Children's Services

For fans of The War That Saved My Life and Wolf Hollow, this fast-paced and unforgettable story follows one girl's journey to overcome her trauma, discover what friendship really means, and learn that being brave is not always about being fearless.

Breanna is certain of a few things: She is strong, tough, and the greatest prankster in her entire district. She doesn't need to meet new people, not when she already has amazing friends like Pascale and Niraj.
And she WILL NOT be ascending Sky Ropes--the highest ropes course in the state--at her school's required teambuilding camp. No, she's not afraid of heights!

Breanna is determined to get through the week of camp as quickly as possible, while planning the most epic prank and avoiding even thinking of the Sky Ropes. And as the week progresses, Breanna can't help loving her time in nature, fostering a rivalry with the other competitive softball pitcher, and bonding with the other kids. But as much as she likes to pretend that she isn't afraid of anything, Breanna knows that, come Friday, she will have to face the Sky Ropes--and with it, the fear deeply tied to memories of her father's abuse that she has been fighting to push away.

Emotionally rich and tumultuously paced, Sondra Soderborg's debut novel is a story about opening yourself up to new possibilities, understanding what it means to be a true friend, encountering the most difficult truths about your own self, and finding self-acceptance within darkness.

COMPELLING PORTRAIT OF ONE GIRL'S RESILIENCE AND STRENGTH: With poignant storytelling and a genuine voice, Sondra Soderborg conveys a main character with compelling struggles. Readers will relate to Breanna's internal battles while cheering for her during tense moments and reflecting on her moments of clarity through the end.

LOVEABLE CHARACTERS: Readers will love the diverse array of characters each with their own struggles. Personalities clash and feelings overlap in a way that is true to the pre-teen experience. It's a wonderfully nuanced portrayal of tweens that real kids will recognize right away, and that will trigger long-forgotten memories for anyone lucky enough to have survived camp.

TIMELESS STORY: With a classic summer camp setting and fun characters, this book offers an engaging narrative kids will enjoy and evokes a sense of nostalgia parents and teachers will love recommending.

POWERFUL AND RELEVANT: The abuse the main character undergoes at home is explored here subtly and authentically, steeped in the first-hand witnessing the author has done in her time as a child advocate and prison teacher.

AUTHENTIC TO THE CORE: In the tradition of Drama or Real Friends, this book makes you want to keep turning page after page. Readers of all ages will respond to the authenticity running under the fast-paced plot, making this a novel that will be meaningful for a lot of kids.

Perfect for:

• Readers who love strong characters
• Fans of action and adventure stories, books about friendship, and books set at camp
• Fans of literary books for kids
• Parents and caregivers seeking resources to help kids talk about anxiety, abuse, and fear
• Librarians and educators looking for subtle issue books
• Fans of Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, Rebecca Stead, and Lauren Wolk

All-new adventures featuring the beloved characters from the hit Nintendo video games!

Wacky short adventures based on the hit Nintendo games!

A moving and sensitive children's book exploring a child's experience living in refugee accommodation in Ireland.

Azari's life has been split in two and the halves are as different as lemons and mangoes. Running links the two parts of her life: sometimes when she runs it is because she wants to, because she feels strong and free. But sometimes it is because she has no other choice.

When Azari and her mother flee for their lives to Ireland they are put in a centre for asylum seekers. They must
share a room with a stranger, eat food they don't know the name of and answer intrusive questions from authorities. Azari's life has secrets. Will she ever be able to stop running?

Mystery, mayhem -- try to survive the terrifying world of PIGGY in this original novel based on the fan-favorite videogame!

There is a mystery to be solved, keys to be found, and an evil pig to escape!

When an infection threatens to turn everyone into mindless, dangerous monsters, it is up to a few desparate survivors to get survive long enough to find a cure. But can they hold on long enough to get to the bottom of this mysterious illness, or will PIGGY and her new minons find them first?

Welcome to the bone chilling, pulse-pounding world of PIGGY, the survival-horror game that will keep you up at night. Explore a frightening maze full of secrets to unearth and monsters that are out for blood! Can anyone make it out alive?

A lively mystery with a touch of spookiness, an intriguing setting, an appealing family dynamic, and an enterprising Latina heroine. - Kirkus Reviews

Beware the Demon Cat of Capitol Hill!

Legends say if you see the Demon Cat of Capitol Hill, you're cursed with bad luck. Ten-year-old Fina Mendoza just saw it. And the last thing her family needs right now is a jinx!

Fina and her older sister Gabby just moved to Washington, D.C. after the death of their mom to live with Papa, a congressman from California. But then she comes face-to-whiskers with a mysterious cat in the Capitol Crypt. Is it the Demon Cat?

Disasters follow! Jars of spaghetti sauce explode. Fina's beloved grandmother Abuelita breaks her leg. And Fina's only friend in Washington, a big orange dog named Senator Something, becomes the next target.

