Pajaro Valley Unified School District: Wish List for Middle Schools

No one would believe me but at times I would choose wartime in Saigon over peacetime in Alabama.

For all the ten years of her life, HÀ has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by . . . and the beauty of her very own papaya tree.

But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. HÀ and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, HÀ discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strang...

Winner of the 2012 Randolph Caldecott Medal

This New York Times Bestseller and New York Times Best Illustrated Book relates a story about love and loss as only Chris Rashcka can tell it. Any child who has ever had a beloved toy break will relate to Daisy's anguish when her favorite ball is destroyed by a bigger dog. In the tradition of his nearly wordless picture book Yo! Yes?, Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka explores in pictures the joy and sadness that having a special toy can bring. Raschka's signature swirling, impressionistic illustrations and hi...

Two-time Newbery Medalist Lois Lowry introduces a new girl in class who loves being the center of attention and tells the most entertaining “absolutely true” stories.

There’s never been anyone like Gooney Bird Greene at Watertower Elementary School. What other new kid comes to school wearing pajamas and cowboy boots one day and a polka-dot t-shirt and tutu on another? Gooney Bird has to sit right smack in the middle of the class because she likes to be in the middle of everything. She is the star of story time and keeps her teacher and classmates on the edge of...

The gross-out antics of these two Yuck adventures take disgusting to a new level!

In “Yuck’s Amazing Underpants,” Yuck has been wearing his favorite underpants every day and every night—for six weeks. His mom desperately wants to do laundry but Yuck has other plans: With the help of a jar of mold, his underpants are soon taking on a life of their own....

     And in “Yuck’s Scary Spider,” Yuck’s spider is big, fat, and hairy, and everyone is afraid of it. But the spider is only trying to be friendly! When the sc...

Her best friend's a backstabber. Her worst enemy is a sweetheart. And her dog is just waiting for the right moment to seek his revenge. Why should Jamie even bother going to school? Why not? After a run-in with Mega-Popular Angeline, aka Pure Evil, Jamie reforms her selfish ways & becomes the decent human being she never thought she could be. But she quickly realizes that helping others kind of stinks. Is someone trying to thwart her attempts at irresistible inner beauty? Or will Jamie finally achieve the "I'm an angel" glow she knows will make Hudson Rivers fall madly in love w/ he...

Miss Thornapple's school is not like most other schools—it's a school for little witches! Little witches must learn how magic broomsticks fly and how to whip up their own potions. Sometimes they swim in swamps, and other times they explore the haunted old forest. And what's served for dinner in the dining hall? Gooey eyeballs! There's no telling what might happen at Miss Thornapple's school. But one thing is for sure: Even young witches have lessons to learn.

Danger intensifies in the latest thrilling installment in an action-packed series!

Bad news for the Higher Institute of Villainous Education, aka H.I.V.E.: Overlord is reborn and has developed the chilling ability to move from body to body, erasing the host’s personality—and ultimately killing them. Overlord must find Otto, the only host designed to truly contain him, and for that he needs to know the location of H.I.V.E. He also plans to take control of a secret U.S. Army facility that is home to the Autonomous Weapon Program, a computer-controlled system uniquely vuln...