He hasn’t grown or had any exciting summer adventures like his best friends have. He even has the same crush he’s harbored for years. So AJ decides to take matters into his own hands. But how could a girl like Nia Winters ever like plain vanilla AJ when she only has eyes for vampires?When AJ and Nia are paired up for a group project on Transylvania, it may be AJ’s chance to win over Nia’s affection by dressing up like the vamp of her dreams. And soon enough he’s got more of Nia’s attention than he bargained for when he learns she’s a slayer.Now AJ has to worry about self-preservation while also trying to save everyone he cares about from a real-life threat lurking in the shadows of Spoons Middle School.

    There are no superficial scares here; these are stories that will make you think even as they keep you on the edge of your seat. From bloody horror to supernatural creatures to unsettling, all-too-possible realism, this collection has something for any reader looking for a thrill.Fans of TV’s The Walking Dead, True Blood, and American Horror Story will tear through tales by these talented authors:Stefan BachmannLeigh BardugoKendare BlakeA. G. HowardJay KristoffMarie LuJonathan MaberryDanielle PaigeCarrie RyanMegan ShepherdNova Ren SumaMcCormick TemplemanApril Genevieve TucholkeCat Winters

    Secrets are being kept closely guarded. Destruction to homes and threatening messages are becoming common.For Simon and his friends, being visited by strange creatures calling themselves the imaginary friends is not quite as childish as they thought it might be. The creatures like to keep their lives a mystery, but want to know an awful lot about the people of Hedgely.The Secret Circle of Imaginary Friends is an exciting journey into the unknown, where you never know just who may be watching you.

    Now he gives birth to a cast of gruesomely sympathetic children – misunderstood outcasts who struggle to find love and belonging in their cruel, cruel worlds. His lovingly lurid illustrations evoke both the sweetness and the tragedy of these dark yet simple beings – hopeful, hapless heroes who appeal to the ugly outsider in all of us, and let us laugh at a world we have long left behind (mostly anyway).

    One boy's love of a soldier leads to the death of a stranger. The present takes a bittersweet journey into the past when a man revisits the summer school where he had "an accidental romance." And a forgotten mother writes a poignant letter to the teenage daughter she hasn't seen for fourteen years.Poised between the past and the future are the stories of now. In nontraditional narratives, short stories, and brief graphics, tales of anticipation and regret, eagerness and confusion present distinctively modern views of love, sexuality, and gender identification. Together, they reflect the vibrant possibilities available for young people learning to love others—and themselves—in today's multifaceted and quickly changing world.

    Or so everyone in Omaha thinks. In reality, Oliver’s a mad evil genius on his way to world domination, and he’s used his great brain to make himself the third-richest person on earth! Then Oliver’s father and archnemesis makes a crack about the upcoming middle school election, and Oliver takes it as a personal challenge. He’ll run, and he’ll win! Turns out, though, that overthrowing foreign dictators is actually way easier than getting kids to like you. . . Can this evil genius win the class presidency and keep his true identity a secret, all in time to impress his dad?

    He was telling them more than stories about princes, giants, nightingales, and roses, he was teaching them about life and the way to live it. You will find in them so much sweetness and tenderness you will never forget them.They can be read aloud to children of six, and everybody will want a copy for their own private delight when they are older. There is no age for this book - it is a brilliant and haunting treasure house for everybody.The drawings by the famous Danish artist, Lars Bo, have been specially made for this Puffin edition.

    A must never get too attached, must never be noticed, must never interfere.  The novel Every Day starts on Day 5994 of A’s life. In this digital-only collection Six Earlier Days, Levithan gives readers a glimpse at a handful of the other 5993 stories yet to be told that inform how A navigates the complexities of a life lived anew each day.  In Every Day, readers discover if you can truly love someone who is destined to change every day. In Six Earlier Days, readers will discover a little bit more about how A became that someone. Fans of Levithan’s books such as Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, co-written with Rachel Cohn, and Will Grayson, Will Grayson, co-written with John Green, will not want to miss A’s adventures in Every Day and Six Earlier Days.

    And you know what else? The way out of poverty isn't by marrying a rich dude -- or by wearing fragile footwear, for that matter. And while we're at it, why is the only woman who lives with seven men expected to do the cooking, cleaning, and laundry?Fairytales need a reboot, and comedy queens Laura Lane and Ellen Haun are the women to do it. In Cinderella and the Glass Ceiling, they offer a rollicking parody of classic (read: patriarchal) tales that turns sweet, submissive princesses into women who are perfectly capable of being the heroes of their own stories. Mulan climbs the ranks in the army but wages a different war when she finds out she's getting paid less than her fellow male captains, Wendy learns never to trust a man-boy stalking her window, Sleeping Beauty's prince gets a lesson in consent, and more.Busting with laugh-out-loud, razor-sharp twists to these outdated tales, Cinderella and the Glass Ceiling is fun, magical, necessary, and totally woke.Introduction --The Little Mermaid gets a vagina --Sleeping Beauty gets woke --Snow White the seven microaggressions --Cinderella the glass ceiling --Little Red Riding Hood the big bad wolfcaller --Rapunzel's armpits --Mulan's moola --Never, never man --Beauty and the beast the other kidnapped women you haven't heard about --Some princesses are gay --Under nobody's thumb --@therealgoldilocks --#thethreebears

