Anderson in this middle grade anthology.From Jennifer L. Holm’s story of a girl on Mars trying desperately to return to Earth to Gregory Maguire’s domestic intrigue; from Kathleen Karr’s story of a thief in turn-of-the-century Chicago to M.T. Anderson’s mysterious shipboard adventure; from A. LaFaye’s tale of magical wonderment to Marion Dane Bauer’s story of doing good, this volume provides a full range of reading for every taste. Also featured are Joan Bauer, Ellen Conford, Margaret Peterson Haddix, and Ellen Wittlinger. Sales of this book benefit ProLiteracy Worldwide, an international network with programs in the United States and partner programs abroad, whose mission is to change lives through literacy.

    At school, the only people who acknowledge Elena are Dora’s friends and Jimmy Zenk—who failed at least one grade and wears black every day of the week. And at home, Elena’s parents keep arguing with each other. Elena will do anything to help her sister get better and get their lives back to normal—even when the responsibility becomes too much to bear.

    No one's sweet sixteen party will be as glitzy, glamorous, decadent, and, well, obnoxious as Teagan's sweet sixteen party. She might single-handedly take the sweet out of sweet sixteen.In typical fashion, nothing is quite right for Teagan on the night of her sweet sixteen party. When a slew of unfortunate events unfold at what was supposed to be the sweet sixteen event of the century, she hits rock bottom, literally, by falling down the stairs into the wine cellar. When she comes to, a strange woman is standing over her. What happens next will bring Teagan back in time to when she was a sweet little girl with two parents, before her mother died and her father threw himself into his work.She'll be forced to face the choices she made that led her to be the person she is on her sixteenth birthday. And with the help of her fairy godmother (or whoever the heck the creepy woman in white is), this will be the sweetest of all sixteens.

    They cannot prevent her from riding into danger.     That same morning, Lutie's pastor, Miss Veola, whispers as always, "This is the day that the Lord hath made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it."     A block from Miss Veola and up a hill in Chalk, Train Greene, thin and hungry, burns with anger. He has a decision to make, and he's running out of time.     A few miles away, among finer houses, Kelvin Hartley yawns and gets ready for another day at school, where he is a friend to all and makes an effort at nothing.     And Doria Bell, who recently moved to the South from Connecticut, walks to the bus stop, hoping the high school kids who live nearby will say hello.     All of these lives intertwine and—in surprising ways—become connected to Lutie's ancestors, who are buried in the cemetery in Chalk. Who would have dreamed that the long-dead Mabel Painter, who passed down the Laundry List songs to her great-great-granddaughter Lutie, had passed along a piece of American history that speaks to so many who feel lost and need hope. Big changes are in store for all, and things will never be the same.     In this luminous novel, Caroline B. Cooney delves deeply into a Southern community. Cooney reveals the comfort, inspiration, and hope its members draw from the power of faith, the glory of music, and the meaning of family.

    Eight years later, the family still hasn't recovered: Mike's mom is overworked and overprotective; his younger sister Mary feels no connection to the father she barely remembers; and in his quest to be "the man of the family," Mike knows he's missing out on everyday high school life.Then, out of the blue, Mike receives a letter from his father - the first of a series Dad wrote in Afghanistan, just in case he didn't come home, meant to share some wisdom with his son on the eve of Mike's 16th birthday. As the letters come in, Mike revels in spending time with his dad again, and takes his encouragement to try new things - to go out for the football team, and ask out the beautiful Isma. But who's been keeping the letters all these years? And how did Dad actually die? As the answers to these mysteries are revealed, Mike and his family find a way to heal and move forward at last.

    . . I've been escaping cops' notice for a year now. I'm no longer Michael Daye, high school athlete with a promising future. Now I look like someone with no future.When Michael saw a chance to leave town with a traveling carnival a year ago, he took it. Back then, his home life was spinning violently out of control. The carnival, with its "no questions asked" policy, seemed like a welcome escape. But now Michael's job has brought him back to Miami, where his mother is on trial for murder, making him wonder how much longer he can hide from his past . . . and his future.

    His family and friends flock to his bedside to support his recovery—and to discuss the events leading up to the tragic accident. Was this an inevitable result of playing a violent sport, or was something more sinister happening on the field that day? Told in an innovative, multimedia format combining dialogue, texts, newspaper articles, transcripts, an online forum, and Teddy’s inner thoughts, Game Changer explores the joyous thrills and terrifying risks of America’s most popular sport.

