The divide has created much tension between Hindus and Muslims, and hundreds of thousands are killed crossing borders. Half-Muslim, half-Hindu twelve-year-old Nisha doesn't know where she belongs, or what her country is anymore. When Papa decides it's too dangerous to stay in what is now Pakistan, Nisha and her family become refugees and embark first by train but later on foot to reach her new home. The journey is long, difficult, and dangerous, and after losing her mother as a baby, Nisha can't imagine losing her homeland, too. But even if her country has been ripped apart, Nisha still believes in the possibility of putting herself back together.Told through Nisha's letters to her mother, The Night Diary is a heartfelt story of one girl's search for home, for her own identity...and for a hopeful future.

    When she receives a note that says her mother's Gift killed her, Bone seeks to unravel the mysteries of her mother's death, the schisms in her family, and the Gifts themselves.In a southern Virginia coal-mining town in 1942, Bone Phillips has just reached the age when most members of her family discover their Gift. Bone has a Gift that disturbs her; she can sense stories when she touches an object that was important to someone. She sees both sad and happy--the death of a deer in an arrowhead, the pain of a beating in a baseball cap, and the sense of joy in a fiddle. There are also stories woven into her dead mama's butter-yellow sweater--stories Bone yearns for and fears. When Bone receives a note that says her mama's Gift is what killed her, Bone tries to uncover the truth. Could Bone's Gift do the same? Here is a beautifully resonant coming-of-age tale about learning to trust the power of your own story.

    Twelve mysteries.Twelve authors.One challenge: can YOU solve the crimes before the heroes of the stories?These are twelve brand-new short stories from twelve of the best children's crime writers writing today.These creepy, hilarious, brain-boggling, heart-pounding mysteries feature daring, brilliant young detectives, and this anthology is a must for fans of crime fiction and detection, especially the Murder Most Unladylike Mysteries, The Roman Mysteries and The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow.

    His cousin packs him off to boarding school, infrequent phone calls are his only contact with his beloved mother, and he eventually finds himself homeless at the age of 13. Abbas's extraordinary resilience in the face of overpowering odds makes this story, based on true events, inspiring and unforgettable.

    Jack, Sonny and Beth are transported back to the ancient Indian burial cave in the jungles of the 1970s Panama Canal Zone. After spending time in the Canal Zone, they return to 1875 San Francisco and reunite with Anne. They visit China Town where they meet an interesting and powerful Chinese gentleman and are introduced to the warfare between the triads and the tongs.They find their lives are in danger from an old enemy. They decide it is better if they leave San Francisco and visit the Cheyenne. From there they travel to New York and witness first hand the cutthroat world of New York high society and then on to England where they are introduced to British society by none other than Prince Edward himself.

    

    You're as tough as a green apple in summer . . .Only Fallow was just six harvests old when she realized that not everyone sees lies. For Only, seeing lies is as beautiful as looking through a kaleidoscope, but telling them is as painful as gnawing on cut glass. Only's family warns her to keep her cunning hidden, but secrets are seldom content to stay secret.When word of Only's ability makes its way to the King, she's plucked from her home at the orchard and brought to the castle at Bellskeep. There she learns that the kingdom is plagued by traitors, and that her task is to help the King distinguish between friend and foe. But being able to see lies doesn't necessarily mean that others aren't able to disguise their dishonesty with cunnings of their own.In the duplicitous, power-hungry court, the truth is Only's greatest weapon . . . and her greatest weakness.

    Ricky's an eighth grader with an amazing menagerie of animals that includes dogs, cats, rats, squirrels, rabbits, hamsters, gerbils, grouse, groundhogs, iguanas, budgies, and a three-foot-long alligator called Ollie. It's no wonder, then, that he's a big fan of his science teacher, Mr. Johnston, who has even more animals in his classroom, including Bogart, a pet boa constrictor. When vandals wreck Mr. Johnston's classroom, leading to Bogart's death, Ricky and his best friend Augie decide that it's up to them to put things right. Their plan is to surprise Mr. Johnston with a new snake with the financial help of every kid in the school. But keeping the plan a secret isn't easy when you're dealing with a six-foot boa! Ricky is a thoroughly engaging contemporary novel that will have particular resonance with boys. Walters looks at some pretty serious issues--including how to cope with the death of a parent, the nature of friendship, learning disabilities, and teen violence--but, as always, he has a light, quirky touch and a strong sense of plot. In an afterword, Walters explains his part in his latest fiction, which will delight readers interested in what inspires their favourite writers. (Ages 8 to 12) --Jeffrey Canton

