"When I was a boy, my pa dowsed to earn extra money when we had a lean year. And when he put the branch in my hands for the first time, I felt a burning inside me because I had the gift, too. Just be thankful I didn't hand that gift down to you."
Amos figured it was probably best not to tell his father that it was too late.
What would you do if you knew you had a special gift-a sixth sense-that was passed down from one generation to the next? A gift that could help people in times of need, but one your father often saw as a trap. Would you use that gift?
This is the story of Amos Kincaid, the dowser's son.
The Newbery and Coretta Scott King Honoree about the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan-from Christopher Paul Curtis, author of Bud, Not Buddy, a Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott Award Winner.Enter the hilarious world of ten-year-old Kenny and his family, the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan. There's Momma, Dad, little sister Joetta, and brother Byron, who's thirteen and an 'official juvenile delinquent.'When Byron gets to be too much trouble, they head South to Birmingham to visit Grandma, the one person who can shape him up. And they happen to be in Birmingham when Grandma's church is blown up.AN ALA TOP TEN BEST BOOKAN ALA NOTABLE CHILDREN'S BOOKAN IRA YOUNG ADULT'S CHOICEA NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW BEST BOOKNAMED TO MULTIPLE STATE AWARD LISTS'Every so often a book becomes a modern classic almost as soon as it arrives on bookshelves. That happened in the mid-'90s when Christopher Paul Curtis released his first book, The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963.' -NPRFrom the Hardcover edition.
In this Newbery Honor-winning novel, Gary D. Schmidt offers an unforgettable antihero. The Wednesday Wars is a wonderfully witty and compelling story about a teenage boy's mishaps and adventures over the course of the 1967-68 school year in Long Island, New York. Meet Holling Hoodhood, a seventh-grader at Camillo Junior High, who must spend Wednesday afternoons with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, while the rest of the class has religious instruction. Mrs. Baker doesn't like Holling-he's sure of it. Why else would she make him read the plays of William Shakespeare outside class? But everyone has bigger things to worry about, like Vietnam. His father wants Holling and his sister to be on their best behavior: the success of his business depends on it. But how can Holling stay out of trouble when he has so much to contend with? A bully demanding cream puffs; angry rats; and a baseball hero signing autographs the very same night Holling has to appear in a play in yellow tights! As fate sneaks up on him again and again, Holling finds Motivation-the Big M-in the most unexpected places and musters up the courage to embrace his destiny, in spite of himself.
In The Nine Pound Hammer, John Bemis introduced middle-grade readers to a whole new approach to epic fantasy, founded on characters and themes from American mythology and lore, including the legend of John Henry. Now in the third and final book, the heroes come together at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago for a final confrontation with a businessman and tycoon who is in fact an ageless evil known as the Gog. With his Dark Machine, he intends to bend the world to his ruthless vision of progress and efficiency. It's man versus machine all over again, fighting for the soul of humanity in front of Ferris's Wheel. For fans of adventure fantasy like Percy Jackson and Peter and the Starcatchers.
Winner of the Newbery Medal
For generations the tribes of Huns and Magyars had moved relentlessly westward, obeying the voices of their pagan gods, which compelled them to follow the elusive white stag to their promised homeland. They swept Europe, all the while pursuing their vision of the stag. Their leader was called Attila, and the land Hungary. Here is the epic story of their tribal migration and their fierce leader-known to us even today.
"The wonder of a fairy tale, the stirring romance of a heroic legend, rounded out with the color, atmosphere, and poetry of this artist's retelling of the story of Attila."-The New York Times
1786. Isolated from the rest of the world, thirteen-year-old Alma lives with her family in a lush African valley. She spends her days exploring their blissful homeland. But everything changes when her little brother finds a secret way out of the valley. Alma sets out to find him, but she soon must face terrible dangers in a continent ravaged by the slave trade. The journey to bring her brother home becomes a harrowing adventure to save herself, her family, and the memory of her people. Meanwhile, in Lisbon, Joseph Mars, an orphan turned petty thief devises a great plan to land himself aboard a slave ship, The Sweet Amelie, on the ultimate quest: to find a pirate’s treasure in the far reaches of the Caribbean. But as time passes, he learns he's not alone in his hunger for the treasure, which forces him to rethink the true purpose of his presence aboard The Sweet Amelie. The destinies of a large cast of characters, including Alma and Joseph, become intertwined both on land and at sea in this unforgettable adventure of resilience and compassion as de Fombelle quietly elucidates the slave trade and the infamous Middle Passage for middle grade and YA listeners.
