Everything would be fine if it weren't for one girl who's always mean. Katy knows that if she told her secret, everything would be fine - but Katy is determined not to tell anybody.

    Skirl has a house within a house and it teems with terrifying creatures.This is the domain of the ageless Alba Hockmuth, who glides with demonic ease between the dead and the living, the past and the present, and is hellbent on Kim's demise.But help arrives in the most unusual form of Iggy Ma-tuu Clava. In a race against time, he and Kim must discover the secrets of the curse which lies in a painting by the Master of the Fallen Chairs.This is to say nothing - well, as little as possible - about the Great Auk, the last and undoubtedly the most indignant of her species, who somehow manages to remain alive and flipping in the strange conditions of the House at Skirl.

    Literary Criticism. The two discussions in WHAT WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN took place at the offices of n+1 in the summer of 2007. Eleven n+1 editors and contributors--including Caleb Crain, Meghan Falvey, Mark Greif, and Ilya Bernstein--met to talk frankly about regrets they have (or don't have) about college--what they wish they had read or had not read, listened to or not listened to, thought or not thought, been or not been. The idea for the discussions was prompted by a desire to give college students a directed guide, of some sort, to the world of literature, philosophy, and thought that they might not otherwise receive from the current highly specialized university environment. They were also an attempt to answer the "canon"-based approach to college study in two ways: by identifying canonical books produced by our contemporaries or near-contemporaries--something conservative writers have always refused to do--and, second, by articulating a better reason to read the best books ever written than that they authorize and underwrite a system of brutal economic competition and inequality.

    And everything June loves about Dogwood Middle School unravels: librarian Ms. Bradshaw is suspended, an author appearance is canceled, the library is gutted, and all books on the premises must have administrative approval. But June can't give up books . . . and she realizes she doesn't have to when she spies a Little Free Library on her walk to school. As the rules become stricter at school and at home, June keeps turning the pages of the banned books that continue to appear in the little library. It's a delicious secret . . . and one she can't keep to herself. June starts a banned book library of her own in an abandoned locker at school. The risks grow alongside her library's popularity, and a movement begins at Dogwood Middle--a movement that, if exposed, could destroy her. But if it's powerful enough, maybe it can save Ms. Bradshaw and all that she represents: the freedom to read.Equal parts fun and empowering, this novel explores censorship, freedom of speech, and activism. For any kid who doesn’t believe one person can effect change…and for all the kids who already know they can!

    One minute she's over the moon and the next she's down in the dumps.She's bright, attractive and twelve years old, but she has to rely on more than just her looks to get her the grades she needs to qualify for the Founder's Day dinner and dance.And what’s she going to do when her eyes mysteriously puff up? Who's going to want to take her to the dance in that state, least of all a dish like golden-haired Sun God Matt?

    Luxuriously illustrated with 92 watercolors, it's a wonderful introduction to Alice's adventures as well as a splendid volume for collectors. Available for sale in the United States only.

    Seuss, Mark Twain to Beatrix Potter--and shows that the best-loved children's books tend to challenge rather than uphold respectable adult values.

    But in any language, all Anna knows for certain is that friendship is complicated.When Anna needs company, she turns to her books. Whether traveling through A Wrinkle in Time, or peering over My Side of the Mountain, books provide what real life cannot—constant companionship and insight into her changing world.Books, however, can’t tell Anna how to find a true friend. She’ll have to discover that on her own. In the tradition of classics like Maud Hart Lovelace’s Betsy-Tacy books and Eleanor Estes’ One Hundred Dresses, this novel subtly explores what it takes to make friends and what it means to be one.

    But some days are the worst! Sometimes everything just goes wrong: your little sister presses the elevator button first your favorite socks are missing you're not allowed to wear your mermaid costume to the dentist you can't wear your snorkel in the bathtub But how great would it be if we could learn how to have a good do-over day? Think of all the moaning and groaning and fussing and grumping we could avoid.The Do-Over Day is a great book for kids ages 3-9 and can teach us all how to handle the occasional worst day ever. It even comes with practice cards, so you can begin to have better do-over days, too.

    But when their two families move in together, maybe they are a little too close for comfort! Out shopping one day they need to avoid the most embarrassing encounter ever with Molly's mum, and hide in a shop they had never noticed before. When they leave by the side door, they realise immediately that something is not right! Transported back to the past, where mobile phones don't work and the world feels very different, they realise that they have a chance to see the world through their parents' eyes. Before finding their way home, can they see what their own pasts looked like?

    Drawn from the original text and intended for even the youngest of horse lovers, Black Beauty's Early Days in the Meadow depicts the first few months of the horse's life as a foal frolicking in the meadow. Artist Jane Monroe Donovan renders the classic story in lush oil paintings that convey a pastoral world of green fields and shady trees, while tenderly capturing the special love between mare and foal. The perfect harmony of words and pictures proves once again that the simplest messages are often the strongest. Readers will relish the sweetness of life in the meadow and the companionship of family and friends.

    But how can a twelve-year-old girl publish a book? Natalie's mother is an editor for a big children's publisher, but Natalie doesn't want to ask for any favors. Then Zoe has a brilliant idea: Natalie can submit her manuscript under a pen name, with Zoe acting as her literary agent. But it's not easy for two sixth graders to put themselves over as grown-ups, even with some help from a couple of real grown-ups who are supportive but skeptical. The next bestselling school story may be in their hands—but can Natalie and Zoe pull off their masquerade?

    As the bunny reads on, "lazing back against a tree root," Anita Jeram quietly ushers children inside the pages of a fanciful story. Exquisite watercolors capture a classic storybook world of enchanted forests, gentle lions, stomping giants, and sleeping princesses, offering just a glimpse of the any adventures waiting to be discovered through the magic of books.

    On the journey Flora has a strange dream. She wakes up without her laptop or her phone, wearing a hideous uniform with ridiculous bloomers underneath. Slowly, she realizes she has gone back in time! But why?

    And so far, he's managed to get through life without ever reading an entire book from cover to cover. But now that he's in middle school, avoiding reading isn't as easy as it used to be. And when his friend Timmy McGibney decides that he's tired of covering for him, Charlie Joe finds himself resorting to desperate measures to keep his perfect record intact.Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading by Tommy Greenwald is the hilarious story of an avid non-reader and the extreme lengths to which he'll go to get out of reading a book.