    Compiled by bestselling author Tamora Pierce and folklorist/author Josepha Sherman, Young Warriors includes stories by some of today's most acclaimed and beloved fantasy and science-fiction authors for both adults and young adults.Acts of Faith • (2005) • novelette by Lesley McBainAfterword (Young Warriors: Stories of Strength) • (2005) • essay by Josepha ShermanAn Axe for Men • (2005) • short story by Rosemary EdghillDevil Wind • (2005) • novelette by India EdghillEli and the Dybbuk • (2005) • novelette by Janis IanEmerging Legacy • [Wolverine's Daughter • 1.5] • (2005) • novelette by Doranna DurginHeartless • (2005) • short story by Holly BlackHidden Warriors • (2005) • short story by Margaret MahyIntroduction (Young Warriors: Stories of Strength) • (2005) • essay by Tamora PierceLioness • (2005) • short story by Pamela F. ServiceSerpent's Rock • (2005) • novelette by Laura Anne GilmanStudent of Ostriches • [Song of the Lioness] • (2005) • novelette by Tamora PierceSwords That Talk • (2005) • short story by Brent HartingerThe Boy Who Cried "Dragon!" • (2005) • short story by Mike ResnickThe Gift of Rain Mountain • (2005) • short story by Bruce Holland RogersThe Magestone • (2005) • short story by Janet Stirling and S. M. Stirling [as by Jan Stirling and S. M. Stirling]Thunderbolt • (2005) • short story by Esther M. Friesner [as by Esther Friesner]

    But Daniel doesn't have a normal life. He is the protector of the earth, the Alien Hunter, with a mission beyond anyone's imagining.Now the fate of the world rests on Daniel XFrom the day that his parents were brutally murdered before his very eyes, Daniel has used his unique gifts to hunt down their assassin. Finally, with the help of The List, bequeathed to him in his parents' dying breath, he is closing in on the killer.Now, on his own, he vows to take on his father's mission - and to take vengeance in the process.

    Trouble was, he didn’t ask Rose what she thought of the idea.It’s been more than sixty years since that night, and she’s still sixteen, and she’s still running.They have names for her all over the country: the Girl in the Diner. The Phantom Prom Date. The Girl in the Green Silk Gown. Mostly she just goes by “Rose,” a hitchhiking ghost girl with her thumb out and her eyes fixed on the horizon, trying to outrace a man who never sleeps, never stops, and never gives up on the idea of claiming what’s his. She’s the angel of the overpass, she’s the darling of the truck stops, and she’s going to figure out a way to win her freedom. After all, it’s not like it can kill her.You can’t kill what’s already dead.

    Anansi. Brer Rabbit. Trickster characters have long been a staple of folk literature, and are a natural choice for the overarching subject of acclaimed editors Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling's third mythic anthology. The Coyote Road features a remarkable range of authors, each with his or her fictional look at a trickster character. These authors include Holly Black (The Spiderwick Chronicles), Charles de Lint (The Blue Girl), Ellen Klages (The Green Glass Sea), Kelly Link (Magic for Beginners), Patricia A. McKillip (Old Magic), and Jane Yolen. Terri Windling provides a comprehensive introduction to the trickster myths of the world, and the entire book is highlighted by the remarkable decorations of Charles Vess. The Coyote Road is essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary fantastic fiction.

    Shauna, Charlotte, and Mildred just want to help the mysterious old immigrant woman keep her home. Jack, Linton, and Sonny just want to find out why the owner of the local football stadium has been plagued by a curse. If only the two groups could stop fighting with each other, they might realize there's a shared solution...Of course, when you're just starting your first year at Griswalds Grammar School, nothing matters quite as much as football, friends, stylish jackets, trading cards, or your nerdy teacher's fancy wife. And when all of these things are competing for your attention, just how are you supposed to find the time to solve mysteries, anyway?

    A listing of alternate histories tells you all the various ways Hitler has died. A lawyer sues an interplanetary union for dangerous working conditions. And four artificial intelligences explain, in increasingly worrying detail, how they plan not to destroy humanity. Welcome to Miniatures: The Very Short Fiction of John Scalzi.These four stories, along with 14 other pieces, have one thing in common: They're short, sharp, and to the point - science fiction in miniature, with none of the stories longer than 2,300 words. But in that short space exist entire universes, absurd situations, and the sort of futuristic humor that propelled Scalzi to a Hugo with his novel Redshirts. Not to mention yogurt taking over the world (as it would).Spanning the years from 1991 to 2016, this collection is a quarter century of Scalzi at his briefest and best and features four never-before-published stories exclusive to this collection: "Morning Announcements at the Lucas Interspecies School for Troubled Youth", "Your Smart Appliances Talk About You Behind Your Back", "Important Holidays on Gronghu", and "The AI Are Absolutely Positively Without a Doubt Not Here to End Humanity, Honest".John Scalzi is the New York Times best-selling author of Old Man's War, Lock In, and Redshirts, among others. His work has won the Hugo and Locus Awards and been nominated for the Nebula and Campbell Awards. He lives in Ohio and online. He enjoys pie.Full cast of narrators includes Oliver Wyman, Dina Pearlman, and Allyson Johnson.