Four events. And only one gold medal. Floor routine. Uneven bars. Vault. And balance beam. 90 seconds. 75 seconds. 7 seconds. 90 seconds.In gymnastics, your best friends are your biggest rivals. And the Bellevue Kips are feeling the pressure. Everyone wants to win best all-around gymnast at Optionals and State finals, but only one girl goes home with gold. Who will it be? Nadia: Gymnastics royalty. Beam is her event. Gold is in her DNA. But how far is she willing to go to win?Bethany: Best on floor. Worst on vault. Does Bethany’s height spell gymnastics doom? Sara: They used to call her Tree Frog. Now, she’s too scared to tumble backwards. Can she get it together in time to compete?Kelley: Gymnast. Soccer Star. And ballerina. The time has come to choose her sport. What is she willing to sacrifice to win?Jamie: The new girl and the squad’s biggest mystery. Will she crumble under pressure? Or will she give them all a run for their money? The countdown to competition has begun. Will it make them? Or break them?

    Since then, it’s been three years of radio silence, during which time Otis has become the unlikely protégé of eighteen-year-old Dara—part drill sergeant, part friend—who’s hell-bent on transforming Otis into the Olympic swimmer she can no longer be. But when Otis learns that Meg is coming back to town, he must face some difficult truths about the girl he’s never forgotten and the brother he’s never stopped grieving. As it becomes achingly clear that he and Meg are not the same people they were, Otis must decide what to hold on to and what to leave behind. Quietly affecting, this compulsively readable debut novel captures all the confusion, heartbreak, and fragile hope of three teens struggling to accept profound absences in their lives.

    Inside the bag, Rose finds an iPod, with a to-be-determined playlist; a picture of peonies, for growing; a crystal heart, for loving; a paper star, for making a wish; and a paper kite, for letting go.As Rose ponders the meaning of each item, she finds herself returning again and again to an unexpected source of comfort. Will is her family’s gardener, the school hockey star, and the only person who really understands what she’s going through. Can loss lead to love?

    She's waiting -- I can feel it. I just have to find her in time, that's all ... Because when I do, I'll know the truth about who stole her. ' Told through the innocent voice of a child, this is a story that celebrates the power of hope and resilience, from the author of The Boy at the Back of the Class.On her tenth birthday, Aniyah makes a wish -- a wish for her mum. After school that same day, Aniyah and her brother are rushed out of school and driven far, far away.So Aniyah sets out to find out the truth -- about the wish and about what happened to her mother. And in doing so she ends up on an adventure she never could have foreseen...one that involves a very clever squirrel, a homeless man named Harry, the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, and the biggest star in Hollywood...

    Then he discovers something about himself: he's a fast runner. He joins the running group and is recruited for the school track team. But being on the track team and getting more attention brings Lionel closer to the bullies he's been avoiding and makes him a target.

    To top things off, her parents are old — really old — and while she loves them with all her heart, she dislikes it when other people mistake them for her grandparents. When Trudy's father starts acting strangely, Trudy and her mother can't figure out what the problem is. But when he forgets to pick Trudy up from school and starts to put groceries away in the wrong place, they decide to take him to the doctor. Once Trudy's father has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, Trudy and her mother are faced with some tough decisions.This is a touching, beautifully told story that young people relate to, particularly those who have parents or grandparents dealing with an illness. Trudy’s challenges and her strength in dealing with them make her a heroine with whom young readers identify.

    It's a skill that has come in handy for him all his life. Born with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), Stuart has learned to run away from all kinds of trouble - at least if he can recognize it. Sometimes it's hard to know when a friend really is a friend or when he's just bad news.Sam is a basketball star destined to play on a university varsity team until he's sidelined by a dangerous heart condition. After losing the one thing that centres his world, Sam focuses his energy on helping his Best Buddy, Stuart, make the school track-and-field team. But first, both Stuart and Sam must come to understand that there is a time to run and a time to stay where they belong.

    As he tries to hold his crazy father and their crumbling home together, Jason relies on a host of imaginary friends for guidance as he stumbles along trying not to draw attention to his father’s deteriorating condition.Both heartbreaking and funny, Crazy lives up to the intense and compelling characters Han Nolan is praised for. As Jason himself teeters on the edge of insanity, Nolan uncovers the clever coping system he develops for himself and throws him a lifeline in the guise of friendship.

