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Amber Brown Is Feeling Blue
by Paula DanzigerAmber Brown has a big decision to make: spend Thanksgiving with Mom in Walla Walla, Washington, or with Dad in New York. Amber doesn't want to choose, but the grown-ups are leaving it up to her.
Things only get worse when she goes to school and meets the new girl, Kelly Green. No one in the class has ever had a two-color name like Amber Brown. Home. School. Nothing is going right! Amber Brown is most definitely feeling blue.
Amber Brown is Green With Envy
by Tony Ross and Paula DanzigerHaving her parents live in the same town isn't working out as well as Amber had hoped. Since she's staying at her dad's over Christmas vacation, she doesn't get to go to Disneyland with her mom and aunt Pam.
When her mom gets back, she tells Amber that she and Max are getting married soon and are going to look for a new house-maybe even in a new town! And then, when Amber is meant to see a movie with her dad, he goes out on a date instead.
Some kids have parents who are still together. Some kids don't ever have to move. Some kids seem to have no problems-making Amber Brown green with envy.
Amber Brown Is on the Move
by Paula DanzigerFun and not-so-fun changes are keeping Amber Brown, the most colorful chapter-book character, hopping!
Now that Amber’s mom and Max are married, the three of them are moving to a new house and Amber is worried about more than just packing. How can she leave the home her dad used to live in? And with her dad dating again, how will they ever find time for just the two of them, like they used to?
All of these changes make Amber's head spin, but with standardized tests coming up at school as well as a dance competition, she needs to focus more than ever. ...Sometimes, Amber realizes, moving on means taking one step at a time.
Bruce Coville and Elizabeth Levy perfectly capture the magic, heart, and delightfully punny humor of Paula Danziger’s Amber Brown. .
Amber Brown Sees Red
by Paula DanzigerAmber Brown's going through a growth spurt . . . and her body's not the only thing that's changing. Her mom and Max are engaged. Her dad is moving back from Paris.
And now her school's overrun by skunks, and she feels like she's being held captive in a hot, crowded school bus that's going nowhere. But growth spurts and skunks are not her only concerns. Why can't her parents agree on anything . . . and most important, what will happen when Dad moves back?
Amber Brown Wants Extra Credit
by Paula Danziger and Tony RossAmber Brown is in deep trouble. Lately, no matter what she does, it isn't enough. She straightens up her room?sort of. She does her homework?
Well, most of it. And she agrees to meet Max, her mother's new boyfriend? But she doesn't agree to like him. Now her mother is angry, her teacher wants all of her homework, and Max keeps trying to make her laugh.
What's Amber to do? All she wants is a little extra credit. She really tries. . . . But how will she succeed?
Forever Amber Brown
by Paula DanzigerAmber is used to change her life has been full of it lately.
First her best friend Justin moved and she became best friends with Brandi. Then she had to deal with her parents' divorce and her dad's move to France.
She's even getting used to her mom's boyfriend, Max. Now the only change that she wants is to redo her bedroom. But then Max asks Amber's mom to marry him.
If she says yes, they might have to move. But if she says no, then Max may leave. Amber's mom is confused?and so is Amber! Can?t things just stay the same for once?
I, Amber Brown
by Paula Danziger and Tony RossAmber Brown loves the holidays. But this year, the season is bringing big changes.
Amber's dad has moved back to New Jersey, which means shared custody. Soon Amber feels as if half of her belongs to her mom and half of her belongs to her dad. Amber decides that she needs to claim something for herself, and when the topic of ear-piercing comes up, she knows just what she's going to do! After all, don't her ears belong to her?
Full of all the fun, humor, and realistic dialogue that Paula Danziger's famous for, this is a winning entry in the ever-popular series."Upbeat, authentic, and humorous." - School Library Journal, starred review"Fresh and fast-paced." - Entertainment Weekly
You Can't Eat Your Chicken Pox, Amber Brown
by Paula Danziger and Tony RossIt's finally summer and Amber Brown is going to London to visit her aunt Pam and then to Paris to visit with her father. She is one excited kid before she goes.
And one itchy kid when she arrives. Mosquito bites, she thinks. Chicken pox, she finds out. Is her vacation completely ruined? And now that she can't go to Paris, how will she be able to convince her dad to move back home?
