Claire's life is a mess. She's failing math, her depressed mother won't get off the couch, Eric, the boy of her dreams, is dating her nemesis Lucy. While Claire is wishing her life were better, lightning strikes. Soon afterward, everything changes. With Lucy in the hospital and out of the way, Claire attracts Eric's attention and gets the starring role in the school play. But good fortune has a cost: her newly energized mother reconciles with her deadbeat dad, the dream boy turns out to be a dud and Claire feels terrible guilt about gaining everything Lucy has lost. But how can Claire turn it around when lightning only strikes once?
When Cody and his friends accept a challenge from a local gang to steal a park bench, their main concern is keeping themselves on the gang's good side. Cody learns that the stolen bench had been dedicated to the father of the English teacher who sponsors the school newspaper; the paper that Cody has just started writing for - and he's worried about the consequences. As the gang applies pressure for more from Cody and his friends, he realizes they've crossed a line, and now he has to figure out how to make it right.
When Charlie Sykes wakes up in hospital in St. John's, he learns that he and his father have been in a car accident and that his father is dying. Charlie inherits little more than the brass key that his father pressed into his hand before he passed away. As far as Charlie knows, he has no family in Newfoundland. But then Uncle Nick shows up and is keen to meet his nephew-not because of who Charlie is, but rather because of what Charlie has: the key. That key will unlock a treasure Uncle Nick began searching for more than thirty years earlier. And he would have found it all those years ago if he hadn't been arrested and sent away for murder. But Charlie isn't convinced he should give up the key. He leads Uncle Nick on a wild chase through old St. John's, across Signal Hill and out to the coast. There, high above the rugged Atlantic, Charlie finally comes face-to-face with Uncle Nick, the treasure, and a family history that will leave him with a new understanding of where he comes from and where he's going.
Sam, a seven-year-old boy, is devastated when his mother leaves him for two weeks on his grandfather's ranch. Grandpa has a lot of rules, and Sam isn't happy about having to stay with him. But Sam's time on the ranch isn't all bad. He learns to ride a horse and also discovers some surprising things about his father, who died when Sam was a baby. When Sam is forced to overcome his fear of riding in order to help rescue Grandpa, Sam grows to appreciate both his grandpa and life on the ranch.
Kip's only friends are the members of the Daredevil Club, a club whose mission is to complete seven dangerous dares before their rivals, the Wildmen, complete their list of dares. Before the cliff diving accident in which he lost the use of his leg, Kip had been the leader of the Daredevil club. Now he has difficulty completing the dares and suspects that his membership is threatened. As the daredevils plan their final stunt, a dangerous climb along a narrow steel shelf beneath a bridge, they try to convince Kip that he may not be up to the task. Kip refuses to back down even though he suspects his friends might be right.
Keegan and Alex are the only kids in Leamington who haven't volunteered to help out with the town's annual tomato festival. In an attempt to teach them a sense of responsibility, their fathers put them in charge of the tomato toss. The boys decide it's their responsibility to add a little excitement to the event. They exchange the traditional wooden targets for human targets and, before they know it, they are running the most popular event at the fair. The excitement may be too much for the sleepy town and soon the tomato toss is taken to the streets.
Twelve-year-old Astrid has come to Ghana with her family in 1979 so that her father can help oversee Ghanas first democratic election. Astrid and her brother, Gordo, were told it would be a great family adventure, but they soon find out that everything about Ghana is difficult; the heat, the food, the threat of disease, the soldiers on the roads, the schools. Gordo fits in more easily than Astrid, who is often left to look after her baby sister, Piper, as their mother begins to fall apart under the strain of living in Ghana. When the government is overthrown, Gordo comes down with malaria and a soldier threatens her family, Astrid is surprised to discover how protective she has become of her new home.
When grade-eight science-project time rolls around, J.J. Murphy skips the beakers and the papier mâché and dives into research about jerks. And idiots. But mostly jerks. By his own estimation, his science project, On a Scale from Idiot to Complete Jerk, is groundbreaking, exhaustive, highly scientific and seriously worthy of bonus marks. Beginning with the dawn of humankind and concluding conclusively with a very cool pie chart, the project dissects the elements of jerkosity through extensive case studies and scientific illustrations. It explores the who, what, when, why and how of jerks and, more important, peppers the lively research with sciencey-looking graphs and charts that reveal a lot about J.J., his family and friends, and the jerks of this world.
Life is hard for ten-year-old Safiyah in the Kibera slum outside Nairobi. Too poor to go to school, she makes a meager living for herself and her grandmother Cucu by selling things she finds at the garbage dump. After using scavenged paper to fix up the inside of the hut, Safiyah starts a mural on the outside. As word of the paper house spreads, Safiyah begins to take pride in her creation. When Cucu collapses after a fire, Safiyah stays at the hospital to help care for her grandmother. While Safiyah is away, her friend Pendo works on the mural, which upsets Safiyah. But when Pendo attracts media attention to the paper house, Safiyah and her grandmother are given a chance of a better life.
