Henrietta Hornbuckle's Circus of Life by Michael de Guzman

From the Publisher: "As far as twelve-year-old Henrietta Hornbuckle is concerned, she has the best existence on the planet.  She is a clown in a small traveling circus.  Everyone she knows, including her parents, are clowns.  What Henrietta doesn't know is that this summer big  changes are waiting in the wings."
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2010, 160 pp.

   

The Hidden Boy by Jon Berkeley

From the Publisher: "You are the lucky winner of a Blue Moon Once-in-a-Lifetime Adventure. It'll be the trip of a lifetime! The tour leaves from the Blue Moon office at 11 p.m. sharp. Groups of seven only. No pets."
 Publisher: HarperCollins, 2010, 262 pp.

The Nine Pound Hammer by John C. Bemis

From the Publisher: "What if John Henry had a son?  Twelve-year-old Ray is haunted by the strangest memories of his father, whom Ray swears could speak to animals. Now an orphan, Ray jumps from a train going through the American South and falls in with a medicine show train and its stable of sideshow performers. The performers turn out to be heroes, defenders of the wild, including the son of John Henry. They are hiding the last of the mythical Swamp Sirens from an ancient evil known as the Gog. Why the Gog wants the Siren, they can’t be sure, but they know it has something to do with rebuilding a monstrous machine that John Henry gave his life destroying years before, a machine that will allow the Gog to control the will of men and spread darkness throughout the world."
Publisher, Random House, 2010, 384 pp.

The Blue Shoe by Roderick Townley

From the Publisher: "It was only one shoe. It fit no one. But everyone wanted it."
Publisher: Random House, 2010, 272 pp.

The Hive Detectives: Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe by Loree G. Burns

From the Publisher: "Without honey bees the world would be a different place. There would be no honey, no beeswax for candles, and, worst of all, barely a fruit, nut, or vegetable to eat. So imagine beekeeper Dave Hackenburg’s horror when he discovered twenty million of his charges had vanished. Those missing bees became the first casualties of a mysterious scourge that continues to plague honey bee populations today. In The Hive Detectives, Loree Griffin Burns profiles bee wranglers and bee scientists who have been working to understand colony collapse disorder, or CCD. In this dramatic and enlightening story, readers explore the lives of the fuzzy, buzzy insects and learn what might happen to us if they were gone."
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin, 2010, 66 pp.

The Dancing Pancake by Eileen Spinelli

From the Publisher: "The grand opening of the Dancing Pancake isn't the only new thing in Bindi's life: new friends, a new apartment, maybe even a cute new crush? But there are other changes, like her dad's move to a new city, that have left Bindi confused and wondering: What will happen to my family? Will this new life ever feel normal? Among the unlikely bunch of regulars who form a makeshift community at the diner, Bindi will try to figure out how to be a new version of herself, one pancake and one silly elephant joke (her uncle's specialty) at a time."
Publisher: Random House, 2010, 256 pp.

8th Grade Super Zero by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich

From the Publisher: "Ever since a deeply unfortunate incident earlier this year, Reggie's been known as "Pukey" McKnight at his high-intensity Brooklyn middle school. He wants to turn his image around, but he has other things on his mind as well: his father, who's out of a job; his best friends, Ruthie and Joe C.; his former best friend Donovan, who's now become a jerk; and of course, the beautiful Mialonie. The elections for school president are coming up, but with his notorious nickname and "nothing" social status, Reggie wouldn't stand a chance, if he even had the courage to run. Then Reggie gets involved with a local homeless shelter, the Olive Branch. Haunted by two of the clients there—George, a once-proud man now living on the streets, and Charlie, a six-year-old kid who becomes his official "Little Buddy"—he begins to think about making a difference, both in the world and at school. Pukey for President? It can happen . . . if he starts believing."
Publisher: Scholastic, 2010, 272 pp.