The Lemonade War
by Jacqueline DaviesFor a full hour, he poured lemonade. The world is a thirsty place, he thought as he nearly emptied his fourth pitcher of the day. And I am the Lemonade King. Fourth grader Evan Treski is people-smart. He's good at talking with people, even grownups. His younger sister, Jessie, on the other hand, is math-smart, but not especially good with people. So when the siblings' lemonade-stand war begins, there really is no telling who will win--or even if their fight will ever end. Brimming with savvy marketing tips for making money at any business, definitions of business terms, charts, diagrams, and even math problems, this fresh, funny, emotionally charged novel subtly explores how arguments can escalate beyond anyone's intent. This book features a teaser chapter from book two of the Lemonade War series, The Lemonade Crime.
The Rhino in Right Field
by Stacy DeKeyserA boy who loves baseball must get past his hard-working immigrant parents—and the rhino in the outfield—to become a batboy in this laugh-out-loud middle grade novel in the tradition of The Sandlot.
Nick wants to change his life. For twelve whole years, he’s done what his hard-working, immigrant parents want him to do. Now he’s looking for his own American dream and he thinks he’s found it. The local baseball team is having a batboy contest. Nick’s goal—to be a Mudpuppy for a day! But the contest is on a Saturday—the day Nick has to work in his father’s shop. There’s one other tiny—well, not so tiny—problem. A 2,000-pound rhinoceros named Tank. Nick and his friends play ball right in the city zoo—and Tank lives just beyond the right field fence. Nick’s experience getting the ball out of Tank’s pen has left him frozen with fear whenever a fly ball comes his way. How’s a lousy fielder going to win the contest? One thing Nick knows how to do is work hard, and he practices every day with his best friend, Ace, and a new girl named Penny, who has an impressive throwing arm! But that’s not enough—to get to the contest, Nick resorts to a plan that has him lying to his parents and blackmailing his uncle. All while dodging the school bully, who’s determined to win even by playing dirty.
Nick will need to keep his eye on the ball and find the courage to face his fears—oh yeah, and stay one step ahead of Tank—in this fast, funny story about a game that can throw you some curveballs—just like life!
Because of Winn-Dixie
by Kate DiCamilloRecalling the fiction of Harper Lee and Carson McCullers, here is a funny, poignant, and utterly genuine first novel from a major new talent.
The summer Opal and her father, the preacher, move to Naomi, Florida, Opal goes into the Winn-Dixie supermarket--and comes out with a dog. A big, ugly, suffering dog with a sterling sense of humor. A dog she dubs Winn-Dixie. Because of Winn-Dixie, the preacher tells Opal ten things about her absent mother, one for each year Opal has been alive. Winn-Dixie is better at making friends than anyone Opal has ever known, and together they meet the local librarian, Miss Franny Block, who once fought off a bear with a copy of WAR AND PEACE. They meet Gloria Dump, who is nearly blind but sees with her heart, and Otis, an ex-con who sets the animals in his pet shop loose after hours, then lulls them with his guitar.Opal spends all that sweet summer collecting stories about her new friends and thinking about her mother. But because of Winn-Dixie or perhaps because she has grown, Opal learns to let go, just a little, and that friendship--and forgiveness--can sneak up on you like a sudden summer storm.
Newbery Medal Honor book
The Tale of Despereaux
by Kate DiCamilloWelcome to the story of Despereaux Tilling, a mouse who is in love with music, stories, and a princess named Pea. It is also the story of a rat called Roscuro, who lives in the darkness and covets a world filled with light. And it is the story of Miggery Sow, a slow-witted serving girl who harbors a simple, impossible wish. These three characters are about to embark on a journey that will lead them down into a horrible dungeon, up into a glittering castle, and, ultimately, into each other's lives. What happens then? As Kate DiCamillo would say: Reader, it is your destiny to find out. Winner of the 2000 Newbery award, and from the master storyteller who brought us Because of Winn-Dixie. This is another classic, a fairy tale full of quirky, unforgettable characters.
Winner of the 2000 Newbery award.
