Cloud Tea Monkeys by Mal Peet

From the Publisher: "Tashi lives in a tiny village at the foot of the mountains, below the tea plantations where her mother works. When her mother falls ill, Tashi goes alone to the plantation, hoping to earn money for the doctor. But she is far too small to harvest the tender shoots, and her clumsy efforts anger the cruel Overseer. She is desolate, until — chack-chack-chack! — something extraordinary happens. Inspired by a centuries-old legend of tea-picking monkeys, here is a richly told tale full of vivid characters: the heartless Overseer, the enigmatic Royal Tea Taster, and — far away — an empress with a penchant for tea."

Publisher: Candlewick Press, 2010, 56 pp.

The Birthday Ball by Lois Lowry

"Princess Patricia Priscilla is bored with her royal life and the excitement surrounding her sixteenth birthday ball. Doomed to endure courtship by three grotesquely unappealing noblemen, she escapes her fate—for a week. Disguised as a peasant, she attends the village school as the smart new girl, “Pat,” and attracts friends and the attention of the handsome school master. Disgusting suitors, loveable peasants, and the clueless King and Queen collide at the ball, where Princess Patricia Pricilla calls the shots. What began as a cure for boredom, becomes a chance for Princess Patricia Priscilla to break the rules and marry the man she loves."From the Publisher:  

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin, 2010, 186 pp.

Big Nate In a Class by Himself by Lincoln Peirce

From the Publisher: "Big Nate is in a class by himself!
But things don't always go your way just because you're awesome.
Nate barely survives his dad's toxic oatmeal before rushing off to
school -- minus his lunch.
He body slams the no-nonsense principal.
 accidentally insults his least favorite teacher, the horrifying
Mrs. Godfrey (aka Godzilla).
And school has barely started!
Nate keeps his cool. He knows he's destined for greatness.
A fortune cookie told him so."
Publisher: HarperCollins, 2010, 214 pp.

Raymond & Graham: Bases Loaded by Mike Knudson

From the Publisher: "Best friends Raymond and Graham can't wait to defeat their rival team and win the Little League championship, impressing the girls they like and shaming their school bully in the process. But things don't go exactly as planned . . ." Publisher: Penguin, 2010, 128 pp.

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

From the Publisher: "Eleven-year-old Delphine has it together. Even though her mother, Cecile, abandoned her and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, seven years ago. Even though her father and Big Ma will send them from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to stay with Cecile for the summer. And even though Delphine will have to take care of her sisters, as usual, and learn the truth about the missing pieces of the past. When the girls arrive in Oakland in the summer of 1968, Cecile wants nothing to do with them. She makes them eat Chinese takeout dinners, forbids them to enter her kitchen, and never explains the strange visitors with Afros and black berets who knock on her door. Rather than spend time with them, Cecile sends Delphine
, Vonetta, and Fern to a summer camp sponsored by a revolutionary group, the Black Panthers, where the girls get a radical new education."  
Publisher: HarperCollins, 2010, 218 pp.

Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

From the Publisher: "Eleven-year-old Melody has a photographic memory. Her head is like a video camera that is al
ways recording.  She's the smartest kid in her whole school, but no one knows it. Most people, her teachers and doctors included, don't think she's capable of learning, and up until recently her school days consisted of listening to the same preschool-level alphabet lessons again and again and again. If only she could speak up, if only she could tell people what she thinks and knows . . . but she can't, because Melody can't talk. She can't walk. She can't write.Being stuck inside her head is making Melody go out of her mind, that is, until she discovers something that will allow her to speak for the first time ever. At last Melody has a voice . . . but not everyone around her is ready to hear it." 
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2010, 295 pp.