It is just two weeks before Christmas, and 16-year-old Leah Lewis-Hall is stuck in a hospital room. Leah is lonely and worried, but she doesn't want to trouble her honeymooning mother. When her new roommate Rebekah needs a friend, Leah forgets her own problems as she comforts the scared little Amish girl. Leah doesn't understand the Amish customs and beliefs, but she still looks forward to Rebekah's teenaged sister and brother's visits. Romantic sparks fly between Leah and brother Ethan. Then a mysterious "night nurse" whom only Leah and Rebekah can see appears to console the girls. Leah will need the support of all her friends when the doctor finally makes his diagnosis. Lurlene McDaniel's best-selling inspirational novels about teenagers facing life-altering situations captivate her many young adult fans. With narrator Kate Forbes highlighting the poignancy and romance of Leah's story, the result is a truly memorable and uplifting listening experience.
Ingrid Law delivers another heartwarming story about the magic of friendship and the power of family in this companion to her Newbery Honor winning Savvy
Gypsy Beaumont has always been a whirly-twirly free spirit, so as her thirteenth birthday approaches, she hopes to get a magical ability that will let her fly, or dance up to the stars. Instead, she wakes up on her birthday with blurry vision . . . and starts seeing flashes of the future and past. But when Momma and Poppa announce that her very un-magical, downright mean Grandma Pat has Alzheimer"s and is going to move in with them, Gypsy"s savvy-along with her family"s-suddenly becomes its opposite. Now it"s savvy mayhem as Gypsy starts freezing time, and no one could have predicted what would happen on their trip to bring Grandma Pat home . . . not even Gypsy.
With her trademark style and whimsical, beautiful language, Ingrid Law has written another wonderfully moving companion to her Newbery Honor winning Savvy.
Fans of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book will embrace this darkly funny novel that's perfect for Halloween! Crow isn't like the other kids. He stinks. He's got maggots. His body parts fall off at inopportune moments. (His mom always sews them back on, though.) And he hasn't been able to sleep in years. Not since waking up from death. But worse than the maggots is how lonely Crow feels. When Melody Plympton moves in next door, Crow can't resist the chance to finally make a friend. With Melody around he may even have a shot at getting his life back from the mysterious wish-granting creature living in the park. But first there are tests to pass. And it will mean risking the only friend he's had in years. Debut author Laurel Gale's story about friendship fulfilled may be the most moving and most macabre yet. Praise for Dead Boy A stinky, creepy tale for anyone who's ever felt like an outsider. Kirkus Reviews Gale takes readers on a dark and surprisingly funny journey. . . . A great recommendation to middle grade fans of dark humor. School Library Journal From the Hardcover edition.
Underneath the steps leading down to Eric’s basement is a hidden storage place. It’s dusty and old–nothing special at all. But when Eric, Julie, and Neal all huddle inside the gray room together, something unbelievable happens. A glittering light and then a rainbow-colored staircase appear. As the kids take their very first step down into the mysterious land of Droon, they know that only magic and adventure await them!
In this imaginative escape into enthralling new lands, World Fantasy Award finalist Kate Elliott's first young adult novel weaves an epic story of a girl struggling to do what she loves in a society suffocated by rules of class and privilege.
Jessamy's life is a balance between acting like an upper-class Patron and dreaming of the freedom of the Commoners. But away from her family she can be whoever she wants when she sneaks out to train for The Fives, an intricate, multilevel athletic competition that offers a chance for glory to the kingdom's best contenders. Then Jes meets Kalliarkos, and an unlikely friendship between two Fives competitors--one of mixed race and the other a Patron boy--causes heads to turn. When Kal's powerful, scheming uncle tears Jes's family apart, she'll have to test her new friend's loyalty and risk the vengeance of a royal clan to save her mother and sisters from certain death.
The town's annual Turkey Trot race and festival is coming up, and Judy and Stink are training to WIN. Judy has decided that SHE is going to take home the big prize: a fat, juicy turkey. She can taste it already.
Beep! Beep! Beep! That's the sound of Stink's Rapidfire Ultra XE611M25 stopwatch going off as Judy and Stink hop, crawl, and climb toward race day. But what if they don't win? Flying turkey gizzards! Will the Moody family end up starving on Thanksgiving, like ye pilgrims of olde, or will Grandma Lou cook up a tasty solution in ye olde nick of tyme?
In book two of the House of Robots series, it's 'bot brains versus 'bot brawn in an all-out war!