Winner of Pacific Northwest Library Association’s Young Reader’s Choice Junior Award
Sammy Keyes and the Art of Deception
by Wendelin Van DraanenSammy Keyes has a lot of nerve, turning up in sneakers to a fancy art gallery reception and asking why a framed orange splat is worth $10,000. Eyebrows raise. Noses are turned up. But then Sammy tackles a thief who tries to break up the soiree with a stick-up. Now the patrons of the arts are glad she has a lot of nerve. Or are they?
Sammy may have stopped a criminal, but the real crime has yet to be discovered. The real crime is more subtle, more artful than anything Sammy has ever seen. Who would have thought art could be so dangerous?
Sammy Keyes and the Psycho Kitty Queen
by Wendelin Van DraanenThis time the 13-year-old sleuth is up against a cat burglar - literally! Cats are disappearing and Sammy is finding some of them in neighborhood garbage cans - dead!
Just as Sammy discovers that her archenemy Heather is her "star" sister and shares her birthday, Sammy's mother arrives to inform her that she isn't really turning 14 - so it's another year of unlucky 13!
But the savvy sleuth has been up against a lot worse and come out on top so maybe this is the year Sammy's luck will change!
Sammy Keyes and the Search for Snake Eyes
by Wendelin Van DraanenIn her most dangerous mystery to date, Sammy is literally left "holding the bag"!
When a strange girl who is trying to escape from a scary looking guy at the mall asks her to watch her shopping bag and then flees, Sammy is alarmed to discover that inside the bag is a baby!
In her seventh adventure, the intrepid detective puts her life on the line as she confronts the seamy gang life of her hometown in her search for the baby's mother.
And, as usual, her attempts to solve the case are thwarted along the way by her high school nemesis Acosta and problems with her grandmother's nosy new neighbor in this edge-of-the seat mystery.
Sammy Keyes and the Wild Things
by Wendelin Van DraanenSammy Keyes trades in her hightops for hiking boots--and winds up with blisters.
This is not the summer camping trip of Sammy's dreams. She imagined shady glades, meandering streams, a deer or two. What she gets are scrubby shrubs, blazing sun, rattlesnakes, ticks, and scorpions. Her fellow campers are desperate to catch a rare glimpse of an endangered condor. To Sammy, the trip is nothing more than the painful in pursuit of the unspeakably ugly.
But when she and two other girls find an injured condor, Sammy's intrigued at last. As they track down a clue, they stumble onto two classmates and wind up lost. Which leaves three girls and two boys in a canyon with one tent and six billion biting flies. Oh--and an armed and dangerous high stakes poacher. S'mores anyone?
Hour of the Bees
by Lindsay EagarWhat does it mean to be fully alive? Magic blends with reality in a stunning coming-of-age novel about a girl, a grandfather, wanderlust, and reclaiming your roots.
Things are only impossible if you stop to think about them. . . .
While her friends are spending their summers having pool parties and sleepovers, twelve-year-old Carolina -- Carol -- is spending hers in the middle of the New Mexico desert, helping her parents move the grandfather she's never met into a home for people with dementia.
At first, Carol avoids prickly Grandpa Serge. But as the summer wears on and the heat bears down, Carol finds herself drawn to him, fascinated by the crazy stories he tells her about a healing tree, a green-glass lake, and the bees that will bring back the rain and end a hundred years of drought.
As the thin line between magic and reality starts to blur, Carol must decide for herself what is possible -- and what it means to be true to her roots.
Readers who dream that there's something more out there will be enchanted by this captivating novel of family, renewal, and discovering the wonder of the world.
The Red Pencil
by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Shane W. Evans"Amira, look at me," Muma insists. She collects both my hands in hers. "The Janjaweed attack without warning. If ever they come-- run."
Finally, Amira is twelve. Old enough to wear a toob, old enough for new responsibilities. And maybe old enough to go to school in Nyala-- Amira's one true dream.
But life in her peaceful Sudanese village is shattered when the Janjaweed arrive. The terrifying attackers ravage the town and unleash unspeakable horrors. After she loses nearly everything, Amira needs to dig deep within herself to find the strength to make the long journey-- on foot-- to safety at a refugee camp. Her days are tough at the camp, until the gift of a simple red pencil opens her mind-- and all kinds of possibilities.
