Gallop!: A Scanimation Picture Book


Rufus Butler Seder - 2007
    It's impossible not to flip the page, and flip it again, and again, and again. A first book of motion for kids, it shows a horse in full gallop and a turtle swimming up the page. A dog runs, a cat springs, an eagle soars, and a butterfly flutters. Created by Rufus Butler Seder, an inventor, artist, and filmmaker fascinated by antique optical toys, Scanimation is a state-of-the-art six-phase animation process that combines the "persistence of vision" principle with a striped acetate overlay to give the illusion of movement. It harkens back to the old magical days of the kinetoscope, and the effect is astonishing, like a Muybridge photo series springing into action—or, in terms kids can relate to, like a video without a screen. Complementing the art is a delightful rhyming text full of simple questions and fun, nonsense replies: Can you gallop like a horse? giddyup-a-loo! Can you strut like a rooster? cock-a-doodle-doo!Every child who opens the book will be amazed—and so will every parent.

The Not-Just-Anybody Family


Betsy Byars - 1986
    That had been just before Junior spotted a police car approaching the farm in a cloud of dust.Meanwhile Pap, the children's grandfather, sits in disgrace in the city jail. He was arrested for disturbing the peace after his pickup truck accidentally dumped 2,147 beer and soda cans (worth $107.35) on Spring Street.With their mother away on the rodeo circuit, it's up to Maggie and Vern to find a way to rescue Pap and Junior. How will they solve their family problems?

Just a Few Words, Mr. Lincoln


Jean Fritz - 1993
    He had a country to run. And a war to win. And a family to care for. But when it came time to honor all the soldiers who had died in the great battle of Gettysburg, President Lincoln still took time to say a few words. Two hundred and seventy-one to be exact. Here is a true story about a great man and his famous speech.

The Library Card


Jerry Spinelli - 1997
    None of them guesses it at first, but that strange blue card will be their ticket to the past--and to a future that they never imagined. In stories that range from humorous to heartbreaking, Newbery-award-winner Jerry Spinelli reveals the amazing possibilities lurking behind library doors.

The Unofficial Harry Potter Spellbook: The Wand Chooses the Wizard


Duncan Levy - 2013
    Written by fifteen-year-old author Duncan Levy, this extensive collection of spells is not only a fun treat for fans but an extensive look into the magic that fuels the universe of Harry Potter.The books of Harry Potter were written by British author J.K Rowling. Since the first book's publication back in 1997, the Hogwarts universe has since taken the world by storm, spawning a series of highly successful films, and a whole line of official and unofficial books, toys, games, and clothing lines."The Unofficial Harry Potter Spellbook" takes fans one step closer to the world of Harry Potter by providing them with a convenient and fun way of finding out the different magical spells that were used in the books. The book covers everything from hexes, jinxes, and curses, to charms and healing spells. Whether you're looking for a quick-read magic guide or a fun addition to your growing collection of Harry Potter memorabilia, "The Unofficial Harry Potter Spellbook" is perfect for you."The Unofficial Harry Potter Spellbook" is part of the THiNKaha series whose slim and handy books contain 140 well-thought-out quotations (tweets/ahas).

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret / Blubber / Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself


Judy Blume - 1998
    The second story is an autobiographical novel while in the third novel, Jill realizes that it isn't nice to bully other children.

Chances Are


Donna Hill - 1998
    Years later, through hard work and sheer force of will, she had provided a good life for her daughter and started a successful home for teenage mothers and their babies. But from the moment television producer Garrett Lawrence began a story on the teen center, Dione's hard-won confidence was shaken. How could a man she found so attractive and intelligent be so cynical about unwed mothers? Battling her conflicted emotions, Dione would have to defend the work she believed in - even if it cost her a love that promised a lifetime of happiness.Garrett didn't think much of "irresponsible" teen mothers. He knew firsthand the misery of being given away and searching for the acceptance he never could seem to find. Although he found himself drawn closer and closer to Dione because of her independence and passionate determination, his painful past kept getting in the way. Now Garrett and Dione must find their way to each other through a search only the heart can undertake—and only love can bring.

