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Are you wondering how you can change some of the terrible things going on in our world? Besides, when in the world would a kid find the time to do anything anyway? With television shows to watch, video games to play, snacks to eat, who has time? In It’s Our World Too: Stories of Young People Who Are Making a Difference, by Margaret A. Bush you will read about some kids who have decided that there’s no better time than the present to take action. Read about a group of first and second graders in Sweden who decided to save a rainforest by buying it.

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Arguably the most talked about book since Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling deliver magical adventures for kids of all ages. In the first book of the series, our unlikely hero, Harry, has been living in the muggle (or, human) world since his parents died in a mysterious accident that left him with a lightening-shaped scar on his forehead. On his eleventh birthday, Harry receives and invitation to attend a school called Hogwarts. Eventually, he learns that his parents were actually powerful magicians, and that he is meant to follow in their footsteps.

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What would you do if your mother were to mysteriously disappear? In the novel Walk Two Moons, a girl named Salamanca is forced to answer this question. Sal, who is thirteen, experienced a crisis when her mother left without explanation and did not return. Luckily, Sal’s grandparents swoop into her life, taking her for a drive across the country. The route happens to be the same one that Sal’s mom took before her disappearance.

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Thousands of kids are jumping up and down with anticipation tonight awaiting the arrival of something very exciting coming to local bookstores tomorrow. If you’ve heard of the game of Quidditch or know about Hogwarts then you must know about this special event. If you guessed that a new Harry Potter book was being released tomorrow-you guessed right! Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the fourth book in a very popular series of books by JK Rowling that will hit bookshelves early tomorrow morning.

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Heather saw her mother die in a fire when she was three. Since that awful night, she has been very difficult to deal with. Her new step-brother, Michael, and step-sister, Molly are at their wits’ end. Heather’s lies and competitive nature have put a real strain on them. Moving into a big old country house seems to make matters worse. The creepy graveyard nearby isn’t helping either.

In fact, one gravestone in particular seems to stand out. It has Heather’s initials engraved on it. Molly and Michael learn that Heather has become friends with the child’s spirit that lies within the grave. Not only is this creepy to them, but they learn that Heather’s life is in danger. If reading a really scary story is high on your list, then you should check out Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn, and discover the bone-chilling conclusion.

Have you ever wondered what goes on under the city streets? Can you imagine living underground, in the catacombs of subway tunnels? In this novel, a guy named Slake’s life above ground has been overturned, and the only place that he can find refuge is in an empty room next to the subway. His best friend has been killed and he has no one to care for him above ground, so he learns to survive in the dark subterranean world for four months.

Slake meets people along the way who lend him a helping hand. There’s the lunch counter waitress, who gives him extra food and tells him of an available job, there’s the woman who brings him clothes to wear, and the subway driver. After learning how to have enough confidence in himself to survive, Slake is confronted with yet another challenge. Pick up a copy of Slake’s Limbo by Felice Holman to find out what happens!

For those of you who have never heard about Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, get ready for a good time. All the kids in Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s neighborhood love to come over to her house for ginger-snaps and treasure hunting. You see, Mr. Piggle -Wiggle used to be a pirate, and supposedly buried treasure in the backyard. And being the nice lady that she is, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle invites all of the kids to dig for it.

The other thing that’s interesting about the Piggle-Wiggle house is that it is upside down! The roof is in the basement, and the basement is way up high. Sounds pretty cool, huh? Well there’s one more thing that you should know: Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle can cure the problems that kids are plagued with. Problems like interrupting, being sloppy, tattle-tailing and talking back. The cures always come in interesting forms (like mysterious powders that the parents sprinkle in the kids’ ears while they are sleeping), and they always work in very amusing ways.

You’ll enjoy reading Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald and looking at the fun drawings which illustrate the cures in action. You might want to have someone soft and smart just like her in your life to do a bit of gentle magic too.

