Book Nook-April 2023

Moon Camp

by Barry Gott (Author)

Reading Level: K − 1st Grade

What if summer camp was in outer space?

Summer is here! But Jake doesn’t want to go to summer camp. Even if camp is on the moon. Sure enough, he gets lost during the nature hike, his air canoe springs a leak, there are scary noises at night, and he’s pretty sure he’s allergic to moon dust. The worst part? He misses home. But then Sam arrives and maybe Moon Camp isn’t so bad after all? Full of out-of-this-world humor, Moon Camp is a celebration of new adventures and the unexpected friends you make along the way.

S’More Than Meets the Eye! (Nugget and Dog #3)

by Jason Tharp (Author) Jason Tharp (Illustrator)

Reading Level: K − 1st Grade

Series: Nugget and Dog

Nugget and Dog are going to summer camp with their friends. Everyone is excited for ghost stories, hiking and–best of all–s’mores! Especially Dijon. He’s going to see his cousin, Honey Mustard, and he has an evil plan like no other! Will it go his way, or will things get a little bit sticky?

Ready-to-Read Graphics books give readers the perfect introduction to the graphic novel format with easy-to-follow panels, speech bubbles with accessible vocabulary and sequential storytelling that is spot-on for beginning readers. There’s even a how-to guide for reading graphic novels at the beginning of each book.

Syretia and the Curiosity Rover (Smithsonian Historical Fiction)

by Ailynn Collins (Author) Paula Zorite (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

Series: Smithsonian Historical Fiction

Soon after moving to California, Syretia’s mom enrolls her and her brother, Sean, in a Mars or Bust summer camp. Stung by the recent move–and unimpressed by the camp’s focus on the upcoming landing of the Mars Curiosity Rover–Syretia can’t bring herself to care. Until, that is, she discovers that she has more in common with the Mars rover and its mission than she could ever imagine. Can Curiosity’s landing a world away open Syretia’s heart and mind to her new life here on Earth?

Captain Awesome Goes to Superhero Camp (Captain Awesome #14)

by Stan Kirby (Author) George O’Connor (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

Series: Captain Awesome

When Eugene goes to sleepaway camp, it’s superheroes–and supervillains–galore in the fourteenth adventure of Captain Awesome and the Sunnyview Superhero Squad!

Eugene’s bags are packed and his Super Dude sleeping bag is rolled up and ready. It’s time to go to sleepaway camp! But this isn’t just any summer camp: it’s Superhero Summer Camp! Captain Awesome and the Sunnyview Superhero Squad can’t wait to venture into the woods and get some real superhero training at Camp Ka-Pow. That is, until they meet the Cloudy Heights Super Crew. Could these campers be supervillains in disguise?

With easy-to-read language and illustrations on almost every page, the Captain Awesome chapter books are perfect for beginning readers!

Returning to the Yakoun River (Sk’ad’a Stories #3)

by Sara Florence Davidson (Author) Janine Gibbons (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

Series: Sk’ad’a Stories

Based on author Sara Florence Davidson’s childhood memories, this illustrated story captures the joy and adventure of a Haida fish camp.

Every summer, a Haida girl and her family travel up the Yakoun River on Haida Gwaii, following the salmon. While their father fishes, the girl and her brother spend their time on the land playing and learning from Tsinii (Grandfather).

It Doesn’t Take a Genius

by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich (Author)

Reading Level: 4th – 5th Grade

A hilarious and moving coming-of-age tale that explores the intersection between self and community and the complexity of Black identity as a boy wonders: if he’s not who he’s always thought he was, who exactly can he be? An exceptional novel with broad appeal. – Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)

Emmett and his older brother Luke have always been Batman and Robin, though they’re quick to bicker about who’s who. Spending the summer at a historic Black summer camp seems like a wonderful adventure for the two to share, but since Luke is there as a junior counselor, he seems to spend all of his time being everyone else’s big brother and ignoring Emmett. As Luke seems to be moving on to new adventures, Emmett struggles in unexpected ways, especially in swim class and the It Takes A Village entrepreneurship class. Without his brother to turn to for support, Emmett works to build a new crew of superfriends who’ll help him plan something spectacular for the end-of-camp awards night and celebration. Along the way, Emmett learns that no matter what, there can be many ways to define family.

It Doesn’t Take a Genius is inspired by the feature film Boy Genius, starring Miles Brown, Rita Wilson, and Nora Dunn.

The Mystery of the Moon Tower (The Pathfinders Society #1)

by Francesco Sedita (Author) Steve Hamaker (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 4th – 5th Grade

Series: The Pathfinders Society

Kyle is a new kid in town who likes to draw. Vic is a cool cheerleader who’s secretly a math whiz. Quiet Beth is a history buff, while goofball Harry likes performing magic tricks, with the help of his patient wingman, Nate. Five kids unlikely to form a team, for sure.

But then they’re thrown together at summer camp, where they watch a grainy old movie about the history of their town, Windrose, and one of its illustrious citizens of a bygone era: the intrepid explorer-inventor Henry Merriweather. He’s the one who established their camp. Merriweather’s Camp Pathfinders’ motto? Plus, Ultra more beyond!

The five kids soon find there is indeed “more beyond” in their pokey town with its weird weather and sudden geysers of smelly air. Deciphering a route of historical markers leads them to Merriweather’s old castle, which is lined with ornate, beautiful tiles in hallways that lead to secret rooms full of odd objects–and where time itself is warped!

Kyle, Vic, Beth, Harry and Nate witness scenes from Merriweather’s past and realize his experiments and eccentricities are pointing toward a path–that could lead to the rumored lost treasure of Windrose.

This is the path our heroes are meant to follow, on a journey that will take them back and forth through time, through woods, and across waterways revealed by moonlight, right up to the looming Moon Tower itself–which holds Merriweather’s secret . . . and the treasure!

Here in the Real World

by Sara Pennypacker (Author

Reading Level: 4th – 5th Grade

Ware can’t wait to spend summer “off in his own world”–dreaming of knights in the Middle Ages and generally being left alone. But then his parents sign him up for dreaded Rec camp, where he must endure Meaningful Social Interaction and whatever activities so-called “normal” kids do. On his first day, Ware meets Jolene, a tough, secretive girl planting a garden in the rubble of an abandoned church next to the camp. Soon he starts skipping Rec, creating a castle-like space of his own in the church lot. Jolene scoffs, calling him a dreamer–he doesn’t live in the “real world” like she does.

As different as Ware and Jolene are, though, they have one thing in common: for them, the lot is a refuge. But when their sanctuary is threatened, Ware looks to the knights’ Code of Chivalry: Thou shalt do battle against unfairness wherever faced with it. Thou shalt be always the champion of the Right and Good–and vows to save the lot. But what does a hero look like in real life? And what can two misfit kids do?