Akron Public Library

Six-year-old Ramona tries to cope with an unsympathetic first-grade teacher. In this touching and funny story, the ebullient Ramona, feeling brave and grown-up, enters first grade. Quickly she finds that her new teacher, Mrs. Griggs, appears perplexed by pupils who like to be different. Since Ramona cannot help being different, clearly the two are incompatible. Nevertheless, Ramona can be counted on to keep things lively. Enraged when Susan copies...

A little pig in a big city leads to lots of trouble! Josie Shilling's family is too big, their cramped city house is too small, and she feels like no one is ever on her side. Then, on Thanksgiving Day, her older brother, Tom, brings home a pink, squirmy bundle wrapped in an old football jersey--a piglet he rescued from a nearby farm. Her name is Hamlet.

Fifteen-year-old Tyrell, who is living in a Bronx homeless shelter with his spaced-out mother and his younger brother, tries to avoid temptation so he does not end up in jail like his father.

"Gabe doesn't know where he belongs anymore. His family is caught up in their own lives and his friends barely have time for him ... In a desperate move for attention ... Gabe sets off fireworks in the woods near his house and causes a small forest fire ... In the chaos of the destruction, a coyote named Rill ... finds herself far from home ... Gabe and Rill's paths irrevocably cross when Gabe is tasked with cleaning up the forest ... The damage to...

"Twelve-year-old Rosie is a musical prodigy whose synesthesia allows her to see music in colors. Her mom has always pushed her to become a concert violinist, but this summer Rosie refuses to play, wanting a 'normal' life. Forced to spend the summer with her grandparents, Rosie is excited to meet another girl her age hanging out on their property. The girl is familiar, and Rosie quickly pieces it together: somehow, this girl is her mother, when her...

From New York Times bestselling adult author Joseph Fink comes a wickedly fun middle grade novel about a Halloween-obsessed girl named Esther Gold, who goes out trick-or-treating for one last year, only to find her town under the thrall of a mysterious presence. Esther Gold loves Halloween more than anything in the world. So she is determined to go trick-or-treating again this year despite the fact that her parents think she is officially too old....

"For the first time in her life, Natalie feels confident. Her talents are being recognized, she has supportive friends, and she's spending a ton of time with her crush, Derek! But when Derek tells Natalie that he just wants to be friends, Natalie's self-confidence quickly changes to self-doubt. As she tries to recover from her broken heart, Natalie casts aside her talents and even her friends. With no one to turn to, Natalie will have to pull herself...

The former UK Children's Laureate and the award-winning illustrator of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them celebrate friendship and creativity in the story of a twelve-year-old Olympic hopeful whose life is changed by a horse stable job and an invitation that transforms her sense of possibilities.

Marc hopes that his Uncle Jake can help him turn around his terrible summer, which he has to spend at camp with Nathan James, who is mean and annoying, while longing for a fancy new bike his parents will not buy him.

Korean American Pippa Park picks up right where she left off . . . trying to balance basketball, school, friends, working at the struggling family laundromat, and fitting in. Eliot, her math tutor--and the cutest boy at school--is finally paying attention to her. And Marvel--her childhood friend--is making her required volunteering much more interesting. But things with the Royals, her new friends and teammates who rule the school, still feel a bit...