Jeremy: The Tale of An Honest Bunny


Jan Karon - 1999
    So he sets out to deliver himself to the little girl who eagerly awaits him. Jeremy's journey begins with a prayer and some handy words of advice from his maker. Along the way he encounters friends in many forms, and all the adventures he has lead him, eventually, to his final destination-home. Illustrated by Teri Weidner.

Wrush: The Secret Worlds Of Tabetha Bright


Tyler Enfield - 2009
    Her days in the hospital are spent daydreaming and writing magical tales, but when she receives a mysterious gift, a pen with magic of its own, her stories become dangerously real. Suddenly Tabetha is thrown into a perilous adventure in the strange and wondrous world of Wrush...With the help of a Mungling, a captain, and a tattooed boy-wizard Tabetha must stop a dark sorcerer from finding the Pyramid Map and destroying the protective wall between worlds. But how much can one girl, unable to walk, help against Wrush's most powerful foe?More than anyone ever imagined.

Tangled Threads


Margaret Dickinson - 2002
    Although the work is hard, the attentions of young Master Stephen Dunsmore - the son of the Hardcastles' employer - provide Eveleen with a welcome distraction. Mary's disapproval of the unsuitable match drives the young lovers to meet in secret. But it seems deception has a cruel price when Walter is found dead from a heart attack. The final blow comes with Stephen's callous rejection of Eveleen, and as the Hardcastles are forced to leave Lincolnshire, she resolves never to allow love to enter her heart again - until a stunning discovery about Mary's past causes her to reassess her mother and herself...

Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories


R.J. Palacio - 2014
    Thought-provoking, surprising, infuriating, heartbreaking and heartwarming, AUGGIE & ME is a must-read for the thousands of readers who loved WONDER.

Dancing with Einstein


Kate Wenner - 2004
    She is Marea Hoffman, who, after wandering the world for seven years, has returned to New York at age thirty with the intention of starting her real life.But Marea approaches everything in her own idiosyncratic style, and she is soon seeing four different therapists simultaneously and telling her story to each in a different way. The story she reveals is about her childhood in 1950s Princeton during the age of “duck and cover” drills and McCarthyism, when fear of communism obsessed America. Marea’s father, a Holocaust survivor, worked on the Manhattan Project and later on the development of the hydrogen bomb; her mother was a confirmed pacifist.Frightened by her early exposure to the threat of nuclear annihilation, young Marea finds comfort in the company of her father’s colleague and friend, the grandfatherly Albert Einstein. Einstein charms Marea even as he provokes the wrenching moral debate that will drive her parents apart. When Einstein disappears from Marea’s life as suddenly as he entered it and her father is killed in a mysterious car accident, she is left alone with a mother she no longer trusts and with questions that won’t go away.Nearly two decades later, during the August hiatus from her four therapists, Marea takes a reluctant trip home to Princeton. There her eyes are newly opened to the past when she uncovers her father’s secret Cold War diary.Weaving back and forth between 1970s New York and 1950s Princeton, Wenner’s exploration of the impact that history can have on a young life is powerful and moving—a deeply intelligent look at the challenge of finding hope in the modern age.

Blizzard!: The Storm That Changed America


Jim Murphy - 2000
    Newbery Honor Book author Jim Murphy orchestrates with fact, science, technology, and sociology the testimony of survivors and victims to tell the harrowing story of the phenomenal blizzard that crippled New York City in March, 1888.

Hairspray and Lighter


J. Jupes - 2018
    He didn't expect Darlene Johnson to walk into his office with her chocolate box. And certainly didn't expect what followed. . Book One of the Detectives That Don't Fit Series.

Thrift


Phil Church - 2011
    A selection of confused teenagers. A play doomed for disaster. A distinctly below average teacher. Being a successful teacher is difficult, especially when you are not overly keen on doing any actual work.Still, the narrator of Thrift is undeterred as he lies and cheats his way through the Christmas term, hoping that he can save his career, and perhaps even earn himself a thoroughly undeserved promotion.