An offer she can't refuse. Kate Blessing is not your typical high school junior. She's a good student who's into guys and the latest designer jeans...and she's also part of the mob. Her father, Bobby Blessing, is the head of the family, and her mom, Amanda, is the brains behind the operation. Kate may not partake in the "family business," but she knows what goes down. She's proud of her family -- and of course, there are plenty of perks: her indoor pool, Caribbean vacations, expensive haircuts... But when Amanda gets fed up with Bobby's cheating and moves out, someone needs to make decisions, give orders, and keep things running. Kate has no choice but to step into her mother's shoes and prop her dad up. Bobby may be the face of the mob, but it's not long before the princess is running the show.

At the age of 16, it's standard procedure for every girl at Lynnie Russo's posh Los Angeles prep school to get a car. So on her 16th birthday, Lynnie is startled when she opens the small gift box from her father—it doesn't contain the shiny new set of keys she was expecting. Instead she finds a worn-out bird charm bracelet. What can he be thinking? When she cuts school to go try surfing so as to have a special day, instead of grounding her, her father hands her a manuscript box and says, "Your mother wanted you to have this when it seemed you were losing perspective. I think now's the time."Through "The Noah Confessions," Lynnie uncovers her family's secrets, loves, and tragedies, and comes to recognize that their past may not necessarily determine her future.

When sixteen-year-old Lily Willison and her friends Nikki, Arielle, and Grazia start up a girls' soccer club and name their team the Weregirls, they soon find themselves drawn into a battle between good and evil. Lily's father, a supernatural guardian, makes contact with Lily after his death and reveals that she has magical powers―as do her friends. As the girls learn more about their powers, they inadvertently awaken the Breed, sworn enemies of the Weregirls. To fight the Weregirls, the Breed Master calls upon Lily's soccer rival―the rich, conceited, and arrogant Andra Hewlit. Desperate for powers of her own, Andra will do anything she can to destroy Lily and the Weregirls….

"You have the right to remain silent." However... The fifth-grade girls and the fifth-grade boys at Laketon Elementary don't get along very well. But the real problem is that these kids are loud and disorderly. That's why the principal uses her red plastic bullhorn. A lot. Then one day Dave Packer, a certified loudmouth, bumps into an idea -- a big one that makes him try to keep quiet for a whole day. But what does Dave hear during lunch? A girl, Lynsey Burgess, jabbering away. So Dave breaks his silence and lobs an insult. And those words spark a contest: Which team can say the fewest words during two whole days? And it's the boys against the girls. How do the teachers react to the silence? What happens when the principal feels she's losing control? And will Dave and Lynsey plunge the whole school into chaos? This funny and surprising book is about language and thought, about words unspoken, words spoken in anger, and especially about the power of words spoken in kindness...with or without a bullhorn. It's Andrew Clements at his best -- thought-provoking, true-to-life, and very entertaining.