Middle Grade Fiction

State Award Lists

Maine Student Book Award

Texas Lonestar Award

Washington Sasquatch Award

Florida Sunshine State Young Readers Award

Cool Beans: The Further Adventures
of Beanboy

Crystal Kite Award finalist

This sequel to The Adventures of Beanboy combines comic illustrations, a small-town bully facing off against a budding artist, and a rousing, decisive game of dodge ball.

Harkrader’s newest underdog story has strong pacing and is filled with a memorable cast of adolescent eccentrics...the pursuit of individual creativity while recognizing the benefits of teamwork leads to an eminently satisfying conclusion.

Kirkus

Perfect for kids transitioning between graphic novel and traditional books, this funny and action-packed story follows the quirky but likable Tucker MacBean in his quest to make art—and himself—seem cool in seventh grade.

272 pages, Ages 9–12

Hardcover ISBN: 978-0544039049

Paperback ISBN: 978-0544540699

Also available as an eBook

Beanboy Honors

Kansas Notable Book

Cybils Award Finalist

State Award

Lists

William Allen White Award

Florida Sunshine State Young Readers Award

Maine Student Book Award

Nebraska Golden Sower Award

Oklahoma Sequoyah Book Award

South Carolina Children’s Book Award

South Dakota Prairie Pasque Award

Washington Sasquatch Award

The Adventures of Beanboy

     Harkrader has created superb
     characters... Fans of Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants or Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid books will embrace Tucker and his winsome, quirky friends and schoolmates.

School Library Journal
starred review

Never underestimate the power of the bean!

Tucker MacBean has been drawing comic books almost as long as he’s been reading them. When his favorite comic has a contest for kids, he thinks he has finally found a way to fix his family—all he has to do is create the winning superhero sidekick. He begins drawing Beanboy—the first comic book character to truly harness the power of the bean for good. He is strong, he is relentless, and he can double in size overnight (if given enough water).

The Adventures of Beanboy is about looking past conventional ideas of strength to find your own superpower.

240 pages, Ages 9–12

Hardcover ISBN: 978-0547550787

Paperback ISBN: 978-0544540736

Also available as an eBook

      Airball
      Honors

William Allen White
Medal

Kansas Notable Book

Friends of American
Writers Literary Award

Thorpe Menn Finalist

Junior Library Guild Selection

NY Public Library Best Books for the TeenAge

Bank Street College Best Books of the Year

Airball: My Life
in Briefs

Kirby Nickel loves basketball. He loves watching basketball. He loves talking about basketball. The only problem is
he can't play basketball.

But Coach has a plan for Kirby and the supremely untalented seventh-grade team. It involves the guys playing
nearly naked—in their briefs. Maybe
the so-called Stealth Sportswear will really inspire the team.

And maybe, just maybe, Kirby
will find out who his real father is.

 

Harkrader offers an amusing, wholly affectionate portrayal of a small-town community's devotion to basketball
and of a klutzy kid's success on the

court in spite of himself.

Booklist

208 pages, Ages 9–12

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1596430600

Paperback ISBN: 978-0312373825

Also available as an eBook

For educators:

Airball Curriculum Guide

Still available as an eBook

Nocturne

A romantic tale of vampires
and magic.

 

Ages 9–12

Photo credit: © Can Stock Photo Inc. / halfpoint © 2021 Lisa Harkrader. All rights reserved.