Selected reads
190 record(s) found
-
Haunted Houses
Scare-master Robert San Souci serves up ten chilling tales about untraditional haunted houses: a mansion full of pirate treasure, a ghost trapped in a mysterious dollhouse, a boy whose vacation house comes complete with people-eating spiders, and many more. But beware because not all of the protagonists in these stories get out alive.
-
How to Read Literature Like a Professor For Kids
In How to Read Literature Like a Professor: For Kids , New York Times bestselling author and professor Thomas C. Foster gives tweens the tools they need to become thoughtful readers. With funny insights and a conversational style, he explains the way writers use symbol, metaphor, characterization, setting, plot and other key techniques to make a story come to life. From that very first middle school book report to that first college course, kids need to be able to understand the layers of meaning in literature. Foster makes learning this important skill fun and exciting by using examples from How the Grinch Stole Christmas to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , from short stories and poems to movie scripts. This go-to guide unlocks all the hidden secrets to reading, making it entertaining and satisfying.
-
The Midnight Zoo
A brilliantly told magical story that questions what it means to be free. World War II, Eastern Europe: Tomas and his younger brother, Andrej, have fled their Romany encampment which has been besieged by the Germans; they carry Wilma, their baby sister, in a sack. In an abandoned, bombed-out town, the children discover a zoo. In it are a wolf and an eagle, a monkey, bear, lioness, seal, chamois and llama. The animals tell their stories to the children as they try to begin to understand what has become of their lives and, when they try to figure out a way to release the animals, what it means to be free.
-
Bones Terrifying Tales to Haunt Your Dreams
Spine-chilling, original ghost stories by some of today's best writers, including R.L. Stine, Richard Peck, Margaret Mahy, Todd Strasser, and more. These bone-chilling stories by some of today's top writers may keep you awake at night! Just remember: Skeletons don't always "rest in peace." Ghosts hate being ignored. Even cell phones can't be trusted. If you mess with bones, you can get rattled!
-
Lockdown Escape from Furnace Series, Book 1
Prison Break meets Darren Shan in an unforgettable story of terror, evil and intrigue. Alexander Gordon Smith's cult teen series has been reissued with the bestselling US covers. Beneath heaven is hell. Beneath hell is Furnace. When thirteen-year-old Alex is framed for murder, his life changes forever. Now he is an inmate in the Furnace Penitentiary - the toughest prison in the world for young offenders. A vast building sunk deep into the ground, there's one way in and no way out. But rowdy inmates and sadistic guards are the least of Alex's problems. Every night an inmate is taken from his cell by guards and returned the next morning changed. Where are they taken and why are they returned covered with scars, acting as though they are not quite human? In a desperate bid for freedom Alex discovers a horrifying truth - that the Furnace Penitentiary is a place of pure evil, a place where cruel experiments take place every day, where inmates are guinea pigs, where monsters make monsters, and where death is the least of your worries... Action-packed, gritty and gruesome - this is the perfect read for thrill-hungry teenagers.
-
The Wee Free Men Discworld: Young Adult Series, Book 2
A nightmarish danger threatens from the other side of reality . . . Armed with only a frying pan and her common sense, young witch-to-be Tiffany Aching must defend her home against the monsters of Fairyland. Luckily she has some very unusual help: the local Nac Mac Feegle – aka the Wee Free Men – a clan of fierce, sheep-stealing, sword-wielding, six-inch-high blue men. Together they must face headless horsemen, ferocious grimhounds, terrifying dreams come true, and ultimately the sinister Queen of the Elves herself . . . THE FIRST BOOK IN THE TIFFANY ACHING SEQUENCE
-
The Vanishing Vampire A Monsterrific Tale
There's something strange going on at Washington Irving Elementary School. People are turning into monsters—literally! In The Vanishing Vampire , Sebastian's life has become a real pain in the neck. It all started the night he walked home from the movies by himself. He sort of blacked out and the next morning, he woke up as a vampire. Now he has only one chance to turn back into a human. And time is running out.... With its blend of humor and horror, David Lubar's middle-grade monsteriffic tales series will appeal to the same audience that has made his Weenies short story collections such a success. At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.
-
Thirteen Chairs
Jack stands in the dark on the landing of the old house, and looks at his?feet . . . He has been here for minutes, his hand on the door handle, debating whether or not to go in. A high-ceilinged room lit only by candles. Thirteen chairs, one empty. Twelve mysterious storytellers, waiting to begin. Come in! Take your place. We have been expecting you. Do you dare to listen to our stories? Do you dare to tell your own? Jack is a curious boy. Are you curious too?
