The great news: The prize is $1 million! With it, 13-year-old Whisper Nelson could buy jewelry, clothes, and pay for college. She could even send her sister to college! To win, she must kick a goal past a professional soccer player. The bad news: She hates sports--all sports--with a passion! After her infamous soccer goal four years ago, to the other team's advantage, Whisper vowed to never play sports again.
Afraid of, yet again, looking like a total failure in front of a crowd of people, Whisper has a tough choice to make. Will she try the kick? Dan Gutman not only succeeds in writing an exciting play-by-play sports story, but also captures the essence of middle-school life. Narrator Christina Moore scores big with the right mix of emotions--from insecurity to confidence--from loss to victory.
Meg Cabot, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Airhead novels, offers up this second exciting installment in her Abandon trilogy. In Underworld, John Hayden is holding 17-year-old Pierce Oliviera captive in the world between heaven and hell-supposedly to keep her safe from the vengeful Furies. But Furies aren't the only danger in this ominous place. Somehow, Pierce has got to find a way to escape-before she's trapped there forever.
Harold Schernoff, fourteen-year-old science whiz and social outcast, has a theory to solve every problem, from dating to dealing with bullies, to making money, to playing sports, to buying a car when you're underage.
Want to learn to ski? Try:
Mass x acceleration x slope of hill = EEEEEAAGGHHH!
Here's another surefire formula:
Golf balls + car = BANG!
Science turns slapstick when Harold and his buddy team up to test Schernoff's Discoveries.
Only Harold could mastermind such a disastrous first date. Only Harold could go fishing and get caught by the fish. And only Gary Paulsen, one of today's most popular authors for young people, could write such a wonderfully funny novel about friendship.
The race is on between railroad worker, Mighty John Henry, and a drilling machine, as both drill through a mountain to make way for the railroad. Find out who wins in this fun, colorful story that recants the adventures of this former slave.
Raised by coyotes, Pecos Bill, the rootinest, tootinest, rip-snortinest cowboy of all time is about to meet his match in this story, which also features an amazing woman who rides catfish and a horse named Widowmaker.
The Pledge of Allegiance: Poem of Patriotism is a story of some students who are struggling with the meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance. Even though they say it everyday, they are not quite sure what they are saying. With the help of their teachers and parents, the children soon learn what the pledge means and what it symbolizes about freedom in America.
The grasshopper makes music all summer long while the ants find and store food. The grasshopper laughs at them and tells them to play instead. The ants warn the grasshopper that winter is coming. They keep on working. When winter does come, the ants are warm and well fed. The grasshopper is cold and hungry. What will become of the grasshopper?
It is time to pay taxes to the king, but all that Joseph and his mother have to offer him is a goose. They were told that the goose is magical and lays golden eggs. But they never see a single golden egg—until they give the goose to the king. In the king’s luxury, the goose begins to lay the precious eggs. But the goose has many demands of the king. She must have everything she wants in order to keep laying golden eggs. The greedy king agrees. Does the king pay too high a price? Will he be able to meet the needs of the goose? Or, will he learn that enough is enough?
This story tells the story of a hardworking hen in the company of selfish friends who are only motivated to assist her when the fresh-from-the-oven smell of warm bread seeps into the air.
Tortoise and Hare live in the woods with all their animal friends. Hare loves to hop and run very fast. It always boasts that it is the fastest and best in the woods. The other animals know that Hare is fast. But they think Hare’s boasting is annoying. Tortoise decides to do something about it. Tortoise challenges Hare to a race. Hare thinks the challenge is silly. Can slow-and-steady Tortoise beat faster-than-fast Hare?
This story allows students to travel back in time to when the Declaration of Independence was written. They will experience the thoughts and feelings of the writers as they create a document that changed the world.
A traveler wrapped in a cloak walks down a lonely road. The north wind and the sun watch from above the traveler. They wonder which of them is more powerful than the other. The wind and sun make a bet to see who can get the traveler to remove the cloak. They both try their best. The wind blows with a truly powerful force. But what can the sun do? Can it win the bet by being the first to make the traveler remove the cloak?