The only way for Fina to save her family from future "cat"astrophe is to solve the mystery of the Demon Cat of Capitol Hill.

This Readers' Favorite Award-winning novel is more than a mystery story!

Fina takes us backstage at the U.S. Capitol to see firsthand how government works with an emphasis on Congress and the Legislative Branch. The Fina Mendoza Mysteries provide an introduction to civics for elementary age children.

The West Wing meets Nancy Drew...For fans of Nancy Drew Mysteries, Boxcar Children, Encyclopedia Brown, and Hardy Boys!

THE FINA MENDOZA MYSTERIES SERIES:

Book 1 - Welcome to Washington Fina Mendoza

Book 2 - State of the Union

Book 3 - Snake in the Grass (coming soon)

ALSO AVAILABLE IN SPANISH:

Book 1 - Bienvenida a Washington Fina Mendoza

Book 2 - Estado de la Unión

Book 3 - Serpiente en la Hierba (muy pronto)

ADDITIONAL EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES:

- Perfect for classroom or homeschooling settings

- Free podcast based on the books and current events: The Fina Mendoza Mysteries

- 32-page Teacher's Guide including language arts, math, and social studies lessons

The second book in the all-new Glitch Force series for Minecrafters!

The Glitch Force: Three kids interested in Minecraft. There’s Duncan, a genius redstoner, Miranda, a sharpshooter with encyclopedic knowledge of Minecraft, and Zed, an expert builder with a prankster heart. Oh, and Duncan happens to a genius at repurposing his scientist mother's quantum electronic gizmos. When he happens to find a quantum glitch in the Minecraft programming code, it creates an opening for the three kids to visit Minecraft worlds FOR REAL. The problem is, the glitch technology isn't quite stable yet, and dangerous anomalies in their new world threaten their ability to return home. They will have to repair each world before they have any chance of returning to reality.
 
There’s rumor of a major anomaly in a swamp in Sector Z-D71508, and the Glitch Force must investigate. Everything looks normal, until nighttime, when a bubbling green ooze begins to seep from the swamp, infecting everything it touches. But Miranda, Zed, and Duncan’s efforts to contain it only make the problem worse—The green slime solidifies and mutates into an enormous hostile mob that engulfs everything in its path. But is this green swamp monster the real enemy? A frog tornado, a pack of hissing feral cats, and a hidden trove of deadly potions suggest that the anomaly is more complicated than they imagined.

If you like swords, sorcery, world-spanning hi-tech fantasy, and Minecraft madness by the bucketload, this is the story for you!

The Virus is growing! It's infected some of the world's biggest Minecraft servers, and it's recruited a team of monsters to do its bidding. Worst of all, our hero Steve has been taken over by his dark side and become the monstrous Herobrine.

Can his friends help return him to the light... or will the online world of Minecraft be doomed forever?

This is the epic conclusion to the story from the master animators at Black Plasma is based on the smash hit video series, which has garnered over 18 million views online.

The conclusion to the mindbending graphic novel adventure!

"An emotional tale of a family's grief and healing, full of courage and hope" --Kirkus

"Faruqi renders this tender story of loss with a deft hand, employing vivid details surrounding Adnan's Pakistani Muslim identity . . . and nuanced characterizations to present a tear-jerking ode to family." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"A realistic, moving exploration of family, loss, and healing." --Booklist

"Faruqi takes on the difficult subject of family loss with beauty and grace in her gentle lyrical style. She allows Adnan, a young table-tennis enthusiast, to go through grief while holding not just sadness, but love and joy, in an honest and nuanced story that is ultimately filled with hope." --Veera Hiranandani, Newbery Honor author of The Night Diary

For fans of Planet Omar and The Ethan I Was Before, award-winning Pakistani author Reem Faruqi of Unsettled delivers a middle grade novel in verse about table tennis player Adnan, who dreams of the championship and a fun-filled family trip to Florida. But when tragedy strikes, he and his family must cope with a terrible loss and come together as one again. This poignant story about a Muslim family learning to heal is hope-filled and moving.

Adnan Zakir loves table tennis. He's also colorblind, left-handed, and has a fondness for the aviation alphabet. He's super close with his sister, Aaliyah, who is a great dancer and memorizer of Quran, and he loves his little toddler brother Rizwan, who only wants to grow up and play table tennis like his big brother.

All Adnan dreams of is making it to the Ultimate Table Tennis Championship in Florida, and if he qualifies for the tournament, he knows he will get to spend the Eid holiday with his cousins! But when the family travels there, unthinkable tragedy strikes, and Adnan swears he'll never play table tennis ever again. Slowly, he and his family must learn to make peace and move forward, as a family.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection pick!

From the author of the highly acclaimed How High the Moon comes a moving and heartfelt novel about how a girl's family and friendships are turned upside down--just as the world is changing in 1970s Los Angeles.



