BOUNDLESS by Kenneth Oppel

2015 LoneStar Book

William Everett was a young boy, whose dad was a worker on the railroad tracks. They started out very poor, but Everett worked hard and made a top position for the new train, The Boundless. On its maiden voyage, William Everett is riding across country in first class. Little does he know, he is about to dive into a huge adventure.

The circus people are also on board the train, and William befriends the tight rope walker. Treasure is hidden in the caboose, and people are willing to murder to get to the treasure. William must save his father by joining the traveling circus and disguising himself. Can William save his father?

This is an exciting book and hard to put down. It has so much to offer: trains, circus, murder, sasquatch. There is something for everyone.

You can find this book on the LoneStar display in the Lyles Middle School library, as well as download the book from the eBook collection.

Oppel, Kenneth. 2014. THE BOUNDLESS. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9781442472884.

BUZZ KILL by Beth Fantasy

Fantaskey, Beth. 2014. BUZZ KILL. New York:
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780547393100.

A 2015 Texas Lone Star Book

Millie Ostermeyer plans to coast through her senior year of high school. Plans change when she stumbles upon the dead body of a hated football coach, Hollering Hank Killdare. Millie is determined to investigate, no matter the dangers. The mysterious loner, but extremely handsome, football quarterback, Chase, becomes her partner, and together they set out to learn the truth. Millie finds herself defending her dad, who is the prime suspect in the murder. While investigating, she uncovers secrets about Coach Killdare, as well as secrets about her dad, her librarian, and Chase.  

This book is hard to put down, filled with humor and mystery. You will find yourself solving the crime along with Millie, who strives to be like Nancy Drew. Bee-lieve me!! 

This book is available for check-out and download through Lyles Middle School eBook collection.

WEDNESDAY WARS by Gary Schmidt

Available as an eBook through the Lyles Middle School eBook Collection

Jacket Art by Jonathan Gray 2007

The year is 1967, and Holling Hoodhood is a seventh grader at Camillo Junior High in a New York
suburb.  Holling has to spend every Wednesday with Mrs. Baker, while others have religious classes.  Holling is absolutely sure that Mrs. Baker hates him because she is making him read the plays of Shakespeare.  But, there are much bigger things to worry about, such as the Vietnam War and the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy.  His father is insistent that Holling and his sister be on their best behavior, as the success of his father's architecture business depends on it.  Gary D. Schmidt tells a fabulous tale of Holling's troubles of growing up as a pre-teen in the 60s, with bullies, his sister turning into a flower child, and tights for a costume!




Schmidt, Gary D. The Wednesday Wars. New York: Clarion Books, 2007.  ISBN  9780618724833

Awards for The Wednesday Wars

2008 Newberry Honor Book

2008 ALA Notable Childrens Books

2008 ALA Best Book for Young Adults

Reviews for The Wednesday Wars

"Schmidt has a way of getting to the emotional heart of every scene without overstatement, allowing the reader and Holling to understand the great truths swirling around them on their own terms…another virtuoso turn…”
 — Kirkus

[A] quietly powerful coming-of-age novel. . . . [Schmidt] offers a gentle, hopeful, moving story of a boy who, with the right help, learns to stretch beyond the limitations of his family, his violent times, and his fear, and leap into his future with his eyes and his heart wide open.”
 — Booklist