Child Friendship

Ever since Cass almost drowned (okay, she did drown, but she doesn't like to think about it), she can pull back the Veil that separates the living from the dead...and enter the world of spirits. Her best friend is even a ghost. So things are already pretty strange. But they're about to get much stranger. When Cass's parents start hosting a TV show about the world's most haunted places, the family heads off to Edinburgh, Scotland. Here, graveyards, castles, and secret passageways teem with restless phantoms. And then Cass meets a girl who shares her "gift"....

National Book Award-winning author Pete Hautman crafts a powerful tale of one tormented boy’s troubled life in Invisible. Seventeen-year-old Doug Hanson is obsessed—with his best friend Andy, with pretty Melissa Haverman, and with his model railroad town. Doug also has terrible secrets from his past, and he isn’t taking the medication his psychiatrist prescribed....

Fernie What finds herself lost in the Gloom mansion after her cat appears to have been chased there by its own shadow. Fernie discovers a library full of every book that was never written, a gallery of statues that are just plain awkward, and finds herself at dinner watching her own shadow take part in the feast! Along the way Fernie is chased by the People Taker who is determined to take her to the Shadow Country. It's up to Fernie and Gustav to stop the People Taker before he takes Fernie's family.

Friar Tuck, a big golden Labrador, is young Helen’s inseparable companion. She still remembers the sunny day three years ago when her father dumped the fat, wriggling puppy into her surprised arms and said, “All yours, Helen.” Since then, her dog has grown into a wonderful friend for the lanky, red-haired girl. No one knows exactly when Tuck began to go blind. By the time Helen and her parents notice the symptoms, the dog is knocking over chairs and can no longer chase squirrels.

Carl and his 15-year-old cousin stumble into a clearing to find the small tarpaper shack with the smoke coming out of the chimney. It may belong to a trapper. Or it could belong to a woodsy - a man who live in the woods because he can’t be with other people. But with night advancing quickly, the boys know they must find shelter from the coming storm - and fast. And that’s how they first meet the Foxman, a strange recluse with a face hideously deformed by a wartime injury. While Carl is just as glad to leave the shack after the storm, his cousin feels strangely drawn to the Foxman.

Alicia Ramirez has always loved baking. Her family owns Say It with Flour, the small bakery in town. And Ali's specialties are cake pops: delicious confections on a stick. But Ali's sweet life turns sour when a sleek coffee shop opens across the street, giving her bakery a run for its money. Worst of all, the owner's son, Dane McGuire, likes to bake, too. He's the new kid in Ali's school...and happens to be annoyingly cute. When Dane and Ali engage in a bake-off to prove who is the cake-pop master, it's Ali's chance to save Say It with Flour. But will she be able to rise to occasion?

Mary Anne has never been a leader of the BSC. So when a fight breaks out among the club's four members, Mary Anne feels a little lost, unable to depend on Kristy, Stacey, or Claudia anymore. Sitting by herself in the cafeteria is bad enough; when Mary Anne has to baby-sit a sick child without any help from the club, she knows someone has to take action. It's time for Mary Anne to step in and save the day!

When the world started to fall apart, the government gave everyone two choices: move into the Bubble Cities... or take their chances outside. Twelve-year-old Maggie and her family chose the latter. They live in the world that was left behind. Deciding it's time to grow up and grow tough, Maggie rechristens herself "Ford Falcon" - a name taken from the beat-up car she finds at a nearby junkyard. This is where Ford's family goes to scavenge for things they can use and barter with.

Kristy's mom is getting married, and everyone is coming to town to help, bringing their kids with them. Fourteen kids! Kristy is sure she and Stacey, Claudia, Mary Anne, and Dawn can handle it - they're professional baby-sitters after all, and Kristy's mom has offered them a lot of money to take on such a big job.

But will a week of changing diapers, stopping fights, solving mix-ups, and keeping 14 children entertained prove to be too much for the BSC? Can they keep things under control for Kristy's big day?

