Chasing Secrets
by Gennifer Choldenko

At the turn of the 20th century, a plague has struck San Francisco, but only Chinatown has been put under quarantine, and doctors and medicine are not being sent there. In fact, medical professionals have been denying that there is a plague at all. 13-year-old Lizzie suspects that Jing, her friend and family's cook, is stuck in Chinatown. To make matters worse, Jing's son, Noah, has been secretly hiding in her house, but it is up to Lizzie and the 12-year-old Noah to find and rescue Jing, and hopefully save the people she loves. A new novel by Bay Area author and Newbury honoree (Al Capone Does My Shirts, 2004).



Leo: A Ghost Story
by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Christian Robinson

A new book by a writer and illustrator who also live in the Bay Area and who have visited our library! Leo, a sweet little boy ghost, hears the new inhabitants in his house say they don't want ghosts around. He is saddened at this missed opportunity to make a friend, but respects their wishes. Leo soon finds a new friend, but she thinks he is her imaginary friend, not a ghost. Should Leo tell her the truth and risk losing her friendship?



Maybelle Goes to School 
by Katie Speck illustrations by Paul Ratz de Taygos

That irrepressible cockroach, Maybelle, is back with her friend Henry the flea, and as usual, innocently showing up at the wrong place in the wrong time in the name of finding something to eat. Whether kids have read the other books or not, they will love hearing about Maybelle's latest adventure and the embarrassment and horror of her human housemate, Mrs. Peabody, when Maybelle hitches a ride on a cake to the school bake sale.