Is it possible to start afresh when you're thoroughly weighted down? Seventeen pounds. That's the difference between Abigail Walker and Kristen Gorzca. Between chubby and slim, between teased and taunting. Abby is fine with her body and sick of seventeen pounds making her miserable, so she speaks out against Kristen and her groupies--and becomes officially unpopular. Embracing her new status, Abby heads to an abandoned lot across the street and crosses an unfamiliar stream that leads her to a boy who's as different as they come. Anders is home-schooled, and while he's worried that Abby's former friends are out to get her, he's even more worried about his dad, a war veteran home from Iraq who is dangerously disillusioned with life. But if his dad can finish his poem about the expedition of Lewis and Clark, if he can effectively imagine what it is to experience freshness and innocence, maybe he will be okay. As Abby dives into the unexpected role as research assistant, she just as unexpectedly discovers that by helping someone else find hope in the world, there is plenty there for herself, as well.
From Clementine author Sara Pennypacker, this is a poignant middle-grade novel about two foster children who must find a way to work together in order to survive.
Eleven-year-old Stella misses her (unreliable) mom, but she loves it at great-aunt Louise’s house. Louise lives on Cape Cod, where Stella hopes her mom will someday come and settle down. The only problem? Angel, the foster kid Louise has taken in. The two girls live together but there’s no way they’ll ever be friends.
Then Louise suddenly passes away one morning—and Stella and Angel decide not to tell anyone. Now they have to depend on each other for survival. Now they are forced to trust each other with the biggest secret ever.
With great empathy and humor, Sara Pennypacker tells the story of two very different girls who unexpectedly become each other’s true family.
I'll bet every great thinker and leader we've got Could see all kinds of things other people could not!
Billy is a small boy with a big imagination.
Mr. Booth is a serious teacher with a strict lesson plan.
When the irresistible force of Billy's unrestrained creativity meets the immovable object of Mr. Booth's fixed worldview, one thing is obvious: someone is going to learn a lot this school year!
The irrepressible Billy, star of the New York Times bestselling When I Grow Up, returns in an uproarious back-to-school tale from the uniquely inspired "Weird Al" Yankovic. Dazzling wordplay and sparkling rhyme combine in this appreciation of the rewards of unabashed originality and the special joy of viewing the world gently askew.
Andrew Bean might be a part of h.e.r.o., a secret organization for the training of superhero sidekicks, but that doesn't mean that life is all leaping tall buildings in single bounds. First, there's Drew's power: Possessed of super senses,his hearing, sight, taste, touch, and smell are the most powerful on the planet,he's literally the most sensitive kid in school. There's his superhero mentor, a former legend who now spends more time straddling barstools than fighting crime. And then there's his best friend, Jenna,their friendship would be complicated enough if she weren't able to throw a Volkswagen the length of a city block. Add in trying to keep his sidekick life a secret from everyone, including his parents, and the truth is clear: Middle school is a drag even with superpowers.
But this is all before a supervillain long thought dead returns to the city of Justicia, superheroes begin disappearing at an alarming rate, and Drew's two identities threaten to crash head-on into each other. Drew has always found it pretty easy to separate right from wrong, good from evil. It's what a superhero does. But what happens when that line starts to disappear?
In order to support her family and maintain their ancient castle in Lesser Hoo, seventeen-year-old Althea bears the burden of finding a wealthy suitor who can remedy their financial problems.
When Macadoo is just a colt, he challenges his father, a huge Belgian stallion, in order to protect his mother and the rest of the herd. From that moment on, Mac knows that his purpose in life is to help and serve others however he can. Though Macadoo endures much adversity — leaving the only home he’s ever known, being separated from his dam, and surviving an auction that for many horses is their final stop before the slaughterhouse — he finds the courage to “walk on” through even the most difficult circumstances. And he eventually finds a sense of home and good companions, first with Izzy, Poppa, and their mules, then at the Maury River Stables, where he learns to teach children therapeutic riding and vaulting. Told from Macadoo’s point of view and featuring beloved characters from Chancey of the Maury River, this is a story that horse lovers will cherish.
