Need help filling nightly reading logs? Try these: Ten books kids will love and teachers will be thrilled they read. The first seven were just released; the last three are due out later this fall.
City of Orphans, by Avi, illustrated by Greg Ruth,
Atheneum, $16.99, ages 10-14, 368 pages. With the help of a homeless urchin and an eccentric lawyer, a 13-year-old newsboy scrambles to prove his sister innocent of a crime she didn't commit, in this exciting story set in the dangerous streets of New York in 1893. Maks Geless has just four days to clear his sister Emma of charges of stealing from the glamorous Waldorf Hotel, and free her from the notoriously harsh "Tomb" prison. But he'll have to watch his back. The Pug Ugly Gang is plotting to control newsies on the lower East Side and its ruthless leader has singled him out.
The Flint Heart, by Katherine Paterson and John Patterson, illustrated by John Rocco,
Candlewick, ages 7-12, 304 pages. Charles and sister Unity try to rescue their father from the dark influence of a Stone Age amulet with the help of enchanted creatures in this wry retelling of Eden Phillpott's 1910 fantasy. This charmer is written by the author of
The Bridge to Terabithia and her husband, and illustrated by the creator of
Moondust. Even before it was out, film makers were clamoring for screen rights (Bedrock Studios acquired them last spring and is teaming with a company run by the Patersons' son to write the screenplay).
Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, by Jonathan Auxier,
Amulet, $16.95, ages 10 and up, 400 pages. A blind 10-year-old orphan schooled in a life of thievery steals a box from a mysterious traveling haberdasher containing three pairs of magical eyes. When he tries the first pair, he's suddenly transported to a hidden island where he's given a quest: to rescue a people in need from the dangerous Vanished Kingdom. With the help of a loya
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