When Nadia's family moves to Captive's Sound, she instantly realizes there's more to the place than meets the eye. Descended from witches, Nadia can sense that a spell has been cast over the tiny Rhode Island town-a sickness infecting everyone and everything in it. The magic at work is darker and more powerful than anything she's come across and has sunk its claws most deeply into Mateo . . . her rescuer, her friend, and the guy she yearns to get closer to even as he pushes her away.
Mateo has lived in Captive's Sound his entire life, shadowed by small-town gossip and his family's tormented past. Every generation, the local legends say, one member of the family goes mad, claiming to know the future before descending into insanity. When the strange dreams Mateo has been having of rescuing a beautiful girl from a car accident actually come true, he knows he's doomed.
Despite the forces pulling them apart, Nadia and Mateo must work together to break the chains of his terrible family curse, and to prevent a coming disaster that even now threatens the entire town, including Nadia's family, her newfound friends, and her own life. Shimmering with magic and mystery, New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray's new novel depicts a dark and unforgettable world of witches, curses, buried secrets, and star-crossed romance.
A brave girl flees a ghoul while trying to save her town in this lively, fast-paced companion to National Book Award winner Goblin Secrets.
Kaile lives in Zombay, an astonishing city where goblins walk the streets and witches work their charms and curses. Kaile wants to be a musician and is delighted when a goblin gives her a flute carved out of bone. But the flute's single, mournful song has a dangerous consequence: It separates Kaile and her shadow. Anyone without a shadow is considered dead, and despite Kaile's protests that she's alive and breathing, her family forces her to leave so she can't haunt their home.
Kaile and her shadow soon learn that the troublesome flute is tied to a terrifying ghoul made from the bones of those who drowned in the Zombay River. With the ghoul chasing her and the river threatening to flood, Kaile has an important role to play in keeping Zombay safe. Will Kaile and her shadow be able to learn the right tune in time?
Set in the delightful and dangerous world of Goblin Secrets, Ghoulish Song is a gripping adventure laced with humor and mystery from National Book Award-winning author William Alexander.
Life at Deacon Smith's Home for Waifs would be completely dreary if it weren't for Possum's best friend, Billy, who "thinks up lies faster than he can talk" and provides plenty of excitement for the other boys. When Billy hears that gold is hidden in the mountains-"Great big chunks of it, some of 'em big as your fist"-he plans to escape, taking Possum with him. The two runaways embark on a journey in search of their dream-the gold that will lead to a better life. To earn enough money for their adventure, they join Professor Alberto Santini, "savant of the healing arts," and his road show. The professor teaches the boys how "spieling" can make a buck, but it's only the professor who seems to be earning any money. Just as Possum and Billy realize that they've been conned, they get tangled up in a murder. The boys try to keep ahead of the law as they continue their search for gold, but their friendship becomes strained as Possum begins to feel more and more different from Billy. Is the boys' friendship strong enough to carry them through to the end of their journey?
"A small gem from an award-winning author...The book's momentum is sustained by the author's wonderful use of vernacular and the friendship / tension between the boys."-School Library Journal
Just weeks after Jaron has taken the throne, an assassination attempt forces him into a deadly situation. Rumors of a coming war are winding their way between the castle walls and soon it becomes clear that deserting the kingdom may be his only hope of saving it.
The stunning second installment of The Ascendance Trilogy takes listeners on a roller-coaster ride of treason and murder, thrills and peril, as they journey with the Runaway King.
Welcome to the wasteland
At fifteen,
the citizens of Prin marry.
At seventeen,
they reproduce.
And at nineteen,
they die.
Esther thinks there's more to life than toiling at the assignments-Harvesting, Gleaning, Excavating-day after day under the relentless sun, just hoping to make it to the next day.
She doesn't care that her best friend, a variant, is considered "the enemy." She doesn't care that Levi, who controls the Source, is the real enemy and might send his Taser boys after her if she makes one wrong move.
Then Caleb shows up. Could there be another way to fight for survival?