Having narrowly escaped a pack of vicious wolves, canine heroes Max, Rocky, and Gizmo are happy to find a moment of peace as they travel down the mighty river. Soon, the trio come across a lavish boat moored close to shore. They're wary of facing another community of dogs, but when they climb on board, they discover that things are different on this ship. These dogs aren't like the power-hungry ones they've encountered in the past. Food is plentiful and rationed fairly. Plus . . . they've seen humans, who Max, Rocky, and Gizmo thought had disappeared without a trace.
The brave companions meet new friends and encounter old enemies in their search for the humans while they travel to places they never imagined -- from a high-speed monorail to a zoo filled with exotic animals. Max, Rocky, and Gizmo uncover secrets that promise to change their lives forever as they draw closer to figuring out why the humans left and being reunited with their families.
The Last Dogs: Dark Waters is the second audiobook in a thrilling series about three unlikely friends on an epic quest to find their people -- and bring them home.
Hadley Bishop uses magic for her own means--a designer closet full of no repeat outfits, beauty spells, influence in the popular crowd--and she likes it that way. After all, witchcraft has come a long way since Salem, where innocent people were routinely hunted down and put to death. Except some of the people who died in the Salem Witch Trials were actual witches (like Hadley's ancestor Bridget), and some of their accusers were witches too (a coven run by the Parrish family). To Hadley though, that's ancient history. She lives firmly in the present--though she has been having the strangest reoccurring dreams about Bridget and her daughter.
Out of nowhere, the past catches up to the present. The adults from Hadley's coven are magically attacked and they all disappear. Now, Hadley must lead the young members of the Cleri, teaching them about spellcraft and defense, to avenge their elders and rescue whoever's left. If only that hot guy who's been shadowing her weren't so distracting. He definitely has plenty of secrets of his own, not to mention a bit of magic. But whose side is he on? Can Hadley trust her magic--and her heart--to guide her coven to victory over the Parrishables?
The Cruisers are in trouble — again. The freedom of expression they’ve enjoyed by publishing their own school newspaper, The Cruiser, has spread all the way to England, where kids from a school “across the pond” are now contributors to their own school’s most talked-about publication. When photos start to go alongside the articles written by kids, things get suspicious. Zander, Kambui, LaShonda, Bobbi — and a bunch of students from Harlem’s Da Vinci Academy and London’s Phoenix School — come to learn that words and pictures in a newspaper don’t always tell the whole story. With his signature on-point dialogue and smart characters, award-winning author Walter Dean Myers delivers another awesome book about the Cruisers, a group of middle-school misfits who are becoming the coolest kids in the city.
I'm obsessed with abandoned things.' Siena's obsession began a year and a half ago, around the time her two-year-old brother Lucca stopped talking. Now Mom and Dad are moving the family from Brooklyn to Maine hoping that it will mean a whole new start for Lucca and Siena. She soon realizes that their wonderful old house on the beach holds secrets. When Siena writes in her diary with an old pen she found in her closet, the pen writes its own story, of Sarah and Joshua, a brother and sister who lived in the same house during World War II. As the two stories unfold, amazing parallels begin to appear, and Siena senses that Sarah and Joshua's story might contain the key to unlocking Lucca's voice.
The last thing Mason Starling remembers is the train crossing a bridge. An explosion . . . a blinding light . . . then darkness. Now she is alone, stranded in Asgard,the realm of Norse legend,and the only way for her to get home is to find the Spear of Odin, a powerful relic left behind by vanished gods.
The Fennrys Wolf knows all about Asgard. He was once trapped there. And he'll do whatever it takes to find the girl who's stolen his heart and bring her back,even if it means a treacherous descent into the Underworld. But time is running out, and Fenn knows something Mason doesn't: If she takes up the Spear, she'll set in motion a terrible prophecy. And she won't just return to her world . . . she'll destroy it.
In this pulse-pounding sequel to Starling, Lesley Livingston delivers another electrifying blend of nonstop action and undeniable romance that will leave readers breathless.
Lesley Livingston
is a writer and actress living in Toronto. She has a master's degree in English from the University of Toronto, where she specialized in Arthurian literature and Shakespeare. She is the author of Starling, the first book in a darkly romantic series set against the backdrop of Manhattan and Norse mythology. Lesley has also written Wondrous Strange, which won the Canadian Librarian Association Young Adult Book Award in addition to being a White Pine Honor Book, as well as Darklight and Tempestuous.