Minty's neighborhood is full of mysteries. There's the Witch House, a spooky old farmhouse. There's the Man Bat, a seven-foot-tall half-man, half-bat who is rumored to fly through the woods. And there are the Mean Boys, David and Troy, who torment Minty for no reason, and her boy-crazy older sister, Thea, who acts weirder and weirder. One day Minty spots a flash in the woods, and when she chases after it, she discovers a new mystery - a Secret Tree, with a hollow trunk that holds the secrets of everyone in the neighborhood.

Ana Ramos may not have a dog of her own, but she does get to walk her neighbor's adorable pug, Osito. One day, at the park, Osito befriends another pug, Pancake, whose owner just happens to be a cute new boy named Calvin. When Calvin assumes that Osito belongs to Ana, she doesn't correct him. No big deal, right?

Esther is a middle child, in her own mind a pale reflection of siblings who are bright, shining stars. She’s content to go back to school, do her best, hang out with her friends, and let others take care of things. But her best friends aren’t at school when she gets there. Why didn’t they tell her they wouldn’t be coming back? But stuff like that happens. And it’s bad luck that her new teacher makes Esther the butt of all kinds of jokes. Mrs. Pollock is rumored to be an ogre - and maybe she is one. Could be. Then things go from unfortunate to outright dangerous.

Most kids would do anything to pass the Iron Trial. Not Callum Hunt. He wants to fail. All his life, Call has been warned by his father to stay away from magic. If he succeeds at the Iron Trial and is admitted into the Magisterium, he is sure it can only mean bad things for him. So he tries his best to do his worst - and fails at failing. Now the Magisterium awaits him. It's a place that's both sensational and sinister, with dark ties to his past and a twisty path to his future.

For the Vanderbeeker kids of Harlem’s 141st Street, spring break couldn’t be off to a better start. Isa’s back from band camp, Oliver’s building his first-ever treehouse in the backyard of the brownstone, and Laney, Jess, and Hyacinth are excited to help their mother when she gets the once-in-a-lifetime chance to star in a cooking magazine.

As the newest member of the BSC, Dawn is eager to prove herself. So when a big job comes along, she jumps at the chance to show everyone what she's made of. The Barretts are even more challenging than Dawn expected. The house is a mess, Mrs. Barrett is unreliable, and the kids are out of control. Dawn knows she's a great baby-sitter, but this is impossible! She only knows one thing for sure - a member of the BSC never gives up!

Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets - and human lives.

In The Fiery Heart, Sydney risked everything to follow her gut, walking a dangerous line to keep her feelings hidden from the Alchemists.

Now in the aftermath of an event that ripped their world apart, Sydney and Adrian struggle to pick up the pieces and find their way back to each other. But first, they have to survive.

While Isa is off at sleepaway orchestra camp, Jessie, Oliver, Hyacinth, and Laney are stuck at home in the brownstone with nothing to do but get on one another's nerves. But when catastrophe strikes their beloved upstairs neighbor, their sleepy summer transforms in an instant as the Vanderbeeker children band together to do what they do best: make a plan. They will create the most magical healing garden in all of Harlem.

In Way of the Warrior Kid, Marc went from wimp to warrior in one summer. He learned to be strong inside and out, mastered his multiplication tables, conquered his fear of swimming, and even made nice with the meanest kid on the playground (who turned out to be not so mean after all). Now, in this second audiobook in the middle grade Warrior Kid series, Marc uses what he learned last summer to help another kid who needs a boost. Can he take the skills he learned from his Navy SEAL uncle Jake to instill the warrior spirit in someone who needs his help?

Stacey and Mary Anne are baby-sitting for the Pike family for two weeks at the New Jersey shore. Things are great in Sea City: There's a gorgeous house right on the beach, a boardwalk, plenty of sun and sand...and the cutest boy Stacey has ever seen! Mary Anne thinks that Stacey should leave Scott alone and focus on the Pike kids, but Stacey's in love. Looking for reasons to hang around his lifeguard stand takes up all of her time, which means Mary Anne has to do the job of two baby-sitters.

It’s almost time for school to start again, and Nikki is a little worried—but, as always, she has her BFFS to help. Only, it turns out her friends need Nikki’s help. Nikki quickly gets overwhelmed and even starts feeling sick…which is when her little sister, Brianna, takes her chance to steal Nikki’s diary! How much damage can Brianna do before Nikki is back on her feet?