For Clementine, spring is a really big deal. It's the time for seeing her apple tree start to grow, for watching her friend Margaret go crazy with spring cleaning, and for going on the school trip to Plimoth Plantation. Clementine is ready for Ye Olden Times, but she isn't so sure about surviving lunch there-the fourth graders have strict rules about no eating sounds. (What is snicking, anyway? ) If that wasn't enough, Clementine also faces the challenges of learning Olive-language and surviving The Cloud on Bus 7. Hearing the pilgrim lady talk about why she made the long journey from England makes Clementine think about rules. Who makes them, and what do they mean to the people who have to live with them? Today Clementine has to decide which rules are made to be broken.
After months of quarantine while a mysterious virus destroyed most of her family and her small island community, Kaelyn wants just a little good news when the first boat arrives from the mainland. But although she's overjoyed to see her best friend Leo again, the tidings he brings are nothing to celebrate. The virus has devastated the mainland as well, and they need help just as badly as the islanders do. Kaelyn finds new reason to hope when she stumbles upon a vaccine her father had been testing when he was killed. As conditions on the island worsen, she and her friends flee for the mainland, hoping to find a laboratory that can reproduce the prototype. Standing in their way are winter storms and hostile survivors, some of whom are determined to steal the vaccine for themselves.Traveling further and further from home, Kaelyn must face the fact that very thing she took for granted in the world is gone, choose between the boy who supported her during her lowest moments and the one she's loved since childhood, and discover the strength to create a future for herself that's about more than just surviving.
When a little girl gets a plush stingray for her birthday, it makes friends with some of her other toys as they all try to navigate in the world of real people.
The South Orange River (S.O.R.) Middle School is famous for its winning sports teams. That is, until the seventh grade soccer squad comes along. Led by Ed Sitrow, who has NEVER played soccer before, this amazing team of non-jocks sets new lows in team spirit and new highs in scoring-for the other team. When they lose their first game 32-0, they're ready to call it quits. But the teachers insist that the team keep playing through the entire soccer season. They're sure that with a little time and lots of practice, Ed and his faithful teammates will improve their game. After all, the S.O.R. Losers can't get any worse-or can they? Avi brings all of his Newbery Honor-winning talents to the story of the wackiest bunch of losers since the Bad News Bears. S.O.R. Losers is a rib-tickling romp across the middle school soccer fields that's guaranteed to have children-and their parents and teachers-laughing out loud.
Each of Cynthia Rylant's Henry and Mudge books gives young readers another chance to spend happy moments with the young boy and his enormous dog. The two friends' days are filled with sunshine and adventure. But there are always surprises waiting for them, too. One night, Henry and his parents find a stray cat on their doorstep. It's not a pretty cat, but it is very friendly. Once it meets Mudge, it is also a very happy cat. What will happen, now, if someone claims Mudge's scruffy new friend? George Guidall's narration brings out all the frisky, affectionate humor in Henry and Mudge and the Happy Cat. Young readers and their parents will laugh out loud at the gentle and unlikely bond between the two animals, and they will enjoy the delightful solution to their dilemma.
World War II was raging, with thousands of American soldiers fighting overseas against the injustices brought on by Hitler. Back on the home front, the injustice of discrimination against African Americans was playing out as much on Main Street as in the military. Enlisted black men were segregated from white soldiers and regularly relegated to service duties. At Fort Benning, Georgia, First Sergeant Walter Morris's men served as guards at The Parachute School while the white soldiers prepared to be paratroopers. Morris knew that in order for his men to be treated like soldiers, they would have to train and act like them, but would the military elite and politicians recognize the potential of these men, as well as their passion for serving their country? Tanya Lee Stone examines the role of African Americans in the military through the lens of the untold story of the Triple Nickles as they became America's first black paratroopers and fought a little-known World War II attack on the American West by the Japanese. The 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, in the words of Morris, "proved that the color of a man had nothing to do with his ability."
Where is Early's father? He's not the kind of father who you think would disappear. But he's gone. And he's left a whole lot of trouble behind.
As danger closes in, Early, her mom, and her brother have to flee their apartment. With nowhere else to go, they are forced to move into Chicago's shelter system. Once there, Early starts asking questions and looking for answers. There are patterns and rhythms to what's happened, and Early might be the only one who can use them to track him down and make her way out of a very tough place.
