Thirteen-year old Clara is making new friends, finding her own way of dressing, and enjoying a closer relationship with her mother as she tries to end her ties to Elsa, an imaginary best friend she has had since she was five.

Nice is Overrated. "The perfect book for the budding Count Olaf or Sauron in your family... or for you." -- Neil Gaiman, author of Coraline NASTY ('nas-te) adj. 1. Twisted. 2. Spitefully unfair. 3. Causing dangerous and severe laughter. SYNONYMS: Hilarious. Deliciously fun. Sample usage: "What a nasty, wicked book, filled with mayhem and mischief." "Only nasty criminals would kidnap a cuddly teddy bear!" "Monsters attacking 'cause a kid picks his nose? That's nasty." "A witch on the Internet, a superhero who farts? All nasty too!" ANTONYMS: Nice. Boring. Plain old ordinary. Why can’t really cool parents dump their uncool offspring? Why can’t talented imaginary friends desert their boring creators? Why can’t pop stars be changed... into rodents? Well, here they can! Barry Yourgrau’s NASTYbook is jam-packed with delightful wickedness for the kind of readers who can’t get enough of bad endings, rude twists, and assorted nasty mischief... (And don’t think we don’t know who you are.)

Poppy returns ... with big trouble. Family trouble. Poppy and Rye don't know what to do about their son Ragweed Junior's attitude. He is rude, he is crude, and he has dyed his fur to look like Mephitis, his skunk friend. In short, Ragweed Junior is very much a teenager. Even Ereth, the cantankerous porcupine, with his salty swearing, can't straighten him out. Then Poppy gets an urgent request to return to her old home, Gray House, where her aging parents, Sweet Cicely and Lungwort, are in difficulties. Not only does she agree to go back, she decides to take Junior, in hopes traveling together will bring them together. But when Junior's skunk pal and Ereth join the party, the trip doesn't quite go as expected. And when Poppy recalls she did not get along with her parents, things become even more complicated. Poppy's Return is a hilarious adventure tale about family: the gleeful joys, the farcical sorrows, the high emotions, and the low comedy of living with and without relations. It's also about bears, bulldozers, and the boisterous antics of young mice doing the stinky red. And sugared slug soup, there's always Ereth to stir the stew of Poppy’s rich and rewarding life.

When her personal diary--filled with secret crushes, fears, and kissing practice--somehow makes its way to the Internet, for all to see, seventh grader Erin Swift--using humor and ingenuity--must find a way to overcome this latest obstacle. Original.