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This is great historical fiction for children. The story takes place in 1866 at the tip of the Marin Headlands in Northern California. Shipwrecks, pirate adventure, bigotry, friendships, local flavor — this book has it all to hold the attention of the tween crowd. The protagonists are Emma, Sue and Harris (all 12 years old) and Rascal Pratt, a self-proclaimed pirate who is older than he looks. Achilles, Sue’s grandfather, a blind, Native American ranch worker, asks Rascal to find the long-lost treasure of Sir Francis Drake, so that he can buy his freedom from the ranch. The action takes place at a lighthouse and the nearby shoreline and ocean. Because of the wonderful period detail found here, this book is a perfect tie-in for “Talk Like a Pirate Day” on September 19!

Perfect for: Kids who like historical fiction.

Find at your local library.

Twelve-year-old Claudia and her younger brother Jamie are running away from the tyranny of unappreciative parents and the drudgery of day-to-day living. Claudia has carefully hand-picked the beautiful Metropolitan Museum of Art as their new home. There they quite unexpectedly stumble upon an unknown statue by none other than Michelangelo…or is it? Winner of the 1967 Newbery Award.

Perfect for: Kids who like mysteries.

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Hermux is a watchmaker who also happens to be a mouse. He is mostly content with his life of order and quiet nights curled up with some cheese and a good book, but that all changes when one Linka Perflinger, aviatrix and daredevil, enters and mysteriously exits the picture.

Perfect for: Kids who like mysteries.

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Naomi Leon Outlaw is many things: a great sister, a kind granddaughter, and an excellent soap carver, but she is having a harder time just being Naomi. Her journey to find her own true voice and reconnect with her father takes her from a trailer park in Lemon Tree, California, to a radish-carving festival in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Perfect for: Kids who have changed as they’ve grown up.

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Set in India, this is a lyrical and compassionate portrait of a survivor. Thirteen-year-old Koly is getting married to someone she has never met. When her new husband turns out to be gravely ill, things take a turn for the worse. Koly finds herself widowed, hopeless and on the streets.

Perfect for: Kids who like realism.

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Have you read the Brothers Grimm classic book of fairy tales? Did you think they were “just stories”? That is what sisters Sabrina and Daphne Grimm thought until their parents mysteriously disappeared one day. After being shuffled through several foster homes, they end up with a woman named Relda Grimm. Relda claims to be their grandmother and informs the sisters that the fairy tales are actually historical events collected by their ancestors, whose role has always been to maintain the fragile peace between the humans and the Everafters, the proper term for fairy-tale creatures. Daphne, the younger sister, loves Relda and their new life, while Sabrina is skeptical. Everything changes, however, when their grandmother and Mr. Canis, the butler, are kidnapped by a giant and the girls have no choice but to rescue their newfound family.

Perfect for: Kids who like science fiction and fantasy.

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The author of this book, longtime New York Times reporter Joseph Treaster, was in the New Orleans city hall when Hurricane Katrina hit the city in 2005. He draws on his experiences covering Katrina and its aftermath to provide younger readers with a first-hand look at the deadly storms we call hurricanes. Along with his eyewitness accounts, there is information about what scientists currently know about how and why hurricanes form, how they are tracked, and how they impact coastal areas. Precautions and planning for future storms are also discussed. Dramatic color photos enhance the solid information presented in this book.

Perfect for: Kids who like science and nature.

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Young readers who enjoy basketball will love this book. Beyond the usual retelling of the history of the game (the physical education teacher who nailed the peach baskets to the gymnasium balcony to give athletes something to do in the winter), this book provides information about the rules of the game, how to become a better player, anecdotes about legendary players, how equipment has evolved over time and tips on game strategy. Conversational text is interspersed with lively illustrations, diagrams and photographs. Even reluctant readers might actually take a break from shooting hoops to read this one.

Perfect for: Kids who like sports.

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This version of An Inconvenient Truth is an adaptation for younger readers of the 2006 bestseller and Oscar-winning documentary by the same name. The juvenile and teen edition contains simplified text enhanced by dramatic photographs, illustrations, and graphs. Al Gore suggests that the global-warming crisis provides an opportunity for change through four simple steps. A head start on environmentalism and a must-read for kids and their parents. Highly recommended.

Perfect for: Kids who like science and nature.

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The veterinarians of Rwanda’s Mountain Gorilla Project make house calls — or rather, “forest calls” — tracking down and treating ailing gorillas in the wild. Short chapters present dramatic accounts of real incidents, such as an expedition to untangle a gorilla from an antelope snare or the rescue of an orphaned baby gorilla. Factual information about these endangered animals is included, as well as full-color photos of the gorillas and the doctors. This book will appeal to animal lovers and to kids thinking of careers as veterinarians or naturalists.

Perfect for: Kids who like nonfiction and animals.

Find at your local library.