    Lucy Strange takes a seafaring myth and grounds it in the stark reality of World War II.Growing up in a lighthouse, 11-year-old Pet's world has been one of storms, secret tunnels, and stories about sea monsters. But now the country is at war and the clifftops are a terrifying battleground. Pet will need to muster all her bravery to uncover why her family is being torn apart. This is the story of a girl who is afraid and unnoticed. A girl who freezes with fear at the enemy planes ripping through the skies overheard. A girl who is somehow destined to become part of the strange, ancient legend of the Daughters of Stone.

    From the poverty of the Dublin slums twelve-year-old Jimmy Conway sees it all as glorious, and loves the British Army for which his father is fighting.But when war comes to his own streets Jimmy's loyalties are divided. The rebels occupy the General Post Office and other parts of the city, and Jimmy's uncle is among them. Dublin's streets are destroyed, business comes to a halt.In an attempt to find food for his family, Jimmy crosses the city, avoiding the shooting, weaving through the army patrols, hoping to make it home before curfew. But his quest is not easy and danger threatens at every corner.

    From the Emmy-Award winning host of Survivor, Jeff Probst, with Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life co-author Chris TebbettsA brand new adventure following the characters from the original STRANDED family adventure trilogy! It happened to them once. It could never happen again, right?Two months ago, Vanessa and Buzz’s dad married Jane and Carter’s mom and they became a family. But their adventure really started just two weeks ago when the four siblings were shipwrecked and stranded on a deserted tropical island for thirteen days. Alone. They thought it was over, but now, they find themselves on a whole new island, and this time, they’re not alone. Getting here was a nightmare. Leaving just might be impossible.Because this time, it’s forbidden.Books in the Stranded, Shadow Island seriesForbidden Passage (Book 4)Sabotage (Book 5)Desperate Measures (Book 6) Books in the original Stranded series:Stranded (Book 1)Trial By Fire (Book 2)Survivors (Book 3)From the Trade Paperback edition.

    All her friends are coming to her party, her mama is making a big cake, and she has a good feeling about a certain wrapped box. Turning ten is a big deal to Armani. It means she's older, wiser, more responsible. But when Hurricane Katrina hits the Lower Nines of New Orleans, Armani realizes that being ten means being brave, watching loved ones die, and mustering all her strength to help her family weather the storm. A powerful story of courage and survival, Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere celebrates the miraculous power of hope and love in the face of the unthinkable.

    She isn't trouble. She just has some problems. After all, her mother is ill and in the hospital and her father is far away, teaching at an American college in Istanbul, Turkey. But everything changes when Vicki fails school. Instead of going to camp, she's sent to stay with her father in Istanbul. Vickie knew Istanbul would be exotic, with its spiraled castles, silk-clad gypsies, and ancient history, but she had no idea that it would also bring danger--to herself and to her new-found friends. Vicki soon learns that all is not what it seems. And America seems very far away indeed....

    The niece of Syvia Perlmutter, one of only twelve child survivors of the Lodz ghetto in Poland, shares her aunt's experiences of the Holocaust in free verse that relates the courage and heartbreak she lived during a time of terrible circumstances.

    There, Jack encounters Early Auden, the strangest of boys, who reads the number pi as a story and collects clippings about the sightings of a great black bear in the nearby mountains.Newcomer Jack feels lost yet can’t help being drawn to Early, who won’t believe what everyone accepts to be the truth about the Great Appalachian Bear, Timber Rattlesnakes, and the legendary school hero known as The Fish, who never returned from the war. When the boys find themselves unexpectedly alone at school, they embark on a quest on the Appalachian Trail in search of the great black bear.But what they are searching for is sometimes different from what they find. They will meet truly strange characters, each of whom figures into the pi story Early weaves as they travel, while discovering things they never realized about themselves and others in their lives.