Since his mom died a few years ago, Harold Stryker has been following her instructions:
He lives all alone, in secret, in his house outside Los Angeles.
He avoids, as best as he can, other kids, and certainly grown-ups.
He keeps only his huge, gassy dog and his collection of power tools for company.
But he's okay with all that. Until the big night of the little earthquake. And his plunge into a dangerous forgotten tunnel beneath his dining room floor. And his encounter with the sweet, terrifying girl baseball star named Tien Tang and the compulsive, camo-suited, overweight force of nature known officially as Bella but universally as Blunt. They push and pull him through an underground adventure with a bullying science teacher, a tasteless chef, a greedy criminal, hairy tarantulas (live), sabertooth cats (long dead), smelly mushrooms, old trolley cars, new subways, and a baker's dozen of illegal Asian immigrants who need to be rescued from a life of slavery in a California ghost town. Harold Stryker is okay with all that too. But those two girls are now his friends. And that has him shaking.
loose. Jin tracks the monster, but he can’t figure out how to get her back into the artifact from
which she hatched. Then Jin meets Chief Inspector of Ancient Artifacts A. J. Zauyamakanda—
Mizz Z, for short—who has arrived to inspect the artifact. She and Jin team up to find Zilombo.
Joining them is Frankie, Jin’s older sister, who has lost their baby brother—and Zilombo is
the most likely culprit for his disappearance. Zilombo gains new, frightening powers every time
she hatches. Now the monster is cleverer than ever before . . . and she likes to eat babies!
Will Jin’s baby brother be next on Zilombo’s menu? As the monster’s powers continue to
grow, Jin, Frankie, and Mizz Z must find a way to outsmart Zilombo!
Ten-year-old Anna Nickel is moving from Colorado to Kansas, and she is not happy about leaving her friends behind! This is a moving, often humorous coming-of-age story about family, faith, God's love, and the meaning of home, perfect for fans of Katherine Paterson and The Penderwicks.
Ten-year-old Anna Nickel's worst nightmare has come true. Her father has decided to move the family back to Oakwood, Kansas—where he grew up—in order to become the minister of the church there. New friends, new school, a new community, and a family of strangers await, and what's even worse, it's all smack-dab in the middle of Tornado Alley. Anna has always prided herself on being prepared (she keeps a notebook on how to cope with disasters, from hurricanes to shark bites), but she'll be tested in Oakwood! This beautifully written novel introduces a family who takes God's teachings to heart while finding many occasions to laugh along the way, and an irrepressible and wholesome ten-year-old who, with a little help from Midnight H. (her cat), takes control of her destiny.
An awful cook, she ruins recipes left and right, and she certainly can’t compete with her family’s reputation for extraordinary food. Her daddy’s parents ran one of the best restaurants in all of Paris, but Josephine lives in Paris, Missouri. On her mama’s side, she’s up against a long tradition of sinfully delicious soul food. Rumor has it, her Creole ancestors cooked up some voodoo to make tasty even tastier. Josephine knows the secret ingredient: she comes from a long line of conjure witches with spellbinding culinary skills.
Disenchanted, Josephine works as a carhop at Carl and Earl’s Drive-In. Just plain old hamburgers, hot dogs, and curly fries, nothing magical about them. She’s got bigger fish to fry, though, when a grease fire erupts into a devilish creature who hisses her name with desire. Turns out he’s the Ravenous One, the granddaddy of all voodoo spirits, and he’s hungry for her soul. Josephine thinks he’s got the wrong girl—she’s no witch—but a gorgeous, dangerous night-skinned lady named Shaula sets her straight. Josephine is one of the most powerful witches alive, so overflowing with conjure that her out-of-control cooking simply catches fire.
Josephine would love to laugh this off, but Shaula warns her that she must learn to master her magic before the Ravenous One devours her soul. Spurred into action, Josephine breaks out her grandma’s old conjure cookbook and starts cooking. Nothing grand, just the usual recipes for undying friendship and revenge. But soon Josephine can’t escape the consequences of her conjure. When the people of Paris start turning into zombies with a strange fondness for cake, Josephine looks pretty responsible for their undead reawakening…
Mia barely has time to wrap her head around the truth when the Society's latest job, tracking down Marie Antoinette's necklace, goes sideways. Mia and her new siblings—Tomi, the historian; Devon, the hacker; and Lily, the muscle—must use their wits, plus a few cool OSOs filched from the Society's vault, to stay a step ahead of a sinister enemy from their foster mother's past. But just how far back does Mrs. Tarpley's past go? And will Mia stand by her new family or cut and run when they need her the most?
Jonah's uncle, a Native American, shares his knowledge about Madison's power to see and feel canine memories and emotions. The mysterious white wolf returns and fills her mind with dreams and more questions. Madison starts a dog-walking business and discovers Ben, a crotchety old man whose dog is skin and bones.
