After all, no self-respecting farmer would turn his place into a theme park! Things get spooky when Ben's long-dead ancestors show up. Will Ben's farm go bust, or will the ghostly forbears come to the rescue?

    His mom complains constantly, they never seem to have enough money, and they're always having to move. He knows his father works for the Giants baseball team and lives somewhere in San Francisco--and Spencer's sure that if he can somehow get there, his dad will take him in. But California is a long, dangerous way from Seattle if you've only got fourteen dollars, you're twelve?and you're alone.

    But this is Darnell’s last chance to pull himself together and make a positive contribution to his school. At first, Darnell would rather be hanging out with his sister and his friends. But soon he gets interested in the Oakdale Gazette. Much to his surprise, Darnell discovers that people pay attention to the words he writes. Before he knows it, Darnell changes from a kid who can’t do anything right to a person who can make a difference.

    I am being held against my will, trapped by ignorance and cruelty. You must save me. Take me away from this. I am desperately in need of your assistance. Please help me. Mike Pillsbury.When a frustrated plea to the universe attracts a motley crew of aliens determined to rescue him, Mike Pillsbury decides he isn't quite ready to relinquish life on Earth. Will his visitors, who all have something at stake, let him stay?00-01 Sunshine State Young Reader's Award Masterlist (Gr. 6-8) and 00-01 Young Reader's Choice Award Program Masterlist

    While trying to rescue Han Solo, Luke becomes the target of two enemy dark forces, Darth Vader and Xizor.

    Many of the innovations that we think of as hallmarks of Western science had their roots in the Arab world of the middle ages, a period when much of Western Christendom lay in intellectual darkness. Jim al- Khalili, a leading British-Iraqi physicist, resurrects this lost chapter of history, and given current East-West tensions, his book could not be timelier. With transporting detail, al-Khalili places readers in the hothouses of the Arabic Enlightenment, shows how they led to Europe's cultural awakening, and poses the question: Why did the Islamic world enter its own dark age after such a dazzling flowering?

    For centuries following the fall of Rome, western Europe was a benighted backwater, a world of subsistence farming, minimal literacy, and violent conflict. Meanwhile Arab culture was thriving, dazzling those Europeans fortunate enough to catch even a glimpse of the scientific advances coming from Baghdad, Antioch, or the cities of Persia, Central Asia, and Muslim Spain. T here, philosophers, mathematicians, and astronomers were steadily advancing the frontiers of knowledge and revitalizing the works of Plato and Aristotle. I n the royal library of Baghdad, known as the House of Wisdom, an army of scholars worked at the behest of the Abbasid caliphs. At a time when the best book collections in Europe held several dozen volumes, the House of Wisdom boasted as many as four hundred thousand.Even while their countrymen waged bloody Crusades against Muslims, a handful of intrepid Christian scholars, thirsty for knowledge, traveled to Arab lands and returned with priceless jewels of science, medicine, and philosophy that laid the foundation for the Renaissance. I n this brilliant, evocative book, Lyons shows just how much "Western" culture owes to the glories of medieval Arab civilization, and reveals the untold story of how Europe drank from the well of Muslim learning.

    Do they really live happily ever after? Does Rapunzel enjoy her new life at the palace when all she has to do all day is look after her lovely, long tresses. What happens when she rebels and has it all chopped off? And what of Cinderella? How does she cope with the Queen as a mother-in-law when she thinks that Cinders is just a pretty face. Cinderella sets out to prove how useful she is, and sets up Cinderella's Makeovers Salon.

    He plans to return to the Titanic, which he sailed on as a boy, and try to save it. But when he breaks his ankle it looks as if his plans have been ruined.Until Matt, Emily, and Matt's best friend, Jonathan, find the invention. Jonathan, a real science whiz, figures out how to make it work. In a snap, the three kids travel back nearly one hundred years. They are on the Titanic!Can they save the great ship before it hits the iceberg and sinks to the bottom of the ocean? And more important, will they be able to get back to the present time?

    He can't wait to join his brother in New York. He has big dreams and bigger ambitions. Karolina Green is returning home to the States with her Aunt Rose after the death of her parents in England. She wants, more than anything, to mend her shattered life in New York.On a calm, clear April night their hopes and dreams turn into a nightmare—like those of hundreds of other passengers on the Titanic. Rich and poor, famous and unknown, the people aboard the Titanic find themselves at the mercy of a cold sea that even the greatest ship ever built can't conquer. Few will live to remember the disaster the world still can't forget—will Gavin and Karolina be among the survivors?

    Is it Emma's aunt Bea--suspect because of her strange, childlike behavior? Emma returns home from her stay with aunt Bea, understanding more about her relative's erratic, forgivable ways.

    Skilled in making everyday occurrences interesting, the author has written a pleasant story of a caring family.--Horn Book.

    Then, when his owners sail into stormy waters, the little Yorkie goes overboard! Washing up on an island far from home, Tango learns that sometimes it takes getting lost to find what matters most. This wonderfully fresh novel is perfect for fans of E. B. White and other classic animal stories.

    With the help of his grandmother, his dead father's best friend, and his own best friend—a math whiz—Mickey prepares to compete in the most important pool championship of his life, despite his mother's reservations.

    Unfortunately, that man -- Sam Bannock -- has disappeared. Rumor has it that Sam is dead, but to his son, Jake, something about that doesn't sound quite right. So Jake and Jim Ugly embark on a wild journey into the frontier West, where they find themselves pursued by a pretty lady, a theater troupe, and one very ornery yellow-legged man. And they all want to know one thing: Where is Sam Bannock?