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Escape to the Forest
by Ruth Yaffe RadinWhen the Nazis invade Poland, nothing is safe anymore. Ten-year-old Sarah and her family must leave their home and live in a Jewish ghetto surrounded by barbed wire. There, life is a nightmare of cold and hunger where Nazi soldiers kill Jews at will. But Sarah still hears stories that give her hope-stories about a man who lives in the nearby forest, fighting the Nazis and sheltering other Jews, Sarah's brother thinks they should try to escape to the forest. Her parents think they will be safer where they are, Sarah doesn't know who is right. But as life in the ghetto grows worse and worse, the forest may be their only hope. Based on a true story of life during the Holocaust, this is a heartrending novel of one family's struggle to survive.
Fay
by Larry BrownFay Jones had no education, hardly any shell you can't call what her father's been tryin with her since she grew up "love." So, at the ripe age of seventeen, Fay Jones leaves home. She lights out alone, wearing her only dress and her rotting sneakers, carrying a purse with a half pack of cigarettes and two dollar bills. Even in 1985 Mississippi, two dollars won't go far on the road. She's headed for the bright lights and big times and even she knows she needs help getting there. But help's not hard to come by when you look like Fay. There's a highway patrolman who gives her a lift, with a detour to his own place. There are truck drivers who pull over to pick her up, no questions asked. There's a crop duster pilot with money for a night or two on the town. And finally there's a strip joint bouncer who deals on the side. At the end of this suspenseful, compulsively readable novel, there are five dead bodies stacked up in Fay's wake. Fay herself is sighted for the last time in New Orleans. She'll make it, whatever making it means, because Fay's got what it takes: beauty, a certain kind of innocent appeal, and the instinct for survival.
Goddess of the Night (Daughters of the Moon Book #1)
by Lynne EwingAll Vanessa Cleveland has ever wanted is to be like everyone else and be able to do normal things-like kiss gorgeous Michael Saratoga without disappearing right in front of him. But Vanessa is different, and having to hide her secret makes leading a normal life impossible. Now Vanessa is being followed. She doesn't know who's doing it. But she knows why. Her secret has finally been discovered.
Haunting at Home Plate
by David PatneaudeIs Nelson's baseball team getting mysterious and wise written messages near home plate from the ghost of a baseball fan who died in 1946, or somebody else alive now?
Help! I'm Trapped in a Vampire's Body
by Todd Strasser<p>Jake's nervous when the DITS malfunctions near Vlad, a creepy new custodian. There's no way he wants this guy's body. But nothing happens ... until nighttime, when Jake finds he's turned into a vampire! <p>With his fangs, he scares the kids who crash his Halloween party. But the next day Jake still looks like Vlad. Thanks to sunblock SPF 45, Jake can go to school. But there's no way he can get Vlad to take back his body. And if Vlad won't, who will? <p> <p><b>Lexile Level: 500L</b></p>
High School Hazing: When Rites Become Wrongs
by Hank NuwerThis book is a comprehensive look at initiation practices in high school and in teenage gangs. It also examines fraternal hazings and pledging activities in college, which have been the cause of at least one fatality a year since 1970 and threaten to trickle down to high school. The book's eight chapters cover the history and definition of hazing, a survey of various hazing incidents across the country, psychological explanations for "groupthink", hazing in high school athletic teams, the deadly combination of hazing and alcohol, gang initiations, hazing and the law, and techniques for attacking and eradicating hazing. Also included in "For Further Information" is a listing of anti-hazing organizations with contact information.
Killer Commute (Charlie Greene Mystery #6)
by Marlys MillhiserRECOVERING FROM: The year's Las Vegas trip-from-hell, Long Beach literary agent Charlie Greene is looking forward to spending this year's vacation at home. No manuscript reading, no needy clients, no killer commute for a whole week-just some good, old-fashioned rest and relaxation. But before Charlie's peaceful vacation even starts, her daughter's rambunctious cat, Tuxedo, causes her to stumble across the body of neighbor Jeremy Fielder, murdered in the front seat of his truck. And investigating officers are quick to remind Charlie that this isn't her first dead body. Now their quiet Southern California suburban community is becoming more hectic than rush hour on an L.A. freeway as Charlie and her zany neighbors face off against nosy police officers, insatiable reporters, and a killer determined to drive them away.
