Kid Culture features fun and educational books and toys for children.

“The Eighth Day”

by Dianne K. Salerni

What if you had an extra day during the week to do anything you wanted? Now imagine if you couldn’t find any other people on that extra day. When this happens to 13-year-old Jax, he wonders if zombies are taking over or if the world is ending. With the help of his guardian, Riley, Jax discovers he is a transitioner, a part of a group that experiences the eighth day, a day between Wednesday and Thursday. Slowly the true mysteries of his past and future life are brought to light. He learns how he is tied to the descendants of King Arthur and Merlin. When a group of people want to destroy the normal seven-day world, will Jax have the power to save everyone from the destruction? The adventure begins. Salerni creates the first book of a new series with the perfect balance of fantasy and adventure. This chapter book is filled with new magical surprises and powerful characters. Children ages 9 and older will look forward to reading the next book in the series, “The Inquisitor’s Mark.”

“Project Jackalope”

by Emily Ecton

Jeremy lives in a quiet apartment building where everything is pretty normal. Until … he arrives home from school and finds a package left on his bed from his quirky neighbor, Professor Twitchett. He looks inside and sees two eyes staring back at him. It’s a jackalope. A mythical creature alive and blinking back at him in his room.

Where is Professor Twitchett and why are men in suits asking questions and looking for him? With help from his neighbor, Agatha, Jeremy hides the jackalope in a Dora the Explorer suitcase, and the action-packed adventure begins. Ecton creates a lively chapter book for ages 9 and older, filled with intriguing characters, science experiments and humor.

— Recommendations from Paige Bentley-Flannery, community librarian from Deschutes Public Library