He’s even more surprised when they ask him to join them. The team is missing a Horseman, having gone through several Deaths, and they think Drake is the boy for the job.

    Moving to a new town has made it difficult for Star to make friends, when her classmates tease her because of where she lives and because of her layered blue hair. But when Star starts a poetry club, she develops a love of Emily Dickinson and, through Dickinson’s poetry, learns some important lessons about herself and comes to terms with her hopes for the future.

    The bayou country of Louisiana serves as a colorful backdrop for the girls' lively adventures which include surviving a major flood in the Louisiana bayou country.

    Or has he reformed? Before you can say "Yo Ho Ho" the Terrapin household has become headquarters of the century's biggest pirate party.The Librarian and the Robbers is an equally tickling tale of a band of wicked robbers who one day carry off Serena Laburnum, a beautiful librarian. Follow what happens as the lovely and learned Miss L. not only outwits the robbers, turning them into outstanding citizens, but also teaches them the everlasting pleasures of library science.

    . . .Is it enough to survive middle school?Countdown to a 7th Grade Meltdown1. Your BFF moves away.2. Someone steals your diary and reveals your deepest secrets—to the entire class.3. You have one chance to become a rock star and one chance to totally blow it. Guess what!? All three happened to me! School's a disaster already. Don't get me wrong—I love Brookdale Academy and I have a fabulous crew of friends. (At least, I think I do.) But, if I'm going to survive, I need all the help I can get!

    And his owner loves him for all of his simple cat ways.But Boris, typical as he may be, is part of a much larger story in this moving exploration of love, longing, compassion, and most of all, the continuous give-and-take of companionship.Newbery medalist Cynthia Rylant's powerful collection of poems is sure to find its place in the hearts of readers of all ages, especially those who have been lucky enough to experience the many joys and hardships that come with true friendship.

    He, his wife, and their nine American-born children labored in the fields together, building a successful farm. Yet at the outbreak of World War II, Kiyo's family was ordered to Poston Internment Camp. This memoir tells the story of the family's struggle to endure in these harsh conditions and to rebuild their lives afterward in the face of lingering prejudice.

    But there’s no way Bennett could ever play baseball. Bennett is fat, the kind of fat that gives you belly button sweat stains and makes it tough to get off a saggy couch.But on one perfect, baseball-watching day, everything changes. Bennett’s dad is taken away on a stretcher, and Bennett doesn’t know if he will live or die.Now Bennett has to move in with know-it-all Aunt Laura, his mom’s sister, who hates Bennett’s dad. And Aunt Laura is making it her personal mission to Get Bennett Healthy. Bennett knows that Aunt Laura will take over his entire life if he lets her.It’s time for Bennett to step up to the plate. Because maybe there are some things a fat boy can do.

    They take twelve-year-old Jasper and six-year-old Lucy Modest from London, England; nine-year-old Wallace Banneker from New York, United States; twelve-year-old Noah Canto-Sagas from Toronto, Canada; and thirteen-year-old Faye Vigyanveta from New Delhi, India, depositing them all at a strange, isolated farmhouse in Dayton, Ohio, with kindly schoolteacher Miss Brett. But what mysterious invention have all the children, unbeknownst to one another, been working on? Who are the men in black? And are the men in black trying to kidnap them--or protect them? And if they're trying to protect them--from what? An amazing story about the wonders of science and the still greater wonders of friendship, The Atomic Weight of Secrets, the first book of the Young Inventors Guild trilogy is a novel readers will forever treasure.In 1903, five truly brilliant young inventors, the children of the world's most important scientists, went about their lives and their work as they always had.But all that changed the day the men in black arrived.They arrived to take twelve-year-old Jasper Modest and his six-year-old sister, Lucy--he with his remarkable creations and she with her perfect memory--from their London, England home to a place across the ocean they'd never seen before.They arrived to take nine-year-old Wallace Banneker, last in a long line of Africa-descended scientists, from his chemistry, his father, and his New York home to a life he'd never imagined.Twelve-year-old Noah Canto-Sagas, already missing his world-famous and beloved mother, was taken from Toronto, Canada, carrying only his clothes, his violin, and his remarkable mind.And thirteen-year-old Faye Vigyanveta, the genius daughter of India's wealthiest and most accomplished scientists, was removed by force from her life of luxury.From all across the world, they've been taken to mysterious Sole Manner Farm, and a beautiful but isolated schoolhouse in Dayton, Ohio, without a word from their parents as to why. Not even the wonderful schoolteacher they find there, Miss Brett, can explain it. She can give them love and care, but she can't give them answers.Things only get stranger from there. What is the book with no pages Jasper and Lucy find in their mother's underwear drawer, and why do the men in black want it so badly?How is it all the children have been taught the same bizarre poem--and yet no other rhymes or stories their entire lives?And why haven't their parents tried to contact them?Whatever the reasons, to brash, impetuous Faye, the situation is clear: They and their parents have been kidnapped by these terrible men in black, and the only way they're going to escape and rescue their parents is by completing the invention they didn't even know they were all working on--an invention that will change the world forever.But what if the men in black aren't trying to harm the children? What if they're trying to protect them?And if they're trying to protect them--from what?An amazing story about the wonders of science and the still greater wonders of friendship, The Atomic Weight of Secrets or the Arrival of the Mysterious Men in Black, the first book of the Young Inventors Guild trilogy, is a truly original novel. Young readers will forever treasure Eden Unger Bowditch's funny, inventive, poignant, and wonderfully fun fiction debut.-

    But it's not. It's Glasgow. And it's May - the marching season. The Orange Walks have begun.Graham doesn't want to be involved. He just wants to play football with his new mate, Joe. But when he witnesses a shocking moment of violence, suddenly he and Joe are involved. With Catholics, and with Protestants. With a young Muslim asylum-seeker, and his girlfriend. With all the old rivalries - and fears . . .A gripping tale about two boys who must find their own answers - and their own way forward - in a world divided by differences.

    Shumway and her daughter, Isadora. Although Uncle Bud secretly knows the aliens are after one of his inventions, everyone is surprised when the space aliens capture seven of Vern Hollow's residents and take them into outer space on a wild adventure. . . . (more)

    Things scare him, and he can’t help it. So naturally he’s terrified when he moves to a new town and the bully is ready to pounce. But just as Rodney is about to flee, a baseball flies in from out of nowhere and knocks out the bully. Now everyone thinks Rodney’s invincible—when really he feels just the opposite.  Can he figure out to live up to his new reputation and make friends along the way?Told with warmth and heart, this debut novel from a middle-school teacher that will speak to the hidden insecurities—and strengths—of every middle-grade reader.

    But above all, his story is that of a winner, a man who has brought the intense determination he has shown on the field to his recovery from illnesses off it.

    Still, the two baseball fanatics have the kind of friendship that should last forever. But when Seth experiences an unthinkable loss, he's forced to find his own personal strength--on and off the field. An ALA Best Book for Young Adults An ALA Best Book for Reluctant ReadersA New York Public Library Book for the Teen AgePennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Book of the Year

    I'm supposed to be writing my What-I-Did-In-The-Summre-Holidays story for school, but I'm going to write this story first...Anna and het brother, Tom, have always wanted a pet. After their latest pestering campaign Mum finally gives in and lets them choose a pair of hamsters from the local pet shop. But their happiness soon turns to horror when they discover the hamsters mysteriously slaughtered in their cage. Anna and Tom begin an investigation into the hamster homicides. Can they solve the case of the Great Hamster Massacre?