1. Catrina and her family are moving to the coast of Northern California because her little sister, Maya, is sick. Cat isn't happy about leaving her friends for Bahía de la Luna, but Maya has cystic fibrosis and will benefit from the cool, salty air that blows in from the sea. As the girls explore their new home, a neighbor lets them in on a secret: There are ghosts in Bahía de la Luna. Maya is determined to meet one, but Cat wants nothing to do with them. As the time of year when ghosts reunite with their loved ones approaches, Cat must figure out how to put aside her fears for her sister's sake - and her own.
GHOSTS
TELGEMEIER,RAINA

2. YAN LUEN GENE AND HOLMES, MIKE
Gene Luen Yang is the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature and is a MacArthur Fellow, a recipient of what's popularly known as the MacArthur "Genius" Grant.
Welcome to Stately Academy, a school which is just crawling with mysteries to be solved! The founder of the school left many clues and puzzles to challenge his enterprising students. Using their wits and their growing prowess with coding, Hopper and her friend Eni are going to solve the mystery of Stately Academy no matter what it takes!
SECRET CODERS
YAN LUEN GENE AND HOLMES, MIKE

3. THE NAMELESS CITY Hicks,Faith Erin
Every nation that invades the City gives it a new name. But before long, new invaders arrive and the City changes hands once again. The natives don't let themselves get caught up in the unending wars. To them, their home is the Nameless City, and those who try to name it are forever outsiders.
Kaidu is one such outsider. He's a Dao born and bred--a member of the latest occupying nation. Rat is a native of the Nameless City. At first, she hates Kai for everything he stands for, but his love of his new home may be the one thing that can bring these two unlikely friends together. Let's hope so, because the fate of the Nameless City rests in their hands.
THE NAMELESS CITY
Hicks,Faith Erin

4. NARWHAL:UNICORN CITY CLANTON,BEN
Narwhal befriends Jelly, a jellyfish, even though Jelly has never met a narwhal and Narwhal has never met a jellyfish. “What is up with that horn?” asks a frowning Jelly. “It’s actually more of a tusk-tooth,” Narwhal replies good-naturedly. Clanton outlines his heroes in rough pencil and colors them digitally—Narwhal resembles a floating comma, Jelly a semicircle with dangly tentacles—creating a loose, off-the-cuff aquatic environment. The cast grows in the second tale as Narwhal amasses an eclectic pod of sea creatures who grin broadly as they get their honorary narwhal horns (sorry, tusk-teeth). Bantering dialogue entertains throughout, but the book’s best moment might belong to the third story, when Narwhal lends Jelly his “favorite book in the whole wide water,” which is blank (Clanton gives the joke maximum impact by including two blank pages). “It’s an imagination book, Jelly!” Narwhal explains. 
NARWHAL:UNICORN CITY
CLANTON,BEN

5. LUCY & NEANDERTHAL BROWN,JEFFREY
Two archaeologists pop up at the end of each chapter to demonstrate how the objects that Lucy and Andy use and make—their tools, the bones they chew on, even their teeth—reveal information about their lives. The female Neanderthal bones show just as much wear and tear as the males, the scientists point out; they may have done the same kinds of work. Hints sprinkled throughout about a lost spear and missing mammoth meat build to a climax as Andy and Lucy’s group encounters a smoother, more sophisticated, and possibly menacing group of humans. 
LUCY & NEANDERTHAL
BROWN,JEFFREY

6. LUCY & NEANDERTHAL PITtMAN,EDDIE
Red, a quirky, headstrong 10-year-old, longs to live in her own perfect paradise far away from her annoying foster family. But when a UFO mistakenly kidnaps her, Red finds herself farther away than she could have possibly imagined—across the galaxy and aboard an enormous spaceship owned by the Aquilari, an ancient creature with a taste for rare and unusual treasures. Before Red can be discovered as a stowaway, the great ship crashes on a small deserted planet, leaving her marooned with a menagerie of misfit aliens. With her newfound friend, a small gray alien named Tawee, Red must find a way to survive the hostile castaways, evade the ravenous wildlife, and contend with Goose, the planet’s grumpy, felinoid custodian. Surely this can’t be the paradise she’s looking for.
LUCY & NEANDERTHAL
PITtMAN,EDDIE

