When being yourself isn't good enough, who should you be?
Told in dual perspectives, this provocative and timely novel for middle-school readers by Paula Chase, the acclaimed author of So Done and Dough Boys, will resonate with fans of Jason Reynolds, Rebecca Stead, and Renée Watson.
Best friends Rasheeda and Monique are both good girls. For Sheeda, that means keeping her friends close and following her deeply religious and strict aunt’s every rule. For Mo, that means not making waves in the prestigious and mostly White ballet intensive she’s been accepted to.
But what happens when Sheeda catches the eye of Mo’s older brother, and the invisible racial barriers to Mo’s success as a ballerina turn out to be not so invisible? What happens when you discover that being yourself isn’t good enough? How do you fight back?
Paula Chase explores the complex and emotional issues that affect many young teens in this novel set in the same neighborhood as her acclaimed So Done and Dough Boys. Friendship, family, finding yourself, and standing your ground are the themes of this universal story that is perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds, Rebecca Stead, and Renée Watson.
This junior novelization retells the exciting story of Disney and Pixar's Turning Red-in theaters Spring 2022!
In Turning Red, Mei Lee is a confident, dorky thirteen-year-old torn between staying her mother's dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence. And as if changes to her interests, relationships, and body weren't enough, whenever she gets too excited (which for a teenager is practically ALWAYS), she "poofs" into a giant red panda! The feature film is all retold in this junior novelization that's perfect for girls and boys ages 6 to 9.
In Jennifer L. Holm's New York Times bestselling, Newbery Honor winning middle grade historical fiction novel, life isn't like the movies. But then again, 11-year-old Turtle is no Shirley Temple
She's smart and tough and has seen enough of the world not to expect a Hollywood ending. After all, it's 1935 and jobs and money and sometimes even dreams are scarce. So when Turtle's mama gets a job housekeeping for a lady who doesn't like kids, Turtle says goodbye without a tear and heads off to Key West, Florida to live with relatives she's never met. Florida's like nothing Turtle's ever seen before though. It's hot and strange, full of rag tag boy cousins, family secrets, scams, and even buried pirate treasure! Before she knows what's happened, Turtle finds herself coming out of the shell she's spent her life building, and as she does, her world opens up in the most unexpected ways. Filled with adventure, humor and heart, Turtle in Paradise is an instant classic both boys and girls with love.
Includes an Author's Note with photographs and further background on the Great Depression, as well as additional resources and websites.
Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews:
'Sweet, funny and superb.'
Starred Review, Booklist:
'Just the right mixture of knowingness and hope . . . a hilarious blend of family drama seasoned with a dollop of adventure.'From the Hardcover edition.
Nic Sheff was drunk for the first time at age eleven. In the years that followed, he would regularly smoke pot, do cocaine and ecstasy, and develop addictions to crystal meth and heroin. Even so, he felt like he would always be able to quit and put his life together whenever he needed to. It took a violent relapse one summer in California to convince him otherwise.
In writing that is raw and honest, Nic spares no detail in telling us the compelling, heartbreaking, and true story of his relapse and the road to recovery. As we watch Nic plunge the mental and physical depths of drug addiction, he paints a picture of a person at odds with his past, with his family, with his substances, and with himself.
People aren't always what they play.
Twelve-year-old Maren is sure theater camp isn’t for her. Theater camp is for loud, confident, artsy people: people like her older sister, Hadley—the last person Maren wants to think about—and her cinema-obsessed, nonbinary bunkmate,
Theo. But when a prank goes wrong, Maren gets drawn into the hunt for a diamond ring that, legend has it, is linked to the camp’s namesake, Charlotte “Charlie” Goodman, a promising director in blacklist-era Hollywood.
When Maren connects the clues to Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, she and her new friends are off searching through lighting booths, orchestra pits, and costume storages, discovering the trail and dodging camp counselors. But they’re not the
only ones searching for the ring, and with the growing threat of camp closing forever, they're almost out of time.
In her compelling debut, Janet Key crafts a heartwarming mystery about finding your people and accepting others as they are.
Winnie Perry went through a lot when she was eleven, from shifting friendships to her teenage sister's mood swings. But now that Winnie is twelve and one step closer to being a teenager herself there is so much more to deal with. Will her new friendship with Dinah last? Can she handle the pressures of junior high? And, most important, will Winnie survive bra shopping (in public!) with Mom?
Inspired by 'The Twelve Days of Christmas,' this picture book, adapted for audio, presents the many different forms that kindness can take, from veteran picture book author Irene Latham.
On the first day of kindness,
I will give to you a hug that's warm and true.
There are many ways to be kind. Follow one girl as she expresses gratitude through kind deeds all her own-a smile or encouraging word or even shared snacks-and discovers one act of kindness inspires another. In this heartwarming lyrical text, twelve acts of everyday kindness are set to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas." This joyous listen celebrates how small acts of kindness can be practiced at any age.
With the first ice--a skim on a sheep pail so thin it breaks when touched--one family's winter begins in earnest. Next comes ice like panes of glass. And eventually, skating ice! Take a literary skate over field ice and streambed, through sleeping orchards and beyond. The first ice, the second ice, the third ice . . . perfect ice . . . the last ice . . . Twelve kinds of ice are carved into twenty nostalgic vignettes, illustrated in elegantly scratched detail by the award-winning Barbara McClintock.
Musician David Vartabedian's personal journey from criminal and convict, to a mentor and inspiration for thousands, provides the background to this guide written for those suffering from addiction, but who are often reluctant to embark on a recovery couched in terms of religion.
"If we take these children, we can never betray them, no matter what the Nazis do."
During the German occupation of France, twenty French children were brought to a refuge in the mountains. One day a young man came to their school with a request: Could they take in, and hide, ten Jewish refugee children?
Sister Gabriel spoke up. "The Nazis are looking for those children. If we take them we must never let on they are here. Do you understand?"
Of course the children understood-but how would they hide them if the Nazis came?
Lisa and her family are on their way home from a family reunion. At a restaurant, Lisa sees a gumball machine and needs a quarter to buy a gumball. She counts all the coins her family members give her and has enough for a gumball, which she buys and then gives to her grandmother. Because Lisa was so nice, her grandfather gives her another twenty-five cents to buy a gumball for herself.
