Ten-year-old Comfort Snowberger knows a thing or two about death. Her family owns the town funeral home and she has attended 247 funerals. She can tell you which casseroles are worth tasting, whom to sit next to, and whom to avoid at all costs. Number one on that avoid list is Comfort’s sniveling, whining, unpredictable cousin Peach, who ruins every family occasion.
So when Great-great-aunt Florentine drops dead—just like that—Comfort expects a family gathering to remember. What she doesn’t count is: One, she has to watch over Peach after the funeral. And two, her best friend, Declaration, has suddenly turned downright mean. Now, even if it means missing the most important funeral of her life, all Comfort really wants to do is sit in her closet with her dog, Dismay, and hide. But life is full of surprises. And the biggest one of all is learning what it takes to handle them.
When Brian and Gregory receive an invitation to stay at a distant relative’s strange mansion . . . well, they should know better than to go. Trips to distant relatives’ strange mansions rarely go well. And this mansion is even stranger than most. Uncle Max doesn’t really know what century he’s in. The butler boils socks. And the attic houses the Game of Sunken Places.
Is the Game of Sunken Places an ordinary board game? Hardly! The Game of Sunken Places looks like a board game. And most of the time it acts like a board game. But from the moment Brian and Gregory start playing, they are caught up in an adventure that goes far beyond the board. Soon the boys are dealing with attitudinal trolls, warring kingdoms, and some very starchy britches.
Luckily, Brian and Gregory have wit, deadpan observation, and a keen sense of adventure on their side. In this fantastic, fun, and funny novel, M. T. Anderson takes both his characters and his readers to a small, obscure corner of Vermont that they’ll never, ever forget.
From the Compact Disc edition.
Critically acclaimed author and National Book Award nominee Adele Griffin is a master at capturing the difficult issues so many teens face. Where I Want to Be tells the poignant story of 18-year-old Jane and her 16-year-old sister Lily. When Lily finds her first love and grows more distant, Jane-already struggling with mental illness-feels a sharp sense of sibling rivalry. But when Jane is hit by a car and killed, Lily must learn to move on.
From the author of the Newbery Honor Book Everything on a Waffle
When his mother decides on a whim to be a missionary in Africa and drags his unwilling father with her, Henry is left in the care of his Aunts Magnolia and Pigg. Henry’s sure they dislike him and he’s trying to keep his distance, but that becomes more difficult when Mag decides they should take a destination-less road trip. Mag, convalescing from an illness that makes her look like death, is downright crabby. Pigg, tense from driving, is becoming more assertive and less willing to submit to Mag’s whims. And while they poke each other – literally – Henry is finding it hard to keep his resolution.
They go to Virginia Beach (it’s too hot); try camping in the Everglades (Henry accidentally spends four days floating in a swamp); visit their daddy, Henry’s granddaddy (Henry’s never met him!); and lose Pigg to love in Oklahoma (what would the radio psychologist Daly Kramer say?) before they finally receive word that Henry’s parents are coming back and will meet them in Tulsa to finish the trip with Mag and Henry. But his parents are bickering and Henry is in despair – until he surrenders to the road and decides to let whatever happens happen, but to be there in it all.
Complete with her signature cast of eccentric characters, absurd situations, and heartfelt moments, Polly Horvath writes an on-the-road epic like no other!
Twelve-year-old Danny Walker knows something the coaches don’t: You can’t measure heart.
Danny Walker may be the smallest kid on the basketball court, but don’t tell him that. Because no one plays with a bigger love of the game. Or a better sense of how to hit the open player with the perfect pass. Which is why his world shatters when he is cut from the local travel team for being too small. Not just any travel team, either–the very same one his father had led to the national championship on ESPN when he was a kid.
Turns out Danny wasn’t the only kid cut for the wrong reasons. And Danny’s father is about to give them all a second chance–something he could use himself. After washing out of the NBA, Richie Walker washed out of life, too. But together, these castoffs prove something Danny knew all along: You can’t measure heart.
In the tradition of The Bad News Bears and Hoosiers, author, nationally syndicated sportswriter, and ESPN personality Mike Lupica delivers a rousing tale of the underdog that will leave you cheering to the final word.
After any harrowing struggle, it is nice to consider checking into a hotel for a rest. In fact, this might be just the break Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire could use after their wearying deep-sea adventure.
A hotel can be a good choice for any family vacation. With so many floors, such a variety of rooms, and a curious array of guests, spending time in the safety of the right hotel can be the perfect learning environment for children of any age. A keen researcher like Klaus, an adept inventor like Violet, and a sharp-toothed culinary master like Sunny are all sure to find engaging diversions during their stay.
Regardless of how they pass their time while at a hotel, the three siblings will be sure to take in all the interesting sights and sounds -- and write them down -- just in case this episode turns out to be the darkest yet in a series of unfortunate events.
Mr. Heavy Legs walked past Cooper and got into the jeep. He turned on the ignition and backed up to Cooper. He handed him a card with a single phone number on it. “I’m not forcing you to come, kid. Not yet. But things are going to start happening fast. Very fast. Call if you want me. And one thing more: Next time I see you, I won’t be asking you to come.”
