Family Reader

Ancient pyramids can be flat-out dangerous! Ever since Stanley was flattened by a bulletin board, there are places he can get to that no one else can. So when Stanley receives a letter from an archaeologist, he travels by airmail to Egypt to help find an ancient treasure deep in the heart of a great pyramid. But what if even the flattest boy on earth can't wriggle out of this dark tomb - and the terrible mess he finds himself in?

Cam Jansen and her friend Eric are spending the day at the amusement park. They take Cam’s aunt and uncle with them through the scary haunted house. Plastic skeletons hang from the ceiling. A large black form jumps out of the shadows of a dark room. Everyone has a wonderful time until they get hungry and thirsty. When Cam’s aunt tries to pay for some snacks, she discovers her wallet is no longer in her purse. Will Cam be able to solve the mystery of the missing wallet with her amazing photographic memory?

She's given it her best shot...more than that and more than once...now it is all about starting over. A story of family with all its twists and turns and complications.Broken is the third novella in the Andersen Family Saga series. Pamela Andersen Handen loves her husband. She always has. Finding out what he did to cause problems for her brother was bad enough. Finding out he intentionally set up their son to bear the blame was more than she could deal with. Now, not even two weeks after the death of their mother, she’s on a cross-country-train trip with her aunt. Will distance and time ...

Emmett Woodhouse, handsome, clever and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence and had lived nearly eighteen years in the world with very little to distress or vex him. Emmett knows he’s blessed. And because of that, he tries to give back: from charity work to letting the often irritating Georgia sit at his table at lunch, he knows it’s important to be nice. And recently, he’s found a new way of giving back: matchmaking.

J.D. is a barber battle champion. He's graduated from home haircuts to having a regular chair at the neighborhood shop, Hart and Son, and he's making enough money to keep his candy jar stocked and his comic book collection growing. And yet, J.D. knows it's time for his next challenge. He doesn't just want to be the best barber in Meridian, Mississippi - he wants to be the best barber in the state...and maybe the country!

When Posey's grandpa announces that he's marrying Posey's neighbor, Mrs. Romero, Posey is thrilled! She loves Mrs. Romero and she's going to be the flower girl! But then she learns that Mrs. Romero will be moving away, and her dog Hero, too. That is just about the worst news ever and Posey wants nothing to do with the wedding. Now no one is happy. Then Mrs. Romero has an idea - what if Hero stays with Posey? Posey jumps at the idea, but it turns out that makes Hero even more miserable than she was.

"He had been created to replace a lost son. His face was made of porcelain and burnt clay formed his spine. The lips were painted on and showed a never-changing smile, while twisted copper wire held his body together. When the artificial boy looked down he could see through the gaps between the coils. There, deep down inside him, was a living thing - a fleeting flutter, visible for only one moment at a time. His creator called him Felix." In three interconnected short stories, Felix searches for the truth about how he came to be alive. He meets a strange butterfly catcher, a terrifying ...

Mindy is excited to celebrate the Lunar New Year! Even though it’s the first one without her mom, Mindy is determined to enjoy the day. She decides to make traditional Korean New Year food, a rice cake soup that’s her favorite. But things aren’t going quite to plan, and the celebration doesn’t feel the same as it did before. With the help of her family and friends, can Mindy find a way to still enjoy her old holiday traditions, and create new ones along the way?

The Treasure Cave: A Story of Courage, Adventure, and Self-Belief "The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek." — Joseph Campbell Many people go through life never discovering the rewards that lie just beyond their fears. From childhood, we are often taught to play it safe, to follow the path set before us, and to avoid the unknown. But what if we could change that for our children? What if we could teach them to embrace adventure, courage, and the power of self-belief? This is the story of Gertie—a young girl who dares to step outside her comfort zone and seek something ...

Something's up with Brother Bear. He's talking tough, he's walking tough, and he has a new hobby: shooting hoops with Too-Tall and his trouble-making team. And basketball isn't the only new pastime Brother takes up when he falls in the wrong crowd. Will Brother realize who his true friends are before it's too late?

Chester’s mom teaches him a song about fireflies. Learn the song along with Chester. One, two, three.…

All her life, Boo has wanted a real live dinosaur to follow her home - and today, one did. There is only one problem - no one else can see Boo's dinosaur. Boo's older brother Sammy certainly won't put up with these crazy antics.

Lieutenant Ethan Hendricks’ greatest nightmare just also happened to be his grandfather’s newest business venture. Logan Hendricks is thrilled about his brand new detective agency’s first case, but things weren’t turning out the way they were supposed to, including the attempted murder of one of his brand new employees. But he figures their next case, which involves finding a missing sister, should go a lot smoother. How dangerous could it be? Ethan Hendricks wasn’t quite as confident about his grandfather’s new hobby, or that the supposedly straight-forward case of a missing ...

THE BEST NEST ******************** At night when Mom said to take a bath, And wash his hair with shampoo. He’d only wet his hair with water, And his mother never knew.

Dove "Birdie" Randolph works hard to be the perfect daughter and follow the path her parents have laid out for her: She quit playing her beloved soccer, she keeps her nose buried in textbooks, and she's on track to finish high school at the top of her class. But then Birdie falls hard for Booker, a sweet boy with a troubled past...whom she knows her parents will never approve of. When her estranged aunt, Carlene, returns to Chicago and moves into the family's apartment above their hair salon, Birdie notices the tension building at home.

Stanley's not the only flat one! When a flat skull is discovered in Africa, Stanley Lambchop decides to travel there with his brother, Arthur, and their father, George. Maybe studying the skull will give them clues to Stanley's flatness. But once in Africa, the Lambchops are in for more adventure than they bargained for. From lions to zebras to elephants, it's the safari of a lifetime!

Megin is 12; her brother Greg is 14. Megin is a slob; Greg is fastidious. They call each other Megamouth and Grosso. Between the two, the household is filled with their teasing and fighting. They are experts at the usual games of sibling rivalry and experts at inventing new ones. From carefully-planted cockroaches to creme doughnut fights, Megin and Greg's antics keep them in constant trouble. But even as they think up new ways to bug each other, they are also growing up.

Choices is the fifth novella in the ongoing Andersen Family Saga. Livia Andersen was a woman who held her family together with a quiet smile and an iron will. It’s been less than a month since her death and the four children she leaves behind struggle with the shifting changes in their lives now that she’s gone. But they are not alone. Her grandchildren and other members of Livia's large and extended family are also grappling with life without her there to turn to... Trisha Slavik knows better than most that sometimes you don’t always get the answers you’re looking for. She knows ...

With a Burmese mother and a white American father, Alex Wagner grew up thinking of herself as a "futureface" - an example of what the mixed-race future of America would look like. When Alex learns that her ancestry might be more mysterious than she believed, she becomes obsessed with learning everything there is to know about her ethnic and racial history. Through a blend of history, science, and sociology, Alex tries to solve the mysteries of her family and what it means to be American.

José era un granjero feliz y Pedro era su vecino, Sembraban pepinos y tomates en la montaña de encino. Ambos granjeros trabajaban muy duro; difícil era su vida, Pero tenían comida para sus familias; recompensa merecida Aunque a veces en casa después de un día de trabajo cansado Soñaban con tener una vida mejor de lo que habían pensado.