Even with a 12-0 loss to start the ’88 season, Cal Ripken, Jr. had plenty of reasons to love being a Baltimore Oriole. He was playing alongside his brother Bill, and his father, Cal Sr., was managing the team. They’d win the next one. But the Orioles didn’t win their next game, or the next, and soon what was supposed to be a dream season for Cal slid into a nightmare of losses no one saw coming.

Demons are all around us—most of them are relatively harmless, like the ones that go bump in the night or make you stub your toe. But some are dangerous—some can kill. Since he was orphaned as a boy, Nat has been trained by his aged mentor Daliwahl to be a demonkeeper, controlling a menagerie of demons in their old, rickety house in Seattle. But now Dahliwahl is gone and Nat is on his own. Keeping demons isn’t a very social activity, and when Nat goes on a date with Sandy, a junior librarian’s assistant, it’s a disaster in more ways that one—while Nat’s out, a very scary demon called the Beast escapes. Can Nat get the Beast back to the house and make things right with Sandy—and do it all by himself? With its fast-paced action, slapstick humor, and a winning, unlikely hero, Demonkeeper is a high-spirited romp that will keep readers glued to the page.

PreSchool-Grade 1. Froggy wakes from hibernation in the middle of the winter. Despite his mother's urgings to go back to sleep, he is determined to go out and play. He puts on different articles of clothing, each with its own fun sound effect. Each time he ventures out, his mother reminds him that he has forgotten something, prompting him to go back inside, undress, and start again. He becomes so exhausted that he decides it is easier to just stay asleep. This story is just as hilarious in Spanish as it is in English. Storytellers will enjoy making sounds that will encourage young listeners to participate in the telling. The cartoonlike illustrations and funny facial expressions make this a wonderful read-aloud.?Diane Tureski, New York Public Library Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The determined Little Blue Engine is back,bringing inspiring and enlightening words of wisdom to graduates of all ages as they make the transition from one phase of life to the next.I Think I Can!provides familiar comfort in changing times and serves as a wonderful gift that will be treasured for years to come.Readers will revisit the story again and again as they move forward along life's path.From"I think I can"to"I knew I could,"The Little Engine That Could helps kids of all ages realize that anything is possible if you just put your mind to it! Celebrate life’s journeys with The Little Engine That Could!Selling over 60,000 copies in the first two months on sale,I Knew You Could!provides familiar comfort in changing times and serves as a wonderful gift that will be treasured for years to come.With inspiring and enlightening words of wisdom,this sweetly nostalgic book is perfect for graduates of all ages as they make the transition from one phase of life to the next.From"I think I can"to"I knew I coul

A delicious treat about America's favorite fruit is now available in a Spanish bilingual format. Ana grows and sells apples, and she makes cider and applesauce and muffins. A glossary helps kids learn the names of Ana's delicious ingredients in both languages. With tie-ins to math and science curricula and units on autumn, this book will be especially welcomed by teachers. Truly the pick of the crop!

For Seikei, the adopted son of the famous samurai Judge Ooka with a knack for solving mysteries, a trip home to see his real family isn’t cause to celebrate. His brother has become mixed up with local criminals who use the family’s tea shop as a front for a smuggling operation. His sister, meanwhile, has fallen in love with an apprentice to a puppet master who stands accused of murder. Somehow, Seikei senses the two are connected. His loyalties divided between his new family and his old, Seikei must find the real killer before it is too late. Set against the eerie backdrop of the old Japanese puppet theaters, where life-sized marionettes were controlled by black-cloaked men, Edgar Award-winners Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler render their most satisfying mystery to date.

When Martine’s home in England burns down, killing her parents, she must go to South Africa to live on a wildlife game preserve, called Sawubona, with the grandmother she didn’t know she had. Almost as soon as she arrives, Martine hears stories about a white giraffe living in the preserve. But her grandmother and others working at Sawubona insist that the giraffe is just a myth. Martine is not so sure, until one stormy night when she looks out her window and locks eyes with Jemmy, a young silvery-white giraffe. Why is everyone keeping Jemmy’s existence a secret? Does it have anything to do with the rash of poaching going on at Sawubona? Martine needs all of the courage and smarts she has, not to mention a little African magic, to find out. First-time children’s author Lauren St. John brings us deep into the African world, where myths become reality and a young girl with a healing gift has the power to save her home and her one true friend.

Julie Braverman is the coolest girl Julie Prodsky has ever met. She has no curfew, a to-die-for wardrobe and her mother is the "It's Better in the Bahammas"ad. During their freshman year at the High Schoolof Performing Arts in New York City, the previ-ously unexplored world of flirting ,freedom,and fashion is revealed to Julie P.througt the eyes of her new best friend .And learning the secret to Julie B.'s collection of Fiorcucci jeans-shoplifting-only makes julie P.ad-mire her.Before long,Julie P.has her own closet-ful of stolen lothing,and a new boyfriend.The julie P.'s conscience catches up with her. If she stops stealing,will her relationship with Julie B.come to and end?

Please is a good word to say. It puts a smile on your words. And that’s not the only advice curly-burly-haired Harriet has for you. Asking, taking, interrupting, eating, answering the phone—if there’s a nice way to do it, Harriet can tell you just how to do it. Jennifer Plecas’ infectious illustrations bring Barbara Joosse’s hilarious heroine to life in this offbeat and adorable approach to manners. Kids will be (very politely) clamoring to hear it over and over again . . . and parents will be pleased to oblige.