent-minded Viney hasn't reckoned on Charlie Breckenridge, a handsome Englishman who takes a fancy to her. She feigns a relationship with Charlie to put an end to the pressure from her family to find a man; but her plot backfires in surprising ways, changing Viney and her mountain forever.

HISTORICAL FICTION Check out this blog review!

Grades: SEVENTH

Set against the exciting backdrop of early American history, this riveting novel shows what it takes to be a friend.

It is 1839. Nine-year-old Ethan does not want to be an indentured servant. But his family has no other way to pay off their debt, so Ethan must work for the wealthy shopkeeper in their Massachusetts town. Soon Ethan and the other indentured servant, Daniel, a moody Irish teenager, are suffering vicious beatings from their master. The boys take a desperate measure to protect themselves, but will their astonishing plan only make things worse?

Excerpt from A Difficult Boy. Copyright © 2008 by M.P. Barker. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

REVIEWS

"A memorable tale of friendship and a fascinating glimpse into mid-19th-century Massachusetts. . . . This is an eye-opening look at indentured servitude in American history."—School Library Journal

“Readers will cheer for the two charming, perseverant protagonists." —Booklist

"Barker's gift for historical detail illuminates this absorbing first novel."—Publishers Weekly

ABOUT THE AUTHOR For nearly ten years, M. P. Barker worked as a costumed historical interpreter at Old Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts. She got a firsthand taste of 19th-century New England rural life by milking cows, mucking out barns, and doing other tasks that helped her bring realism and immediacy to the setting and characters of A Difficult Boy. A Difficult Boy, M. P. Barker’s first novel, is a PEN New England Children’s Book Caucus Discovery Award winner. As an archivist at the Connecticut Valley Historical Museum, Barker visits a different time and place with every diary, letter, and photograph she catalogs. Find out more at www.mpbarker.net.

Check out the educators' guide.

HISTORICAL FICTION—Now in paperback!