Marvin Redpost: A Magic Crystal? (Marvin Redpost #8)
by Louis SacharMarvin is about to have a lesson in magic...Marvin Redpost is amazed when he finds out that Casey Happleton lives in an old firehouse. But that's not the only amazing thing about Casey. <P><P>She's also got a super-secret magic crystal that she's going to share with Marvin. Is it true? Or is Casey putting her own spell on Marvin? <P><P>Marvin tells his friends and family and classmates he doesn't like Casey. He likes eating snacks with her, talking to her, making wishes with her, laughing at the same things with her. When he wishes she would shut up and she shuts up for day after day Marvin isn't having as much fun anymore, not even with his best friends. <P><P>This is the last book in the Marvin Redpost series. It's another easy to read, funny story that kids can understand. Louis Sachar has written many more children's books that readers in middle grades will enjoy.
Marvin Redpost: Super Fast, Out Of Control! (Marvin Redpost #7)
by Louis SacharBotched bike races and broken noses...Suicide Hill is the stuff of legends. Many have tried to master the slippery slopes on their bikes, but few have succeeded. The word at school is that Marvin will be taking on the hill with his new mountain bike. <P><P>But the truth is, he can barely climb onto the seat! And shifting gears-forget about it. How did he suddenly become a daredevil? Does he have to ride down Suicide Hill to prove himself? If Marvin makes it, he'll be a hero. If not, his friends and family will catch the biggest wipeout in history! <P><P> As Marvin counts down to the dreaded day, his classmates have a hilarious discussion about toes, and a visiting policewoman scares Nick who didn't raise his hand before he asked a question. <P><P>Sachar conveys the funny and worrisome elements of childhood. Though this book is written with easy vocabulary , is will be fun, satisfying reading for upper as well as lower elementary age students.
Place Last Seen
by Charlotte Mcguinn FreemanDURING AN IDYLLIC AUTUMN-DAY hike in the Desolation Wilderness of the Sierra Nevadas, the Baker family is hurled into a nightmare. Playing hide-and-seek with her older brother, Luke, six-year-old Maggie runs away-and she cannot be found. Her father, Richard, and mother, Anne, search desperately before racing down the mountain to call in a Search and Rescue team. The team arrives with experienced trackers, volunteers, dogs, and topographic maps and begins a thorough search from the place where Maggie was last seen. But the search is complicated by an unpredictable factor: willful and energetic, Maggie Baker is also a Down Syndrome child, and there is no telling how she will move as she wanders in the wilderness. Richard, Anne, and Luke can only wait and hope that she will leave a clue, a trail that will lead them to her. With great empathy, Charlotte McGuinn Freeman conveys the gripping reality of the search and how this tests the bonds of a family as it grapples with guilt, doubt, fear, and frantic hope. Powerful, suspenseful, and deeply affecting, Place Last Seen marks the debut of a gifted new voice.
Seventh-grade Tango
by Elizabeth A. LevyKiller Dancer The day ballroom dancing invades William T. Harris Middle School comes with no warning. And once the cute dance teacher, Mr. DePalma, sweeps into Rebecca's life, dancing suddenly becomes very important to her. No one can seem to forget the infamous incident that earned Rebecca the title "Killer Dancer," the day she broke her friend Scott's toe in sixth grade. Now, in seventh grade, the class can't believe it when Mr. DePalma actually pairs Rebecca and Scott up again as dance partners. To everyone's surprise, they're good. Very good! Rebecca's friend Samantha tells her that they have to start playing real kissing games like Seven Minutes in Heaven. Trouble begins when the kissing games start. Friendships are tested. And choices have to be made. Filled with humor and heart, this is an engaging story about the power of friendship and the magic of dancing.
Shakespeare's Trollop (Lily Bard Mysteries #4)
by Charlaine HarrisOne of the women for whom Lily cleans house is murdered. Is the murderer one of the men she was sleeping with, or someone else?
