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Draw-A-Saurus
James Silvani
This in-depth yet accessible dinosaur drawing guide combines humor, creativity, and the latest dino research to show artists young and old how to breathe life into drawings of their prehistoric favorites. Prehistoric Pencil Power! Even though they lived some 65 million years ago, dinosaurs and other prehistoric reptiles continue to rule today. From movies to comics and cartoons, these ancient, giant beasts are everywhere you turn. Of course, who wants to just read about or watch these dinos when you can learn how to use pencils, pens, markers, and more to draw your very own? Cartoonist James Silvani combines easy-to-follow art exercises with the latest, greatest dino-facts to help you create fun and cool dinosaur doodles all by yourself. With lessons on old favorites like T-rex and stegosaurus, as well as lesser-known (but still awesome) creatures like the massive argentinosaurus, Draw-a-Saurus has everything the dinosaur fan could ever ask for (outside of their very own pet dino!).
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Dog Diaries #3: Barry
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Barry der Menschenretter—a.k.a. Barry—the most famous St. Bernard dog in history, tells the story of his life for the first time. Eight-thousand feet above sea level, in the treacherous pass in the Alps between Italy and Switzerland, the monks of the hospice of St. Bernard have, since the 11th century, kept dogs to help them rescue travelers lost in the snow. In time, these dogs became a breed unto themselves, named for the hospice. They are responsible for helping over 2,000 travelers who might otherwise have frozen to death. With great modesty, Barry tells not just about his own heroic exploits (saving over 40 lives, including that of a 12-year-old boy frozen in a cave), but about his daily life in the hospice, his close relationship with the brothers who train him, and about the other hospice hounds with whom he teams up to guide lost travelers and save lives. With realistic black-and-white illustrations by Tim Jessell—plus an appendix with information about St. Bernards, the Great St. Bernard Hospice, and much, more—Barry's tale is perfect for dog-crazy middle-grade readers!
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Calendar Mysteries #10: October Ogre
John Steven Gurney, Ron Roy
It's a mystery every month from popular A to Z Mysteries author Ron Roy! With the younger siblings of the A to Z Mysteries kids!October is for Ogre...In the tenth book of the Calendar Mysteries- an early chapter book mystery series -there's a haunted house in Green Lawn! It's Halloween, and the Shangri-la Hotel has been transformed into a haunted house, complete with an ogre out front. Bradley, Brian, Nate, and Lucy are ready for some scary fun, but then they notice that none of the kids who have gone in the hotel have come back out. What's happening to them? Ghosts and witches and ogres aren't real . . . right?
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The Brilliant World of Tom Gates
L Pichon, L Pichon
The top-selling U.K. series for middle-grade readers now crosses the pond!Meet Tom Gates. When his teachers don’t have their beady eyes on him, he likes to draw pictures and write about stuff, like last summer’s worst camping vacation ever (five merits!), or how much he hates sitting next to nosy Marcus Meldrew, the most annoying boy at school. All Tom really wants is to score tickets to see the best band ever, Dude3, when they come to town, and to impress Amy Porter, who is very nice and smart (but is currently ignoring him). Tom’s teachers think he is easily distracted and “lacks focus,” but that’s a bit harsh — can he help it if his grumpy big sister, Delia, made him late for school (again), or that last night’s homework had to be sacrificed to stave off a vicious dog attack? Master of excuses, creative storyteller, and middle-school comedian extraordinaire, Tom Gates is guaranteed to get kids turning the pages — and keep them laughing.
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Utopia, Iowa
Brian Yansky
Jack Bell has an unusual gift—or curse, depending on your point of view. And he’s not the only one. In Utopia, Iowa, anything can happen.For the most part, aspiring screenwriter Jack Bell is just your typical Midwestern kid. He’s got a crush on his hot best friend, Ash. He’s coping with a sudden frostiness between his once crazy-in-love parents. He’s debating where to go to college next year—or whether to go at all. But then there’s his gift (or curse): Jack can see dead people, just like the kid in The Sixth Sense. Lately, the ghosts are more distracting than usual, demanding that Jack get to the bottom of their mysterious deaths—all while avoiding the straitlaced Detective Bloodsmith, who doesn’t believe in gifts or curses and can’t help wondering why Jack keeps turning up at crime scenes. Is there a happily-ever-after in Jack’s future, or is that only the stuff of movies?
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Lauren Child, Lauren Child
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Paper Things
When forced to choose between staying with her guardian and being with her big brother, Ari chose her big brother. There’s just one problem—Gage doesn’t actually have a place to live.When Ari’s mother died four years ago, she had two final wishes: that Ari and her older brother, Gage, would stay together always, and that Ari would go to Carter, the middle school for gifted students. So when nineteen-year-old Gage decides he can no longer live with their bossy guardian, Janna, Ari knows she has to go with him. But it’s been two months, and Gage still hasn’t found them an apartment. He and Ari have been “couch surfing,” staying with Gage’s friend in a tiny apartment, crashing with Gage’s girlfriend and two roommates, and if necessary, sneaking into a juvenile shelter to escape the cold Maine nights. But all of this jumping around makes it hard for Ari to keep up with her schoolwork, never mind her friendships, and getting into Carter starts to seem impossible. Will Ari be forced to break one of her promises to Mama? Told in an open, authentic voice, this nuanced story of hiding in plain sight may have readers thinking about homelessness in a whole new way.
