Cheesy. Unreal. At least, that's what Clay, who has seen one magic show too many, thinks.When words from his journal appear mysteriously on his school wall as graffiti, he never imagines that magic might be to blame. And when the same graffiti lands him at Earth Ranch, a camp for "troubled" kids on a remote volcanic island, magic is the last thing he expects to find there.But at Earth Ranch, there is one strange surprise after another, until Clay no longer knows what to expect. Is he really talking to a llama? Did he really see a ghost? What is the scary secret hidden in the abandoned library? The only thing he knows for sure is that behind the clouds of vog (volcanic smog), nothing is as it seems. Can he solve the riddle of Earth Ranch before trouble erupts?Elusive author Pseudonymous Bosch introduces an extraordinary new series that will have you believing in the unbelievable.

    An adventure across the world might spice things up! Fritz the elephant dreams of celebrating his birthday with an exciting voyage to a faraway place. So after the two connect online via Lair-bnb, they pack their bags and head across the globe to trade places. Will Fritz love the city life? Will the rain forest be all that Tabitha has hoped for? Join this adventurous pair as they find out whether the grass really is greener…on the other side of the world!

    In her mining town, Coal Top, boys leave school at 12 to work in the mines, and girls leave to work as servants for the rich people. Mallie can't stomach the idea of that kind of life, but what choice does she have? Especially when her family is counting on her wages to survive. All that changes when Mallie is recruited for a dangerous competition in which daring (and ideally, orphaned children) train flying horses to battle the monsters that lurk beneath Coal Top. If she wins, she'll earn a fortune for her struggling family. If she fails . . . her family will have one less mouth to feed. But the situation proves even more sinister than Mallie realizes, and in addition to fighting for her life, she finds herself uncovering a dangerous mystery at the heart of Coal Top's struggles-a mystery that the charismatic ringleader Mortimer Good will do anything to protect.

    Each guide includes an author biography, background information, summaries, thought-provoking discussion questions, as well as creative, cross-curricular activities and reproducibles that motivate students.

    She's spent her entire life training to hunt the horrific creatures known as Grendels - the ancient foe of the Aesir - just like her mother did before she died. But there's just one, small problem: No one has seen a Grendel in centuries, and the Viking Council wants to disband the Aesir . . . forever. When her father is injured in an attack that leaves him in a coma, Abby is forced to take refuge at Vale Hall, a mysterious school in Minnesota where nothing is quite as it seems. She soon discovers the tables have turned and a Grendel is hunting her, but when she tries to alert the Viking Council, they accuse her of making up stories for attention . . . just like her mother did. Desperate to protect her father and clear her mother's name, Abby goes on a dangerous quest to discover the truth--a journey that brings her face-to-face with some unlikely foes, including a Ping-Pong-playing sea monster with a wicked backhand, and a dark Valkyrie with a fondness for bingo. Abby quickly realizes that someone at the school is trying to stop her progress and destroy the Aesir for good. And only she can unravel the sinister plot before it's too late.

    In this book you will meet Brady, a bat who oddly has a terrible fear of the dark. This poses quite a dilemma for a creature that sleeps in a dark cave and comes out to play at night. Learn how Brady discovers a creative way to solve this problem...with a little help from some friends.

    His Elven mother is dying of a wasting disease. His Human father, severely injured in the war, struggles to walk. A brutal Winterfall clasps his mountainous kingdom in talons of ice. The people are starving. His family, his little sisters, depend on him to see them to Dragonmas Day.They need a miracle. But who believes in miracles anymore?Long ago, the mighty Dragon Santaclaws rescued Humankind and resettled them in the magical realm of Tyanbran – but Santaclaws and his miracles are gone, and his Dragons disappeared. Now, a stubborn half-Elf must brave blizzards and treacherous trails to bring food to the kingdom, and find winterberry to ease his mother’s suffering.What he discovers on this journey will shatter all unbelief. The lightning-born treasure he places beneath his Dragonmas tree changes everything, for wishes are different when it comes to Dragons.Wishes take wing, and come true.The start of a new Dragon Rider epic for fans of Anne McCaffrey, Eragon and How to Train Your Dragon. Santa Claus - Santaclaws - is really a dragon.

    When a key source vanishes on a politically toxic story, this single mother of three finds herself at the center of a media storm and out of a job. Ready to reset, Parker moves her family back to the rural town where she grew up. But a gossip-filled PTA, a tyrannical school principal and a gruesome murder make adjusting to the "simple life" anything but. Parker Monroe is about to chase the story of her lifetime...

    A cryptic picture message from their mother leads them to a familiar gate in the woods, but comfortable sights quickly give way to a new world entirely—Down—one inhabited by talking birds and the evil Puppeteer queen. Summer and Bird are quickly separated, and their divided hearts lead them each in a very different direction in the quest to find their parents, vanquish the Puppeteer, lead the birds back to their Green Home, and discover the identity of the true bird queen.With breathtaking language and deliciously inventive details, Katherine Catmull has created a world unlike any other, skillfully blurring the lines between magic and reality and bringing to life a completely authentic cast of characters and creatures.

    In a few months, he’s going to die.One MissionJack needs to find seven magic loculi that, when combined, have the power to cure him.One ProblemThe loculi are the relics of a lost civilization and haven’t been seen in thousands of years.Seven WondersBecause they’re hidden in the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

    After all, she's always being told that girls can't be explorers.But her life is changed forever when adventure comes for her in the form of a fabled vessel called the Ship of Shadows. Crewed by a band of ruthless women, with cabin walls dripping with secrets, the ship has sailed right out of a legend. And it wants Aleja.Once on board its shadowy deck, she begins to realize that the sea holds more secrets than she ever could have imagined. The crew are desperately seeking something, and their path will take them through treacherous waters and force them to confront nightmare creatures and pitch-dark magic. It will take all of Aleja's strength and courage to gain the trust of her fellow pirates - and discover what they are risking everything to find.

    The beautiful and adorable illustrations will charm your little ones into visiting this ABC book over and over again. This is a definite must have book for your favorite preschooler to 1st grader.

    After twenty-three years and three combat tours with the 75th Ranger Regiment, he’s got a Silver Star, a titanium knee and a plan to see America on his Road King motorcycle. No more patrols, no more firefights. Nothing more dangerous than passing the old work van rumbling along in front of him as he rides toward Hunter-Stewart and the sunset of his career in the Army. But just as he twists the throttle to pass, a woman’s bare foot smears a bloody print on the van’s back window. Roman turns back to help, triggering a chain of events that puts his brother Virgil and two old friends in the crosshairs of a murderer. Saving them sends Roman on a desperate ride from Savannah to DC, where he discovers that the past he has been trying to forget has not forgotten him. It’s been waiting patiently, holding his secret like a time bomb.

    

    Mavis is actually a goat, but she didn't know this and none of the others liked to tell her. Life for the Dolan Street dogs is not all lying around watching Dog Hospital, it can be very exciting. There's the day they saved the world, the haunting, the night the burglars came ...