Calvert Library's Book Bites for Kids

Enjoy our presentation of The Crossover written by Kwame Alexander and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Thirteen-year-old twin basketball stars Josh and Jordan wrestle with highs and lows on and off the court as their father ignores his declining health. The Crossover was awarded the Newbery Medal and was a Coretta Scott King Honor title. The Crossover is recommended for ages 9 and up. See review for more information:...

Enjoy our presentation of Island of Thieves written by Josh Lacey and published by Houghton Mifflin. Tom goes with his Uncle Harvey to Peru, where they narrowly escape imprisonment and death as they hunt for buried treasure after tracking down a journal written by John Drake, a young relative of Sir Francis Drake, on a voyage to Lima in 1577. Includes biographical information on John and Francis Drake. Island of Thieves was named a Best Fiction for Young Adults in 2013 Island of Thieves is...

Enjoy our presentation of If We Were Giants written by Dave Matthews and Clete Barrett Smith and published by Hyperion. Fourteen-year-old Kirra must summon the courage to face her own mistakes before she can help save her peaceful community from a gigantic threat. If We Were Giants is recommended for ages 8 and up for discussions of trauma and PTSD. Please see review for more information. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/dave-matthews/if-we-were-giants/ This title is available as...

Enjoy our presentation of The Explorer written by Katherine Rundell and published by Simon & Schuster. Left stranded in the Amazon jungle when their plane crashes on their way back to England from Manaus, Brazil, four children struggle to survive for days until one of them finds a map that leads them to a ruined city and a secret hidden among the vines. The Explorers was given the Costa Children's Book Award. The Explorer is recommended for ages 8 and up. See review for more information:...

Enjoy our presentation of Timeless: Diego and the Rangers of the Vastlantic by Armand Baltazar and published by Katherine Tegen Books. You’ve never seen Earth like this before: continents reshaped, oceans re-formed, cities rebuilt, and mountains sculpted anew. Dinosaurs roam the plains alongside herds of buffalo, and giant robots navigate the same waters as steam-powered ships. This is the world Diego Ribera was born into. The past, present, and future coexisting together. In New Chicago,...

Enjoy our presentation of Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri, published by Levine Querido. At the front of a middle school classroom in Oklahoma, a boy named Khosrou (whom everyone calls "Daniel") stands, trying to tell a story. His story. But, no one believes a word he says. To them he is a dark-skinned, hairy-armed boy with a big butt whose lunch smells funny; who makes things up and talks about poop too much. But Khosrou's stories, stretching back years, and decades, and centuries,...

Enjoy our presentation of Brother from a Box by Evan Kuhlman published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers. Matt Rambeau is officially a big brother—to a robot! Matt’s super-computer-genius dad is always getting cool tech stuff in the mail, but the latest box Matt opens contains the most impressive thing he’s ever seen: a bionically modified lifeform that looks human and calls Matt “brother." Brother from a Box is recommended for readers age 10 and up. Please see Common Sense Media for more...

Enjoy our presentation of Lupe Wong Won’t Dance written by Donna Barba Higuera and published by Levine Querido. Lupe Wong is going to be the first female pitcher in the Major Leagues. She's also championed causes her whole young life. Some worthy ... like expanding the options for race on school tests beyond just a few bubbles. And some not so much...like complaining to the BBC about the length between Doctor Who seasons. Lupe needs an A in all her classes in order to meet her favorite...

Enjoy our presentation of The Riverman by Aaron Starmer and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Twelve-year-old Alistair Cleary lives in a town where everyone knows each other. One afternoon, his neighbor, Fiona, shows up at Alistair's doorstep with a strange proposition. She wants him to write her biography because in her basement there's a gateway that leads to the magical world of Aquavania, the place where stories are born. In Aquavania, there's a creature called the Riverman and...

Enjoy our presentation of The Key to Extraordinary written by Natalie Lloyd and published by Scholastic Press. Twelve-year old orphan Emma Casey lives by a haunted graveyard in her Tennessee town, giving tours, and helping her brother and Granny Blue with the family bakery, and waiting for the destiny dream of her ancestors--but when it comes it shows her only a key, and she finds that she must solve a ghostly mystery that has haunted her town for generations. The Key to Extraordinary was a...