7. HIPPOPOTAMISTER GREEN,PATRICK JOHN
Hippopotamus follows his friend Red Panda into the working world after conditions at their zoo deteriorate. It’s Red Panda who nicknames him Hippopotamister—it’s more appropriate when they’re among humans, he says. A self-effacing fellow, Hippopotamus worries on their first day in a restaurant kitchen. “How do I know my food will taste good?” Yet his delicious-looking Hippopasta Primavera shows natural talent. Brash Red Panda—“Trust your instincts, Hippopotamister. Mine never fail me”—not so much. His antipasto consists of “red vine licorice, mushrooms, and car keys.” In a series of comic episodes, the two are hired and fired from a string of jobs. When Hippopotamus returns to the zoo, though, he has assembled the skills he needs to turn the place around—and there’s a special job for Red Panda, too. 
HIPPOPOTAMISTER
GREEN,PATRICK JOHN

8. THE GREAT PET ESCAPE JAMEISON,VICTORIA
George “GW” Washington the hamster has languished in the prison that is second grade for over three months, and he finally has everything he needs to break out. After the students are gone, he escapes and frees his old buddy Barry the bunny, held in first grade…but then they must brave the worst cellblock, kindergarten, to free their old pal Biter the guinea pig. However, Biter has gone through a slight transformation thanks to exposure to daily happy singing and a shared learning community; she does yoga and calls herself Sunflower now. Just as they are strategizing their escape from the building, Harriet, one of the fourth-grade white mice, informs them that upper-grade pets rule the school. With the muscle (and questionable appetites) of Lucinda the fifth-grade snake, Harriet captures the trio and relocks them up. Can they escape and save the children from Harriet’s evil scheme? 
THE GREAT PET ESCAPE
JAMEISON,VICTORIA

9.  Dog Man doesn’t play by the rules, whether it’s the rules about being housebroken or the ones about not giving the police chief slobbery dog kisses. But desperate times require maverick behavior: Petey the cat, one of the loopiest villains in children literature, has four chapters’ worth of evil plots aimed at taking Dog Man down—from destroying all books to make the world “supa dumb” (a tactic that will be familiar to those who read Pilkey’s contribution to Comics Squad: Recess!) to unleashing a “weenie-lution” of oversensitive living hot dogs (“We’re not cute, either! We’re gangsta!” insists their very touchy leader).
DOGMAN
PILKEY,DAV

10. HAGGIS AND TANK UNLEASHED: ALL PAWS ON DECK
 As the exuberant Tank and crustier Haggis embark on an imaginary pirate escapade, Young (the Finley Flowers series) crams their dialogue with “Who’s on first?”-style homophones. “That’s a tall tale. Stop making up stories,” Haggis grumps when Tank spots a sea serpent heading their way. “It is a tall tail,” Tank responds. Burks (the Bird & Squirrel series) keeps the book’s six chapters zipping along in lively full-bleed images and panel sequences. The dogs’ odd-couple antics, loads of goofy humor, and an appealing comics/early reader format make for an all-around entertaining read.
HAGGIS AND TANK UNLEASHED: ALL PAWS ON DECK
YOUNG,JESSICA

11. AWKWARD CHMAKOVA,SVETLANA
Awkward middle-schooler Penelope “Peppi” Torres has moved to Berrybrook Middle School, and already her first day has been a disaster when she is noticed by the mean kids. After tripping accidentally in the hallway, she’s assisted by Jaime, a shy introverted boy who is always teased at school. Together they’re both promptly teased by the bullies about being a couple. Embarrassed at her situation, she pushes the boy away, telling him to leave her alone. Weeks later, Peppi is still haunted by her cruel actions and wants to apologize for her behavior to Jaime, but she’s too shy to say anything.
AWKWARD
CHMAKOVA,SVETLANA

12. Jack might be the only kid in the world who's dreading summer
Jack might be the only kid in the world who's dreading summer. But he's got a good reason: summer is when his single mom takes a second job and leaves him at home to watch his autistic kid sister, Maddy. It's a lot of responsibility, and it's boring, too, because Maddy doesn't talk. Ever. But then, one day at the flea market, Maddy does talk—to tell Jack to trade their mom's car for a box of mysterious seeds. It's the best mistake Jack has ever made. What starts as a normal little garden out back behind the house quickly grows up into a wild, magical jungle with tiny onion babies running amok, huge, pink pumpkins that bite, and, on one moonlit night that changes everything…a dragon. 
MIGHTY JACK
HATKE,BEN