Amazon’s monthly list of featured Kindle books priced at $3.99 or less includes titles for kids and teens. For example:
The Secret Zoo (4.5/5 stars, ages 9 and up, priced at $1.99 this month only) – From Amazon:
Something strange is happening at the Clarksville City Zoo. Late at night, monkeys are scaling the walls and searching the neighborhood—but what are they looking for?
Noah, his sister Megan, and their best friends, Richie and Ella, live next door to the zoo. Megan is the first to notice the puzzling behavior of some of the animals. One day Megan disappears, and her brother and their friends realize it’s up to them to find her. Their only choice is to follow a series of clues and sneak into the zoo. But once inside, will they discover there’s much more to the Clarksville City Zoo than they could ever have guessed?
Dear Bully: Seventy Authors Tell Their Stories (4.5/5 stars, ages 12 and up, priced at $2.99 this month only) – From Amazon:
You are not alone.
Discover how Lauren Kate transformed the feeling of that one mean girl getting under her skin into her first novel, how Lauren Oliver learned to celebrate ambiguity in her classmates and in herself, and how R.L. Stine turned being the “funny guy” into the best defense against the bullies in his class.
Today’s top authors for teens come together to share their stories about bullying—as silent observers on the sidelines of high school, as victims, and as perpetrators—in a collection at turns moving and self-effacing, but always deeply personal.
Cold Cereal (4/5 stars, ages 8 and up, priced at $1.99 this month only) – From Amazon:
Cold Cereal Facts
Adventure 75%
Diabolical Schemes 40%
Danger 57%
Legend 20%
Magic 68%
Humor 93%
Puzzles 35%
Mystery 49%Not a significant source of vampires. May contain nuts. Daily values based on individual interest. Reader’s estimation of value may be higher or lower, depending on your tolerance for this sort of thing.
A Crooked Kind of Perfect (4.5/5 stars, ages 8 and up, Whispersync for Voice enabled, priced at $2.99 this month only) – From Amazon:
Ten-year-old Zoe Elias has perfect piano dreams. She can practically feel the keys under her flying fingers; she can hear the audience’s applause. All she needs is a baby grand so she can start her lessons, and then she’ll be well on her way to Carnegie Hall.
But when Dad ventures to the music store and ends up with a wheezy organ instead of a piano, Zoe’s dreams hit a sour note. Learning the organ versions of old TV theme songs just isn’t the same as mastering Beethoven on the piano. And the organ isn’t the only part of Zoe’s life that’s off-kilter, what with Mom constantly at work, Dad afraid to leave the house, and that odd boy, Wheeler Diggs, following her home from school every day.
Yet when Zoe enters the annual Perform-O-Rama organ competition, she finds that life is full of surprises–and that perfection may be even better when it’s just a little off center.
Chrysanthemum (4.5/5 stars, ages 4 and up, priced at $3.99 this month only) – From Amazon:
Until Chrysanthemum started kindergarten, she believed her parents when they said her name was perfect. But on the first day of school, Chrysanthemum begins to suspect that her name is far less than perfect, especially when her class dissolves into giggles upon hearing her name read aloud. That evening, Chrysanthemum’s parents try to piece her self-esteem back together again with comfort food and a night filled “with hugs, kisses, and Parcheesi.” But the next day Victoria, a particularly observant and mean-spirited classmate, announces that Chrysanthemum’s name takes up 13 letters. “That’s half the letters in the alphabet!” she adds. Chrysanthemum wilts. Pretty soon the girls are making playground threats to “pluck” Chrysanthemum and “smell her.”
Kevin Henkes has great compassion for the victims of childhood teasing and cruelties–using fresh language, endearing pen-and-ink mouse characters, and realistic dialogue to portray real-life vulnerability…ALA Notable Book, School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, Horn Book Fanfare Honor List. (Ages 4 to 8) –Gail Hudson
Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick (4/5 stars, ages 12 and up, priced at $3.99 this month only) – From Amazon:
Ferris Bueller meets La Femme Nikita in this funny, action-packed young adult novel. It’s prom night—and Perry just wants to stick to his own plan and finally play a much anticipated gig with his band in the Big Apple. But when his mother makes him take Gobija Zaksauskas—their quiet, geeky Lithuanian exchange student—to the prom, he never expects that his ordinary high school guy life will soon turn on its head. Perry finds that Gobi is on a mission, and Perry has no other choice but to go along for a reckless ride through Manhattan’s concrete grid with a trained assassin in Dad’s red Jag.
Infused with capers, car chases, heists, hits, henchmen, and even a bear fight, this story mixes romance, comedy, and tragedy in a true teen coming-of-age adventure—and it’s not over until it’s “au revoir.”