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No Girls Allowed
By Susan Hughes
It may seem strange to you now, but throughout much of history women didn’t have nearly as many rights as men. In many cultures, if you were born female you wouldn’t even think about holding an important position (in some places that’s still the case). But that prejudice didn’t stop a number of women from getting ahead in a very unusual way. They dressed up as men. The graphic novel No Girls Allowed chronicles the lives of seven of those women — from ancient Egypt’s Hatshesput, who dressed as a man so she would be accepted as Pharaoh, to the 19th century’s Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, who dressed like a man so she could join the army during the American Civil War and send money home to her poor family.
The 39 Clues Book One: The Maze of Bones
By Rick Riordan
Are you ready to make a commitment to a new book series? Like, a real commitment? The 39 Clues is an interactive puzzle-solving, clue-gathering, prize-giving adventure that kicks off with Book One on September 9th. That book will be followed by nine more, and although Rick Riordan writes the first entry, the authors will change with each new book — the next one is by Gordon Korman! The story starts with the death of a rich matriarch named Grace Cahill. You are one of her heirs. You can either accept a $1-million inheritance, or decide to search for 39 clues which will eventually reveal a huge family secret. Along the way you’ll go to the 39 Clues website, play games and perhaps even win real prizes.
Scene of the Crime: A Forensic Mystery Where You Crack the Case
By Malcolm Rose
Have you ever seen those TV shows where investigators and scientists team up to solve crimes? Ever thought it would be cool to try it on your own? Well, we can’t make you a junior crime-scene investigator, but we can tell you that this book is the next best thing. When a dead body is found in a railroad yard, you have to figure out what happened. You’ll use security-camera footage, maps, interviews, forensic evidence (like DNA tests and items found at the scene of the crime) to get the answers. Oh, and there are also plenty of clues in a very important diary belonging to a teenager named Amanda. Could she be the killer?