We’re nearing the end of our first ever Great Library Giveaway.  We are excited at the outpouring of nominations, and we can’t wait to see which library our random generator will choose!  You have until 11:59pm Pacific time on Monday, November 29th to leave a comment with your nomination. We will announce our winner as well as finish our final spotlights on November 30th.  Please go here to nominate a library.

As always, we are still accepting donations for this giveaway.  If you have a traditionally published book (preferably hardcover) that you would like to add to this giveaway, please go here for more information.  And, remember, it doesn’t have to be one you’ve written.

Today we are highlighting a few more titles from our Great Library Giveaway.  They are:

The Billionaire’s Curse by Richard Newsome

Description from Indiebound:

Gerald Wilkins never considered himself a particularly exceptional thirteen-year-old. But that was before he inherited twenty billion pounds, a Caribbean island, a yacht, and three estates from a great-aunt he never knew. With this fortune, however, comes a letter. One from his great-aunt Geraldine. One that tells Gerald that she was murdered, and that it’s up to him to find out why.

Along with his friends Ruby and Sam, Gerald embarks on a journey that will lead him from the British Museum to dodgy social clubs for the disgustingly rich to mansions in the English countryside to secret places far underground. Who was Geraldine Archer? And what secrets was she hiding? Unless Gerald, Sam, and Ruby can find out before the killer does, they may be next.

Elliot and the Goblin War by Jennifer Nielsen

Description from Indiebound:

WARNING
As of today, there are only 7 CHILDREN who have ever read this book and lived to tell about it. 95 CHILDREN successfully read the first chapter, but upon beginning chapter 2, they started BLABBERING in some language known only as “flibberish.” 38 CHILDREN made it halfway through this wretched book before they began SUCKING THEIR THUMBS THROUGH THEIR NOSES.

If you’re VERY BRAVE, perhaps you are willing to TAKE YOUR CHANCES. Be sure that you have told your family who gets your favorite toys if you DO NOT SURVIVE this book. Read it now, IF YOU DARE. But don’t say you haven’t been warned, for this is the story that unfolds the MYSTERIES OF THE UNDERWORLD.

Fairview Felines: A Newspaper Mystery by Michele Corriel

Description from Michele Corriel’s website:

All the cats in Fairview disappeared and only Thomas Weston, newspaperman extraordinaire (and eighth grader) can find them.

All the while Thomas battles the never-ending hysterical headlines that pop up in his head!

Finding Danny by Linzi Glass

Description from Indiebound:

Twelve-year-old Bree Davies is devastated when her beloved Border Collie, Danny, goes missing after her mom leaves the gate open to their Santa Monica home. In her search to find Danny, Bree is thrust into the world of animals in need. With the help and guidance of animal rescuer Rayleen, Bree’s heart is opened to the plight of the dogs in the downtown Vox Street shelter. Before long, her emptiness about her own loss shifts into action – and her quest to find Danny and her newfound mission to save the shelter dogs soon become one.

Longtime animal rescuer Linzi Glass has crafted a singular story of finding oneself in the search for finding another, a compelling emotional journey as well as a call-to-action for animal-lovers everywhere.

The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester

Description from Indiebound:

You just can’t keep a good girl down . . . unless you use the proper methods. Piper McCloud can fly. Just like that. Easy as pie. Sure, she hasn’t mastered reverse propulsion and her turns are kind of sloppy, but she’s real good at loop-the-loops. Problem is, the good folk of Lowland County are afraid of Piper. And her ma’s at her wit’s end. So it seems only fitting that she leave her parents’ farm to attend a top-secret, maximum-security school for kids with exceptional abilities. School is great at first with a bunch of new friends whose skills range from super-strength to super-genius. (Plus all the homemade apple pie she can eat!) But Piper is special, even among the special. And there are consequences. Consequences too dire to talk about. Too crazy to consider. And too dangerous to ignore.

How To Survive Middle School by Donna Gephart

Description by Indiebound:

Eleven-year-old David Greenberg dreams of becoming a TV superstar like his idol, Jon Stewart. But in real life, David is just another kid terrified of starting his first year at Harman Middle School. With a wacky sense of humor and hilarious Top 6½ Lists, David spends his free time making Talk Time videos, which he posts on YouTube. But before he can get famous, he has to figure out a way to deal with:

6. Middle school (much scarier than it sounds!)
5. His best friend gone girl-crazy
4. A runaway mom who has no phone!
3. The threat of a swirlie on his birthday
2. A terrifying cousin
1. His # 1 fan, Bubbe (his Jewish grandmother)
1/2. Did we mention Hammy, the hamster who’s determined to break David’s heart?

