Psycho. Sick. Dangerous. Réal Dufresne's reputation precedes him. When the mangled body of his best friend, Shaun, turns up in a field just east of town, tough-as-hell Réal blames himself. But except for the nightmares, all Ré remembers is beating the living crap out of Shaun the night of his death. Shaun's girlfriend, sixteen-year-old Evie Hawley, keeps her feelings locked up tight. But now she's pregnant, and the father of her baby is dead. And when Réal looks to her to atone for his sins, everything goes sideways. Fast. The tighter Evie and Réal get, the faster things seem to fall apart. And falling in love might just be the card that knocks the whole house down.
At Carmichael High, the bullies always get their way. Would it be a different story if their victims joined forces?
It was decided; survival was key. Ryan, Michael, and Henry would return to the outside. So they headed north toward LoDo and the richer suburbs, like Cherry Hills Village. Ryan splintered from the group, hoping for more success. He found Jesska. She had a secret. Who else could possibly know?
The pitching machine hurled the first pitch. It was just like at the cages. Carlos was comfortable. He lifted his left leg slightly. Then he turned his hips to the ball. He swung the bat. Crack!
Terrance thought about football. He was sore from practice. That was good. Coach Fisher said his blocks were better. He'd get to play in the game! Coach was right about football. You've got to have something to work for. It makes you work at everything.
At the end of The Pirate Captain's Daughter, Catherine and cabin boy William are marooned on Pox Island by the murderous crew of the pirate ship Reprisal. The young lovers see no hope of escape. In Voyage of the Sea Wolf, the continuing saga of Catherine's sea adventures, she and William are rescured from their island prison by the Sea Wolf, a pirate ship pursuing the Reprisal. Catherine worries that these new pirates will send her back to the island once they discover she's a girl. But then, she meets the captain of the Sea Wolf. A Woman! Surely, Catherine thinks, the bloodshed and brutality she and William experienced aboard the Reprisal can't happen again, especially under the leadership of a female captian. But just as things seem to be going their way, the captain takes a liking to William. Catherine is forbidden to see him. If Catherine and William want to stay together, they must find a way to now escape from the Sea Wolf.
Middle graders will laugh and cry with thirteen-year-old Vanessa Martin as she tries to be like Vanessa Williams, the first black Miss America. In this semi-autobiographical debut novel set in 1983, Vanessa Martin's real-life reality of living with family in public housing in Newark, New Jersey is a far cry from the glamorous Miss America stage. She struggles with a mother she barely remembers, a grandfather dealing with addiction and her own battle with self-confidence. But when a new teacher at school coordinates a beauty pageant and convinces Vanessa to enter, Vanessa's view of her own world begins to change. Vanessa discovers that her own self-worth is more than the scores of her talent performance and her interview answers, and that she doesn't need a crown to be comfortable in her own skin and see her own true beauty.
Mark just can't settle into his new life. He misses his friends and has trouble connecting with new classmates. Walking through his neighborhood, he sees an open window. Instantly, everything changes. Maybe he can pretend to be someone else and live a different life ... if only for a moment.
Deb has reading problems and is self-conscious about it. She doesn't think smart boys will like her. But she's hardworking, helpful, and a girl of her word. Deb turns down a date to rake her sick neighbor's leaves. Ed, smart and handsome, comes by to give her a hand and- perhaps- ask her out.
Victor, a Mexican American teenager known for being a fast runner, deals with racism at school but finds strength in his family, his future, and romantic interest in Tiffany, the most popular girl in school.
Terrell decides to expose the secret ritual that injured a new football player, Dylan, in spite of threats from Booth.
Oliver Twist is a penniless orphan. What chance has he got on the dangerous streets of 19th century London? Before long, he's taken in by a gang of thieves. The boy's future looks grim indeed, until a few kindly souls enter the picture.
Dale Curtis, the rookie on the Jackson Eagles basketball team, struggles between his commitment to the team and loyalty to his ex-con brother.