“Do you know what happened to my father?”
“Of course I do,” said Mr. Heavy Legs.
Then he drove away.
“You’re my first boy, Cooper, my first boy,” his grandfather tells him just before he dies. Now, fourteen-year-old Cooper Jewett has no one, not even a dog to keep him company. The only thing that keeps him going is looking after the dairy farm.
All of a sudden, strange and inexplicable things begin to happen. Big men in suits with black sedans are all over Cooper’s small New Hampshire town. The President of the United States invites Cooper for a chat at her headquarters. Her opponent insists that Cooper join him on his campaign. Cooper’s house is searched at night, and his barn is burned down. His neighbors, even the sheriff, are behaving strangely. Why?
It all started in 1927 when a group of animals on a farm in Upstate New York decided to travel to Florida in search of warmer weather --and faithful fans of the Freddy books have been joyously lapping up each book in the twenty-six book series ever since! Why is Freddy such a popular pig? Most readers will tell you it's because he's a pig for all seasons--a detective, a pilot, a magician, an explorer, a poet, a politician . . . you name it, and Freddy will give it a shot! In Freddy and the Bean Home News, Freddy's friend Mr. Dimsey, the editor of the Guardian, is ousted for publishing news of Bean Farm in the local newspaper. To ensure that those who are interested might still learn of all the goings-on, Freddy takes it upon himself to found a newspaper of his own and calls it The Bean Home News, the basis for the current Freddy fan club newsletter. It turns out that being a newspaperman isn't quite as easy as Freddy thought it might be...
The Nancy Drew Notebooks enchant listeners with the antics of 8- year-old supersleuth Nancy Drew and her friends George and Bess. Nancy has a new puppy that needs lots of training, patience, and love. But when the chocolate-chip muffins go missing, Nancy's new puppy is blamed. The girls know that the puppy is innocent and they are determined to find the real thief.
JUNIE B. JONES IS NOT A CROOK, #9:
A terrible thing happens when someone takes Junie B.'s new black furry mittens! And they keep them! So when Junie B. finds a wonderful pen on the floor, she should be allowed to keep it, too. Right? That's fair. Right? Right?
JUNE B. JONES IS A PARTY ANIMAL, #10:
Lucille is having a sleepover party--at her richie nanna's big giant house!
JUNIE B. JONES IS A BEAUTY SHOP GUY, #11:
What's the bestest job ever? A beauty shop guy, that's what!
JUNIE B. JONES SMELLS SOMETHING FISHY, #12:
There's going to be a pet day at school, only guess what? No dogs allowed! And that's the only kind of pet Junie B. has! If Mother and Daddy won't buy her a new pet, Junie B. will just have to find one on her own.
JUNIE B. JONES IS ALMOST A FLOWER GIRL, #13:
When Junie B. isn't picked as a flower girl in her Aunt Flo's wedding, she can still find some way to get some attention!
JUNIE B. JONES AND THE MUSHY GUSHY VALENTINE, #14:
It's a mushy gushy mystery when Junie B. Jones gets a big, mushy card from a secret admirer!
JUNIE B. JONES HAS A PEEP IN HER POCKET, #15:
It's almost the end of the school year, and Room Nine is taking a field trip to a farm!
JUNIE B. JONES IS CAPTAIN FIELD DAY, #16:
Afternoon kindergarten is having a field day, and Junie B. Jones is team captain!
Bestselling novelist Carl Hiaasen is back with another hysterical mystery adventure for young readers, set in the Florida Keys.
You know it’s going to be a rough summer when you spend Father’s Day visiting your dad in the local lockup.
Noah’s dad is sure that the owner of the Coral Queen casino boat is flushing raw sewage into the harbor–which has made taking a dip at the local beach like swimming in a toilet. He can’t prove it though, and so he decides that sinking the boat will make an effective statement. Right. The boat is pumped out and back in business within days and Noah’s dad is stuck in the clink.
Now Noah is determined to succeed where his dad failed. He will prove that the Coral Queen is dumping illegally . . . somehow. His allies may not add up to much–his sister Abbey, an unreformed childhood biter; Lice Peeking, a greedy sot with poor hygiene; Shelly, a bartender and a woman scorned; and a mysterious pirate–but Noah’s got a plan to flush this crook out into the open. A plan that should sink the crooked little casino, once and for all.
The temple has been burned.
Grandmaster is dead.
The only five survivors have scattered like the wind.
Alone. For the first time. No brothers, no mentors, no teachers–just eleven-year-old Malao, the “monkey,” all by himself in the woods. Malao loves to make jokes and fool around, but now the only home he has ever known is burning and his four surviving temple brothers have disappeared. Suddenly nothing seems as funny as it used to.
Grandmaster told Malao to discover the secrets of his past, but for a monkey nothing is ever simple. He hasn’t traveled far when he stumbles into a battle between a group of bandits and an army of monkeys. One of the bandits looks strangely familiar, and the monkeys are led by a large, white, one-eyed male, who seems to know Malao.
In this second volume of the Five Ancestors series, Jeff Stone continues the exciting story of five youngsters destined for greatness–if they can only survive!
From the Compact Disc edition.