When David and his best friend have a fight, David is lucky enough to make a pretty cool new friend, Sophie–who just (gulp) happens to be a girl. Sophie thinks David’s videos are hilarious, and she starts sending out the links to everyone she knows. Sophie’s friends tell their friends, and before David knows it, thousands of people are viewing his videos–including some of the last people he would have expected.

David may still feel like a real-life schmo, but is he ready to become an Internet superstar?

It’s Raining Cupcakes by Lisa Schroeder

Description from Indiebound:

Twelve-year-old Isabel is dying to get out of Oregon. She spends her free time in the library, reading and dreaming about faraway places. When her mom decides to open a cupcake shop in their little town of Willow, Isabel feels just like buttercream frosting to a cupcake-stuck. It seems as if it will be another disappointing summer, until Isabel learns of a baking contest. If she can come up with a winning recipe, she might have a chance of competing in the bake-off in New York City! But Isabel’s best friend, Sophie, is also entering the contest, and things always seem to go Sophie’s way. To make matters worse, Isabel and her mom don’t exactly see eye-to-eye on the type of recipe Isabel should enter. In this sweet treat by popular teen author Lisa Schroeder, Isabel discovers that maybe it’s not about where you go in life as much as it is about enjoying the view from wherever you are.

Just Another Day in my Insanely Real Life by Barbara Dee

Description from Indiebound:

Twelve-year-old Cassie has a lot to cope with when her father moves “out of the picture.” Her mom’s constantly working overtime, her teenage sister’s going AWOL, and her little brother seriously needs attention. It’s up to Cassie to prevent total chaos at home — or so she thinks.

She can’t control everything, though. At school Cassie’s two “best” friends are turning nasty, and a cute boy is sending mixed signals. And then there’s Mr. Mullaney — the weirdest, hardest English teacher in the seventh grade — who hates everything she does. Since Mr. Mullaney isn’t even reading her brilliant work, Cassie starts submitting journal entries like “A Virtual Tour of My Insanely Messy Desk.” But her sassy humor isn’t winning her any friends or helping her ailing grades. What’s a girl to do when life gets totally insane?

Barbara Dee has created a witty, poignant portrait of an intense, honest, feisty girl who is ferociously funny and only too human.

lucky breaks by Susan Patron

Description from Indiebound:

“Eleven is much more intrepid than only ten.”

On the eve of her eleventh birthday, Lucky wants to let loose and become intrepid; she’s ready for life to change. But Hard Pan (population 43) drones on like it always has: Lincoln all tied up in knotty matters, Miles newly diagnosed as a genius but as needy as ever, Brigitte running her Café and trying to figure out what it means to be American.

Enter Paloma, tagging along on a visit to Hard Pan with a pack of hungry geologists. She’s smart and pretty and fun — definitely best-friend material. But will Lucky be able to cope with tomato worms, Short Sammy’s mysterious box, the potential for disaster when Paloma’s parents visit Hard Pan, and Lincoln’s fame among knot tyers of the world?

Lucky’s intrepidness is put to the test in this satisfying sequel to the Newbery Award-winning The Higher Power of Lucky.

Letters from Rapunzel by Sara Holmes

Description from Indiebound:
Once upon a time, there was a girl. Let’s call her Rapunzel. A modern-day version. Abandoned. Alone. Waiting for her hair to grow and dreaming of a way to escape from her tower. She was trapped, you see. Not in the conventional fairy-tale way—this was the dreaded after-school Homework Club. A desolate place, where no gum could be chewed, and where Rapunzel sat day after day, cursing the evil spell that had been cast over her father. The doctors called it something else, but a true heroine can smell an evil spell a mile away. So when a mysterious letter addressed to P.O. Box #5667 falls into her hands, she knows she’s found the pea under her mattress. But since when is finding happily ever after as simple as Just Writing Back?

Winner of the Ursula Nordstrom Fiction Contest, Sara Lewis Holmes’s enchanting debut novel is a breath of fresh air. Told through letters, with a liberal sprinkling of fairy dust, Rapunzel’s quest for a happy ending gives every reader something to believe in.

Karma Bites by Stacy Kramer and Valerie Thomas

Description from Indiebound:
Life seems to have it in for Franny Flanders.

Her best friends aren’t speaking, her parents just divorced, and her hippie grandmother has moved in. The only karma Franny’s got is bad karma.
Then Franny gets her hands on a box of magic recipes that could fix all of her problems. It could even change the world! Finally, life is looking up.
But Franny is about to learn that magic and karma aren’t to be played with. When you mess with the universe, it can bite back in unexpected ways.
Ouch!

Booktalking Around the World: Great Global Reads for Ages 9-14 by Sonja Cole

Description from Indiebound:
This text contains convenient, ready-to-go booktalks for contemporary fiction and nonfiction books set in every continent around the globe, useful for librarians and other educators of grades three through nine.

NOTE: Don’t forget to go here to nominate a library for this giveaway!