Liberty Aimes has spent all of her ten years captive in her parents' crooked house on Gooch Street. Her spry father, Mal Aimes, is a crook who sells insurance, while her overweight mother sits at home in front of the TV, demanding that Liberty cook nonstop. Liberty’s only knowledge of the outside world comes from the secret stash of children’s books and fairy tales she discovers beneath the floorboards. One day, Liberty enters her father’s forbidden basement laboratory. There she discovers a world of talking animals and magic potions. With the aid of one such potion, Liberty escapes into the world in search of her destiny.
From the Hardcover edition.
Review
“I could not put this book down. In fact, I read it in two days. The main character, Jamil Jamil reveals the heart of so many of our African American students in urban settings. The author has captured the essence of Jamil Jamil– courageous, lonely, creative, isolated--has a grandmother who supplements a crack head mother—and he has a smart, engaging personality.
The setting is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the time is now. Jamil’s charter school provides an option for a safe effective education. Jamil has inherited a gift that allows him to transcend human communication; a secret gift that enables him to deal with a possible 9-11 terrorist attack on his beloved city. The book is rich with behind the scene information regarding governmental and international intrigue. Readers from elementary through high school as well as adults will find this an exciting and enjoyable experience. Whether the book is read to or read by youth and their family members, a good feeling will result.”
Fredricka Reisman, Ph.D.
Professor and Founder of the Drexel University School of Education
Director of the Drexel/Torrance Center for Creativity and Innovation
Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA
#1 New York Times bestselling series
The fifth book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series that inspired the hit ABC Family TV show Pretty Little Liars.
In idyllic Rosewood, Pennsylvania, four very pretty girls just can't help but be bad. Hanna will do anything to be Rosewood's queen bee. Spencer's digging up her family's secrets. Emily can't stop thinking about her new boyfriend. And Aria approves a little too strongly of her mom's taste in men. The girls think they’re in the clear now that Ali's killer is finally behind bars. But someone new is mimicking “A’s” blackmailing ways with wicked and mysterious messages. And it’s only a matter of time before they let some secrets slip.
Full of unexpected twists and shocking revelations, Wicked is the fifth book in New York Times bestselling author Sara Shepard’s compelling Pretty Little Liars series.
Ten years later Clifton's life has been shaped by that horrible event. He's a social outcast, his mother has sunk deep into alcoholism, and the only connection has with a living thing is with the dog next door whose life is as bad as Clifton's.
But then Clifton's principal comes up with the idea to have all the students release balloons with notes attached. It's meant to build school spirit, but it also gives Clifton an idea. What if, somehow, he was able to reach someone somewhere far away, and actually make a connection? Maybe even have a friend. So instead of balloons he uses bottles, and sets them afloat with notes inside down the New River.
Amazingly, Clifton actually does here from someone. His name is Swamper, he's got to be at least 70, and he lives in a shack on the river, meaking out a living selling fish. Swamper and Clifton strike up a friendship and it looks like Clifton may be okay after all.
But then the kidnapping of a young girl that Clifton witnesses brings back all of his old demons. How can he go to the police after what they did to his father? And his mother, she's useless. So he turns to Swamper, and in the end, discovers truths about his family, his life, and himself, that he never would have imagined.
During the festivities, when Petronella would much rather be sharing pleasantries with handsome Lord James Sinclair (swoon), important guests are disappearing, kidnapping notes are appearing, many of the clues are insects, and Uncle Augustus is surreptitiously devouring evidence. It’s more than one sixteen-year-old girl should have to deal with. But, truth be told, there is far more yet to come . . .
But this summer Laney’s mother has other plans for Laney. It’s called Camp Timber Trails and rustic doesn’t even begin to describe the un-air-conditioned log cabin nightmare. Laney is way out of her element—the in-crowd is anything but cool, popularity seems to be determined by swimming skills, and the activities seem more like boot camp than summer camp.
Splattered with tie dye fall out, stripped of her cell, and going through Diet Coke withdrawal, Laney is barely hanging on. Being declared the biggest loser of the bunk is one thing, but when she realizes her summer crush is untouchably uncrushable in the real world, she starts to wonder, can camp cool possibly translate to cool cool?
Summer camp might just turn this city girl’s world upside down!
In the 21st century, magic has advanced with the times and gone digital. Ravirn—umpteenth great-grandson of one of the three Fates—is a talented sorcerer, a computer hacker extraordinaire, and in the process of becoming a minor demi-god. His best friend and familiar is both a goblin and a laptop, changing shape from one to the other as needed.