Stevie's life is fluctuating rapidly. She's starting over in a brand new middle school. Quiet and observant, it's hard for her to make friends. Plus, her mind is too occupied. The tension in her home is building as her parents' arguments are becoming more frequent. To top it all off, Stevie's older cousin Naomi is coming to live with the family in an attempt to keep her from a "bad" crowd--The Black Panthers.



Stevie agrees to keep Naomi's secrets. She's the cool big cousin, after all, and Stevie can't help but notice the happy, positive effect the Black Panthers are having on Naomi's confidence and identity--just like how Mom is making decisions for herself, even when Dad disapproves.



Stevie feels herself beginning to change as well. But one thing remains the same: she loves both of her parents, and she loves them together. Can her family stay in one piece despite the world shifting around them?

A warrior's power lies not in his weapons but in his heart.

Batu is just an ordinary kid in present-day Almaty, worried about bullies, school, and his mom's new baby...until the day he meets Aspara, the Golden Warrior. Aspara steps straight out of Batu's notebook cover--and out of Kazakhstan's past. Aspara has been waiting hundreds of years to be summoned to the human world and to finally get his chance to search for the Golden Cup, a magical talisman sent down from the heavens. When the Golden Cup was lost, Aspara watched as many of his friends and family were killed or disappeared.

Craving adventure and a sense of purpose, Batu sets out with Aspara and his own friends to find the Golden Cup, plunging them into an adventure through a world where myths come alive. But there are others looking for the Cup, and they'll do anything to make sure the kids fail. Will Batu and his friends make it out alive (and make it home in time for dinner)?

Meet Marissa, a caring, curious, and brave eleven-year-old girl whose summer stroll on a quiet beach becomes an epic adventure that pulls her into a mysterious undersea world. Lured by the simple sounds of a unique seashell, Marissa finds herself pulled into a battle between an ancient marine species and advanced life forms not of this planet. Her survival and only path home is that of legends as she befriends magical creatures and battles an evil nymph while in quest of a simple flower. The petals of the Neptius flower hold the answers and are the salvation for Marissa and an entire undersea universe.

An endearingly energetic fourth grader takes on the big job of finding new homes for her neighbor’s seven cats in this heartwarming illustrated middle grade novel for fans of Patricia MacLachlan and Sharon Creech.

Sparrow Robinson loves to dance and leap around. She loves cats. She has a million questions about the world, and she’s not afraid to ask them. But she’s just moved to a new town and a new school, and her busy parents have no time for her to get “carried away.” Suddenly, she feels totally out of place.

Sparrow’s favorite thing in all this newness is her neighbor, Mrs. LaRose, who has seven cats and always has cookies and lemonade to share. But after Mrs. LaRose breaks her hip, she decides to move into assisted living—where the cats aren’t allowed! Sparrow has to help.

Determined to find new homes for the cats, Sparrow forgets about her own troubles—but her quest just might be the key to Sparrow finding a home for herself in this town, too.

From beloved, bestselling children's book icons, R.L. Stine and Marc Brown, comes a storybook filled with hilariously spooky jokes and fun-loving monsters that will have everyone giggling!

Why did the monster cross the road?

To BITE someone on the other side!

Turn scary to silly with this laugh-out-loud joke book. Hunny and Funny are monster best friends. When Hunny is feeling sad, Funny knows exactly how to cheer up his friend... with laughter!

Renowned bestselling children's book talents R.L. Stine, creator of the Goosebumps series, and Marc Brown, creator of the Arthur Adventure series, join forces once again in this sweet, fun-filled story that not only teaches readers hilarious jokes to share but also reminds children that laughter is the best medicine when you're feeling down. With Stine's humorous text and Brown's bold artwork, this monster-themed picture book is sure to get the monsters and furry creatures giggling all night!

From master horror writer Rin Chupeco comes the nightmarish first novel in an all-new middle-grade horror series inspired by Nickelodeon's hit TV classic, Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Everyone in Southridge knows about the legend of the Gravemother. They know how to leave offerings by the abandoned house she was supposedly murdered in to pacify her. They know better than to trespass on her property. But not everyone believes in the tale--especially not fourteen-year-old Rhett, who lives around the corner from the old mansion. Then it's announced that the Gravemother's place is one of several to be demolished to give way for new townhouses. When disaster strikes the construction site and strange sightings of a woman in white begin haunting the neighbors, Rhett must figure out how to put the ghost permanently to rest before it's too late. Perfect for fans of the Five Nights at Freddy's series, these terror-inducing tales--told by members of an all-new Midnight Society--are sure to keep readers up at night.

The hilarious crayons from the #1 New York Times bestselling The Day The Crayons Quit are ready to go back to school!

The crayons are getting ready to go back to school, and each crayon has a subject they're looking forward to the most. They're also ready to meet new friends. . . and let loose during their very favorite time of day: art class. A humorous, small hardcover back-to-school story from everyone's favorite school supplies.