Never been to a movie. Never played baseball with a real team. Never got over feeling guilty for the loss of his brother. But change is in the air. Billy discovers he has a natural talent for baseball, especially as a pitcher. Maybe, just maybe, there's more in store for him than life on the farm. But can Billy convince his father of that? Or is he destined to spend the rest of his life pitching nothing but hay?Teenager Billy Baggs is desperately needed on his family's struggling dairy farm, but he's also an extraordinarily gifted natural baseball player. How he struggles to reconcile his father's desire to keep him on the farm with his coach's interest in getting him on the field is at the heart of this ‘meaty story.… The complex characters grow and change in profoundly real ways.''K. ‘[With] flashes of humor, a wealth of lovingly recounted details evokes the difficult daily life on a small dairy farm.''Publishers Weekly. 1994 Best Books for Young Adults (ALA)1994 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library)1993 "Pick of the Lists" (ABA)

    Seraki joins the cast of a locally produced musical that exposes the plight of black South Africans. When the play travels to the U.S., Seraki discovers that even in America, the land of opportunity, he cannot escape corruption. An ALA Best Book for Young Adults.

    Her father has dragged her to Farnsworth House, a.k.a. the Hippie Hotel, on Cape Cod. It's a place where divorced parents bring their children for quality "Together Time." Tracy dreads the whole idea, until she meets the other girls her age at the hotel. They seem friendly and fun. But they're also great at flirting, which Tracy definitely isn't. When Tracy meets Kevin, a cute, smart guy, she panics. With pretty friends like Kelsey and Beka around, how can Tracy possibly interest Kevin? Then again, maybe she is someone worth knowing, and maybe Kevin thinks so too. Filled with strong, appealing characters and heartfelt narration, this is a touching and memorable first novel.

    "I live in the in between. Between yesterday and forever. The way forward haunts me. The gap I must cover daunts me. And hope beckons, 'Run to me,' but I just learned to walk." After a lifetime of abuse, the Vanderbilt siblings flee their home, finally free to pursue new dreams while running from yesterday's nightmares. Once bed-ridden Jesse navigates the Chicago streets, concealing his identity and planning revenge. A chance encounter in the rain introduces a girl who offers Jesse a glimpse of a sunnier future, but how will he weather the growing storm inside himself?Separated from her Post-it note prince, Talia hides at a safe house for survivors of domestic violence while her father turns the city upside-down to find her. Surrounded by women fighting their own demons, Talia faces her past at every turn.

    He and his mom were only supposed to spend the summer there, helping out his grandmother. But Cody’s grandmother is sick and needs them to stay. Now he’s the new kid at the local middle school and all his friends are back in California. You’d think Cody’s cousin Hayden would show him the ropes. Not only is Hayden in the same grade, he lives next door. But Hayden doesn’t want anything to do with Cody. Cody’s luck begins to change when he befriends Officer Ramsey, a policeman and aspiring stand-up comic. Officer Ramsey appreciates Cody’s jokes so much, he pays Cody for the material! But it’s no laughing matter when a crime is committed at school and Cody becomes a suspect. Cody is going to need more than jokes to solve this mystery—and clear his name.From the Hardcover edition.

    Jenkins is the author of many books including the New York Times bestseller Out of the Blue with Orel Hershiser.

    "I vowed that if I ever got a girl I would treat her right and never be bad or dirty to her or hurt her, ever." Cameron Wolfe is a dirty boy. He knows it. His brother Rube knows it, because he's one too. they could change - but what would it take?

    Three irresistible stories from Jennifer Echols—now available together in one paperback edition!In Biggest Flirts, Tia just wants to have fun. She’s worked hard to earn her reputation as the life of the party, and she’s ready for a carefree senior year of hanging out with friends and hooking up with cute boys. But when she and an old fling are voted Biggest Flirts together, Tia starts to reconsider what—and whom—she wants…Meanwhile, in Perfect Couple, Harper is artsy and introverted. Brody is athletic and extroverted. Two people couldn’t be more different. But when they are elected the Perfect Couple that Never Was, they find they have more in common—and more feelings for each other—than they could have anticipated.And finally, Most Likely to Succeed follows two major opposites—put-together, ambitious Kaye and slacker, bad-boy Sawyer—as fate (and their friends!) conspire to bring them together. Perhaps their fellow classmates see the shimmering attraction that Kaye and Sawyer are unwilling to acknowledge themselves…

    Andi figures that given everything she has had to put up with at home, West Point will be a breeze. But nothing could have prepared her for the first six weeks of cadet training, better known as Beast. Andi is screamed at, belittled, and worn down during the long, grueling training that is designed to break cadets and then rebuild them into soldiers. The upper class cadets bark orders so fast that her head spins, and the fact that she is one of only two girls in her platoon makes things even more difficult. But Andi decides that anything is better than going home, anything.This first novel by Amy Efaw, a West Point Class of 1989 graduate, is a powerful and gripping look at an intensely privatecommunity with its own rules and regulations. It shows us the terrors and triumphs of those who want to belong to a team.Books for the Teen Age 2001 (NYPL)

