J Fiction
Johnny Swanson
Reading Level: Grades 4-6
When 11-year-old Johnny, the very shortest boy in his class, steals money from his mother and answers an ad promising to give him the "secret to instant height", he is dismayed to receive a note advising him to "stand on a box." Angry and ashamed, Johnny begins his own mail order scam thus setting a series of events in motion which may lead to his own mother's death.
The Hidden Gallery
Reading Level: Grades 4-6
The Incorrigibles are back in another howling adventure. Lady Constance (and Ashton Place) is still recovering from the Incorrigibles' disastrous Christmas Squirrel fiasco. The repairs are taking far too long so Lady Constance moves the entire household to London where plucky governess Miss Penelope Lumley strives to educate her unusual young charges and keep them out of danger.
The Great Wall of Lucy Wu
Reading Level: Grades 4-6
Lucy is thrilled. Once her bossy older sister Regina leaves for college, Lucy will have their shared bedroom to herself. Lucy spends hours dreaming of the make-over she will give the room. Her decorating plans are ruined when her mother announces that Lucy's long-lost Chinese great-aunt (the one Lucy didn't know existed) is coming for an extended stay and will be sharing Lucy's room.
The Trouble With Chickens: A J.J. Tully Mystery
Reading Level: Grades 2-3
When J.J. Tully, a retired search and rescue dog, agrees to help a frantic mother hen find her missing chicks, he finds himself locked in a desperate struggle with an evil dachshund named "Vinnie the Funnel."
The Star Maker
Reading Level: Grades 2-4
When Artie promises his mean cousin that he will give everyone firecrackers on the next Chinese New Year celebration, he immediately regrets it. How will he ever come up with enough money to buy all those firecrackers? Sympathetic to Artie's problem is Uncle Chester - a fun loving everyman who is wildly popular in Chinatown where Artie's family lives. Uncle Chester promises Artie that he will help - but when Uncle Chester's seemingly endless money starts to run out, Artie begins to worry.
Emily's Fortune
Reading Level: Grades 3-5
After she is orphaned, young Emily makes the best of her situation, writing to her favorite aunt for a place to live. Unfortunately, the Catchum Child Catching Services have other plans - Emily must live with her closest blood relative, something Aunt Hilda is not. Instead, she is supposed to live with her money-grubbing, mustached Uncle Victor. What in the flippin' flapjacks is Emily supposed to do?!?!
The Trouble with Chickens
Reading Level: Grades 2-4
Jonathan Joseph Tully, a retired Search and Rescue dog, is hired by worried mother Millicent to find her two missing chicks, Poppy and Sweetie – but this SAR mission is not as simple as it seems.
The Boy Who Howled
Reading Level: Grades 4 - 6
Roller Skates
Reading Level: Grades 4 - 6
When ten-year-old Lucinda's parents decide to travel to Italy for a year, they drop Lucinda off at a sort of temporary orphanage in New York. Undaunted, Lucinda straps on her roller skates and begins skating around the city, making friends as she goes. Most of these friends would be frowned upon by her stuffy Aunt Emily (who Lucinda must spend every Saturday sewing with) because of either their age or their status in life, but cheerful Lucinda doesn't mind, and befriends anyone she meets.
Nora and the Texas Terror
Reading Level: Grades 2-4
Nora's life is turned upside down when her uncles family move in with her family and Nora has to share her bedroom and school with a cousin she has never liked.
For another tale of an obnoxious relative try:
The Diary of Melanie Martin, or, How I survived Matt the Brat, Michelangelo, and the Leaning Tower of Pizza by Carol Weston

Our postcard map
