The Clockwork Three, by Matthew J. Kirby

Summary: As mysterious circumstances bring Giuseppe, Frederick, and Hannah together, their lives soon interlock like the turning gears in a clock and they realize that each one holds a key to solving the others’ mysteries. 400 p., Scholastic.

On the Blue Comet, by Rosemary Wells

Summary:  When the Depression hits in Cairo, Illinois, and Oscar Ogilvie’s father must sell their home and vast model train set-up to look for work in California, eleven-year-old Oscar is left with his dour aunt, where he befriends a mysterious drifter, witnesses a stunning bank robbery, and is suddenly catapulted onto a train that takes him to a different time and place.  336 p., Candlewick.

Hawksmaid, by Kathryn Lasky

Summary: In twelfth-century England, Matty grows up to be a master falconer, able to communicate with the devoted birds who later help her and Fynn, also known as Robin Hood, to foil Prince John’s plot to steal the crown. 292 pgs. Harper

Find it at WCPL

Smells Like Dog, by Suzanne Selfors

Summary: When Homer Pudding’s explorer-uncle dies and leaves him a droopy dog with a mysterious coin hidden on its collar, it leads him to The City, where they meet the conniving head of the Natural History Museum, who is trying to steal the coin and take Homer’s place in a secret society of adventurers. 360 pgs. Little Brown

Theodore Boone Kid Lawyer, by John Grisham

Summary:  With two attorneys for parents, thirteen-year-old Theodore Boone knows more about the law than most lawyers do. But when a high profile murder trial comes to his small town and Theo gets pulled into it, it’s up to this amateur attorney to save the day. 263 pgs. Dutton

Touch Blue, by Cynthia Lord

Summary:  When the state of Maine threatens to shut down their island’s one-room schoolhouse because of dwindling enrollment, eleven-year-old Tess, a strong believer in luck, and her family take in a trumpet-playing foster child, to increase the school’s population.  192 pgs. Scholastic

We Could Be Brothers, by Derrick Barnes

Summary:  Two eighth-graders from very different backgrounds, Robeson “Crease” Battlefield and Pacino Clapton, discover in afterschool detention that they have a great deal in common.  176 pgs. Scholastic

Woods Runner, by Gary Paulsen

Summary: From his 1776 Pennsylvania homestead, thirteen-year-old Samuel, who is a highly-skilled woodsman, sets out toward New York City to rescue his parents from the band of British soldiers and Indians who kidnapped them after slaughtering most of their community. Includes historical notes. 164 pgs. Wendy Lamb

Find it at WCPL

Brightly Woven, by Alexandra Bracken

Summary:  Sixteen-year-old Sydelle Mirabel, an unusually talented weaver, must master her mysterious power and join a young wizard in stopping an imminent war in land.  354 pgs. Egmont

A Whole Nother Story, by Cuthbert Soup

Summary: Ethan Cheeseman and his children, ages eight, twelve, and fourteen, hope to settle in a nice small town, at least long enough to complete work on a time machine, but spies and government agents have been pursuing them for two years and are about to catch up. 264 pgs. Bloomsbury

Find it at WCPL

Strange Case of Origami Yoda, by Tom Angleberger

Summary: Sixth-grader Tommy and his friends describe their interactions with a paper finger puppet of Yoda, worn by their weird classmate Dwight, as they try to figure out whether or not the puppet can really predict the future. Includes instructions for making Origami Yoda. 141 pgs. Amulet

Somebody Everybody Listens To, by Suzanne Supplee

Summary: Upon graduating from high school in the tiny town of Starling, Tennessee, aspiring country singer Retta Lee Jones manages to get herself to Nashville, where, in spite of some bad luck and hard times, she tries to persevere in pursuing her dreams. 304 pgs. Penguin

Out of My Mind, by Sharon Draper

Summary:  Considered by many to be mentally retarded, a brilliant, impatient fifth-grader with cerebral palsy discovers a technological device that will allow her to speak for the first time. 295 pgs. Atheneum

Find it at WCPL

Mockingbird, by Kathryn Erskine

Summary:  Ten-year-old Caitlin, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, struggles to understand emotions, show empathy, and make friends at school, while at home she seeks closure by working on a project with her father.  235 pgs. Philomel

Find it at WCPL

Lost Children, by Carolyn Cohagan

Summary:  When twelve-year-old Josephine falls through a worm-hole in her garden shed into another time and place, she realizes the troubles she has at home are minor compared to what she has to tackle now in the world where she has landed. 313 pgs. Aladdin