So many hardcovers have just crossed over to paperback that I thought it would be great to share some of the best. At about half the price of hardcovers, paperbacks are a bargain and they're also easier to hold up in bed!
Moon Over Manifest, by Clare Vanderpool, Delacorte, $7.99, ages 9 and up, 368 pages. Twelve-year-old Abilene uncovers secrets about her father and the small town of Manifest, Kansas, after finding a hidden cigar box of mementos, in the 2011 Newbery Medal winner.
Turtle in Paradise, Jennifer L. Holm, Random House, $6.99, ages 8 and up, 208 pages. While staying with her rag-tag cousins in Key West, 11-year-old Turtle comes out of her shell and looks at the world in new and unexpected ways, in this 2011 Newbery Honor winner.
The Storm in the Barn, by Matt Phelan, Candlewick, $14.99, ages 10 and up, 208 pages. Eleven-year-old Jack saves his family farm from ruin when he confronts the Storm King and makes him let go of the rain, in this wonderful graphic novel set in the Dust Bowl era of 1930s.
The Crowfield Curse, by Pat Walsh, The Chicken House, ages 11-13, 352 pages. A 14-year-old servant boy discovers a terrible curse that could ruin his abbey and doom a stricken man to an eternity of torment, in this atmospheric debut. Now out in hardback, the sequel The Crowfield Demon.