This remarkable novel holds a fantastic puzzle at its heart. By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it's safe to go, and they know who to avoid. Like the crazy guy on the corner. But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a kid on the street for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda's mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen. And then a mysterious note arrives, scrawled on a tiny slip of paper. The notes keep coming, and Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving them knows things no one should know. Each message brings her closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think she's too late.
Winner of the 2013 Newbery Medal and a #1 New York Times bestseller, this stirring and unforgettable novel from renowned author Katherine Applegate celebrates the transformative power of unexpected friendship. Inspired by the true story of a captive gorilla known as Ivan, this illustrated novel is told from the point of view of Ivan himself. Having spent twenty-seven years behind the glass walls of his enclosure in a shopping mall, Ivan has grown accustomed to humans watching him. He hardly ever thinks about his life in the jungle. Instead, Ivan occupies himself with television, his friends Stella and Bob, and painting. But when he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from the wild, he is forced to see their home, and his art, through new eyes. In the tradition of timeless stories like Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little, Katherine Applegate blends humor and poignancy to create an unforgettable story of friendship, art, and hope. This paperback edition includes an author's note highlighting th
“Some pig.” These are the words in Charlotte’s web, high in thebarn. Her spiderweb tells of her feelings for a little pig namedWilbur, as well as the feelings of a little girl named Fern...wholoves Wilbur, too. Their love has been shared by millions ofreade
A 2014 Newbery Honor Book A New York Times Bestseller Award-winning, nationally bestselling author Kevin Henkes introduces second-grader Billy Miller in this fast-paced and funny story about friendship, sibling rivalry, and elementary school. The Year of Billy Miller includes black-and-white art by Kevin Henkes and is perfect for fans of the Ramona books; Frindle, by Andrew Clements; and the Clementine series. The New York Times declared: "Henkes's delightful story is restrained and vivid . . . forgoing the overdramatic or zany, it shows the substance, warmth and adaptability of beautifully common family love." When Billy Miller has a mishap at the statue of the Jolly Green Giant at the end of summer vacation, he ends up with a big lump on his head. What a way to start second grade, with a lump on your head! As the year goes by, though, Billy figures out how to navigate elementary school, how to appreciate his little sister, and how to be a more grown up and r
Not only is Turner Buckminster the son of the new minister ina small Maine town, he is shunned for playing baseball differentlythan the local boys. Then he befriends smart and lively LizzieBright Griffin, a girl from Malaga Island, a poor community foundedby former slaves. Lizzie shows Turner a new world along the Mainecoast from digging clams to rowing a boat next to a whale. When thepowerful town elders, including Turner’s father, decide to drivethe people off the island to set up a tourist business, Turnerstands alone against them. He and Lizzie try to save her community,but there’s a terrible price to pay for going against the tide.
PW's starred review of the 1999 Newbery Medal winner described it as a "dazzling blend of social commentary, tall tale and magic realism." Ages 10-up. (May) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Kit Tyler is marked by suspicion and disapproval from themoment she arrives on the unfamiliar shores of colonial Connecticutin 1867. Alone and desperate, she has been forced to leave herbeloved home on the island of Barbados and join a family she hasnever met. Torn between her quest for belonging and her desire tobe true to herself, Kit struggles to survive in a hostile place.Just when it seems she must give up, she finds a kindred spirit.But Kit’s friendship with Hannah Tupper, believed by the coloniststo be a witch, proves more taboo than she could have imagined andultimately forces Kit to choose between her heart and her duty.Elizabeth George Speare’s Newbery Award–winning novel portrays aheroine whom readers will admire for her unwavering sense of truthas well as her infinite capacity to love. In 1687 in Connecticut,Kit Tyler, feeling out of place in the Puritan household of heraunt, befriends an old woman considered a witch by the communityand suddenly finds herself standing trial for witchc
In a compelling story about three sisters who go to Oakland,CA, in 1968, to meet the mother who abandoned them, acclaimedauthor Rita Williams-Garcia writes with insight and humor aboutfamily, politics, and identity. Eleven-year-old Delphine is like amother to her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern. When theyarrive on the West Coast, their mother decides that they willattend a summer camp each day run by the Black Panthers, while theywonder what really goes on at home in her kitchen, where she runsher own printing press.
Orphaned Kit Tyler knows, as she gazes for the first time at thecold, bleak shores of Connecticut Colony, that her new home willnever be like the shimmering Caribbean island she left behind. Inher relatives' stern Puritan community, she feels like a tropicalbird that has flown to the wrong part of the world, a bird that isnow caged and lonely. The only place where Kit feels completelyfree is in the meadows, where she enjoys the company of the oldQuaker woman known as the Witch of Blackbird Pond, and on occasion,her young sailor friend Nat. But when Kit's friendship with theandquot; witchandquot; is discovered, Kit is faced with suspicion,fear, and anger. She herself is accused of witchcraft