“A fun and fast-paced romp.” —School Library Journal Ali has always acted like a copycat to make friends, but when she unexpectedly inherits the ability to change her appearance at will, fitting in seems impossible! Luckily, with the help of her family, new friends, and a touch of magic, Ali might just survive middle school after all. Ali and her parents have moved at least once a year for as long as Ali can remember. She’s attended six different schools, lived in dozens of apartments, and never really felt at home anywhere. But Ali’s parents say living in Saint John, New Brunswick, will be different. They’ve moved in with Ali’s great-grandmother?a lively ninety-nine-year-old with a quirky old house and room for all of them. Ali wants to believe it will be their last move, but everything seems too perfect to be true. To Ali’s surprise, things are different this time, but not in the way she’d hoped. She's inherited the Sloane family power?the ability to change her appearance into any living thing. Ali is a Copycat. Literally. And being the new kid at school is hard enough without worrying about turning into your teacher. Luckily, Ali’s new friends are eager to help. But as Ali soon learns, being a Copycat is no substitute for being yourself. The Copycat is a magical middle grade read for fans of Diana Wynne Jones, by the author of The Frame-Up.

Super-smart Julian Calendar thinks starting junior high at a new school will mean he can shed his nerdy image-but then he meets Ben and Greta, two secret scientists like himself! The three form a secret club, complete with a high-tech lair. There, they can work to their hearts content on projects like the Stink-O-Meter, the Kablovsky Copter, and the Nightsneak Goggles. All that tinkering comes in handy when the trio discovers an evil scientist's dastardly plan to rob a museum. Can three inventors, armed with their wacky creations, hope to defeat this criminal mastermind?

Ruby keeps copying her classmate, until she learns how much fun it is to be herself. From Peggy Rathmann, the author of the bestselling GOOD NIGHT, GORILLA!Ruby is a copycat! On the day Angela wears a red bow in her hair, Ruby returns from lunch with a red bow in her hair. When Angela wears a flowered sweater, Ruby returns from lunch wearing a flowered sweater. Ruby even copies Angela's poem!Fortunately, Ruby has the patient and perceptive Miss Hart as her teacher. Miss Hart helps Ruby discover her own creative resources, which keeps Ruby literally jumping for joy!In this sensitive and endearing tale, Peggy Rathmann reveals, with charmingly offbeat illustrations, the universal struggle of a child trying to discover her own individuality.

Itty realizes that she has a copycat in this eighth Itty Bitty Princess Kitty chapter book. Itty meets a young tiger named Tessa and it turns out she goes to Itty’s school! Itty thinks she’s nice and funny, and she can tell Tessa likes hanging out with her and her friends. But then Tessa shows up wearing the same dress as Itty—the one Itty had told her about that is very special to her. And in art class, Tessa copies Itty’s drawing. Itty doesn’t understand why Tessa is being such a...copycat! Does she really want to be Itty’s friend? Or does she just want to copy whatever Itty is doing? With easy-to-read language and illustrations on every page, the Itty Bitty Princess Kitty chapter books are perfect for emerging readers.

The third in a contemporary series just like Encyclopedia Brown, but with a little more brawn, and a lot more brainteasers! Super-sleuth Charlie Collier is thinking about taking a hiatus from his detective agency to play a private eye in a school play—but when some real robberies stump the police, Charlie realizes that detective work really is his true calling. He and his sidekicks Henry and Scarlett team up with Charlie’s grandma and her old buddy Eugene to set a trap for the robber—one they’re sure will catch him. But the trap doesn’t work out quite the way they thought it would, leaving Charlie, Henry and Scarlett in grave danger. This high-stakes adventure is filled to the brim with brainteasers. Charlie can solve them all—can you? What people are saying about Charlie Collier's first caper: “I loved reading The Homemade Stuffing Caper. The mystery is challenging. The many characters in the book are great fun. I look forward to reading the next Charlie Collier story, and the next, and the next, and the . . .”—David A. Adler, author of the Cam Jansen mysteries “The Homemade Stuffing Caper is an exciting mystery, full of jokes and puns, as well as brainteasers and lots of detective work. This may be the first mystery you don’t want the detective to solve, because you won’t want it to end!”—Bookpage “Brisk and absorbing, author John Madormo’s debut tips its fedora to hard-boiled classics with its ‘sixth-grader meets Sam Spade’ narration.”—FamilyFun Magazine “With mysteries to solve, codes to decrypt, and an extended cast of colorful characters in tow, this first in a new series offers lots of mystery fans to chew on and will leave them hungry for the next installment.”—Booklist A Bookpage Top Ten Summer Reading Selection for 2012

From the New York Times bestselling author who "writes with high-octane levels of emotion" (USA Today). Befriending Traci Calloway Cole is the best thing Simone Phillips has ever done. Traci is the kind of woman Simone wants to be-in every way possible. She begins copying her role model. Not because she wants to be Traci. She just wants to be exactly like Traci. Traci doesn't worry, though. She knows Simone doesn't mean any harm and that her mimicry is only sincere admiration. Until she discovers how far Simone's obsession has gone. It is then that Simone's entire world begins unraveling, and dreadful secrets from her past are exposed with no warning. Secrets that she'll do almost anything to protect.

Clarence, a cat who does not want to hurt mice or any other creatures, does not feel welcome anywhere until he discovers the Barnstable Library.