    For Dylan, life is a constant battle to keep the bad stuff in – the swearing, the tics, the howling dog that escapes whenever he gets stressed. And, as a sixteen-year-old virgin and pupil at Drumhill Special School, getting stressed is something of an occupational hazard. But then a routine visit to the hospital changes everything. Overhearing a hushed conversation between the doctor and his mother, Dylan discovers that he's going to die next March. So he grants himself three parting wishes: three ‘Cool Things To Do Before I Cack It’.It isn’t a long list, but it is ambitious, and he doesn't have much time. But as Dylan sets out to make his wishes come true, he discovers that nothing – and no-one – is quite as he had previously supposed.A story about life, death, love, sex and swearing, When Mr Dog Bites will take you on one *#@! of a journey . . .

    It's up to me to create the life I want. I must be mistress of my destiny or I'll never even skim the surface of normal.And that's when the whole fiasco began.One summer day, Libby and her best friend, Nadine, come up with a plan. Before their freshman year is over, they will each experience a serious kiss. Libby already has her ideal boy picked out. Everything is set.But Libby's beer-guzzling father and fast food-addict mother have another plan: The family is moving. To the middle of nowhere. Away from all of Libby's friends and all hope of a normal life, much less a boyfriend.As her life and her family are falling apart, Libby starts to wonder, Is happiness really about being normal? Or is being happy maybe just...being yourself? As she begins to figure out who she is, Libby discovers the most amazing thing of all -- being herself could also be the key to a perfect, incredible, wonderful, serious kiss.

    But he may be the first to arrive in Montana with a World Series ring, a three-legged dog, and a thirst for self-destruction. High and Inside documents, with stark clarity, one man's struggle with the dark side of fame, as well as his internal battles with alcoholism and a crumbling sense of self-worth. A community of people who love him and a generous inheritance aren't enough to counterbalance Pete's apparent determination to sabotage every healthy aspect of his life. It's a downward spiral that won't end until he's forced to confront not only his own ugly past but his unfulfilled future as well. With wit and compassion, sharp humor and startling insight, author Russell Rowland gives us not only a portrait of fame and addiction, but also an indispensable glimpse into the character of the modern West. "Rowland's people are on a search, and he writes them with wit, humility, and a satisfying sense of trajectory." Leif Enger Author of Peace Like a RiverYou don t have to love baseball to love this story about one (aging) boy of summer who is brought to a bittersweet reckoning with his past. I found myself laughing, cringing, and knuckling down Kim Barnes Author of "In the Kingdom of Men"an elegant and potent investigation of community and home, of healing and forgiveness this wonderful novel is a grand slam of indelible characters and infectious drama, and a flat-out great read. Alan Heathcock Author of "Volt"

    With the help of David Tushingham, he has adapted Salman Rushdie's classic children's novel, Haroun and the Sea of Stories for the stage. Set in an exotic eastern landscape peopled by magicians and fantastic talking animals, Rushdie's novel inhabits the same imaginative space as Gulliver's Travels, Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz. Haroun sets out on an adventure to restore the poisoned source of the sea of stories. On the way he encounters many foes, intent on draining the sea of all its storytelling powers.

    Another chance to make things right. I never, in a million years, thought it might actually come true... Sixteen-year-old Ellison Sparks is having a serious case of the Mondays. She gets a ticket for running a red light, she manages to take the world’s worst school picture, she bombs softball try-outs and her class election speech (note to self: never trust a cheerleader when she swears there are no nuts in her bake-sale banana bread), and to top it all off, Tristan, her gorgeous rocker boyfriend suddenly dumps her. For no good reason!As far as Mondays go, it doesn’t get much worse than this. And Ellie is positive that if she could just do it all over again, she would get it right. So when she wakes up the next morning to find she’s reliving the exact same day, she knows what she has to do: stop her boyfriend from breaking up with her. But it seems no matter how many do-overs she gets or how hard Ellie tries to repair her relationship, Tristan always seems bent set on ending it. Will Ellie ever figure out how to fix this broken day? Or will she be stuck in this nightmare of a Monday forever?From the author of 52 Reasons to Hate My Father and The Unremembered trilogy comes a hilarious and heartwarming story about second (and third and fourth and fifth) chances. Because sometimes it takes a whole week of Mondays to figure out what you really want.

    Due to a series of lies and coincidences, 14-year-old Lottie finds herself pretending to be the princess so that Ellie can live a more normal teenage life.Lottie is thrust into the real world of royalty - a world filled with secrets, intrigue and betrayal. She must do everything she can to help Ellie keep her secret, but with school, the looming Maradovian ball and the mysterious new boy Jamie, she'll soon discover that reality doesn't always have the happily ever after you'd expect...A thrilling world of parties, politics and bad ass princesses, this is the first book in the brand new series THE ROSEWOOD CHRONICLES.