Believe it or not, hospitals were not always around. In fact, people in communities used to care for each other in their own homes. The Borning Room by Paul Fleischmann tells the story of such a place from the perspective of Georgina who grew up in 1851 Ohio, when it was a porthole to the west. Looking back, Georgina remembers many of the events that took place in the room: ranging from her own birth, to the birth of her daughter.

The history of the town is reflected by the folks who came to heal and be healed in the Borning Room. Slaves passed through as they escaped from their captors, women who were fighting for their right to vote discussed their plight, doctors using different chemicals to heal (or harm) their patients came and went as the years passed by.

This skillfully written novel will put you in the room with Georgina as she remembers its history. You will feel the triumphs and tragedies of the families that clung to each other during their hard times. You will feel the healing power of the Borning Room.

Keith is on vacation, staying at a big hotel. Not much to do there, until he meets a young mouse named Ralph who is as restless and adventure hungry as Keith is. They soon discover that Keith’s toy motorcycle fits Ralph perfectly. Ralph pushes around on it, rolling across the carpet. But as soon as he makes the noise of an engine, he discovers something else– that the motorcycle will run with that simple sound! Soon Ralph is zooming all over the hotel, getting into plenty of mischief.

Then Keith is stricken with a terrible fever, and only Ralph can help save his friend. Read the memorable story in The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary to find out how things will turn out for this unlikely duo. You will never look at your toys the same way again!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a perfect world? Imagine an ideal place where everyone has a job perfectly suited to him or herself, where the elderly are cared for, and children are loved. Crime is unheard of in this utopia– nobody falls ill either. It is a place where every family has a mother and a father, a brother and sister who laugh and enjoy life to its fullest potential.

Jonas lives in this world, and is about to receive his life’s assignment. Among all of the peers in his age group, Jonas is chosen to perform the highest task of all. He is designated the “Receiver of Memory,” which means that he must keep all of the history for his people. For, in this society, the members do not want to be burdened with the mistakes of the past. Therefore, it will be Jonas’ job to remember all of the things absent in their world, including hatred, war, and colors, trees and snow.

On one hand, the ideal society in which Jonas lives works for a lot of people. On the other hand, its members have given up on the beauty that lies within change and uncertainty. When Jonas receives the collective memory of his society, his view changes drastically. Pick up a copy of The Giver by Lois Lowry, and find out what happens!

The only rules that ten-year-old Bud has to abide are the rules that he has written for himself: “How to Have a Funner Life and Make a Better Liar Out of Yourself.” Bud thinks that if he follows this guideline that he will find a real family and a home full of love. You see, Bud’s mother died a couple of years before the novel begins, and he is living in an orphanage. The only clues that he has to help him find his relatives are a couple of rocks with labels on them, and some flyers announcing a band leader named Herman E. Calloway.

Soon, he is sent to a foster home where the people treat him very poorly. Unable to take it any longer, Bud decides to walk across the state of Michigan to one of the cities listed on the flyer. He is convinced that Herman E. Calloway is his father and has set his mind to finding him. While on the road, Bud encounters all types of characters and is put in many risky situations. Set in the 1930’s, this Newberry Award wining novel is a timeless story of searching, survival and courage. If you enjoyed Maniac Magee, you’ll really like Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis.

Rachel is given the task of taking care of her great-grandmother, Nana Sashie. Little does she know that Sashie has a story that will change her life. Often at night, Nana Sashie tells Rachel about her childhood in the Czar’s Russia, where her family lived under the constant fear of annihilation.

Compared to Rachel’s life, this distant past seems quite unreal. Until Rachel discovers the samovar, or Russian tea decanter, in the cellar. Slowly as Sashie’s story unfolds, Rachel begins to understand that Sashie was a bright and lively girl like her once upon a time. Moreover, she sees that her great-grandmother actually played a central role in the family’s escape from terror. The Night Journey by Kathryn Lasky shows that sometimes the most frail and forgotten people might have been heroes in their time.