Sammy Hayes-Rodriguez and his "bro-bot" E are making new friends every day as E works as his bedridden sister Maddie's school proxy. But disaster strikes when E malfunctions just in time to be upstaged by the super-cool new robot on the block--and loses his ability to help Maddie. Now it's up to Sammy to figure out what's wrong with E and save his family!
Steve just wants to save his baby brother-but what will he lose in the bargain? This is a haunting gothic tale for fans of Coraline, from acclaimed author Kenneth Oppel (Silverwing, The Boundless).For some kids summer is a sun-soaked season of fun. But for Steve, it's just another season of worries. Worries about his sick newborn baby brother who is fighting to survive, worries about his parents who are struggling to cope, even worries about the wasp's nest looming ominously from the eaves. So when a mysterious wasp queen invades his dreams, offering to "fix" the baby, Steve thinks his prayers have been answered. All he has to do is say "Yes." But "yes" is a powerful word. It is also a dangerous one. And once it is uttered, can it be taken back? Celebrated author Kenneth Oppel creates an eerie masterpiece in this compelling story that explores disability and diversity, fears and dreams, and what ultimately makes a family.
The Tapper twins' scavenger hunt takes cutthroat competition to hilarious new heights!
In the follow up to The Tapper Twins Go to War, Geoff Rodkey delivers another ultra-modern comedy told as oral history with texts, screenshots and smartphone photos. When Claudia initiates a citywide scavenger hunt to raise money for charity, it's not just the twins' opposing teams that run riot. With the whole school racing to trade in sights seen for points to score front row tickets at Madison Square Garden, they may not get to the finish line with their dignity-and social lives-intact!
The book is about, among other things: the strongest boy in the world, a talking cockatoo, a faulty mind reader, a beautiful bearded lady and a nervous magician, an old museum, and a shrunken head.
Blessed with extraordinary abilities, orphans Philippa, Sam, and Thomas have grown up happily in Dumfrey's Dime Museum of Freaks, Oddities, and Wonders. But when a fourth child, Max, a knife-thrower, joins the group, it sets off an unforgettable chain of events.
When the museum's Amazonian shrunken head is stolen, the four are determined to get it back. But their search leads them to a series of murders and an explosive secret about their pasts. This sensational new series combines the unparalleled storytelling gifts of Lauren Oliver with the rich knowledge of the notorious relics collector H. C. Chester.
What you will find in this book:
A rather attractive bearded lady
Several scandalous murders
A deliciously disgusting Amazonian shrunken head
Four extraordinary children with equally extraordinary abilities
A quite loquacious talking bird
What you will NOT find in this book:
An accountant named Seymour
A never-ending line at the post office
Brussels sprouts (shudder)
A lecture on finishing all your homework on time
A sweet, gooey story for nice little girls and boys
For fans of rich and complex historical novels like Girl with a Pearl Earring or Code Name Verity, Laura Malone Elliott delivers the stunning tale of real-life Renaissance woman Ginevra de' Benci, the inspiration for one of Leonardo da Vinci's earliest masterpieces.
The young and beautiful daughter of a wealthy family, Ginevra longs to share her poetry and participate in the artistic ferment of Renaissance Florence but is trapped in an arranged marriage in a society dictated by men. The arrival of the charismatic Venetian ambassador, Bernardo Bembo, introduces Ginevra to a dazzling circle of patrons, artists, and philosophers. Bembo chooses Ginevra as his Platonic muse and commissions a portrait of her by a young Leonardo da Vinci. Posing for the brilliant painter inspires an intimate connection between them, one Ginevra only begins to understand. In a rich and vivid world of exquisite art with a dangerous underbelly of deadly political feuds, Ginevra faces many challenges to discover her voice and artistic companionship-and to find love.
There are two files on Sahara Jones. The one the school counselor keeps is evidence that she's a fifth grader who needs special education. The other is the book Sahara is secretly writing, her Heart-Wrenching Life Story and Amazing Adventures.
The latest chapter in her book unfolds when her mother insists that she be taken out of special ed. So Sahara is facing fifth grade in a regular classroom, again. Enter, Miss Pointy, the new fifth grade teacher. With her elegant colored lipstick, and strange subjects such as "Puzzling" and "Time Travel," she's like no other teacher Sahara has ever known. Through Miss Pointy's unusual teaching, storytelling, and quiet support, Sahara finds the courage to overcome her fears and prove which file shows her true self.
