In this timeless classic set on the West Coast, an old man lives alone on a bluff overlooking the sea, tends his garden and waits. Only when the whales return each year to the bay in front of his cottage is his loneliness eased. One day his daughter and her baby return home to live with the old man, bringing a renewed sense of purpose to his life. As his granddaughter grows, the old man passes on a wealth of knowledge and wisdom as well as his passion for the whales. And each year they wait together for the whales to appear.
Waiting for the Whales illuminates the unique friendship between grandparent and child and celebrates the restorative power of the natural world. Originally published twenty-five years ago, this award-winning picture book is sure to enchant a whole new generation of readers.
Her family's lighthouse home is an island of enchantment for 13-year-old Eliza Wells. Surrounded by whales, seals, and pelicans, she avoids the problems that beset the mainland: like the increasingly heated conflict between the local town's white and Chinese citizens. This compelling historical novel by the award-winning author of Shadow Spinner is based on actual 19th-century events. Narrator Christina Moore voices all the confusion, compassion, and strength of a heroine willing to risk what she loves most in order to do what she knows is right.
High school senior Thomas ''Razor'' Turner knows his family has a dark history as part of the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, especially when it comes to the secrecy surrounding his mother's death.
When Razor starts to dig deeper into his mum's case he turns to the unlikeliest source for help: classmate Breanna Miller, the shy, smart girl he's never looked twice at. But the more time they spend together, the more they realise they actually have in common, and how attracted to each other they really are. When secrets from the past are revealed can their newfound feelings survive?
One moment of recklessness will change their worlds
Smart. Responsible. That's seventeen-year-old Breanna's role in her large family, and heaven forbid she put a toe out of line. Until one night of shockingly un-Breanna-like behavior puts her into a vicious cyber-bully's line of fire-and brings fellow senior Thomas "Razor" Turner into her life.
Razor lives for the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, and good girls like Breanna just don't belong. But when he learns she's being blackmailed over a compromising picture of the two of them-a picture that turns one unexpected and beautiful moment into ugliness-he knows it's time to step outside the rules.
And so they make a pact: he'll help her track down her blackmailer, and in return she'll help him seek answers to the mystery that's haunted him-one that not even his club brothers have been willing to discuss. But the more time they spend together, the more their feelings grow. And suddenly they're both walking the edge of discovering who they really are, what they want, and where they're going from here.
"How about a story? Spin us a yarn."
Instantly, Phoebe Winterbottom came to mind.
"I could tell you an extensively strange story," I warned. "Oh, good!" Gram said. "Delicious!"
And that is how I happened to tell them about Phoebe, her disappearing mother, and the lunatic.
In her own award-winning style, Sharon Creech intricately weaves together two tales, one funny, one bittersweet, to create a heartwarming, compelling, and utterly moving story of love, loss, and the complexity of human emotion.
Gramps says that I am a country girl at heart, and that is true. Thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle, proud of her country roots and the "Indian-ness in her blood," travels from Ohio to Idaho with her eccentric grandparents. Along the way, she tells them of the story of Phoebe Winterbottom, who received mysterious messages, who met a "potential lunatic," and whose mother disappeared.
Beneath Phoebe's stories Salamanca's own story and that of her mother, who left on April morning for Idaho, promising to return before the tulips bloomed. Sal's mother has not, however, returned, and the trip to Idaho takes on a growing urgency as Salamanca hopes to get to Idaho in time for her mother's birthday and bring her back, despite her father's warning that she is fishing in the air.
This richly layered novel is in turn funny, mysterious, and touching. Sharon Creech's original voice tells a story like no other, one that readers will not soon forget. Winner of the 1995Newbery MedalA 1995 ALA Notable Children's BookSchool Library Journal Best Book of 1994Winner of a 1994 Bulletin Blue RibbonA Notable Children's Trade Book in the Language Arts (NCTE)Winner of the 1997 Heartland Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature.
On her long car trip from Ohio to Idaho, 13-year-old Salamanca Hiddle tells her grandparents the story of her friend Phoebe, who receives a message from a "lunatic" and who must cope with the disappearance of her mother. But beneath this story is Sal's own story, and that of her mother, who left home one day and never returned.
