It's hard to be a "Black Sheep Baxter," at least for 12-year-old Polly. From a poor white family, Polly's best friend, Timbre Ann Biggs, is black, making them the only "salt-and-pepper" friends in town. But in that fall of 1959, life in quiet Holcolm County starts to heat up as one by one, thriving colored businesses burn to the ground. When someone throws a note wrapped around a brick through the window of Biggs Repair, Polly worries that Timber Ann will be blinded by the color of her skin and forget they were ever close. When a tragic fire brings everything to a head, the spotlight falls on Polly's family. Sensitively painting a vivid portrait of the Jim Crow South, Polly's inspiring story captures the defiant spirit of youth in an oppressive small town, just as the seeds of the Civil Rights Movement begin to sprout.

At Long Islands’s private Bennington School, the Diamonds rule supreme. They’re the girls all the boys want to date and all the girls want to be. And fortunately for Marni, she’s right in the middle of them. Best friends with the ringleader, Clarissa, Marni enjoys all the spoils of the ultrapopular: boys, power, and respect. But then Marni gets a little too close to Clarissa’s ex-boyfriend, Anderson.Wrong move. The Diamonds don’t touch each other’s exes. And just like that, Marni is jettisoned from Diamond to lower than Cubic Zirconia.But Marni isn’t about to take her ouster lying down. She has dirt on the Diamonds, and she’s not about to go down without a fight. Everyone knows, the only thing strong enough to cut a Diamond is another Diamond. Ted Michael is a literary agent and first time novelist. He lives in New York, New York.

This laugh-out-loud children's book is aligned with the Standard Course of Study for elementary school language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. It's an exciting story that teaches and references second through fifth grade skills, and even though it's 100% correlated to the third grade North Carolina curriculum, it's designed for elementary school readers in all states! This breakthrough educational book tells the story of a struggling third-grader (Chris Robb) who desperately wants to pass the third grade End of Grade (EOG) standardized test. Chris's school is a very strange place and his teacher has the strangest name he has ever heard: Ms. Bubblebrain. Every character in the book has a unique personality trait. Smelly Sam stuffs random objects up his nose (sushi, socks, etc), the bus driver waves around his stinky shoe to get the kids to settle down, and the principal harbors an incomprehensible infatuation with strawberry milk. Meanwhile, a menacing Chicken Nugget Man appears to be sneaking into schools and causing all kinds of chaos. A task force is created to capture this mysterious creature. The country's smartest children will be chosen to join the effort because for some reason, no adult has ever seen the Chicken Nugget Man. Chris, who can barely remember his teacher's name, has the odds stacked against him when it comes to passing the North Carolina EOG test, but as the reader discovers, he might have a little help, and a little hope, after all. The book has built-in Bloom's Taxonomy higher-order critical thinking questions that are written in kid-friendly language. A strong emphasis is placed on character education in the book and every time a character makes a poor choice, the narrator reminds readers of the consequences, encouraging them to suggest more responsible choices. This delightful comedy makes learning fun and helps students in all states prepare for standardized tests.Key educational features in the book: NEW! Silly fill in the bubble questions at the end of most chapters to prepare students for standardized tests in a fun way!Built-in comprehension questions Math, science, social studies, language arts and reading concepts taught through a fun, fictional plot Educational illustrations Tricky words are labeled with images for ELLs and struggling readers Officially leveled text Full list of referenced educational standards/concepts in the back of the book EOG question stems to help with standardized test prep Math word problems "Knowledge Nugget" educational fact boxes Math skills, including: probability, fractions, geometry, graphing, decimals, and elapsed time Social Studies skills, including: history, citizenship, leadership, and economics Science skills, including: plant science, life cycles, pollination, astronomy, and life science

Receiving an implant to restore her sight, math genius Caitlin's life is changed in ways she could have never imagined when she suddenly begins to see a world beyond reality and an incredible realm that others cannot.