Scab is determined to prove once and for all that his perfect classmate Missy "Never Missy" Malone is really an alien in disguise. So when Missy decides to run for class president Scab throws his hat into the ring. When Scab decides to focus on wild stunts to win the popular vote will Missy beat him at his own game?
From the Pulitzer Prize-winner Oscar Hijuelos comes a novel about identity, circumstance, and a way in which we all struggle to accept our true selves. In gritty, clear prose, Dark Dude captures New York City in the 1960s-violent, decaying, slouching away from the American dream-and brings to life a character who has no choice but to head out west in search of something better. But, when Rico and his ex-druggie friend arrive in Wisconsin, they discover that picket-fenced apple-pie people can be just as violent and judgmental as the neighbors they left behind. No longer an outsider by appearances, Rico is forced to swallow an uncomfortable truth: he is still an outsider.
"Dark Dude's journey toward self-discovery is a compelling read. Today's teens will be thrilled to discover a voice as authentic and accomplished as Oscar Hijuelos's" -Ellen Hopkins, New York Times best-selling author of Crank and Glass
Marty McGuire would rather spend recess catching frogs in the pond than playing dress up with the other girls in third grade. So when her teacher casts Marty as the princess in the class play, Marty's absolutely, positively sure that there's been a huge mistake. But after a special lesson in the art of improvisation, Marty comes up with her OWN plan to IMPROVE the play: Why use stuffed animal frog onstage when a live one would be so much better? In the end, Marty's one of a kind performance makes for an unforgettable show. Maybe a tomboy princess CAN live happily ever after, after all!
When D Foster walks into Neeka and her best friend's lives, their world opens up. D doesn't have a "real" mom constantly telling her what to do, and the girls envy her independence. But D wants nothing more than to feel connected, and the three girls form a tight bond-and a passion for the music of Tupac Shakur. D's the one who understands Tupac's songs best, and through her, his lyrics become more personal for all of them.
After Tupac is shot the first time, the girls are awed by how he comes back stronger than ever. And seeing how Tupac keeps on keeping on helps when Neeka's brother is wrongly sent to jail and D's absent mom keeps disappointing. But by the time Tupac is shot again, the girls have turned thirteen and everything's changed, except their belief in finding their Big Purpose.
Newbery Honor winner Jacqueline Woodson's compelling and inspiring story shows us how music touches our lives, how much life can be lived in a short time, and how all-too-brief connections can touch us to the core and remain a part of us forever.
Along the Arctic Circle lies a small island called Neversink, whose jagged cliffs and ice-gouged rocks are home to a colony of odd-looking seabirds called auks, including one Lockley J. Puffin. With their oceanfront views and plentiful supply of fish, the auks have few concerns-few, save for Lockley's two best friends, Egbert and Ruby, a know-it-all walrus and a sharp-tongued hummingbird.
But all of this is about to change. Rozbell, the newly crowned king of the Owl Parliament, is dealing with a famine on the mainland of Tytonia-and he has long had his scheming eyes on the small colony to the north. Now Neversink's independence hangs in the balance. An insurgence of owls will inevitably destroy life as the auks know it-unless Lockley can do something about it.
When Penny receives a surprise box in the mail from Gram, she is thrilled. The surprise is a doll, and she is absolutely perfect, from her head to her toes. Penny loves her immediately. She introduces her new doll to Mama and to the babies and to Papa. But then Papa asks what the doll's name is, and Penny realizes that she doesn't know.
What do you think will happen?
Explore how the universe began-and thwart evil along the way-in this cosmic adventure from Stephen and Lucy Hawking that includes a graphic novel.
George has problems. He has twin baby sisters at home who demand his parents' attention. His beloved pig Freddy has been exiled to a farm, where he's miserable. And worst of all, his best friend, Annie, has made a new friend whom she seems to like more than George.
So George jumps at the chance to help Eric with his plans to run a big experiment in Switzerland that seeks to explore the earliest moment of the universe. But there is a conspiracy afoot, and a group of evildoers is planning to sabotage the experiment. A mysterious message from George's old nemesis, Reeper, brings shocking new information, but whose side is Reeper really on? And can George repair his friendship with Annie and piece together the clues before Eric's experiment is destroyed forever?
This engaging adventure features essays by Professor Stephen Hawking and other eminent physicists about the origins of the universe and ends with a twenty-page graphic novel that explains how the Big Bang happened-in reverse!
The Bears are on a steam train trip across Bear Country. Mama and Papa enjoy the scenery, but the cubs want to learn about the train. If they are lucky, Grizzly Jones might let them blow the whistle. Woo-hoo!
Beginning readers will feel like they are on board with the Bear family as they pass new sights and find out all about how the train runs.
Benny Kaminsky and Thunderbolt Dobney lead a rag-tag gang of neighborhood rowdies. Their territory is the New Cut on London's South Bank-a place bristling with swindlers, bookies, pickpockets, and the occasional policeman. And their aim is to solve crimes.
When counterfeit coins start showing up in their neighborhood, Thunderbolt fears his own father may be behind the crime. But his friends devise a way to trap the real culprit. Then the gang takes on the case of some stolen silver. They have just two clues-a blob of wax, and an unusually long match. But even this slippery thief is unmasked by the determined kids of the New Cut.
Filled with silly sleuthing, improbable disguises, crazy ruses, and merry mayhem, these stories are action-packed romps from one of the best storytellers ever-Philip Pullman.