Justin Conkey was too young to fight in the Revolution of 1776, but now it is 1787 and he is fourteen. Justin is ready to fight, even if he has only his father's old sword to protect him. But once on the battlefield, war is not what he expected. It is dangerous and frightening and nothing makes sense. Throughout a particularly bitter winter the young man is desperate to prove that he too can be a hero-not realizing that many times heroes turn out to be just ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events, who do what comes naturally to save others regardless of risk to themselves. Insisting on joining General Daniel Shays' group of Regulators, he lies about his age and marches with the group throughout New England. But war puts friendships and political convictions to the test.
'Full of history, danger, courage and raw survival, this compelling novel by acclaimed author Joseph Bruchac is certain to have readers on the edge of their seat, start to finish.' -The Dallas Morning News
Saxso is fourteen when the British attack his village. It's 1759, and war is raging in the northeast between the British and the French, with the Abenaki people-Saxso's people-by their side. Without enough warriors to defend their homes, Saxso's village is burned to the ground. Many people are killed, but some, including Saxso's mother and two sisters, are taken hostage. Now it's up to Saxso, on his own, to track the raiders and bring his family back home . . . before it's too late.
'Historical fiction doesn't get much better than this. The narrative itself is thrilling.' -Booklist, starred review
'A heartbreaking but exciting story.' -School Library Journal, starred review
Winner of the Disney Adventures Best Historical Fiction Award
An SLJ Best Book of the Year
A New York Public Library Best Book for the Teen Age
Orphaned Kit Tyler knows, as she gazes for the first time at the cold, bleak shores of Connecticut Colony, that her new home will never be like the shimmering Caribbean island she left behind. In her relatives' stern Puritan community, she feels like a tropical bird that has flown to the wrong part of the world, a bird that is now caged and lonely. The only place where Kit feels completely free is in the meadows, where she enjoys the company of the old Quaker woman known as the Witch of Blackbird Pond, and on occasion, her young sailor friend Nat. But when Kit's friendship with the "witch" is discovered, Kit is faced with suspicion, fear, and anger. She herself is accused of witchcraft!
A detailed account of one of the strangest and most shocking episodes in American history, written by the author of “The Lottery”Stories of magic, superstition, and witchcraft were strictly forbidden in the little town of Salem Village. But a group of young girls ignored those rules, spellbound by the tales told by a woman named Tituba. When questioned about their activities, the terrified girls set off a whirlwind of controversy as they accused townsperson after townsperson of being witches. Author Shirley Jackson examines in careful detail this horrifying true story of accusations, trials, and executions that shook a community to its foundations.
Once there was a boy named Arthur who had a wizard for a teacher. Arthur wanted to be a knight like his brother. Arthur tried to learn how to be kind and humble and clever... but sometimes he forgot. He did not know he would ride to war when enemies invaded his country. He did not know he would one day pull a sacred sword from a stone. He did not know one day he would be king. This is the story of the first part of Arthur's life.
Did you know some Arthurian legends have roots in historical events? Did you know some legends of King Arthur are over 1,000 years old and the story is still being embellished today?
Join your young reader on a beautiful retelling of the boy who would one day become a legendary king of Britain and dive deeper with historical tie-ins and educational text along the way.
Look no further for the perfect book for boys and girls who love fantasy, adventure, and white-knuckle action!
"Can you imagine eternal Darkness, sir?"
So asks the sickly stranger who staggers into Peg Leg Nel's birthday party. Before the man dies, he tells Ray and his friends of a Darkness spreading like wildfire across Kansas, turning good people bad and poisoning anyone who tries to escape. It's clear that though the evil Gog is dead, his devilish machine has survived and is growing stronger.
Now a full-fledged Rambler, Ray leads his friends on a mission into the heart of darkness. Vital to their success is tracking down the legendary Wolf Tree, rumored to be a pathway to the spirit world. Only with one of the tree's limbs can the Nine Pound Hammer be repaired and the Gog's terrible machine finally destroyed. The search for the Wolf Tree grows desperate as the Darkness spreads, threatening Ray, his friends, and all of humanity.
The Wolf Tree is the second fantasy adventure book in John Claude Bemis's series The Clockwork Dark, and adds new layers of myth and magic to Bemis's original take on American tall tales in The Nine Pound Hammer.
