Welcome to TweenCity!

Welcome to TweenCity!

This blog is designed to be a selection resource for children between the ages of 9-14, as well as a reader's advisory tool for both current and future librarians.

PLEASE NOTE: An appropriate age range is given for each title, however this is merely a suggestion. Children, especially tweens, read at many different levels which cannot be determined simply by age or grade level. Therefore, it is important to assess each child's reading level before suggesting titles. In addition, since this blog is designed for tweens only, some titles listed may also be appropriate for children older or younger than ages 9-14, but these ages will not be listed.

Ages 9-12: Elementary school level (Grades 3-6)
Ages 12-14: Middle school level (Grades 7-8)



Monday, November 22

West, Jacqueline. The Books of Elsewhere: The Shadows. Dial Books for Young Readers, 2010. ISBN 978-0803734401. Ages 9-12.


Olive is just an average girl (with above-average parents), but when her family moves into the old McMartin home she discovers a house full of mystery and adventure. After finding an old pair of spectacles, she soon realizes that they enable her to enter any painting in the house. But the fun does not last long as she begins to recognize a sinister darkness about the paintings, and a tragic tale for those trapped within them. With the help of the house’s guardians—three cats named Horatio, Leopold and Harvey—and a boy named Morton, Olive fights to release the paintings and their inhabitants from the evil clutches of old man McMartin.