Welcome to the
Book Nook!
Grades K-2
Rot, the Cutest in the World! by
Ben Clanton
For a mutant potato. Rot has so
much self-confidence that he
enters “The Cutest in the World
Contest.” Then he meets the
other contestants who are all
adorable. When Rot decides he
should just be himself, his inner
beauty shines…but is it enough
for the judges?
Grades 3-5
The Ambrose Deception by Emily Ecton
Three students are chosen seemingly at random to
participate in a scavenger hunt
with a ten thousand dollar
prize. Is Melissa a forger? Or an
entrepreneur? Is Bondi a con
man? Or a hard worker? And
is Wilf a thief? Or filled with
adventure? These three children
race around Chicago trying to
solve their clues first. But there
is much more than meets the
eye. This scavenger hunt, and all
of the people associated with it,
are more than meets the eye.
Grades 6-8
24 Hours in Nowhere by Dusti Bowling
Gus hopes in just a short
twenty-four hours, he can
explore and escape the
abandoned mine in his home of
Nowhere, Arizona. He just has
to find the rumored gold, win
back a dirt bike from a thirteen-
year-old bully, and try not to
die from dehydration, cave-ins,
and wild animal attacks. But
man can’t survive on Twinkies
alone. A life-threatening
adventure such as this requires
the companionship of the dirt bike-riding new girl in
town and Gus’s two former friends. Throughout the
day and night, the group of outsiders learn that they
have more things in common than they realized, and it’s
their newly formed bond that will be the key to their
survival. Bikes might get damaged and bones might get
broken, but their newly formed friendship will thrive in
this desert town.
Grades 9-12
Moonrise by Sarah Crossan
“You can know all the facts
you want about a person ...
but you’ll never know for
sure what’s driving his heart.”
Joe, Ed, and Angela grew
up without a dad and with a
junkie mom, but at least they
had each other. Until the day
Ed doesn’t come home. It’s
been 10 years since Joe last
saw Ed when he hears that
Ed finally has been given his
execution date as he waits on
death row. Joe decides it’s finally time to get rid of the
excuses and spend all the time he can with his brother,
no matter what the truth of his crime is, as they fight
for appeals to save his life. How do you find yourself
while in the midst of losing others? When your family
has been broken, how do you make yourself whole?
V O L U S I A parent M A G A Z I N E | 17