Eleven-year-old orphan Anne Shirley has red hair, a vivid imagination and cannot stop talking. Quite a shock for old Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert who wanted a boy to help them on the farm... Anne is soon the talk of the town with her funny ways and endless adventures, but it is not long before she has won the hearts of everyone. This classic story is set in Canada at the beginning of the twentieth century and is one of the most enduring favourites of children's literature.
When the naïve David Balfour sets out on his quest for a long-lost relative, a terrifying chain of events is set in motion. He is plunged into a world of infamy and violence from which there seems no escape, until, that is, he meets the enigmatic and valiant Highlander, Alan Breck.
Sixth-grader Julie MacNeil likes things at her house just the way they are. She takes care of her widowed father and her little sister. She shops, cleans, and cooks fine meals like baked potatoes, cold cereal, and chocolate ice cream for them. Julie's only wish is to be goalie of her school's soccer team. Her competition for goalie is Benji True-and he's good. But when Julie learns that her father has fallen in love with Benji's mother, suddenly Benji is her competition off the soccer field, too. How can she keep life at home from changing? Susan Shreve has written many award-winning books for young readers. She has won a Booklist Editor's Choice award and is a lead writer for the Knopf and Scholastic publishing houses. In The Goalie, Julie's fierce devotion to her father and to her role of caretaker is portrayed sensitively and poignantly. Narrator Alyssa Bresnahan's soft, expressive voice perfectly captures the spirit of this determined young girl.
In a hilarious sequel to No Dogs Allowed, Jason and Edward Fraser encounter a new set of adventures. From girlfriends to Halloween ghouls, from baseball to baby rats, the brothers find surprises at every turn in Rats! As Jason enters fourth grade, he begins to think girls are okay, until he gets caught in a tricky rating game. Meanwhile Edward, now in first grade, is trying hard to keep his eyes open when he swings at the softball, to laugh instead of cry in the spooky neighborhood haunted house, and to keep cool when his pet rat, Spike, has a litter of tiny pink babies. This collection of five stories is full of the fun and high spirits that attract young readers to all of Jane Cutler's books. Jason and Edward dodge the pitfalls of growing up-with the help of their good-humored parents-and still have time to contemplate some of life's larger issues, like where the escalator stairs go when they reach the top.
Twelve-year-old Trevor Frederick Ackerman can't stand another summer with his confusing tangle of stepparents, stepbrothers, and stepsisters. So instead, his mother sends him to a remote area of New England to stay with two elderly aunts. As the plane takes off, Freddie feels everything familiar slip away. Despite his initial fears, he finds that he is comfortable in the eccentric aunts' rambling house. Soon, he has made a new friend in the nearby village and, in a mysterious book, he discovers something surprising and wonderful. Hadley Irwin, also author of Kim/Kimi is really the popular writing team of Lee Hadley and Ann Irwin. Together, they create stories that explore the changes young people face as they move into adulthood. The Original Freddie Ackerman, filled with gentle wit, was chosen by School Library Journal as a Best Book.
In a sloping corner of New Jersey, where the Pennsylvania mountains rise in the blue distance, there is a valley called Jenny's Corner. Every fall since 1856, the men who live there protect the valley from hunters until the season is over. Who was Jenny? She was a nine-year-old girl who loved, fed and protected the deer who lived in the forests near her home. But when she learned that others would destroy these gentle creatures, she was willing to give up everything to stop the guns. Jenny's Corner is a New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year, and has touched the hearts of children everywhere. This poignant tale teaches quiet, simple lessons about love, change, and one small girl's courage.
In 1905, ten-year-old Lavina Cumming hugs her father good-bye and boards a train headed north. She is leaving her father, her five brothers, and her ranch in Arizona Territory to live with her rich aunt in California. With warmth and charm, award-winning author Susan Lowell paints a unique portrait of life in historic California. I Am Lavina Cumming blends adventure, friendship, and southwestern lore into a delightful story that will win the hearts of young listeners everywhere.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is the story of a boy's adventures growing up in a small town on the banks of the Mississippi river over a hundred years ago. The cheerful, adventurous hero plays truant to form a pirate band and, together with his best friend, Huckleberry Finn, finds fun and excitement, and buried treasure, along the shores of the great river.
"You never can do anything except on weekends," Simone complained. "How can people be friends only on weekends?" Stiffening, Franny said, "If you don't want to be friends, Simone, then all right." Threatened, as she so often was, with tears, Franny, as she usually did, fought them back. "See if I care," she said airily. Franny does care-a lot. But what can she do? Her mother works long hours at the laundromat, and her father can't seem to hold down a regular job. And who is going to clean the house and look after 4-year-old Marshall? It all falls on Franny's shoulders. But Franny will suffer any indignity-even her shabby clothes and not having enough lunch money-if her best friend Simone is on her side. But lately, Simone keeps taking about dopey rich Lila, and all the free time she has to play. How can Franny and Simone be friends if they never see each other?
The wallpaper above Anatole's bed is dotted with islands and shepherds and small boats decorated with roses. While gazing at the figures one afternoon, Anatole is sucked into the wallpaper itself. Includes the stories Gospel Train and The Wise Soldier of Sellebak.
