WHEN DONALD GARDNER'S parents tell him they'll be taking an exciting road trip through Kansas, he openly cringes. He is sure it will be a boring summer vacation. But at one of their final roadside stops on the way home, they are approached by a poor woman offering to sell a curious item--an antique silver shoe. While Donald's mother is initially reluctant, she is ultimately smitten with the shoe and buys it. Donald is skeptical that the shoe is anything more than a relic, but when the new school year starts, he brings it in for show-and-tell, attempting to impress his classmates. His friends liken it to something out of The Wizard of Oz, and his teacher agrees the idea is not far-fetched considering author L. Frank Baum wrote about silver shoes, not ruby slippers, which were strictly in the movie. Yet when he accepts a dare from his two best buddies to try it on, frightening and incredible things begin to happen. Strange animals cry out in the night. Dark, shadowy shapes lurk in distant corners. Scratching sounds are heard just outside his bedroom window. And when he meets George Clarke, a reclusive man who has been in hiding and on the run for many years, Donald finds out there is a lot more to Baum's story than he thinks. Join Donald as he unravels Baum's earth-shattering secret in Silver Shoes.

Francie's life was almost perfect before the new girl showed up. She had her own business as a weekend baker whose scones almost caused stampedes, a best friend named Holly and a deeply fulfilling crush on Tate Jarvis. She dreamed about the day she'd be famous and have her own baking show. But the new girl at school, Darlene, thinks Francie's obsession with baking is weird, she acts like Holly is her best friend, and she's somehow managed to steal Tate's attention away. Suddenly, everything is unravelling. Unable to stay focused, Francie's pastry-filled dreams are starting to slide. Then Francie gets a chance to meet the sexy celebrity baker Lorenzo LaRue, whose toned pectorals inspire Francie as much as the baking tips she picks up from his TV show. Francie is sure that if Lorenzo could only see how passionate she is about baking, he would help launch her career, and possibly marry her when she reaches legal age. It won't be easy - but Francie is starting to understand that although trying won't guarantee success, quitting will guarantee failure. Young readers will gobble up this hilarious exploration of a girl's recipes for friendship, dating, fame and coconut-drop cookies.

Samuel Gerard is just your average teen: he hangs out at the bike jumps or at the mall with his friends, finds creative ways to avoid schoolwork, and repeatedly asks his parents questions that he knows have no answer. But when his dad leaves on a quest to ‘save the world,' Samuel's life takes a turn – a big turn.Starting the day after his father leaves, Samuel finds himself on a dizzying, often humorous series of adventures, from being covered in leeches to accidentally blowing up his friend's garage, from cheering up his mom to supervising his feisty grandma, from making out with the most popular girl in school to a life-changing fight with school bullies. As Samuel tries to sort out the world around him, he gradually finds himself at crossroads of religion and community, family and friends, newfound love and deep-seated hatred, all of which threatens to pull apart his neighborhood – and his family. And in the end, when violence in the community comes to a frightening peak, Samuel is faced with a tough choice: let things continue on a dangerous path, or make a personal sacrifice for peace?

Life already hangs in precarious balance for Phoenix and her family and friends as rebellion bubbles beneath every surface, but when the Adults return, offering desperate acts of salvation, they seem to forget that nature itself is calling the shots. By the author of The Rule of Claw.