When the kennel receives a dog that has been brutally injured, Madison is determined to find out what happened. She and Cooper realize they're going to need Jonah and Donald to bust this investigation wide open and save the dogs. But getting to the bottom of the mystery will threaten not only Madison, but everyone she loves.
That’s what happens to 12-year-old Dax Dugan and his 9-year-old sister, Callie, when their mom’s new job forces the whole family to leave the bustling city of Chicago and move to a quiet, rural town in Southern Illinois.
Dax and Callie’s parents tell them quite a bit about their new home before they ever leave Chicago. Unfortunately, the fact that there is a cemetery in their backyard is one piece of information they neglect to share. With the discoveries that follow,Dax and Callie quickly learn that life in the country is more than just cows and cornfields.
Daksha lives in a hamlet on the Himalayas. An orphan, she learns native medicine by assisting a vaidya. A chance encounter brings her to the notice of people who move her to town and admit her to a school.
Daksha is unhappy there and wants to return to her hamlet – until a resourceful doctor helps her adjust to her new life.
About the Short Chapter Book Series
The average word count of books in the series is 6000. The books attempt to:
Inculcate the love of reading in all children.
Help Beginner Readers become Advanced Readers.
Encourage Reluctant Readers to start reading.
Introduce children to different genres.
Oh no!" exclaimed the man, throwing up his hands in horror. "Child, don't make that mistake. Science is science. Don't put it into compartments. And even if you have to put it into compartments, don't choose between the compartments."
After a game of hide and seek with her brother and friends, Sneha goes missing.
The presence of a strange car points to kidnap. The police is called in. But Sneha is not kidnapped. She is in the midst of an adventure, an adventure of a different kind.
Bonus Story: Adi The Virus.
Adi is very talkative. Wherever he is made to sit in class, he gets his neighbour into trouble by talking. His teacher calls him Adi the Virus.
But some viruses do good....
This is a fun classroom story.
About the Short Chapter Book Series
The average word count of books in the series is 6000. The books attempt to:
Inculcate the love of reading in all children.
Help Beginner Readers become Advanced Readers.
Encourage Reluctant Readers to start reading.
Introduce children to different genres.
Courage is not the absence of fear but the triumph over it.
How brave must a deer be? Brave enough to flee from danger, naturally.
Everything frightens Dearie and makes him freeze. When he is faced with danger, real or imagined, he is unable to move a muscle. His fear becomes a threat to the herd and he is made to leave it. He must live alone, alone with his fears amidst the dangers that abound all around him.
About the Short Chapter Book Series
The average word count of books in the series is 6000. The books attempt to:
Can a ship carrying Friendship Dolls to Japan be Lexie’s ticket to see her fun-loving mother again? A heartwarming historical novel inspired by a little-known true event.
It’s 1926, and the one thing eleven-year-old Lexie Lewis wants more than anything is to leave Portland, Oregon, where she has been staying with her strict grandparents, and rejoin her mother, a carefree singer in San Francisco’s speakeasies. But Mama’s new husband doesn’t think a little girl should live with parents who work all night and sleep all day. Meanwhile, Lexie’s class has been raising money to ship a doll to the children of Japan in a friendship exchange, and when Lexie learns that the girl who writes the best letter to accompany the doll will be sent to the farewell ceremony in San Francisco, she knows she just has to be the winner. But what if a jealous classmate and Lexie’s own small lies to her grandmother manage to derail her plans? Inspired by a project organized by teacher-missionary Sidney Gulick, in which U.S. children sent more than 12,000 Friendship Dolls to Japan in hopes of avoiding a future war, Shirley Parenteau’s engaging story has sure appeal for young readers who enjoy historical fiction, and for doll lovers of all ages.
But Leo was heading for more excitement than he could have possibly imagined. His uncle’s latest invention, not yet working properly, was due to be presented to the King of France as part of negotiations to ensure peace. Unfortunately for Leo and his uncle, not everyone wanted peace, and there were those who will go to any lengths to stop them. Leo and his uncle were in danger, and failure could have disastrous consequences for both of them, and for Italy.
That’s what happens to 12-year-old Dax Dugan and his 9-year-old sister, Callie, when their mom’s new job forces the whole family to leave the bustling city of Chicago and move to a quiet, rural town in Southern Illinois.
Dax and Callie’s parents tell them quite a bit about their new home before they ever leave Chicago. Unfortunately, the fact that there is a cemetery in their backyard is one piece of information they neglect to share. With the discoveries that follow,Dax and Callie quickly learn that life in the country is more than just cows and cornfields.
It was rumored the old mirror was magic, yet Levi and I promised to be careful. Mrs. Sheppard said it was going into her mirror collection. “We watched helplessly as the cracking continued until the frame gave up and let the mirror pieces go that it had so bravely held together. Levi and I exchanged a look of horror. We didn’t want to say it out loud, but we knew we were in for Seven Years Bad Luck, Starting Today!”