Be careful what you wish for. . . .
When new stepsiblings Milly, Michael, Jason, and Jess move to a town in the middle of nowhere, the last thing they expect is to find a magic book. But then they stumble upon "The Genie Handbook," and their lives are changed forever. Each chapter in "The Genie Handbook" contains one of six stages of training to be mastered, and the kids are thrilled to begin their schooling--especially since once they become genies, they can wish themselves back to London and their old lives.
But then some of the wishes go wrong, and the magic starts to seem scarier. And when the kids discover a mysterious couple watching them covertly, they realize there's more to the handbook than they ever could have guessed.
If the children's greatest wish of all is finally granted, will their world change for better or for worse? Maybe sometimes it takes something even more powerful than a genie to reveal your "true" heart's desire.
Benny, a sports-obsessed, carefree kid, is convinced that he can take on the world--until he spends the summer living with his grandfather and meets resident tomboy and all-around tough-girl Babe Meara. Benny may be a wise guy, but Babe is at least three steps ahead of him. And now he's on "her" territory. A "townie" visiting for the holidays, Benny must accept the challenges of the country ways head-on. The locals play games by their own rules, and teasing the townie is a favorite pastime.
When the serious business of earning money arises, Babe just might consider Benny as her partner, and possibly a friend. But things become very complicated, and dangerous, when the troublesome Furty Howlin wants a slice of the action.
All it takes is eight seconds....
Cam O'Mara, grandson and younger brother of bull- riding champions, is not interested in partaking in the family sport. Cam is a skateboarder, and perfecting his tricks -- frontside flips, 360s -- means everything until his older brother, Ben, comes home from Iraq, paralyzed from a brain injury.
What would make a skateboarder take a different kind of ride? And what would get him on a monstrosity of a bull named Ugly? If Cam can stay on for the requisite eight seconds, will the $15,000 prize bring hope and a future for his big brother?
Love is in the air for the Casson family! Four hilarious, endearing tales unfold as Rose, Indigo, Saffy, and Caddy each tell their intertwining stories. Rose begins by showing how she does special with her Valentine's card for Tom in New York. Not to be outdone, Indigo has his own surprise in store for the Valentine,s Day disco at school. For her part, Saffy has an unusual date in a very, very dark graveyard, and is haunted by a balloon that almost costs her her best friend.
But it is Caddy who dares everything -- as she tells all about love at first sight when you have found the Real Thing. Unfortunately the Real Thing is not darling Michael. What is Rose going to do?
Jamie is like most girls in the 1950s—she loves Hollywood movie stars and practicing her yoyo moves. But unlike those other girls, she has something to hide, a secret that is hurting her family. Jamie's father is a member of the Communist Party, and in 1953, that's the worst thing you can be. Senator Joseph McCarthy and his committee are throwing Americans in jail if they refuse to reveal the names of other Communists, and Jamie's dad won't. He's not a rat.
When the truth comes out, and her dad loses his job, Jamie is ashamed to show her face in school. She's thrown off the school paper with no explanation, and all of a sudden Jamie knows how her father feels. Is there anything she can do to help her father? And what about herself?
From National Book Award nominee Chris Lynch, an action-and-humor-filled futuristic series about talking pets who are tired of being pets ... and the boy who must help them.
The premise: It’s the future. Zane lives in a completely wired world, with completely wired parents. Technology has progressed so that every pet has a microchip in it that allows the pet to talk. Zane's happy about that. Until one day a strictly contraband wild animal -- a mole -- comes into his life. He smuggles it into his apartment -- and learns that the pets aren’t actually saying what the chip is translating. In fact, they aren’t happy that all animals have been domesticated. So they enlist Zane to help them fight back and ensure their freedom.
The Vespers have crossed a line. Amy and Dan were devastated when the Vespers kidnapped seven Cahills around the world, holding them hostage until Amy and Dan delivered an impossible ransom. But at least the hostages were Cahills - members of the world's most powerful family, trained to face all odds.
Now the Vespers have gone too far. They've kidnapped Atticus, an innocent 11 year old boy and Dan's only friend. Now Dan and Amy are in the struggle of their lives. Because if they can't outwit the Vespers, the unthinkable will happen . . . Atticus will die.
Eleven-year-old twins Jason and Julia have just moved from London to an old mansion on the English coast. Their new home is filled with twisting tunnels and strange artifacts from around the world, and the twins can't wait to discover all its secrets. Before long, Jason, Julia, and their friend Rick stumble upon a mysterious-looking door hidden behind an old wardrobe. But none of the keys in the house will open it.
What lies behind the door? And why has someone tried to conceal it?
Jason, Julia, and Rick are determined to find out, no matter what it takes....
A gripping portrait of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake by Laura Ingalls Wilder Award winner Laurence Yep.
When the quake subsides, Chin and Henry and their families are lucky to be alive. But now they must escape the fires that have broken out and find their way to safety-before it's too late.
Based on actual events and told from the alternating perspectives of two young friends, The Earth Dragon Awakes is a suspenseful novel about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake by Newbery Honor author Laurence Yep.
Award-winning author Elvira Woodruff has written a harrowing novel about an eleven-year-old orphan boy on a stormy sea -- and the charming daredevil who befriends him in England in 1695.
When a storm brings down his father's boat, Digory Beale is forced to leave home to discover his fate. For if Digory has been orphaned, he can never go home again.