Join Fiona and Finley as they travel back in time with America's first professional female astronomer, Maria Mitchell.
Francis Scott Key takes Finley and Fiona back in time to see first-hand what inspired him to write "The Star-Spangled Banner."
Abigail Adams, the First Lady of the United States, takes Fiona and Finley back in time to her new home at the White House to share her story.
Fiona and Finley travel back in time with Benjamin Franklin.
Fiona and Finley are going on a family hiking trip. Finley is determined to invent an ice cream that won't melt to celebrate. Albert Einstein enters the Sweets Shop to take Finely on an adventure that might inspire some answers.
Harriet Tubman stops in and tells Fiona and Finley about the Underground Railroad. Fiona and Finley don't just want to hear about it, they want to help.
Daniel Boone stops by the Sweets Shop and takes Fiona and Finley on an adventure through time to the frontier wilderness of Kentucky. The text discusses incidents and language of negative stereotypes.
Fiona is ready to quit her school's model rocket club. Things start to look up when Amelia Earhart stops by the Sweets Shop and whisks Fiona and Finley on a historic flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
When inventor Thomas Edison visits the family's Sweets Shop, Finley and Fiona embark on a sweet adventure through history.
Time Hop customer Clara Barton takes Fiona and Finley on a journey back to the Civil War, where they help her care for wounded soldiers.
The Batts family has arrived at a hotel in Los Angeles and everything is all set for Aunt Lauras wedding weekend. Stella and Penny are going to be getting a new uncle, and a new cousin! Plus, they get to be flower girls, and wear fancy dresses, and walk down the aisle throwing rose petals. Its going to be perfect--just the way Aunt Laura has imagined it. Just the way Stella has imagined it, too. But sometimes a wedding doesn't happen the way anyone thinks it will--including the bride. Things are starting to go wrong, and Stella is worried that its all her fault!
Meet Digger and Daisy! They are brother and sister. These dogs like to explore their world and see new things. Sometimes they agree with each other. Sometimes they disagree. But no matter the situation, one thing always stays the same; their steadfast love and concern for each other. In playful, simple stories written especially for the K-1 audience, author Judy Young explores the dynamics and nuances of the sibling relationship. In Digger and Daisy Go to the Zoo Digger tries to imitate the various animals they see while Daisy tries to tell him what he can and cannot do.
In A Case of the Meanies, mean boy Joshua continues to plague Stella when he decides to have a birthday party at her parents' candy store. He invites everyone in the class EXCEPT her! Stella has to figure out how to be a pleasant hostess when she's not on the guest list. It's just another day in the life of Stella Batts!
Meet Tugg and Teeny. Best friends since... well, forever! Tugg (a gorilla) and Teeny (a monkey) live together in their jungle neighborhood, Sidekick Thicket. As opposite as night and day, the two friends work and play together, each helping the other face life's challenges. Lively, impulsive Teeny always wants to try new things. Sure and steady Tugg is always there to lend a hand or give a word of encouragement. In Book Two of this beginning chapter book series, Teeny ponders strange and quirky situations in the jungle. All with the help of her best friend Tugg.
Meet Tugg and Teeny. Best friends since -- well, forever! Tugg (a gorilla) and Teeny (a monkey) live together in their jungle neighborhood, Sidekick Thicket. As opposite as night and day, the two friends work and play together, each helping the other face life's challenges. Lively, impulsive Teeny always wants to try new things. Sure and steady Tugg is always there to lend a hand or give a word of encouragement. In this beginning chapter book series, Book One's trio of stories has Teeny learning to become a musician, developing her talents as an artist, and fine-tuning her skills as a poet. Book Two has her pondering strange and quirky situations in the jungle. All with the help of her best friend Tugg.
It's 1942: Tomi Itano, 12, is a second-generation Japanese American who lives in California with her family on their strawberry farm. Although her parents came from Japan and her grandparents still live there, Tomi considers herself an American. She doesn't speak Japanese and has never been to Japan. But after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, things change. No Japs Allowed signs hang in store windows and Tomi's family is ostracized. Things get much worse. Suspected as a spy, Tomi's father is taken away. The rest of the Itano family is sent to an internment camp in Colorado. Many other Japanese American families face a similar fate. Tomi becomes bitter, wondering how her country could treat her and her family like the enemy. What does she need to do to prove she is an honorable American? Sandra Dallas shines a light on a dark period of American history in this story of a young Japanese American girl caught up in the prejudices and World War II.