Winner, 1995 Newbery MedalNotable Children's Books of 1995 (ALA)1995 Notable Trade Books in the Language Arts (NCTE)Children's Book Award for Longer Novels (Great Britain's Federation of Children's Books Groups)Outstanding Books of 1994 for Middle School-Aged Teens (V)Best Books 1994 (SLJ)Bulletin Blue Ribbon Books 1994 (C)
“A memorable and lovely debut.”--Kirkus Reviews
“Walking with Miss Millie is full of subtle wisdom. Its ending is satisfying though sobering and there are elements of this story that stay with you long after the last page has been read.”--Karen English, Coretta Scott King Honor Award Author
A poignant middle grade debut about the friendship between a white girl and an elderly black woman in the 1960s South
Alice is angry at having to move to Rainbow, Georgia—a too small, too hot, dried-up place she’s sure will never feel like home. Then she gets put in charge of walking her elderly neighbor’s dog. But Clarence won’t budge without Miss Millie, so Alice and Miss Millie walk him together.
Strolling with Clarence and Miss Millie quickly becomes the highlight of Alice's day and opens her eyes to all sorts of new things to marvel over. During their walks, they meet a mix of people, and Alice sees that although there are some bullies and phonies, there are plenty of kind folks, too. Miss Millie shares her family’s story with Alice, showing her the painful impact segregation has had on their town. And with Miss Millie, Alice is finally able to express her own heartache over why her family had to move there in the first place.
Tamara Bundy’s beautifully written debut celebrates the wonder and power of friendship: how it can be found when we least expect it and make any place a home.
Perfect for tweens who enjoy mysteries and puzzles and books like Chasing Vermeer, this page-turning debut novel is filled with adventure, intrigue, and heart.
After their father, a video-game inventor, strikes it rich, the Smithfork kids find they hate their new life. They move from their cozy Brooklyn neighborhood to a swanky apartment on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue. They have no friends, a nanny who takes the place of their parents, and a school year looming ahead that promises to be miserable.
And then, one day, Brid, CJ, and Patrick discover an astonishing secret about their apartment: The original owner, the deceased multimillionaire Mr. Post, long ago turned the apartment itself into a giant puzzle containing a mysterious book and hidden panels-a puzzle that, with some luck, courage, and brainpower, will lead to discovering the Post family fortune.
Unraveling the mystery causes them to race through today's New York City-and to uncover some long-hidden secrets of the past.
Jipppiiii, es geht auf Klassenfahrt! Fünf Tage auf einer alten Burg, Wanda kann ihr Glück kaum fassen. Doch dann vergeht ihr schlagartig die Lust: Die Parallelklasse ist mit von der Partie - und damit auch ausgerechnet die blöde Zicke Leonie, die Wanda ihre beste Freundin Katti abspenstig machen will. Und nicht nur das: Bernie und seine Mädchenhasserbande drehen völlig durch. Aber das lassen sich die Mädchen nicht gefallen ... Ein Comic zum Hören: Schnelle Schnitte, flotte Dialoge!
Wanda ist empört: Sie muss mit ihrer Freundin Katti eine Woche auf den Reiterhof. Das ist so ziemlich der letzte Ort, wo sie hin will. Zum Glück ist wenigstens Fabian dabei. Der gewöhnt sich erstaunlich schnell ein, doch für Wanda sind die Pferde einfach zu groß, die Reitlehrer zu geschniegelt und die Mädchen alle Galoppzicken. Als wäre das nicht schon schlimm genug, macht sich auch noch die Mädchenhasserbande Richtung Reiterhof auf ...
Oh, du Hölle! Wanda und ihre beste Freundin Katti sind sich einig: Die Erwachsenen spinnen total! Inge, die neue Freundin ihres Vaters ist schwanger und hat nur noch Windelhöschen mit Häschenmuster im Kopf. Auch Wandas Mutter ist über beide Ohren verliebt und wird ständig knallrot wie ein Teenager. Einfach peinlich! Aber am schlimmsten: Wandas Freund Fabian hängt plötzlich dauernd mit dem blöden Bernie herum ... Ein Geheimplan muss her, um Fabian und die Erwachsenen zur Vernunft zu bringen!
Es gibt kaum etwas, das Wanda schlimmer findet, als fotografiert zu werden. Doch als Marietta, eine Freundin ihrer Mutter, in der Klemme steckt und dringend nach ein paar Kindern für einen Werbespot sucht, lässt Wanda sich überreden einzuspringen. Vorsichtshalber zeigt sie sich beim Casting von ihrer schlechtesten Seite. Doch da hat sie nicht mit dem Regisseur gerechnet: Der findet Wandas freche Art total erfrischend. 'Genau das, was wir brauchen!', ruft er entzückt - und schon steht Wanda mitten in einem neuen Abenteuer.