-
Beneath
What waits Beneath? Pat O'Toole has always idolized his older brother, Coop. He's even helped Coop with some of his crazier plans — such as risking his life to help his big brother dig a tunnel underneath their neighborhood in the suburbs of Washington, DC. Coop is . . . different. He doesn't talk on the phone, doesn't use email, and doesn't have friends. He's never really cared for anything but the thrill of being underground and Pat. So it's no surprise to anyone — even Pat — that after a huge fight with their parents, Coop runs away. Exactly one year later, Pat receives a package containing a digital voice recorder and a cryptic message from his brother. He follows the clues to New York City, and soon discovers that Coop has joined the Community, a self-sufficient society living beneath the streets. Now it's up to Pat to find his brother — and bring him home. EXCERPT:From BENEATH Exactly one year to the day after my brother, Coop, ditched me, I got a package in the mail. It came to the school, not our house. The secretary handed me the package with a warning that I was never to use the school as my personal address. I was going to tell her that I hadn't when I saw my name: Pat Meatloaf O'Toole scrawled in Coop's familiar handwriting. Meatloaf is not my real middle name. I told her I would never do it again, grabbed the package, locked myself in a restroom stall, and tore the box open. Inside was a handheld digital voice recorder, a supply of memory sticks, and a note written on a greasy hamburger wrapper: "Lil Bro, Pat, just turn the recorder to Play, and I'll explain what you're supposed to do with this. DO NOT share with parents. This is just between you and me. Your big bro, Coop . . ." I made sure the restroom was empty and switched on the recorder. Praise for TENTACLES: "A high-octane page-turner that will reel readers in and keep them riveted." —SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL "Swashbuckling adventure, narrow escapes, sea monsters: The fascinating science of cryptids and Smith's fast-paced story will capture the imagination of any action-loving reader." —BOOKPAGE Praise for the STORM RUNNERS series: "A breakneck read, perfectly geared to the restless and reluctant." —BULLETIN OF THE CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S BOOKS "This slice of natural disaster . . . offers nary a dull moment. A high-velocity page-turner . . ." —KIRKUS REVIEWS
-
Doll Bones
Discover the Newbery Honor winner Doll Bones , from Holly Black, the cocreator of the Spiderwick Chronicles. A Kirkus Reviews Best Book. A School Library Journal Best Book. A Booklist Editor's Choice Books for Youth. A Publishers Weekly Best Children's Book. A NYPL "100 Titles for Reading and Sharing." A 2013 Goodreads Choice award nominee. A People Magazine "Best New Kids Book." Six starred reviews! Winner of a 2014 Newbery Honor Medal. Zach, Poppy, and Alice have been friends forever. And for almost as long, they've been playing one continuous, ever-changing game of pirates and thieves, mermaids and warriors. Ruling over all is the Great Queen, a bone-china doll cursing those who displease her. But they are in middle school now. Zach's father pushes him to give up make-believe, and Zach quits the game. Their friendship might be over, until Poppy declares she's been having dreams about the Queen—and the ghost of a girl who will not rest until the bone-china doll is buried in her empty grave. Zach and Alice and Poppy set off on one last adventure to lay the Queen's ghost to rest. But nothing goes according to plan, and as their adventure turns into an epic journey, creepy things begin to happen. Is the doll just a doll or something more sinister? And if there really is a ghost, will it let them go now that it has them in its clutches? Doll Bones is a winner of the Newbery Honor, is the recipient of six starred reviews, was on four Best Book lists, and was called "perfect" by The New York Times .
-
Stormbreaker Alex Rider Series, Book 1
In the first book in the number one bestselling Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz, fourteen-year-old Alex is forcibly recruited into MI6. Armed with secret gadgets, he is sent to investigate Herod Sayle, a man who is offering state-of-the-art Stormbreaker computers to every school in the country. But the teenage spy soon finds himself in mortal danger.
-
Convergence Zodiac Series, Book 1
Stan Lee presents a brand new, magical, super-powered adventure! When twelve magical superpowers are unleashed on the world, a Chinese-America teenager named Steven will be thrown into the middle of an epic global chase. He'll have to master strange powers, outrun super-powered mercenaries, and unlock the mysterious powers of the Zodiac.
-
Keepers of the Labyrinth
Courage is tested, myths come to life, and long-held secrets are revealed Lilith Bennette runs at midnight. She scales walls in the dark and climbs without a harness. She hopes that if she follows exactly in the steps of her strong air force pilot mother, she'll somehow figure out the mystery of her mother's death—and the reason why her necklace of Greek symbols has been missing ever since. So when Lil is invited to Crete for a Future Leaders International conference, the same conference her mom attended years ago, she jumps at the chance to find some answers. But things in Melios Manor are not what they seem. Lil finds herself ensnared in an adventure of mythological proportions that leads her and her friends through the very labyrinth in which the real Minotaur was imprisoned. And they're not in there alone. What secrets does the labyrinth hold, and will they help Lil find the truth about her mother? This book is perfect for older fans of Percy Jackson and the Olympians and the Heroes of Olympus—and anyone who wants to find out the true story behind the magic of the Greek gods.