    That is until the night she's hit by a car and killed while walking home from the movies.     In brief, moving chapters, we hear about Raquel from her classmates, her best friend, her family--and the woman who was driving the car that struck her.     The loss of this seemingly invisible girl deeply affects her entire community, proving just how interconnected and similar we all really are.

    After bombing a stand-up set at her own bat mitzvah, Winnie has kept her jokes to herself. Well, to herself and her dad, a former comedian and her inspiration.Then, on the second day of tenth grade, the funniest guy in school actually laughs at a comment she makes in the lunch line and asks her to join the improv troupe. Maybe he's even . . . flirting?Just when Winnie's ready to say yes to comedy again, her father reveals that he's been diagnosed with ALS. That is . . . not funny. Her dad's still making jokes, though, which feels like a good thing. And Winnie's prepared to be his straight man if that's what he wants. But is it what he needs?Caught up in a spiral of epically bad dates, bad news, and bad performances, Winnie's struggling to see the humor in it all. But finding a way to laugh is exactly what will see her through.

    I think it's about midnight. I was busy reading up until an hour ago, but my eyes started to hurt from squinting. Now it's just me and the waiting.It's 1987 and fourteen-year-old Ellie Roma doesn't have much of a family. She lives with her mother, who has taken a break from parenting; and her older sister, Gwen, who is on her way to becoming a juvenile delinquent. Her father left them to start a new life.So Ellie spends a lot of time alone, especially at night, when all she has to keep her company are the fireflies that flicker in the summer air. Then one day a mysterious stranger enters her dark world. He is Leo, twenty-one, who is on his way to Hollywood to become a rock star. Ellie and Leo connect instantly, and Ellie hopes Leo will be the one to rescue her from her unhappy life. But instead, Leo teaches Ellie that no one can save you. You have to go after what you want. So one night -- one terrible, frightening, thrilling night -- that's exactly what Ellie decides to do. With a fresh perspective, first-time novelist Dominique Paul deftly weaves a family drama about chaos and dysfunction, with a young girl's journey of triumph. Full of humor and sorrow, heartbreak and hope, The Possibility of Fireflies is really a story that we all have to tell: the story of the summer we grew up.

    But Stacy refuses to accept this social blacklisting in the hilarious follow-up to You Are SO Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah!.

    Or maybe they were destined to meet, for they all share emotions that unite them—loneliness, frustration, and anger. Apart they are ordinary enough, unremarkable and not much noticed. Together, in the dark of night, they are drawn to violence like moths to a flame. Gem is a girl whose path crosses theirs when she falls in love with Gabriel. Will the whirlpool of destruction swallow her, too?

    Fred is her often-aggravating best guy friend; her father is a lonely bachelor; Flora is her gorgeous best friend, a constant liability; and Ben Jones is barely a twinkle in her eye. Into this innocent scene are dropped 30 or so helpless French exchange students. Jess and her mother are assigned to house Eduoard, a shy, awkward, and painfully English-deprived boy Jess's age. To counter what Jess fears is Eduoard's growing crush on her, Jess convinces her friend Fred to pose as her boyfriend, but he refuses to take their fake relationship seriously. Add a gorgeous, womanizing French student, an ill-fated camping trip in a student's backyard, and Flora just being, well, Flora, and you have all the makings of an international incident. Will Jess be able to keep the peace, or even translate the whole debacle to the confused French students? The future of England is on the line. . . .

    The other desperate to save him. A gripping journey together to the river's end. Shane has always worshiped his big brother, Jeremy. But three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken their toll, and the easy-go-lucky brother Shane knew has been replaced by a surly drunk who carries his loaded 9mm with him everywhere and lives in the basement because he can’t face life with his wife and two small children. When Jeremy shows up after Shane’s football game and offers to take him to the family cabin overnight, Shane goes along — both to get away from a humiliation on the field and to keep an eye on Jeremy, who’s AWOL from his job at Quantico and seems to have a shorter fuse than ever. But as the camping trip turns into a days-long canoe trip down the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers, Shane realizes he’s in way over his head — and has no idea how to persuade Jeremy to return home and get the help he needs before it’s too late. In a novel at once gripping and heartbreaking, Steve Watkins offers a stark exploration of the unseen injuries left by war.

    But who believes him? He's a loser. Can he even believe in himself? Also comes Pearl, the daughter of the cemetery caretaker, who befriends Murray and tries to enter his world. Together they may prove the astonishing possibility that Nikki is closer than anyone thinks."Dead Connection is a smart, funny, very clever page turner; unique and fun to read. As much as I wanted the mystery solved, I didn't want it to end. You're going to like this book." --Chris Crutcher