Family Reader

Halloween with Junie B. has got to be a scream! Get ready for a "Halloweenie" adventure with the world's funniest first grader!

This book covers fascinating origin stories of 55 everyday items that were invented by accident; that is, the inventor did not expect to make the product when the product was discovered. Not only will this book share amazing stories about everyday products, but it will also inspire you. We all encounter things that go wrong, and this book reminds us that when life gives lemons, we can make lemonade. (Seriously, pink lemonade was made by accident—listen to the story inside.) Each story is written to encourage kids and adults to be curious and be inspired to create.

Evvie Chambers is doing her best to skate through the last month of high school to graduation. The only thing standing in her way is a biology report on foxes—and her teacher, Mrs. Audrey Dearborn. The same Mrs. Dearborn who’s been a thorn in Evvie’s side for years, refusing to acknowledge or accommodate her neurodiversity. Evvie would much rather be doing her report on Aretha, the octopus she cares for when she volunteers at the Minnesota Zoo but deviating from the exact assignment isn’t allowed—and Mrs. Dearborn isn’t going to make following the rules easy.

Welcome to the Rotten School, a new series set in a boarding school that's rotten to the core. The school motto is Growth, Learning, Pizza. Meet charming conniver Bernie Bridges, his arch-rival Sherman Oaks, housemother Mrs. Heinie, Coach Bunz, Headmaster I. Will Upchuck, and the rest of the students and faculty in two stories that prove that while good is good and bad is better, rotten is the best of all!

In the hopes of receiving some mail of her own, Paula writes a letter to her grandparents.

Ricky and Nicky are twins. They do everything together and look a lot alike. How can you tell these twins apart?

It’s grocery shopping day, and Gabe’s father has made a shopping list. Gabe has a list of his own, and it’s nothing like Dad’s. What will they bring home?

Kelly keeps hearing the drip, drip, drip of the bathroom faucet. She soon discovers her brother Jack hasn’t been shutting the water off tight. It is up to her to teach him how to save water and about how the water cycle works.

Tensions are rising between the Quatrans and the Specters, and the Quatra Fleet is gearing up for an epic fight. With a galaxy on the brink of war and loyalties divided, the friendship of four cadets will be tested. Orelia has been arrested for espionage, and her future is looking bleak...until the Quatrans make her a surprising offer that could save her life - and the lives of everyone in the galaxy. Reeling from his breakup, Arran finds comfort in a sympathetic boy from Loos, someone who understands how hard it can be to fit in.

The Poky Little Puppy: A puppy loves to dig holes under the fence, despite what his mother, his brothers, and sisters say. But the poky little puppy digs one hole too many in this charming story and ends up missing dessert. (Also includes Scuffy the Tugboat, Tawny Scrawny Lion, and The Saggy Baggy Elephant.)

Chester’s mom teaches him a song about fireflies. Learn the song along with Chester. One, two, three.…

Sasquatch! That's who Judy looks like in her school picture. Antarctica! That's where Judy's been sent three times in a single sour-ball week to chill out. Can Judy's mood get any worse? Well, duh! Of course it can. Unless…it's Backward Day! That means it's time for Judy to turn that frown upside down, make lemonade out of lemons, and be nice to stinky little brothers. Can she stay in a good-not-bad mood for an entire day? How about seven whole days? Will her friends freak out when they see a tidy, on-time Judy who smells like cupcake lip gloss?

Lulu has received the worst. News. Ever. She's getting a baby sister. No one ever asked her opinion on this debacle. She no how, no way, no thank you wants a sibling. Undeterred, to prepare Lulu for big sisterhood, her parents bribe - ahem, ask - Lulu to attend Camp Sisterhood, aka big-sister training camp. As a sister in training (SIT), Lulu is assigned a variety of temporary little "siblings". Well, no one ever said Camp Sisterhood was supposed to teach Lulu how to be a good big sister, so Lulu resolves to be a bad big sister.

Elise carries a notebook full of tallies. Each page marks a day spent at her new public school. Each stroke of her pencil marks a word spoken - a word that can't be taken back. Five tally marks isn't so bad. Two is pretty good. But zero? Zero is perfect. Zero means no wrong answers called out in class, no secrets accidentally spilled, and no conversations to agonize over at night when sleep is far away. But now months have passed, and Elise isn't sure she could speak even if she wanted to

Are Amelia Bedelia and her friends barking up the wrong tree? Recess just got super exciting. Amelia Bedelia and her friends are on the playground when they hear a strange noise coming from a nearby tree. It’s a tiny kitten stuck on a high branch! It’s up to Amelia Bedelia and her friends to figure out how to rescue the kitten and, once they do, to find the little cat a purr-fect new home!

After leaking a story about the family business, impetuous high school freshman Carina Jurgensen is cut off by her billionaire father. Always resourceful, she fibs her way into a job as a party planner for New York's annual Silver Snowflake Ball. But when Carina finds out that the party committee expects favors and freebies from her dad's A-list connections, a choice must be made: Does she get real about her downgraded status, or pretend she's still the ultimate heiress?

Thirteen-year-old Nikki Doyle's dreams of becoming a basketball great feel within reach when she's selected to play on an elite-level club team. But in a league with taller, stronger, and faster girls, Nikki suddenly isn't the best point guard. In fact, she's no longer a point guard at all, which leaves her struggling to figure out who she is and how she fits in.

One day after school, on the couch in the basement, Tori's uncle did something bad. Afterward, Tori tells her mom. Even though telling was a brave thing to do, her mom still doesn't believe her at first. Her grandma still takes his side. And Tori doesn't want anyone else - even her best friend - to know what happened. Now Tori finds herself battling mixed emotions - anger, shame, and sadness - as she deals with the trauma. But with the help of her mom, her little sister, her best friend, and others, can Tori find a way to have the last word?

Spurred by a newfound awareness of false advertising, Stink Moody becomes the proverbial kid in a candy store as his letter-writing campaign yields him heaps of free rewards. When Stink buys a mammoth jawbreaker that doesn't break his jaw, he writes a letter of complaint to the manufacturer — and receives a ten-pound box of 21,280 jawbreakers for his trouble!

Mindy is excited to celebrate the Lunar New Year! Even though it’s the first one without her mom, Mindy is determined to enjoy the day. She decides to make traditional Korean New Year food, a rice cake soup that’s her favorite. But things aren’t going quite to plan, and the celebration doesn’t feel the same as it did before. With the help of her family and friends, can Mindy find a way to still enjoy her old holiday traditions, and create new ones along the way?