Enjoy our presentation of The Moon Within written by Aida Salazar and published by Scholastic Inc. Celi Rivera is an 11-year-old who is experiencing some new changes in her life. Her body is changing, she’s attracted to a boy for the first time, and her best friend is exploring what it means to be genderfluid. But the biggest thought swirling through her mind is about her mother’s insistence on holding a moon ceremony for Celi when her first period arrives. This is an ancestral Mexican...

Enjoy our presentation of The Worst Class Trip Ever written by Dave Barry and published by Hyperion. When the eighth grade civics class of Miami's Culver Middle School goes on a trip to Washington, D.C., Wyatt Palmer finds himself in deep trouble before the plane even lands because his best friend Matt's decided the men sitting behind them are terrorists--and it's up to the boys to stop them. The Worst Class Trip Ever is recommended for ages 9 and up for violence. Please see Common Sense...

Enjoy our presentation of When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller, published by Random House Books for Young Readers. When Lily and her family move in with her sick grandmother, a magical tiger straight out of her halmoni's Korean folktales arrives, prompting Lily to unravel a secret family history. Long, long ago, Halmoni stole something from the tigers. Now they want it back. When You Trap a Tiger is the winner of the 2021 Newbery Medal. When You Trap a Tiger is recommended for readers...

Enjoy our presentation of Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett, published by Scholastic Press. When a book of unexplainable occurrences brings Petra and Calder together, strange things start to happen. Seemingly unrelated events begin to connect; an eccentric old woman seeks their company; and an invaluable Vermeer painting disappears. Before they know it, the two find themselves at the center of an international art scandal, where no one is spared from suspicion. Chasing Vermeer won the Edgar...

Enjoy our presentation of Guest: A Changeling Tale by Mary Downing Hahn and published by Clarion Books. When her adorable baby brother is replaced by an ugly, ill-tempered changeling, Mollie is determined to find the so-called Kinde Folke who took Thomas, return the changeling she calls Guest, and make them give her brother back. Guest: A Changeling Tale is recommended for readers age 9 and up for some scary scenes. For more information and reviews please see Kirkus Reviews....

Enjoy our presentation of Girl Giant and the Monkey King written by Van Hoang and published by Roaring Brook Press. Eleven-year-old Thom Ngho is keeping a secret: she's strong. Like suuuuper strong. Freakishly strong. And it's making it impossible for her to fit in at her new middle school. In a desperate bid to get rid of her super strength, Thom makes a deal with the Monkey King, a powerful deity and legendary trickster she accidentally released from his 500-year prison sentence. Thom...

Enjoy our presentation of Flunked by Jen Calonita and published by Sourcebooks Young Readers. Gilly wouldn't call herself wicked, exactly. But when you have five little brothers and sisters and live in a run-down boot, you have to get creative to make ends meet. Gilly's a pretty good thief (if she does say so herself). Until she gets caught. And sent to Fairy Tale Reform School. Flunked is recommended for readers age 8 and up. For more information and reviews, please see School Library...

Enjoy our presentation of Finn and the Intergalactic Lunchbox written by Michael Buckley and published by Delacorte Press. When Earth is threatened by an invading race of bugs called the Hunger, 11-year-old Finn, his arch-nemesis, Lincoln, his crush, Julep, and one pink unicorn lunchbox become Earth's last best hope against destruction. Finn and the Intergalactic Lunchbox is recommended for ages 10 and up for mild violence. Please see Kirkus Reviews for more information....

Enjoy our presentation of Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston and published by Balzer and Bray. Amari Peters has never stopped believing her missing brother, Quinton, is alive. Not even when the police told her otherwise, or when she got in trouble for standing up to bullies who said he was gone for good. So when she finds a ticking briefcase in his closet, containing a nomination for a summer tryout at the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, she’s certain the secretive organization...

Enjoy our presentation of Explorer Academy: The Nebula Secret by Trudi Trueit and published by Under the Stars. Cruz leaves his tranquil home in Hawaii to join 23 talented kids from around the globe to train at the Explorer Academy with the world's leading scientists to become the next generation of great explorers. But for Cruz, there's more at stake. No sooner has he arrived at the Academy than he discovers that his family has a mysterious past with the organization that could jeopardize...