Smoke Screen
by Amy Goldman KossMitzi's mother is trying desperately to quit smoking, and her withdrawal symptoms are driving the whole family crazy. But Mitzi has more to worry about than Mom's mood swings. She's got to find a way to get Mike Humphrey, her mad crush, to beam his ultra- smile in her direction. And her best friend, Birdy, is too busy getting chummy with a popular girl named Roxy to help. So when Mitzi tells Mike a huge lie about her mother's condition just to get his attention, she has no one to blame but herself for the trouble that follows.
Stalker (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Series, #12)
by Faye KellermanA first-year rookie with the LAPD's Hollywood Division, Cynthia Decker became a cop against her father's wishes. But police work is in her blood, and she's determined to make it on her own, without Peter Decker's help. Although her time in uniform has been brief, her instincts for danger are already razor sharplike the electric tingle that is telling her something is very wrong . . . right now. It begins with a nagging sense that she is being watched, that little things are being moved around in her apartment. The feeling of dread escalates when she finds that some personal effects have been crudely destroyed. But it's a harrowing trip down a dark canyon road that substantiates Cindy's worst fear: For some unknown reason someone fiendishly relentless-someone with decidedly evil intentions-is stalking her. Cindy is fiercely independent, and her stubborn pride will not allow her to confide in her father-nor can she seek the guidance and advice of her stepmother, Rina. And as Decker's own investigation into a particularly heinous string of carjackings further isolates him from his daughter's t
The Girls
by Amy Goldman Koss<P>Maya: "Candace was popular, and she'd picked me. Suddenly that made me popular too. Renee, Darcy, and Briana were part of the package. And now? Now that Candace had decided I was no longer worthy, did any of them give me another thought?" <P>Renee: "It didn't feel right. When Darcy called to invite me to her sleep-over and told me she wasn't inviting Maya it gave me a stomachache." <P>Darcy: "I had to prove where my loyalties lay. I had to show Candace and the others whose side I was on." <P>Briana: "We always, always laughed at Candace's games, no matter what. I thought they were tests, like walking on hot coals or something." <P>Candace: "They'd fall over themselves to show how well they understood me--trying to prove that they felt just as I did. My mom would say that I was lucky to be so important to my friends." <P>Five friends ruled by popular, fascinating, dangerous Candace. Maya is the first to find out who her real friends are in this funny, fast-paced, and perceptive novel set in the war zone of middle-school cliques.
The Sporting Club (Trade Ellis Mystery #2)
by Sinclair BrowningBURIED SECRETS Private eye Trade Ellis, part cowgirl, part Apache, has her hands full running her Arizona ranch. But when Victoria Carpenter, the famous romance writer, shows up with gruesome stories about repressed childhood memories,; going back over thirty years. Trade jumps at the chance to take the case. Victoria's flashbacks include her father's so-called Sporting Club and its not-so-innocent picnics, where the wives talked, the children played...and the husbands made a brutal sport of hate and death. She's convinced that her father and his hunting buddies were racist killers. But how do you investigate decades-old crimes? Especially with no bodies no police reports, and the only accuser a woman who makes up stories for a living. When the threatening phone calls begin and a cross is set ablaze on Trade's ranch, it soon appears there will be at least two more bodies they won't have to dig out of the past-Victoria's...and Trade's..
The Wind Singer
by William NicholsonKESTREL HATH'S SCHOOLROOM rebellion against the stifling caste system of Aramanth leads to explosive consequences for her and her family: they are relegated to the city's lowest caste and are ostracized. Kestrel herself is doomed to spend the rest of her days in dreaded "Special Teaching" with the creepy, zombielike old children. With nothing left to lose, Kestrel and her twin brother, Bowman, do the unthinkable: they leave the city walls. Their only hope to rescue the rest of their family is to find the key to the wind singer. The wind singer, a long-defunct device in the city's center, was once the source of happiness and harmony in Aramanth. But many generations ago, its key was given to an evil spirit-lord, the Morah, in exchange for calling off the terrible army of Zars. Armed with desperate bravery, wits, and determination, and following an ancient map, Kestrel, Bowman, and a tagalong classmate set off to find the key. Along the way they meet kind allies and terrible foes, but in order to succeed in their quest they must face the most sinister force of all: the powerful Morah.