On his journey, Digory becomes the apprentice to Henry Winstanly, whose life's obsession is to save sailors' lives. Digory must face his fears of the sea to help Henry bring candles to the lighthouse he's built on a killer reef. But who could have known the force of a monster storm heading their way? In this poignant page-turner, Digory comes to understand the many facets of courage -- and what it means to be a true hero.
In these two wickedly funny, criminally punny mysteries from Chet Gecko's tattered casebook, the detective and his trusty mockingbird associate, Natalie Attired, keep law and order in the halls of Emerson Elementary.
It's no mystery: Chet Gecko can't sing. He can't dance. He can't act. Heck, he can't even act normal. So why would he take the lead in Mr. Ratnose's musical version of Shakespeare's Omelet, Prince of Denver? A new case, naturally. The original leading man has disappeared, and something smells rotten in the realm of Ratnose. Did the thrid-act lip-lock with Shirley Chameleon scare him away? Or is goul play afoot? One thing's for certain: This mystery won't be over until the fat gecko--er, lady--sings!
The drumming of horse hooves is a dismal accompaniment to Emily Luccock's thoughts as she rides with her silent Aunt and Uncle Twice to the ship that will carry them away to faraway India. They claim that Emily cannot go with them, but couldn't they have at least taken her to Mrs. Spilking's Select Academy, the school where she is being abandoned till they return? Why is she instead being left in the hands of the stone-cold Ichabod Crawstone, the man chosen to deliver her there? Aunt and Uncle Twice have been told that a member of a royal family attends the school, so it must be a most superior place. But what if they were to learn the truth -- that the school is run by a pinched-nose woman who keeps a large, vicious dog for no other reason than to terrify the students?
Before long, Emily comes to the terrible realization that Aunt and Uncle Twice have forgotten all about her, so even if they "did" learn the truth about Mrs. Spilking's Select Academy, would they even care?
Everyone thinks Tom Miller is lucky. For starters, Tom looks so much like England's Prince George that he makes money impersonating him. Unfortunately, that usually involves signing autographs at the latest supermarket opening. Still, Tom is one of the most popular guys at Emerson High, the finest school in the area. And best of all, nearly every girl falls for his princely good looks—every girl, that is, except Louise.
Tom wishes he could find the way to Louise's heart, and the school skiing trip seems like the perfect opportunity to impress her with his royal charm. But when the real Prince George arrives at their hotel, it's time for Tom to shed his public persona and start living up to his own potential.
Leo's papa stood in the doorway, gazing down at him. "Leo, you make gold from pebbles," and the way he said it, Leo could tell that this was a good thing.
He may have been given a bit part in the school play ... but Leo dreams he is the biggest star on Broadway.
Sure, his big, noisy family makes him feel like a sardine squashed in a tin ... but in his fantasy he gets all the attention he wants.
Yes, his papa seems sad and distracted ... but Leo imagines him as a boy, tap-dancing and singing with delight.
That's why they call Leo "fog boy." He's always dreaming, always replaying things in his brain. He fantasizes about who he is in order to discover who he will become. As an actor in the school play, he is poised and ready for the curtain to open. But in the play that is his life, Leo is eager to discover what part will be his.
Soul Eater by Michelle Paver
It’s winter, and Wolf, Torak’s beloved pack-brother, has been captured by an unknown foe. In a desperate bid to rescue him, Torak and Renn must brave the frozen wilderness of the Far North.
As they battle for survival amid howling blizzards and the ever-present menace of the great white bear, their friendship is tested to the breaking point, and Torak is forced to get closer to his enemies than ever before...
Two-Minute Drill by Mike Lupica
Chris Conlan is the coolest kid in sixth grade?the golden-armed quarterback of the football team and the boy all the others look up to. Scott Parry is the new kid, the boy with the huge brain, but with feet that trip over themselves. These two boys may seem like an odd couple, but each has a secret that draws them together, and proves that the will to succeed is even more important than raw talent.
Paris has come for piano lessons, not chopped-liver sandwiches or French lessons or free advice. But when old Mrs. Rosen gives her a little bit more than she can handle, it might be just what Paris needs to understand the bully in her brother's life...and the bullies of the world.
This companion novel to the award-winning "Sahara Special" is an affecting look at what it means to be your brother's keeper, and how we hold onto hope when the world seems dark.
A headstrong girl. A stray cat. A wild boy. A man who plays with fire. Eleven-year-old Zoe trusts no one. Her father left before she was born. At the death of her irresponsible mother, Zoe goes to live with her uncle, former surgeon and famed metal sculptor Dr. Henry Royster. She's sure Henry will fail her as everyone else has.
Reclusive since his wife's death, Henry takes Zoe to Sugar Hill, North Carolina, where he welds sculptures as stormy as his moods. Zoe and Henry have much in common: brains, fiery and creative natures, and badly broken hearts. Zoe confronts small-town prejudice with a quick temper. She warms to Henry's odd but devoted friends, meets a mysterious teenage boy living wild in the neighboring woods, and works to win the trust of a feral cat while struggling to trust in anyone herself.
Zoe's questing spirit leads her to uncover the wild boy's identity, lay bare a local lie, and begin to understand the true power of Henry's art. Then one decisive night, she and the boy risk everything in a reckless act of heroism.