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Living With Jackie Chan
Jo Knowles
After fathering a baby, a teenager moves in with his karate-loving uncle and tries to come to terms with his guilt — and find a way to forgive.This isn’t how Josh expected to spend senior year. He thought he’d be hanging out with his best friends, Dave and Caleb, driving around, partying, just like always. But here he is, miles from home — new school, new life, living with his Jackie-Chan-obsessed uncle, Larry, and trying to forget. But Josh can’t forget. So many things bring back memories of last year and the night that changed everything. Every day the pain, the shame, and the just not knowing are never far from his thoughts. Why is he such a loser? How could he have done what he did? He finds some moments of peace when he practices karate with Stella, the girl upstairs and his one real friend. As they move together through the katas, Josh feels connected in a way he has never felt before. He wonders if they could be more than friends, but Stella’s jealous boyfriend will make sure that doesn’t happen. And maybe it doesn’t matter. If Stella knew the truth, would she still think he was a True Karate Man? Readers first met Josh in Jumping Off Swings which told the story of four high school students and how one pregnancy changed all of their lives. In thiscompanion book, they follow Josh as he tries to come to terms with what happened, and find a way to forgive.
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The Illuminated Forest
2015 International Latino Book Award Finalist--Best Young Adult Fiction (English) 12-year-old Mateo returns to his grandparents' island to deal with a family tragedy. From the moment he arrives, a series of terrifying events turn his world upside down. A stray cat with a mohawk, a ruthless town bully, and a lost ghost mysteriously come together and change his life forever. "The Illuminated Forest" is an imaginative study in parallels: the fine lines that separate the real and the fantastic, the tangible and the mystical, the plausible and the magical. The novel's heart is contained within the atmospheric, lush descriptions of the geography of an island that breathes and feels along with the characters. "The Illuminated Forest" is at times a very human portrait populated by flawed characters trying to find balance and renewal, at other times it is a magical escape into another realm when faith has failed them. "The Illuminated Forest" is a heartfelt story told through magical realism, a literary work that seeks to delve deeply into its characters' humanity without sentimentality or trite happy endings. "FIVE STARS! TENDER, YET DELIVERED WITH A PUNCH IN ALL THE RIGHT PLACES... SOPHISTICATED SYMBOLISM AND WELL-HONED LANGUAGE TYPICAL OF FINE LITERATURE." -ForeWord Clarion Review
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" The True Secrets of the Greaser HotelThe Greaser Hotel is an eyesore even by eyesores’ standards. A long forgotten place, it sits dilapidated and mostly vacant amid a sea of Baltimore vacancies. But this building, this former lap of luxury, is much more than it appears. The Greaser Hotel is a place of magic and of secrets peopled by masters of secret-keeping. And soon, for one kidnapped little girl―Allie to her friends and Allie Rat to her kidnappers― it’s about to become a place of the past.In a world of deep friendships, powerful magic, wicked deceptions, and devilish crime, a young girl must fight for her freedom and wrestle with the frightening truths of her past.Early Praise for a Very Special Book""The Mystery of the Greaser Hotel is an Industrial-Gothic fantasy thriller that kept me turning pages late into the night. J. Scott Fuqua’s finely-drawn pencil illustrations capture his characters and the setting with creepiness and élan.""? PAUL O. ZELINSKY, WORLD FAMOUS AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR, RECEIVED THE CALDECOTT MEDAL FOR RAPUNZEL, AND CALDECOTT HONORS FOR: HANSEL AND GRETEL, RUMPELSTILTSKIN, AND SWAMP ANGEL“When evil commerce, dangerous magic, and shape-shifting felines converge, readers have the determined and dedicated guidance of the heroine, Miss Allie Argos, to take them on a heart-stopping adventure to right the wrongs long forgotten by many. Mr. Fuqua’s dark, edgy, yet delightfully whimsical pencil and ink drawings, spread liberally throughout the book, not only compliment this story, but are accompanied by moments of levity and humor during some of the story’s darker, more troubling situations. You'll be rooting for Allie (a terrific cross between little Orphan Annie and Katniss Everdeen) and her colorful assortment of heroes from page one right on through the sequel, which I’m very much looking forward to!”?DAVID L. PATERSON, AWARD-WINNING SCREENWRITER OF BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA; LOVE, LUDLOW; OPEN AIR; AND THE GREAT GILLY HOPKINS (COMING SOON)About the AuthorJ. Scott Fuqua is the author of four multi award-winning young adult novels (The Reappearance of Sam Webber, Darby, The Willoughby Spit Wonder, and King of the Pygmies). He has also written two highly acclaimed literary novels (In the Wake of the Boatman, and Gone and Back Again) and the award-winning graphic novel In the Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe.He’s penned and illustrated a children’s book on the history of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. For elementary students, he wrote the graphic chapter book Catie and Josephine.His most recent children’s book, Calvert the Raven in the Battle of Baltimore, was the Library of Congress’ National Book Festival Selection for Maryland as well as Maryland’s Center for the Book’s 2013 Selection for kids, and has been written into the Maryland State elementary school social studies curriculum.Born in Germany, Scott grew up and went to college in Virginia (College of William & Mary) before moving to Baltimore, MD as an adult, and has been here ever since, living with his wife and two children. He teaches at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), including his new specialty, Illustrated Narratives.
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