The Word Eater
by Mary AmatoLife is miserable for sixth grader Lerner Chanse at her new school, where the MPOOE (Most Powerful Ones on Earth) Club ruthlessly rules over the SLUGs (Sorry Losers Under Ground). It looks like Lerner is destined to be a SLUG, until she finds a magical worm that eats printed words instead of dirt. If Fip eats a word, that item simply disappears from the world-forever. Now that Lerner knows about Fip's magic, she has some big decisions to make. Should she eliminate crime? Or simply wipe her school off the face of the earth? Or will destroying anything cause effects that she can't imagine or predict? Lerner discovers that extraordinary power brings extraordinary responsibility...but will she learn her lesson too late? This is a story about making friends, being grounded, feeling left out, being ganged up on and blamed unfairly, getting sent to the principal's office, scoring a candy bonanza, making friends, and learning small things we do can have big consequences. Find the huge difference it can make to change just one letter in a word. Imagine what you would do with a worm who made the things for the words it ate, disappear.
Truth or Dairy
by Catherine ClarkShe's humiliated, she's angry... and she's through with boys. Or at least that's what she says. This is the journal of Courtney Von Dragen Smith: middle child, product of divorce, would-be vegetarian. She writes the first mega-negative page the day after her boyfriend, "such a Dave," breaks up with her because he's heading off to college. Angry and humiliated, Courtney vows to survive senior year on the anti-guy plan. But can she really give up guys and focus on friends, school, and her job at the hip cafe Truth or Dairy? Or will a stint in student government, an epileptic dog, and a guy named Grant ("like-the-lake") Superior turn her world upside down and prove her journal right? It's true: life can get weirder.
Under the Stars (The Dolphin Diaries #4)
by Ben M. BaglioJody McGrath's dolphin dreams are coming true! Her whole family is researching dolphins - and Jody is recording all their exciting adventures in her diary. Jody is at Dolphin Haven in the Bahamas, where dolphins Bella, Misty, and Evie are about to give birth. Everyone is excited -but also worried. In the past, Evie's calves have died, and this may be her last chance to become a mother. Will her calf survive?
A Hole in the World
by Sid HiteWhen 15-year-old Paul Shackleford is sent to live on a relative's isolated Virginia farm as punishment for lying, his life is transformed. There, he meets some very unusual people and one very surly dog, who are still reeling from the death of a beloved farm hand. Paul then hears about the presence of a ghost, and finds himself investigating the life and afterlife of the departed man.
A Mother's Gift
by Britney Spears Lynne SpearsHolly Faye Lovell sure can sing. Everyone in Biscay, Mississippi, knows that. And when at fourteen she becomes the youngest student ever to win a full scholarship to the prestigious Haverty School of Music, her dream of pursuing a singing career is on its way. But for the first time in her life, Holly must leave behind her mother, Wanda. Although they don't have much in the way of money, there's always been plenty of love. . . and there's always been Wanda's birthmark, an ugly red scar on the side of her face that makes people who don't know her turn away. Now that Holly's off with her posh new friends and new life, she's ashamed to find herself embarrassed by her mom and their humble background. And Wanda finds herself wanting to reveal a long-hidden secret . . . a secret that could destroy their bond forever.
Angels Flight (Shannon Saga #2)
by Tracie Peterson James S. BellHaving taken Los Angeles by storm, Kit finds herself in a political storm when her next case crosses racial lines. Shannon Saga Book 2.
Awakening (Sweep #5)
by Cate TiernanWicca has changed my life. I've lost old friends, made new ones. Discovered my true heritage. Found love-and betrayal. But there's so much more to learn. I know Wicca can be used for good or for evil. The hard part is knowing which is which.
Bernie Magruder and the Haunted Hotel
by Phyllis Reynolds NaylorLiving at the Bessledorf Hotel, where his father works as the manager, Bernie tries to solve the mystery of a troubled, young ghost who wanders the halls of the hotel at night.