    But Grace wants to finally have a home all their own. Just when she thinks she's found it her mother says it's time to move again. Grace summons the courage to tell her mother how she really feels and will always regret that her last words to her were angry ones. After her mother's sudden death, Grace is forced to live with a grandmother she's never met. She can't imagine her mother would want her to stay with this stranger. Then Grace finds clues in a mysterious treasure hunt, just like the ones her mother used to send her on. Maybe it is her mother, showing her the way to her true home. Lyrical, poignant and fresh, The Secret Hum of a Daisy is a beautifully told middle grade tale with a great deal of heart.

    The art of holding on and letting go at the same time.”   Competitive climber Cara Jenkins feels most at home high off the ground, clinging to a rock wall by her fingertips. She’s enjoyed a roaming life with her mountaineering parents, making the natural world her jungle gym, the writings of Annie Dillard and Henry David Thoreau her textbooks. But when tragedy strikes on an Ecuadoran mountaintop, Cara’s nomadic lifestyle comes to an abrupt halt.   Starting over at her grandparents’ home in suburban Detroit, Cara embarks on a year of discovery, uncovering unknown strengths, friendships, and first love. Cara’s journey illustrates the transformative power of nature, love and loss, and discovering that home can be far from where you started.

    His future is bright with scholarship offers and the dream of helping his struggling mom. But then comes a fateful match at the state championship, when his famous rage consumes him and he assaults a referee. In an instant, Mac loses all he and his mom have worked to build since his abusive father was locked up years ago.Facing arrest, Mac runs away to another town, where he is taken in by a shady promoter who has followed his career. He recruits Mac into Brawlers, an illegal underground fighting ring run by a gangland boss. This is a bloodsport that has no rules . . . but offers plenty of reward. Mac teams up with Khajee, a girl with the fighting skills he'll need to learn to survive . . . and her own dark past tying her to the head of the ring. Together the two must figure out their place in a world that hasn't been kind to them . . . and forge a future that could be.

    Owens grabbed a brick and hurled it at the trash picker. Arthur had his reasons, and the brick hit the Junk Man in the arm, not the head. But none of that matters to the judge—he is ready to send Arthur to juvie for the foreseeable future. Amazingly, it’s the Junk Man himself who offers an alternative: 120 hours of community service . . . working for him. Arthur is given a rickety shopping cart and a list of the Seven Most Important Things: glass bottles, foil, cardboard, pieces of wood, lightbulbs, coffee cans, and mirrors. He can’t believe it—is he really supposed to rummage through people’s trash? But it isn’t long before Arthur realizes there’s more to the Junk Man than meets the eye, and the “trash” he’s collecting is being transformed into something more precious than anyone could imagine. . . . Inspired by the work of American folk artist James Hampton.

    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.

    But after her father’s sudden death, money is tight, and Aunty Violet decides to give Max away—he is just too big for their cramped new life. Binny knows she can’t get her dad back, but she never stops missing Max, or trying to find him. Then, when she’s eleven, everything changes again.Aunty Violet has died, and left Binny and her family an old house in a seaside town. Binny is faced with a new crush, a new frenemy, and…a ghost? It seems Aunty Violet may not have completely departed. It’s odd being haunted by her aunt, but there is also the warmth of a busy and loving mother, a musical older sister, and a hilarious little brother, who is busy with his experiments. And his wetsuit. And his chickens.

    His brother Max is five. Max only eats foods that are beige or white, hates baths, and if he has to wear a t-shirt that isn't gray with yellow stripes he melts down down down. Frank longs for the brother he was promised by his parents before Max was born--someone who was supposed to be his biggest fan, so he could be the best brother in the world. Instead, Frank has trouble navigating Max's behavior and their relationship. But when tragedy strikes, Frank finds a way to try and repair their fractured family and in doing so learns to love Max for who he is. In her debut novel, Katya Balen uses her knowledge of autism and experience working with autistic people to create an intriguing and intense yet always respectful family story.For readers of Counting by 7s and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.