Paul Acampora

When Lucy, Elena, and Michael receive their summer reading list, they are excited to see To Kill A Mockingbird included. But not everyone in their class shares the same enthusiasm. So they hatch a plot to get the entire town talking about the well-known Harper Lee classic. They plan controversial ways to get people to read the book, including re-shelving copies of the book in bookstores so that people think they are missing and starting a website committed to "destroying the mockingbird." Their efforts are successful when all of the hullabaloo starts to direct more people to the book. But soon, their exploits start to spin out of control and they unwittingly start a mini revolution in the name of books.

I Kill the Mockingbird

Ellie Magari is figuring out what it means to be a girl in the world today, especially when the one role model she could have had (her mother) was never around and she was raised by her hardworking single father who didn't exactly keep the lines of communication open. Exactly who was Ellie's mom? And now that she's gone for good, what does that mean for Ellie? Fueled by the bighearted sounds of '80s rock and roll, plus a dash of The Goonies and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and large doses of Cyndi Lauper's girl-power joy, is a coming of age story as well as a drama and comedy about friendship, girls, and the tension between fathers and daughters. It's also a story about girls who understand that it's good to make things, but breaking things is okay too. In fact, sometimes breaking things is required.

Confusion Is Nothing New

Leo's grandfather died a year ago, and ever since Leo has been tasked with tracking his grandmother down whenever she wanders away from their home in Allentown, Pennsylvania--but when she abruptly decides to take the trip to Utah that her husband was planning, Leo finds himself on the way to visit dinosaurs, in an old Buick with his grandmother, his seventeen-year-old cousin Abby, and Abby's old, smelly Golden retriever, Kermit, without telling his mother.

How to avoid extinction

Danny Constantino's First (and Maybe Last?) Date

From a debut author comes a story of finding oneself in a place all too familiar. After Dulcie Morrigan Jones's dad dies, her mom decides they need to find a new life in California. But Dulcie doesn't understand what's wrong with her old life back in Newbury, Connecticut. So she heads across country and back home in her father's red 1968 Chevy pickup truck. When she arrives, she meets Roxanne, a girl whose home life makes Dulcie see that her own situation may not be all that bad after all. And as the summer comes to an end, Dulcie realizes that maybe it's necessary to leave a place in order to come back and find out who you really are.

Defining Dulcie

For fans of Gary Schmidt and Joan Bauer, a laugh-out-loud intergenerational road trip story from acclaimed author Paul Acampora! Since the death of his grandfather, Leo's number one chore has been to chase after his grandmother who seems to wander away from home every few days. Now, Gram's decided to roam farther than ever. And despite his misgivings, Leo's going along for the ride. With his seventeen-year-old cousin, Abbey, and an old, gassy dog named Kermit, Leo joins Gram in a big, old Buick to leave their Pennsylvania home for a cross-country road trip filled with fold-out maps, family secrets, new friends, and dinosaur bones.How to Avoid Extinction is a middle grade comedy about death and food and family and fossils. It's about running away from home and coming back again. For Leo, it's about asking hard questions and hopefully finding some sensible answers. As if good sense has anything to do with it. Against a backdrop of America's stunning size and beauty, it's also about growing up, getting old, dreaming about immortality, and figuring out all the things we can -- and can't -- leave behind.

How to Avoid Extinction

Zachary's mom just up and disappeared from their home in Copper Lake, Colorado. The good news is that Zachary and his dad are trying to move on, and Falls, Connecticut is just the place for a fresh start. With the help of a new friend, Rachel, and her brother Teddy, Zachary is learning about new beginnings, the power of forgiveness, and the quirky people that make life interesting.

Rachel Spinelli Punched Me in the Face

Three unlikely friends become partners in heartbreak and hope during a middle school pottery class in this powerful, poignant novel--perfect for fans of Gordon Korman and Lynda Mullaly Hunt. At West Beacon Middle School, eighth graders Oscar Villanueva, Ellie Baptiste, and Noah Wright become unlikely friends during Introduction to Clay class. Oscar, a football star, just lost his little sister to cancer. Ellie's been dragged away from Philadelphia by her single mom to a new life in West Beacon, a tiny Pennsylvania coal town that's smaller than Ellie's old school. Noah's spent his whole life as a homeschooler and just started West Beacon Middle School as a result of his parents' train wreck of a divorce. Through art, football, failure, faith, and trust, the friends help one another to piece things back together again. In true friendship, they also discover that some injuries may never heal, some things can never be unbroken--and that's okay too.

In Honor of Broken Things

Between going out with his celebrity crush and his mom's campaign to be the next town mayor, Danny's got a lot to learn about life in the spotlight. When Danny Constantino asks his old-friend-turned-Hollywood-movie-star, Natalie Flores Griffin, to his local school dance and homecoming parade, she surprises him . . . by saying yes! Unfortunately, now everyone in Cuper Cove has something to say about Danny's love life--especially since Natalie is the hometown hero. Throw in herds of TV reporters and NFG groupies, his mom using Natalie's arrival for free publicity, and a pep rally gone horribly, horribly awry, and Danny's left absolutely clueless in this new world of crushes and becoming (kind of) famous.

Paul Acampora

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