Janice Repka

Synopsis: Phillip might be the only kid in the world who wants to run away from the circus. His dad is a clown and his mom is the Fat Lady, and they both want Phillip to find an act that will make him a star. But all he wants is to be a normal kid. Phillip finally gets the chance to live with his aunt and uncle in a regular town. But Hardingtown is hardly normal--it's the unofficial Dodgeball Capital of the World. Instead of dodging cream pies thrown by clowns, Phillip is ducking screamers thrown by the Junior Dodgeball Champion and school bully, B.B. Tyson. After an especially vicious game, Phillip takes the bully to court to pay for his busted glasses--and winds up battling the entire town. Is a dodgeball an unreasonably unsafe product? Can the elephant-poop-scooping circus boy win his case and make life safer for everyone?

This humorous middle grade novel was published by Dutton Children's Books in 2004. It was a Junior Library Guild selection, a 2008 Nebraska Golden Sower Award Honor Book, a Sunshine State Young Reader Award nominee, a Young Hoosier Book Award nominee, a Great Stone Face Award nominee, and a Keystone to Reading Book Award nominee. Called"uproariously funny" and "charmingly quirky," this middle-grade novel (ages 8 and up) carries an inspiring message about sticking to your beliefs, however unpopular they may be. It is illustrated by popular artist Glin Dibley. Click on the title to read reviews.

Synopsis: Aphrodite Wigglesmith is such a genius she graduates from Harvard College at the age of 13 and gets a job teaching math at a middle school. Mindy Loft, one of her 13-year-old students, loves baton almost as much as she hates math. When the two of them get together, they learn some surprising things about each other and themselves.

This book was published by Dutton Children's Books in the August 2011. Click on the title to read an excerpt.