Growing Life

As a part of her father's bug-extermination contract, 14-year-old Nikki J. Maxwell has been awarded a scholarship to a prestigious private middle school. So...new school. New mean girl. New crush. New diary, so Nikki can spill about all of it....

Unlike the thousands converging at Moon Shadow to witness a total solar eclipse, Ally calls the isolated campground home. Bree shields herself in a cloak of good looks and popularity, but there is something within her no one suspects. And Jack, overweight and socially inept, finds himself on the verge of a startling possibility.

All winter long, people in the Green Hollows have prepared for a final battle with Gnag the Nameless and the Fangs of Dang. Janner, Kalmar, and Leeli are ready and willing to fight alongside the Hollowsfolk. But when the Fangs make the first move and invade Ban Rona, the children are separated. Janner is alone and lost in the hills; Leeli is fighting the Fangs from the rooftops of the city; and Kalmar, who carries a terrible secret, is on a course for the Deeps of Throg.

Popular author Dan Gutman has won countless fans with a trademark brand of humor that young readers find irresistible. In this second entry from the My Weird School series, second-grader A.J. gets sent to the office for not doing his homework. But things take an unexpected turn when Mr. Klutz, the skateboarding principal, gives A.J. a candy bar for encouragement.

Stella Diaz loves marine animals, especially her betta fish, Pancho. But Stella Diaz is not a betta fish. Betta fish like to be alone, while Stella loves spending time with her mom and brother and her best friend, Jenny. Trouble is, Jenny is in another class this year, and Stella feels very lonely. When a new boy arrives in Stella's class, she really wants to be his friend, but sometimes Stella accidentally speaks Spanish instead of English and pronounces words wrong, which makes her turn roja. Plus, she has to speak in front of her whole class for a big presentation at school!

While Laura Ingalls grows up in a little house on the Western prairie, Almanzo Wilder is living on a big farm in New York State. Here Almanzo and his brother and sisters help with the summer planting and fall harvest. In winter there is wood to be chopped and great slabs of ice to be cut from the river and stored. Time for fun comes when the jolly tin peddler visits or, best of all, when the fair comes to town.

With the same heightened suspense and intrigue that made her Shadow Children,/i> books - including Among the Hidden - best-sellers, acclaimed young adult author Margaret Peterson Haddix presents the first entry in a thrilling new series. Thirteen years ago, a plane materialized out of thin air with 36 babies on board and no one at the controls. Jonah and Chip, passengers of that mysterious vessel, are now caught in the middle of a deadly struggle between the FBI and a sinister, unseen force.

Katie Brown is miserable when her best friend is invited to join the Popular Girls Club and Katie is left out. Is there an Unpopular Girls Club she can join? Fortunately, Katie finds her way with a great new group of friends - Mia, Emma, and Alexis - and together they form the Cupcake Club. Sometimes starting from scratch turns out to be the icing on the cupcake!

Steve is back and ready for more adventures! But this time the excitement lands closer to home. While walking home from the village, Steve is surprised to hear a loud BOOM! When he returns home, he finds his wheat farm destroyed and a huge crater where the wheat once grew. And his diamond sword is missing! Steve believes it's the act of a griefer with a lot of TNT. Devastated, Steve wants to rebuild and find his sword, but with his wheat destroyed, he must call on old friends to help him.

Kylie Jean shows her talent for singing at the annual Jubilee Talent Show.

While the formal rules of etiquette are not taught the way they once were, good manners are as critical today as they ever were. 50 Things Every Young Lady Should Know provides a modern update on the ageless idea that girls should know appropriate and courteous responses to any given situation.

Stephen Satlow is an eight-year-old boy living in Brooklyn, New York, which means he only cares about one thing - the Dodgers. Steve and his father spend hours reading the sports pages and listening to games on the radio. Aside from an occasional run-in with his teacher, life is pretty simple for Steve. But then Steve hears a rumor that an African-American family is moving to his all-Jewish neighborhood. It's 1948 and some of his neighbors are against it. Steve knows this is wrong. His hero, Jackie Robinson, broke the color barrier in baseball the year before.

At last, Sam, Anastasia Krupnik's irrepressible little brother, gets a chance to tell his own story. From his first days at the hospital, through his Terrible Twos, to his first days at nursery school, we see what Sam is really like. But things are never quite what they seem.

Melody is not like most people. She cannot walk or talk, but she has a photographic memory; she can remember every detail of everything she has ever experienced. She is smarter than most of the adults who try to diagnose her and smarter than her classmates in her integrated classroom - the very same classmates who dismiss her as mentally challenged because she cannot tell them otherwise. But Melody refuses to be defined by cerebral palsy.

Thirteen-year-old Teddy Youngblood is in a coma fighting for his life after an unspecified football injury at training camp. His family and friends flock to his bedside to support his recovery - and to discuss the events leading up to the tragic accident. Was this an inevitable result of playing a violent sport, or was something more sinister happening on the field that day?

Twelve-year-old Marvel is afraid of absolutely everything - amusement-park rides, food poisoning, earthquakes, and that big island of plastic floating through the ocean. She also obsesses about smaller worries like making friends, getting called on by the teacher, and walking home alone. But when Marvel stumbles on a group of older kids teasing a baby goat that has mysteriously shown up on the soccer field, she momentarily forgets to be afraid and rescues the frightened animal.

50 Things Every Young Gentleman Should Know is a young man's guide to becoming the type of guy that people respect and enjoy. He knows how to shake hands. He knows how to be a good sport. He knows how to give a genuine compliment and how to speak his mind without being offensive. His friends listen to what he has to say, and he returns the favor. He knows how to achieve the perfect knot in a necktie, and more important, he knows when he should be wearing a tie in the first place. Oh, and his favorite ball cap? He knows when to wear it and when to leave it at home on his dresser.

Nim lives on an island in the middle of the wide blue sea, shared by only her father, Jack, a marine iguana called Fred, a sea lion called Selkie, a turtle called Chica, and a satellite dish for her e-mail. No one else in the world lives quite like Nim, and she wouldn't swap places with anyone.

Minnie has always been the most fashionable of the gang and her polka dots are definitely her signature look. However, when her dots decide to go on their own adventure, Minnie must set off on a journey around the globe to get them back!

Stella Batts is back! Stella is in third grade, she wants to be a writer, and her parents own a wonderful candy shop. Life should be pretty good, right? In Pardon Me, Stella needs to find a new best friend after her friend Willa moves away. But finding a new best friend is not easy. Things are looking up when she meets Evie, the new girl in town. She is going to be in Stella s class at school and she needs a new best friend, too.Stella can t wait to introduce her to the other third graders. Except when they get to school, things don't exactly go the way Stella planned....