Wallace, having messed up at his old school, is determined not to give up basketball, but he worries that bullies are going to interfere with his second shot at success. The plot contains profanity and drug use.
Raul and Juan set out for a few hours of kayaking. The weather is in their favor. It should be an easy ride. Raul, who is nicknamed the Cloud Warrior, prides himself on knowing good weather from bad. But once on the river, storm clouds appear. Their only choice is to keep moving and try to beat them. Soon they learn that a storm is the least of their worries. Some unexpected campers are in the area causing trouble not only for Raul and Juan, but for a girl Raul likes.
Kim and her best friend Fran are both interested in a new boy at school, but they don't realize that it's the same boy! Kim figures it out first, and has to decide if she is willing to risk her friendship with Fran.
Stella Connors has spent her whole life bouncing around from one town to the next, following the latest musician her mother has fallen in love with. She has always vowed she will never become a pathetic groupie like her mother, Viv. But then her best friend uploads a video of Stella singing a cover of her favorite band’s biggest hit. It goes viral, and suddenly Stella’s ideas about who she is and what she wants take a real hit. As a publicity stunt, the band’s manager asks Stella to perform with them when they come to town. Stella is thrilled and agrees immediately. Soon she finds herself in the spotlight, with everyone after her for interviews and photo ops. And unless she’s reading things wrong, she’s pretty sure the band’s lead singer has a thing for her. When she gets invited to go on the road with the band and perform in another concert, Stella forgets every bad thing she ever thought about being a groupie. After all, she’s nothing like her mother. She’s a star. Isn’t she?
Charlie's world comes crashing down when her fiancé leaves her for another woman. Then Aunt Della wins a trip for two to Rome. Maybe Italy can mend her broken heart? Or at least distract her from it—who needs romance when you have Rome, Sorrento and the Amalfi Coast? But with adventure come mishaps, and Charlie's trip seems to be full of them! In between the chaos and hijinks, will Charlie take another chance at love?
Nick was used to being good at everything. Hockey, football, track, they all came easy to him. Surfing was his latest passion. That is, until the accident. Now partially paralyzed, Nick is angry, depressed and getting far too fond of his prescription meds. But his frequent visits to his physiotherapist, a Syrian refugee, and a budding friendship with a partial amputee who has also experienced firsthand the horrors of war help him start to piece his life back together. A story about overcoming the odds and changing your life for the better.
Victorian England is riding high. People are so prosperous and smug they imagine themselves the masters of the universe. Then the unthinkable happens: England is attacked by Martians! Panic erupts as the countryside goes up in flames. Is there no way to stop the ghastly, machinelike creatures and their deadly heat rays?
On the brink of her freshman year at Tubman High, something clicked in Chelsea's mind. Shadrach rescued animals. And in a way, he saved kids by teaching them respect. Now she and her friends were rescuers by volunteering at the shelter. Jaris was a rescuer too. He was trying to save Sereeta's mom. And, maybe Maurice would have to rescue Athena from getting into trouble.
Abel Ruiz is coming into his own. He has plenty of friends, he has chosen a career path, and he has a loving girlfriend. But when Claudia dumps him for someone else, Abel is crushed and tries to keep his self-esteem from imploding.
The suspicions and accusations begin to fly around Tubman High when Marko is attacked with a baseball bat and left for dead.
Destini Fletcher hates Tubman High from day one. When Tyron Becker singles her out, Destini is thrilled to be a part of Tyron's crowd. But he corns her budding friendships with Alonee, Jaris, and Sami, and mocks her attempts to earn good grades. Do her excuses for Tyron's increasingly brutal behavior and bad attitude put her at risk?
Something very peculiar is going on at Baskerville Hall. The local people claim that the moor is haunted. But Sir Henry isn't satisfied with that explanation. So he calls on the great detective Sherlock Holmes. For a while, Holmes and his faithful sidekick Dr. Watson are stumped. But only for a while. This book is an abridged version of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel in which detectives Holmes and Watson investigate the tale of a hound that haunts a family living by the lonely moors of Devonshire.
