Child Friendship

Mr. Putter wants Mrs. Teaberry's birthday to be extra special this year. So how about a trip to the conservatory to see the beautiful trees and plants and flowers? It will be heavenly. And it is! Mr. Putter and Tabby and Mrs. Teaberry and Zeke sniff the air. They smell the roses. They learn the plant facts. It's the perfect celebration...until Zeke finds the banana tree.

Most kids would do anything to pass the Iron Trial. Not Callum Hunt. He wants to fail. All his life, Call has been warned by his father to stay away from magic. If he succeeds at the Iron Trial and is admitted into the Magisterium, he is sure it can only mean bad things for him. So he tries his best to do his worst - and fails at failing. Now the Magisterium awaits him. It's a place that's both sensational and sinister, with dark ties to his past and a twisty path to his future.

It's been five years since Livy and her family have visited Livy's grandmother in Australia. Now that she's back, Livy has the feeling she's forgotten something really, really important about Gran's house. It turns out she's right. Bob, a short, greenish creature dressed in a chicken suit, didn't forget Livy, or her promise. He's been waiting five years for her to come back, hiding in a closet like she told him to. He can't remember who-or what-he is, where he came from, or if he even has a family. But five years ago Livy promised she would help him find his way back home.

When the town mouse and the city mouse visit each other, they discover they prefer very different ways of life.

On the farm where Otis the tractor lives, it hasn't rained in a long time, and farmers all over the valley have grown anxious, with water in such short supply. One hot afternoon, when Otis and his friends are resting beneath the shade of the apple tree, Otis spots something moving down in the valley: an orange tabby cat headed straight for the old barn. But then Otis sees something else that causes his engine to sputter...a swirl of smoke coming from the same barn. A fire!

Daisy and her friends, Cookie, Gracie, and Oreo are four bunnies living at Two Ears Rabbit Shelter. Their life is perfect, except for the occasional drama stirred up by George, the shelter's resident mean bunny, and his gang of friends. Then, one day, Cookie gets adopted, and suddenly Daisy's world is turned upside-down. She goes on a quest to find Cookie, but is Daisy ready for all the unforeseen challenges presented by the outside world? Will she find Cookie? What will happen when she finds her friend? And why has Gracie been acting so weirdly? The answers lie in the journey that unfolds,...

Edgar nominee Zilpha Keatley Snyder is a three-time Newbery Honor winner, and her book The Unseen was named as both a School Library Journal Best Book and Parents' Choice Silver Honor Winner. In William S. and the Great Escape, Snyder pens a middle-grade adventure sure to be ranked with her very best.

Three lonely riverside dwellers - a boy, a firefly, and a cricket - are all trying to make sense of unexpected changes in their world. Each has a secret dream, but each finds himself trapped. Becoming friends brings them happiness and solidarity, but more changes are in store. Each character stands up to his greatest fear, and, in doing so, finds his greatest strength.

Betsy hopes that whoever moves into the house across the street will have a little girl just her age. And the little girl who moves in is just her age. Her name is Tacy. She is very bashful, but she likes to listen to Betsy's stories: wonderful stories that the girls love, and that they keep as their own special secret.

The letter waits in a book, in a box, in an attic, in an old house in Lambert, South Carolina. It's waiting for Candice Miller. When Candice finds the letter, she isn't sure she should read it. It's addressed to her grandmother, after all, who left Lambert in a cloud of shame. But the letter describes a young woman named Siobhan Washington. An injustice that happened decades ago. A mystery enfolding the letter-writer. And the fortune that awaits the person who solves the puzzle. Grandma tried and failed. But now Candice has another chance.

In this episode of Jim Benton’s New York Times best-selling series, the classmates of Franny K. Stein show no appreciation for her passion—mad science. Even when Franny displays her two-headed robot, they show little interest. But after Franny makes herself invisible and whispers robot-improving suggestions, a few kids believe they’ve actually become mad scientists and cause the robot to run amuck.

Springtime has arrived at Silverlake Forest! Buds are blooming on trees and the air smells of honeysuckles. Sophie Mouse can't wait to go back to school after the long winter break. But she and her friends are in for a surprise when they learn that they're getting a new classmate . . . and he's a snake! The animals have only heard about snakes in scary stories. Will Sophie overcome her fears and befriend Owen, the snake? Or are the rumors true, after all?

The morning after Hurricane Leo rips through the town of Canaan, residents awaken to widespread destruction—power outages, downed branches, uprooted trees, broken windows and damaged roofs. Four eighth-grade friends—Evan, Jason, Mitchell, and CJ—meet to explore the devastation. The tight-knit group is dismayed to find that Evan has brought along a stray—Ricky, who is new to their town and school, and doesn’t have any friends yet.

In this poignant, perceptive, witty novel, Gary D. Schmidt brings authenticity and emotion to multiple plot strands, weaving in themes of grief, loss, redemption, achievement, and love. Following the death of her closest friend in summer 1968, Meryl Lee Kowalski goes off to St. Elene's Preparatory Academy for Girls, where she struggles to navigate the venerable boarding school's traditions and a social structure heavily weighted toward students from wealthy backgrounds.

Herc Beal knows who he's named after—a mythical hero—but he's no superhero. He's the smallest kid in his class. So when his homeroom teacher at his new middle school gives him the assignment of duplicating the mythical Hercules's amazing feats in real life, he's skeptical. After all, there are no Nemean Lions on Cape Cod—and not a single Hydra in sight.

When Bev and Felix arrive at the King farm in Prince Edward Island, they have no idea of the adventures and memories in store for them. Is old Peg Bowen really a witch? What secrets does the neighbor keep hidden in his spare room? What if tomorrow is the end of the world? And what is in the old blue chest? Along with their cousins, they learn the value of work and play, the wisdom of proverbs, how to struggle with temptations and face their fears.

Millie is a feisty border terrier who lives on the streets and has a keen sense for finding scraps of food, usually in the shadows or the cover of darkness. She protects herself with a shield of what is perceived by many as aggression—barking and snarling—when in reality, Millie is just plain scared. Turned over to animal control after a recent run-in with the dogcatcher, Millie is rescued by a special education teacher who also rehabilitates and rehomes dogs. It’s a win-win. Together, the dogs and her students learn emotional resilience, anger management, and other coping skills.

From the New York Times best-selling creator of the Vanderbeekers series comes a triumphant tale of friendship, healing, and the power of believing in ourselves told from the perspective of biracial sixth-graders June and Tyrell, two children living in a homeless shelter. As their friendship grows over a shared love of classical music, June and Tyrell confront a new housing policy that puts homeless families in danger.

It's Field Day at South School, and this year the winner will get to choose a coveted prize for his or her homeroom. Harry is determined to choose the prize, but Doug worries at what cost. When his best friend starts winning challenges with his unconventional techniques, the rest of Room 3B responds in kind. A disastrous tug-of-war shows the class that winning isn't everything, and revenge isn't as sweet as it might seem.

The Big Cheese is the best at everything, and brags about it, too. When the annual Cheese-cathlon comes around, the Big Cheese is prepared to win, as always. But what happens when the quiet new kid, Wedge Wedgeman, comes out on top? Is a slice of humility all the Big Cheese needs to discover that some things are better than being the best?