-
Ghostopolis
Imagine Garth Hale's surprise when he's accidentally zapped to the spirit world by Frank Gallows, a washed-out ghost wrangler. Suddenly Garth finds he has powers the ghosts don't have, and he's stuck in a world run by the evil ruler of Ghostopolis, who would use Garth's newfound abilities to rule the ghostly kingdom. When Garth meets Cecil, his grandfather's ghost, the two search for a way to get Garth back home, and nearly lose hope until Frank Gallows shows up to fix his mistake.
-
A Greyhound of a Girl
The best-ever children's novel from the brilliant Roddy Doyle is a funny, sad story about four generations of a family. 12 year old Mary O'Hara's beloved, joke-cracking grandmother is near the end of her life. Letting go is hard - until a mysterious young woman appears at Mary's door. She is the ghost of Granny's long-dead mammy and her mission is to help her dying daughter say goodbye to the ones she loves. But first she needs someone to drive them all to the old family farm for a visit to the past. A GREYHOUND OF A GIRL is a perfectly-pitched, sharp and tender tale of family history, cracking characters, and bonds between mothers and daughters that will entrance readers from 10 to adult
-
Anya's Ghost
Anya could really use a friend. But her new BFF isn't kidding about the "Forever" part . . . Of all the things Anya expected to find at the bottom of an old well, a new friend was not one of them. Especially not a new friend who's been dead for a century. Falling down a well is bad enough, but Anya's normal life might actually be worse. She's embarrassed by her family, self-conscious about her body, and she's pretty much given up on fitting in at school. A new friend—even a ghost—is just what she needs. Or so she thinks. Spooky, sardonic, and secretly sincere, Anya's Ghost is a wonderfully entertaining debut graphic novel from author/artist Vera Brosgol. This title has Common Core connections. Anya's Ghost is a 2011 Kirkus Best Teen Books of the Year title. One of School Library Journal 's Best Fiction Books of 2011. One of Horn Book 's Best Fiction Books of 2011. Winner of the 2012 Eisner Award for Best Publication for Young Adults (Ages 12-17)
-
Goblins Goblins Series, Book 1
Always busy squabbling, the goblins who live in the great towers of Clovenstone spend all their time fighting and looting. Only clever young Skarper understands that dark magic created by a vanquished sorcerer is rising again. From the lands of men come fortune-seekers - and soon trolls, giants, cloud-maidens, swamp monsters, tree-warriors, humans and bloodthirsty goblins alike are swept into a fabulous magical conflict! Enter a wild world of magical creatures and heroic adventure in this thrilling new fantasy from the extraordinary imagination of Philip Reeve.
-
Pay it Forward
It all started with the social studies teacher's extra-credit project: Think of an idea for world change, and put it into action. Whilst this proved a little ambitious for most of his classmates, twelve-year-old Trevor thought he would start by doing something good for three people. But instead of paying him back, he would ask them to "pay it forward" by doing a favour for three more people. If it all went to plan, Trevor thought, it would be the start of a long chain of human kindness . . . Sound unlikely to you? Well a lot of other people had their doubts too - Trevor's teacher, his classmates, his mother, in fact everyone in his small California town. It could never really work. . . could it?
-
The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom The Hero's Guide Series, Book 1
Prince Liam. Prince Frederic. Prince Duncan. Prince Gustav. You've never heard of them, have you? These are the princes who saved Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel, respectively, and yet, thanks to those lousy bards who wrote the tales, you likely know them only as Prince Charming. But all of this is about to change. Rejected by their princesses and cast out of their castles, the princes stumble upon an evil plot that could endanger each of their kingdoms. Now it's up to them to triumph over their various shortcomings, take on trolls, bandits, dragons, witches, and other assorted terrors, and become the heroes no one ever thought they could be. Christopher Healy's Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom is a completely original take on the world of fairy tales, the truth about what happens after "happily ever after." It's a must-have for middle grade readers who enjoy their fantasy adventures mixed with the humor of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. Witty black-and-white drawings by Todd Harris add to the fun.
-
EDGE - Horowitz Graphic Horror: Scared
Gary hates going to the countryside, he would rather be dead. So when his mum drags him off to his Gran's crummy cottage, he thinks he's in hell. But Gary's messing about with more than he knows when he goes off on his own. The countryside starts to fight back —
