Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to Summer Vacation, by Tommy Greenwald

Summary:  Charlie Joe Jackson is back and he’s at academic summer camp trying to convert all the other kids to non-academics.

Roaring Brook Press

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Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made, by Stephan Pastis

Summary: Meet Timmy Failure, the founder, president, and CEO of the best detective agency in town, probably the nation. And his lazy sidekick, Total, a 1,500-pound polar bear.

Candlewick

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Will Sparrow’s Road, by Karen Cushman

Summary:  Twelve-year-old Will Sparrow, a liar, thief, and rogue, decides to leave his hard life behind and make his own way in Elizabethan England. On the road, he encounters a string of con artists even more talented than he is. Will gets a bigger dose of his own medicine when he joins a troupe of  oddities,  including a dwarf and a cat-faced girl.

Clarion

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Ungifted, by Gordon Korman

Summary:  Due to an administrative mix-up, troublemaker Donovan Curtis is sent to the Academy of Scholastic Distinction, a special program for gifted and talented students, after pulling a major prank at middle school.

Balzer + Bray

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I Funny: a Middle School Story, by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein

Summary:  Jamie Grimm is a middle schooler on a mission: he wants to become the world’s greatest standup comedian—even if he doesn’t have a lot to laugh about these days. He’s new in town and stuck living with his aunt, uncle, and their evil son Stevie, a bully who doesn’t let Jamie’s wheelchair stop him from messing with Jamie as much as possible. But Jamie doesn’t let his situation get him down. He practices the craft of stand-up every day on friends, family, and the willing customers at his Uncle Frankie’s diner. When Uncle Frankie mentions a contest called The Planet’s Funniest Kid Comic, Jamie knows he has to enter. But are the judges only rewarding him out of pity because of his wheelchair, like Stevie suggests?

Little, Brown

High-Skies Adventures of Blue Jay the Pirate, by Scott Nash

Summary:  Captain Blue Jay, notorious and feared pirate of the skies, has a fondness for collecting treasure, especially eggs. Unfortunately, sometimes his treasure hatches, and this time the hatchling is the strangest one the Grosbeak has ever seen.  Whether outwitting a gang of thieving crows, outrunning murderous fishers and weasels, or rallying Briarloch’s beleaguered sparrows, this motley crew must do all they can to stay together and stay alive. And that’s just the tip of the bird’s feather!

Candlewick Press

The Boy Project : (Notes and Observations of Kara McAllister), by Kami Kinard

Summary:

Eighth-grader Kara McAllister chronicles her efforts when she tries to use the scientific method to transform her social blunders into romantic victories.

Scholastic Press

The Loser List #2:Revenge of the Loser, by H.N. Kowitt

Summary:

“Danny Shine might have gotten his name off the Loser List in the girls’ bathroom, but he’s still got problems — like the new kid, Ty Randall. Ty seems perfect: handsome, serious, committed to worthy causes — everything Danny’s not. Will out-of-control jealousy wreck Danny’s life, or can he undo the damage before it’s too late?”–Amazon.com.

Scholastic Paperbacks

Charlie Joe Jackson’s Guide to Not Reading, by Tom Greenwald

Summary:  Middle schooler Charlie Joe is proud of his success at avoiding reading, but eventually his schemes go too far.

Roaring Brook Press

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Geek: Fantasy Novel, by E. Archer

Summary: Ralph is asked to spend the summer with his strange British relatives at their old manor house in order to set up their Wi-Fi network. And thus begins his strange adventure.

Scholastic

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Aliens on Vacation, by Clete Barrett Smith

Summary: Unhappy at being sent to stay with his grandmother at the inn she operates, The Intergalactic Bed & Breakfast, Scrub discovers that each room is actually a portal to space and the inn’s visitors are aliens who are vacationing on Earth.

Hyperion

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The Great Hamster Massacre, by Katie Davies

Summary:  A bittersweet domestic tale about a young girl and her quest for a pet – refreshingly real and hilariously funny.
Simon&Schuster

The Trouble with Chickens, by Doreen Cronin

Summary:  A hard-bitten former search-and-rescue dog helps solve a complicated missing chicken case.

Balzer+Bray

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Guys Read: Funny Business, by Jon Scieszka

Summary: Volume One of the official Guys Read Library. Jon Scieszka’s Guys Read initiative was founded on a simple premise: that young guys enjoy reading most when they have reading they can enjoy. 288 p., HarperCollins.

As Easy As Falling Off the Face of the Earth, by Lynne Rae Perkins

Summary: A teenaged boy encounters one comedic calamity after another when his train strands him in the middle of nowhere, and everything comes down to luck.

Find it at WCPL