Kevin Spencer is a family man. He’s the glue that holds his family together. When wacky Uncle Will announces he’s getting married in the backyard and an aunt decides to make it a double wedding, Kevin takes charge. Planning two weddings is a great way to impress his girlfriend, Tina Zabinski, the Most Beautiful and Best-Smelling Girl in the World. But as more and more relatives come to stay, things spiral out of control. And not even Kev knows what to do about the thwarted love of his cat, Teddy, for Athena, Uncle Will’s bear-sized dog…. Tying the knot has Kevin tied up in knots in Gary Paulsen’s laugh-out-loud story. The Spencer house is about to burst—but too much family turns out to be just the right amount of fun.
This gem of a novel takes place in Pittsburgh in 1952. Franny Katzenback, while recovering from polio, reads and falls in love with the brand-new book Charlotte’s Web. Bored and lonely and yearning for a Charlotte of her own, Franny starts up a correspondence with an eloquent flea named Fleabrain who lives on her dog’s tail. While Franny struggles with physical therapy and feeling left out of her formerly active neighborhood life, Fleabrain is there to take her on adventures based on his extensive reading. It’s a touching, funny story set in the recent past, told with Rocklin’s signature wit and thoughtfulness.
Pennyroyal Academy: Seeking bold, courageous youths to become tomorrow's princesses and knights..Come one, come all!
A girl from the forest arrives in a bustling kingdom with no name and no idea why she is there, only to find herself at the center of a world at war. She enlists at Pennyroyal Academy, where princesses and knights are trained to battle the two great menaces of the day: witches and dragons. There, given the name "Evie," she must endure a harsh training regimen under the steel glare of her Fairy Drillsergeant, while also navigating an entirely new world of friends and enemies. As Evie learns what it truly means to be a princess, she realizes surprising things about herself and her family, about human compassion and inhuman cruelty. And with the witch forces moving nearer, she discovers that the war between princesses and witches is much more personal than she could ever have imagined.
Set in Grimm's fairytale world, M.A. Larson's Pennyroyal Academy masterfully combines adventure, humor, and magical mischief.
Meet Daisy Bauer and her sometimes best friend, Graham, who are determined to break Daisy's dad out of prison in this hilarious middle-grade debut.
No one believes her, but Daisy Bauer knows her dad has been wrongfully imprisoned and that it's up to her to break him out of jail (aka Club Fed). She has a plan that she's calling the Graham Cracker Plot because it was all Graham's idea. She just needs a miniature horse, a getaway truck, and a penny from 1919—the idea coin.
This funny, nail-biter of a novel is about friendship and admitting you're wrong. Debut novelist Shelley Tougas balances humor and warmth against themes of family, broken trust, and unconditional love against all odds.
Eleven-year-old Kieran wants to be part of the “in” group at school. He wants to be on the soccer team. He wants to fit in. But then his weird cousin Bon shows up, both at school and at home. Bon’s mom hasn’t taken good care of him, and with his long braid, babyish hand-knit hat, and funny voice, he doesn’t fit in. Bon doesn’t play sports; instead, he likes to draw imaginary maps and write stories about “Bon the Crusader” and “Kieran the Brave.” No wonder the boys call him Rapunzel and bully him! Even more irritating, Bon’s only friend is the other new kid, a cool girl named Julia who wears cowboy boots and has a confidence that fascinates Kieran. What could she and Bon possibly have in common? When the bullying starts to go too far, will Kieran stand up and do the right thing—even if it means losing the only friends he has?
Amelia Bedelia's mother is feeling blue, so she decides to head to town for lunch and a little shopping. Amelia Bedelia is having a playdate of her own, and she decides to make her mom feel better. How? By covering the driveway, house, and garage with colorful chalk pictures. Amelia Bedelia and her friends draw everything her mom loves best, including flowers, shops, and a happy portrait. The result? Well, chalk one up for Amelia Bedelia! Those beautiful chalk pictures are a gift Amelia Bedelia's mother will never, ever forget.
Amelia Bedelia discovers that a little kindness can go a long way in this funny and easy-to-read book that is just right for beginning readers.
Fancy Nancy loves fall, the fashion, the weather, and especially the colors of the leaves! As Fancy Nancy helps Mom and Dad rake up, she gets a stupendous idea to do something unique with the most beautiful leaves she has found.
Join Nancy as she celebrates the changing of the seasons in this storybook adventure, complete with a fabulous set of stickers!
"You be me . . . And I'll be you."
Ellie spent the summer before seventh grade getting dropped by her best friend since forever. Jack spent it training in "The Cage" with his tough-as-nails brothers and hard-to-please dad. By the time middle school starts, they're both ready for a change. And just as Jack's thinking girls have it so easy, Ellie's wishing she could be anyone but herself.
Then, BAM! They swap lives, and bodies!
Now Jack's fending off mean girls at sleepover parties, while Ellie's reigning as The Prince of Thatcher Middle School.
As their crazy weekend races on, and their feelings for each other grow, Ellie and Jack begin to wonder if maybe the best way to learn how to be yourself is to spend a little time being somebody else.
Escape one danger. Jump into another. . . .
Twelve-year-old Hope has always felt a little different from everyone else who lives in White Rock. She tries hard, but she doesn’t always think before she acts. She takes big risks. Sometimes her risks pay off, but sometimes they fail. Sometimes she fails.
Hope knows that the most dangerous thing about living in White Rock is that it’s so close to the deadly Bomb’s Breath—the invisible, fifteen-foot-thick band of compressed air that’s hovered over the earth since the Green Bombs of World War III. The citizens of White Rock live in fear of the Bomb’s Breath. Only Hope has figured out a way to go through it—and lived to tell the tale.
But when a massive tremor rips across the earth, the Bomb’s Breath begins to lower over White Rock. It’s up to Hope and her friends Brock and Aaren to make the dangerous journey far from home, across the bandit-ridden Forbidden Flats to the wilds of the Rocky Mountains, and obtain the one thing that may be able to stop it—before the Bomb’s Breath sinks too far and destroys them all. This time, Hope can’t fail.
There's a murderer on the loose—but that doesn't stop the girls of St. Etheldreda's from attempting to hide the death of their headmistress in this rollicking farce.
The students of St. Etheldreda's School for Girls face a bothersome dilemma. Their irascible headmistress, Mrs. Plackett, and her surly brother, Mr. Godding, have been most inconveniently poisoned at Sunday dinner. Now the school will almost certainly be closed and the girls sent home—unless these seven very proper young ladies can hide the murders and convince their neighbors that nothing is wrong.
Julie Berry's The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place is a smart, hilarious Victorian romp, full of outrageous plot twists, mistaken identities, and mysterious happenings.
From Newbery Medalist Cynthia Voigt, Book II in the exciting adventures of Mister Max—12-year-old detective in disguise.
In Mister Max: The Book of Lost Things, Max Starling proved that he is more than a detective, he’s a Solutioneer. His reputation for problem-solving has been spreading—and now even the mayor wants his help.
Someone is breaking windows and setting fires in the old city, but the shopkeepers won’t say a word about the culprits. Why are they keeping these thugs’ secrets?
When the mayor begs for help, Max agrees to take the case, putting himself in grave danger. It’s a race to catch up with the vandals before they catch him.
Meanwhile, Max is protecting secrets of his own. His parents are still missing, and the cryptic messages he gets from them make it clear—it’s going to be up to Max to rescue them.
Can the Solutioneer handle cases this big?
Praise for Mister Max: The Book of Lost Things
“An endearing, memorable protagonist and a clever plot make this a winner.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred
