Aiken, Joan  / The Wolves of Willoughby Chase / Grades 4-6
Cousins Sylvia and Bonnie are mistreated by their new governess Miss Slighcarp and eventually sent away to a school run by her evil sister. Will they escape? See also Black Hearts in Battersea.  

Ardagh, Philip / A House Called Awful End / Grades 5-7
When eleven-year-old Eddie's parents become ill, he is taken by his "Mad" Uncle Jack and Aunt Maude on a series of adventures that involve strolling actors and St. Horrid's Home for Grateful Orphans.  See also Dreadful Acts and TerribleTimes.


Byng, Georgia / Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism / Grades 4-6
Unlucky and unloved, Molly Moon, living in a dreary orphanage in a small English town, discovers a hidden talent for hypnotism and uses her powers to achieve stardom in New York City. See also Molly Moon Stops the World.

Fleischman, Sid / Bo & Mzzz Mad / Grades 4-6
When his father dies, Bo moves to the Mohave Desert to live with his distant and estranged relatives the Martinkas, and becomes involved in the search for a gold mine. 

Hiaasen, Carl / Hoot / Grades 5-8
Roy chases after a mysterious boy and discovers potty-trained alligators, burrowing owls, and several extremely poisonous snakes with unnaturally glittery tails.

Ibbotson, Eva / The Haunting of Granite Falls / Grades 3-6
When twelve-year-old Alex's Scottish castle of Carra is sold, dismantled, and moved to Texas, the ghosts that raised him from a child have difficulty relocating.

Stewart, Paul / Beyond the Deepwoods: the Edge Chronicles / Grades 4-6
Thirteen-year-old Twig, having always looked and felt different from his woodtroll family, learns that he is adopted and travels out of his Deepwoods home to find the place he belongs.  See also Stormchaser.

Stilton, Geronimo / Lost Treasure of the Emerald Eye / Grades 2-4
When Geronimo's sister discovers an old, mysterious map showing a secret treasure hidden on a faraway island, the gang of the "Rodent's Gazette" is dragged into a treasure hunt.

Stroud, Jonathan / The Amulet of Samarkand / Grades 4-6
Nathaniel, a magician's apprentice, summons up the djinni Bartimaeus and instructs him to steal the Amulet of Samarkand from the powerful magician Simon Lovelace.