The adventures of a small mouse of unusual talents, the princess he loves, the servant girl who longs to be a princess, and a devious rat determined to bring them all to ruin. 2004 Newbery Medal winner.

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Fourteen-year-old Nikki Maxwell writes in her diary of her struggle to be popular at her exclusive new private school, then of finding her place after she gives up on being part of the elite group.

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In the middle of the night intruders silently murder Luke Ellis' parents and load him into a black SUV. Luke will wake up at The Institute, in a room that looks just like his own, except there's no window. And outside his door are other doors, behind which are other kids with special talents - telekinesis and telepathy - who got to this place the same way Luke did. They are all in Front Half. Others, Luke learns, graduated to Back Half, "like the roach motel," Kalisha says. "You check in, but you don't check out." In this most sinister of institutions, the director, Mrs. Sigsby, and her staff are ruthlessly dedicated to extracting from these children the force of their extranormal gifts. If you go along, you get tokens for the vending machines. If you don't, punishment is brutal. As each new victim disappears to Back Half, Luke becomes more and more desperate to get out and get help. But no one has ever escaped from The Institute.

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Top Story

REALISTIC FICTION - CHINESE AMERICANS Mia Tang is at the top of her game! She's spending winter break with Mom, Lupe, Jason, and Hank in San Francisco's Chinatown! Rich with history and hilarious aunties and uncles, it's the place to find a great story--one she hopes to publish while attending journalism camp at the Tribune. But this trip has as many bumps as the hills of San Francisco... 1. Mia's camp is full of older kids, with famous relatives, fancy laptops, and major connections! Can she compete with just her pen and passion? 2. Lupe's thinking about skipping ahead to college! Will Mia ever get a chance to just chill with her best friend? 3. Jason's crushing hard on a new girl. For the first time ever, Mia is speechless...and jealous. Can she find the courage to tell Jason--gulp--that she has a crush on him? Even for the best writers, it's not always easy to find the right words. But if anyone can tell a top story, it's Mia Tang!

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Two Tribes

DOMESTIC FICTION (GRAPHIC NOVEL) - INDIGENOUS PEOPLES In her poignant debut graphic novel inspired by her own life, Emily Bowen Cohen embraces the complexity, meaning, and deep love that comes from being part of two vibrant tribes. Mia is still getting used to living with her mom and stepfather, and to the new role their Jewish identity plays in their home. Feeling out of place at home and at her Jewish day school, Mia finds herself thinking more and more about her Muscogee father, who lives with his new family in Oklahoma. Her mother doesn't want to talk about him, but Mia can't help but feel like she's missing a part of herself without him in her life. Soon, Mia makes a plan to use the gifts from her bat mitzvah to take a bus to Oklahoma-without telling her mom-to visit her dad and find the connection to her Muscogee side she knows is just as important as her Jewish side.

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