Cassidy Silver is not having a good year. Her engineer father is in the Middle East, her artist mother is too busy to listen to the painful details of her daughter's grade seven life, her genius younger brother is being bullied, and her best friend Chiaki has abandoned her to hang out with the meanest girls in school. Then Cassidy meets Victoria, who is telekineticshe can move objects with her mind. Cassidy, desperate to not be the only ordinary person in her family, thinks learning telekinesis could be the answer to all her problems. But is Victoria telling the truth? And is telekinesis really the solution?
Take one prankster, put her together with the editor of the world's most boring school newspaper, add one over-worked principal, and you've got a recipe for the most chaotic few weeks in the history of Upland Green Elementary. The unlikely duo of Martin Wettmore, editor and expert grammarian, and Trixi Wilder, prankster extraordinaire, is given the task of improving the pathetic sales of their school newspaper. Martin and Trixi clash over everything from journalistic integrity (Trixi has none) to imagination (Martin has none). But when the paper starts to wreak havoc at the school, Principal Baumgartner shuts it down and assigns Trixi to Saturday morning bus-washing duty. To redeem themselves, Martin and Trixi resolve to create one very special edition of the Upland Green Examiner.
Mealworms are small creatures that live in dark secret places. Jeremy is a bit like that when he leaves his home in rural Nova Scotia and moves to Toronto with his mother. Lots of things keep him from enjoying his new life, but the worst is his science partner, Aaron, who is more annoying than sand in a bathing suit. Jeremy is also burdened by the secret he carries about the motorcycle accident that injured him and killed his father. Although Jeremy is haunted by his past, he starts to feel at home in Toronto when he realizes he has some skills he can share with his classmates. And when his mealworm project yields some surprising results, Jeremy is finally able to talk about his part in the fatal accident.
Oliver has helicopter parentsthey love him, but they seriously cramp his style. He decides to fill an old wooden box with souvenirs from some of his outrageous and daring exploits. That way, he'll never forget the zombies, the killer dogs and the crazy cows, and his parents will never know that he once jumped from a bridge with the police in hot pursuit. But the biggest shock comes when Oliver realizes that the most terrifying things of all can't be controlled or contained.
Brady is a dreadful card player and he doesn't like dogs. His mother has moved him across the country to be near to his grandfather who insists on playing (and winning) endless games of Crazy Eights and whose ornery, ancient dog makes Brady's life miserable. Abra, next door, is nice to him, but she dresses like a witch and she's a girl. The only way that Brady can see to make real friends in his new home is to enter the upcoming dog show, but how is he going to do that without a dog?
Casey will have to do a lot of pet-sitting to earn the money she needs to buy Lightning, a beloved horse. Her hopes of buying Lightning are dashed when she learns that his owner has found a buyer and must sell the horse immediately. Across the street from Casey's house a mystery unfolds as a seldom-seen woman who seems to be able to read minds prepares to host a carnival and a yo-yo contest that boasts a $1500 prize. Casey's yo-yo is buried in her closet. She has a great talent and a greater case of stage fright.
Dylan and his friends snowball cars for entertainment on the weekend. When they don't get enough reaction from passing cars, they put rocks in the middle of their snowballs. Their first attack with the loaded snowballs causes a car crash. His friends flee, but Dylan goes to the scene of the accident to make sure the driver is okay. He runs off when he knows help is on the way. Dylan is sighted, and rather than being punished, he is lauded as a hero. As his lies pile up, so does the hype about his heroics, and along with it, Dylan's guilt.
Sam's grandfather vanished from his life the day Sam's father was buried. Now, ten years later, Grandpa Max wants to make amends. He sends letters that lead Sam on a scavenger hunt. Sam follows his grandfather's bizarre instructions though he's still not ready to forgive. To alleviate his anger at his grandfather, Sam turns to his favorite stress release: climbing onto roofs and leaving his tag, a spray painted symbol for Aquarius. When he gets caught by an elderly couple, Sam learns a valuable lesson about forgiveness. He's ready to forgive his grandfather, but is he too late?
These high-interest novels feature characters in situations encountered by real-life teens everyday. The student body of Dawson High study hard, date, root for the home team, hold down part-time jobs, succeed and fail, just like most American teenagers. Characters are faced with tough choices- and must decide and react based on their principles. However, choices are complicated and learning to do the right thing is almost never easy. After finding out that Torie is dating Rae's ex-boyfriend, Chance, Rae makes a plan to pay Torie back. Rae decides to date Brad, a boy that Torie really likes, just to make her jealous. Unfortunately, Rae doesn't count on how her feelings for Brad might change. By the time Rae realizes she's fallen for Brad, it might be too late.
These high-interest novels feature characters in situations encountered by real-life teens everyday. The student body of Dawson High study hard, date, root for the home team, hold down part-time jobs, succeed and fail, just like most American teenagers. Characters are faced with tough choices- and must decide and react based on their principles. However, choices are complicated and learning to do the right thing is almost never easy. Choosing between keeping a promise and keeping a friend is tough. Josh's first few days of driving without an adult passenger may be cut short if his dad learns that Josh drives Cooper and Nikki to the dance. Josh made a promise to his dad, but he wants to help out his friend. How will Josh's dad react to a broken promise?