New York Times bestselling and Coretta Scott King Award-winning author Andrea Davis Pinkney's powerful verse and Coretta Scott King Award-winning artist Shane W. Evans's breathtaking illustrations combine to tell an inspiring tale of one girl's triumph against all odds.
The Ear, the Eye and the Arm
by Nancy FarmerIn 2194 in Zimbabwe, General Matsika's three children are kidnapped and put to work in a plastic mine while three mutant detectives use their special powers to search for them.
Newbery Medal Honor book
The House of the Scorpion
by Nancy FarmerMatt is six years old when he discovers that he is different from other children and other people. To most, Matt isn't considered a boy at all, but a beast, dirty and disgusting. But to El Patron, lord of a country called Opium, Matt is the guarantee of eternal life. El Patron loves Matt as he loves himself - for Matt is himself. They share the exact same DNA.
As Matt struggles to understand his existence and what that existence truly means, he is threatened by a host of sinister and manipulating characters, from El Patron's power-hungry family to the brain-deadened eejits and mindless slaves that toil Opium's poppy fields. Surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards, escape is the only chance Matt has to survive. But even escape is no guarantee of freedom... because Matt is marked by his difference in ways that he doesn't even suspect.
Newbery Honor book
National Book Award
Winner of Pacific Northwest Library Association's Young Reader's Choice Senior Award
Bunnicula Meets Edgar Allan Crow
by James Howe and Eric FortuneThe Monroe house is going mad with excitement. Pete has just won a contest, and the prize is a school visit from none other than M. T. Graves, Pete's idol and the bestselling author of the FleshCrawlers series.
He's even going to stay with the Monroes while he's visiting! Harold and Howie are thrilled, but Chester the cat is suspicious. Why does Graves dress all in black? Why doesn't the beady-eyed crow perched on his shoulder say anything? Why has a threatening flock of crows invaded the backyard? And most worrisome of all: In each of the FleshCrawlers books, why does something bad always happen to the pets?
Suddenly, Graves's interest in all of the animals -- especially Bunnicula -- looks far from innocent. It's up to Chester, Harold, and Howie to find out if M. T. Graves and Edgar Allan Crow are really devising a plot to make their beloved bunny. . . NEVERMORE.
Clementine and the Family Meeting
by Sara Pennypacker and Marla FrazeeClementine's having a nervous breakdown. The FAMILY MEETING! sign is up in her house, and she just knows she's in trouble for something. Has she been too mean to her little brother? Too sloppy? Eating too much junk food? Try as she might to find out what's on the agenda, her parents won't reveal anything before the meeting. As far as Clementine is concerned, the agenda should be something like: "We're getting a gorilla. " But no, it's something entirely different. "We're talking about a new baby," says her father. "A brother or sister for you two. What do you think about that?" NO THANKS! is what Clementine thinks. After all, four is the perfect number for a family. There are four sides to a table, not five. Will Clementine learn to make room for one more? Readers will chuckle at Clementine's unique perspective on the age-old issue of sibling rivalry.
Clementine, Friend of the Week
by Sara Pennypacker and Marla FrazeeIt's Clementine's turn to be "Friend of the Week"! She gets to be line leader, collect the lunch money, and feed the fish. Even better, the other kids will make her a booklet, full of the things they value about having her in the class. After reading her friend Margaret's booklet, Clementine begins to get nervous and a little jealous --she has to get a great booklet now. Fortunately, she has a lot of astoundishing ideas for getting the kids to write great stuff about her. Unfortunately, just as she's working on the best one, something terrible happens to her beloved kitten Moisturizer. Worst of all, exactly when she needs a friend the most, Margaret lets her down. Or does she. . . ?
Campfire Mallory
by Laurie FriedmanNine-and-a-half-year-old Mallory's trepidation about going to sleep-away camp is multiplied when she and her best friend are assigned to different cabins, and a new "friend" seems determined to get Mallory in trouble.
In Business with Mallory
by Laurie FriedmanWhen Mallory's mother refuses to buy her a purse, Mallory tries a series of businesses in order to make money and buy it herself.