When twelve-year-old Owen finds that his nine-year-old cousin has a magic bookmark, he joins her when she enters different stories in hopes of finding a way to prevent their parents' upcoming marriage.

    Diving has always been considered a man's job by Alexandra's family -- dangerous and demanding. But when tragedy strikes, Alexandra decides to become a sponge diver herself despite her family's objections. And she learns that as dangerous as the underwater world can be, there are always more dangers waiting on shore . . .

    Both have found their own ways to cope: Shoshona has become a bossy mother figure; Jake, who is a budding comic book artist, has created an alter ego named Jakeman. And unbeknownst to his sister, Jake continues his one-man letter-writing campaign to the Governor, pleading for clemency for their mom.Along with an assortment of nervous, angry, and damaged kids, Jake and Shoshona take a community-provided school bus four times a year on the long overnight journey through New York State to visit their mother in jail.This time will be like no other trip they've ever taken. Their adult chaperones contract food poisoning on the way back and must be dropped off at a hospital. And their driver, refusing to wait for another adult to replace their chaperones, sets off again with only the kids and a hidden bottle of booze in tow. In no time they are off the main highway and lost. And their driver, now staggering drunk, abandons the kids and walks off, leaving them in the middle of nowhere.Angry and sick to death of a system that has deserted them at every turn, Shoshana takes the wheel. And through a series of crazy side trips, Jake and the others hatch a plan to visit the Governor's mother. And when the old lady sees that her son has dismissed Jake's appeals and refused to even reply, she helps them face off with the Governor himself. Jake and the others find themselves at a photo opportunity that ends in tragedy even as it gives the long-abandoned kids a forum to be heard at long last.

    The details of their struggle to survive the Great Depression will linger long after the last page has been read."-Ann M. Martin, winner of the Newbery Honor for A Corner of the UniverseA stunning debut novel about the true meaning of homeSadie Wynn doesn't want a new life; her old one suits her just fine. But times are hard in drought-plagued Missouri, and Daddy thinks they'll be better off in Texas. Sadie hates this strange new place, where even children must work at the cannery to help make ends meet and people are rude to her disabled father.Yet when trouble comes, it is the kindness of these new neighbors that helps the family make it through. And no one helps more than Dollie, a red-headed chatterbox of a girl who just might become a good friend-if Sadie gives her half a chance. The Truth About Sparrows is a 2005 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

    In this timely, sensitive novel, thirteen-year-old Rachel discovers she has kidney disease and is forced to find her biological mother for a kidney transplant.

    A pampered young African-American girl finds herself mysteriously transported back in time to the days of slavery.

    As an accomplished tumbler, Trista believes learning the other three events and becoming a competitive gymnast will be easy. Trista quickly learns that gymnastics requires hard work and believing in herself. Despite that, she decides she wants to make the Level 3 team. On her determined journey Trista meets friends who help her learn about the sport and share her passion for gymnastics. Will hard work and dedication be enough to move up to Level 3? Perfect Balance Gymnastics Books teach girls to be kind to each other, flexible in life, courageous, strong, and most of all, confident. The books set the reader in the world of gymnastics. The characters are relatable and have age appropriate challenges. Each book explores a major life lesson that empowers girls to understand their own inner strengths. I've Got This! is book 1 in the Perfect Balance Gymnastics Series.

    An experience with a slingshot and a sparrow helps him realize that it's okay to cry when you are sad, but it's best not to cry when you're mad.

    He is warned by night whispers to flee from his tiny mountain village of Dun Mare. The stolen egg of a dragon will pay his way, if he manages to live long enough to sell it. However there are forces against him far beyond his understanding. All he believes he knows about his life and home is false, but the egg of the black dragon is the key. Many believe black dragons do not exist or have gone extinct. Gareth finds himself alone in a strange world of tempest seas, flying dragons, and powerful foes vying for the mental powers he may possess, and for control of the egg. Telepathic teachers a secret sisterhood, and the king's armies willing to kill for a black dragon are only the beginning of Gareth's story. The second book of the series is expected to be published by October of 2015.

    Thought-provoking, surprising, infuriating, heartbreaking and heartwarming, AUGGIE & ME is a must-read for the thousands of readers who loved WONDER.

    While staying with her mother in an old Victorian hotel, a young girl becomes entangled in a mystery involving a dangerous old mill, a labyrinth, and faked antiques.

    I am being held against my will, trapped by ignorance and cruelty. You must save me. Take me away from this. I am desperately in need of your assistance. Please help me. Mike Pillsbury.When a frustrated plea to the universe attracts a motley crew of aliens determined to rescue him, Mike Pillsbury decides he isn't quite ready to relinquish life on Earth. Will his visitors, who all have something at stake, let him stay?00-01 Sunshine State Young Reader's Award Masterlist (Gr. 6-8) and 00-01 Young Reader's Choice Award Program Masterlist

    Children receive a double dose of Dahl with these two delightfully wicked tales where things are not always as they seem, delivered by the master storyteller himself.

    . . and nine special charms.Walker, ever the class clown, reaches into a fountain on a school field trip and sees that the joke is on him when he finds himself in the middle of a training camp for soldiers, worlds away from his own. Niko wants to be a warrior, but his master insists he learn the ways of a philosopher. When he rebels against his master’s quiet ways, he finds the path to his destiny, but the price he must pay for becoming a hero is greater than he ever imagined.Aurora can do simple gypsy magic tricks, but even she doesn’t know the true depths of her power until a mysterious woman asks to have her cards read and begs Aurora to come to her aid.Drawn together by forces they don’t understand to combat an evil they can’t imagine, their only weapons are nine simple charms.

    During the Revolutionary War, 13-year-old Hope, seized by a band of Tories who attack her Connecticut home, finds herself enslaved in a Tory Household on Long Island.