While repairing Necessity (the badly-broken sentient computer that runs the multiverse), Ravirn is thrown into a very different place, a parallel world where the Greek gods are only myths. This strange realm is ruled by the Norse pantheon of gods—Odin, Thor, and other fun-loving brutes—and their magic uses a completely different operating system. A system that Ravirn will have to hack if he ever wants to get out of Asgard alive…
The second book in Michael Grant's New York Times bestselling Gone series, Hunger is a thrilling, action-packed story that is impossible to put down.
It's been three months since all the adults disappeared. Gone. Food ran out weeks ago and starvation is imminent. Meanwhile, the normal teens have grown resentful of the kids with powers. And when an unthinkable tragedy occurs, chaos descends upon the town. There is no longer right and wrong. Each kid is out for himself and even the good ones turn murderous. But a larger problem looms. The Darkness, a sinister creature that has lived buried deep in the hills, begins calling to some of the teens in the FAYZ. Calling to them, guiding them, manipulating them.
The Darkness has awakened. And it is hungry.
Get this, I'm supposed to be starting a journal about "my journey." Please. I can see it now: Dear Diary, As I'm set adrift on this crazy sea called "life" . . . I don't think so.
It's been seventy-five days. Amy's sick of her parents suddenly taking an interest in her.
And she's really sick of people asking her about Julia. Julia's gone now, and she doesn't want to talk about it. They wouldn't get it, anyway. They wouldn't understand what it feels like to have your best friend ripped away from you.
They wouldn't understand what it feels like to know it's your fault.
Amy's shrink thinks it would help to start a diary. Instead, Amy starts writing letters to Julia.
But as she writes letter after letter, she begins to realize that the past wasn't as perfect as she thought it was—and the present deserves a chance too.
Summer break is over, and Raven is hardly eager to be returning to Dullsville High. Not only does school mean daily interaction with preppy pest Trevor Mitchell, but her sleep-filled days and romantic nights with her immortal boyfriend, Alexander, must come to an end. Plus the shock of morning classes isn't the only change in store.
An unexpected letter turns up at Alexander's mansion—announcing his parents will be coming to town. And once they arrive, just about everyone has had a sighting of the macabre couple except Raven. What could be delaying Alexander from introducing Raven to them? Could Alexander be hiding something about his parents' homecoming?
When Raven is finally invited to the most thrilling dinner party of her life, the next turn of events could transform her entire future with Alexander. The sixth book in Ellen Schreiber's bestselling Vampire Kisses series takes an unusual twist in the continuing romance of Raven and Alexander.
There's a hot new underground club in town . . . but membership lasts an eternity.
It's summer break, and Raven knows she should stay put in Dullsville until her immortal love returns. But when she decides to go after Alexander, she can't resist a visit to her favorite Goth-spot, The Coffin Club. Sneaking inside, Raven is shocked to discover a secret door that leads to the entrance of another hidden club. There's something peculiar about this cryptic hangout—and it's too enticing for Raven to resist. Soon a dangerous battle for the club's rule erupts between Alexander's old nemesis and a mysterious new guy. Can Raven avoid the clash before her curiosity lands her in serious trouble?
Sam's widowed mother has died from "the Disease," and Sam is claimed by his aunt Mercy, who lives in the small African village where Sam's mother was born and raised. The gap between Sam's life in the city, where he had his own room, attended private school, and used a computer, and his new life in the dirt-floored one-room hut, which he is to share with his aunt and cousins, is vast beyond imagining. Grief, loneliness, and the absence of everything familiar make for a rocky transition to a traditional culture where possessions count for little and everyone is expected to do his or her share.
To the world at large, the Wilde family is an amazing team of golden skinned adventurers, born to daring escapades and globetrotting excitement! Doctor Spartacus Wilde, world class scientist and inventor, physical exemplar, ultimate warrior, and loving dad!
Brian and Wren Wilde, the world's most swashbuckling kids, able to survive the most perilous situations through quick wits and the intensive training and astonishing gadgets that are their birthright!
Now the Wildes must confront the deepest mysteries of Dark Matter and penetrate the tangled depths of uncharted jungles to face the likely end of the world in the clammy clutches of The Frogs of Doom...
Darkness falls so quickly in Howland that the people there have no word for evening. One minute the sky is light, the next minute it is black. But darkness comes in other forms, too, and for thirteen-year-old Annie, the misery she endures in her Uncle's household makes the black of night seem almost soothing. When Annie escapes, her route takes her first to a dangerous mine where a precious stone is being stolen by an enemy of the king, and later to the king's own halls, where a figure from Annie's past makes a startling appearance. All the while, reported sightings of kinderstalk― mysterious, wolf-like creatures that prowl Howland's dark forests―grow more frequent. Eloquent, suspenseful, and imbued with fairy-tale motifs found in The Brothers Grimm, this is a riveting coming-of-age story of a girl who must learn to trust her instincts if she's to lead the people she is destined to rule.