Family Reader

Alex Harmon prefers running over sitting still reading. But when his aunt offers to pay him to point out the boring parts in her children's book, he figures it's an easy way to make 10 bucks. The problem is that her book is about a grumpy frog and a prize-winning zucchini. It doesn't have only a few boring pages...the whole thing is a lost cause.

Twelve-year-old Pavi Sharma is an expert at the Front Door Face: the perfect mix of puppy dog eyes and a lemonade smile, the exact combination to put foster parents at ease as they open their front door to welcome you in. After being bounced around between foster families and shelter stays, Pavi is a foster care expert and runs a "business" teaching other foster kids what she's learned. With a wonderful foster family in mom Marjorie and brother Hamilton, things are looking up. Then Pavi meets Meridee: a five-year-old, who's getting placed at Pavi's first horrendous foster home.

Dove "Birdie" Randolph works hard to be the perfect daughter and follow the path her parents have laid out for her: She quit playing her beloved soccer, she keeps her nose buried in textbooks, and she's on track to finish high school at the top of her class. But then Birdie falls hard for Booker, a sweet boy with a troubled past...whom she knows her parents will never approve of. When her estranged aunt, Carlene, returns to Chicago and moves into the family's apartment above their hair salon, Birdie notices the tension building at home.

Everyone in the neighborhood dreams of a taste of Omu's delicious stew! One by one, they follow their noses toward the scrumptious scent. And one by one, Omu offers a portion of her meal. Soon, the pot is empty. Has she been so generous that she has nothing left for herself? Debut author-illustrator Oge Mora brings to life a heartwarming story of sharing and community as luscious as Omu's stew, with an extra serving of love. An author's note explains that "Omu" (pronounced AH-moo) means "queen" in the Igbo language of her parents, but growing up, she used it to mean "Grandma".

Ultramarathons. Bike sprints. Squats and deadlifts. Naps. Kitchen dance parties! All of it is in preparation for meeting Pequeno, the “Little One” growing in this strong mama’s belly. From first heartbeats and fluttery kicks to grinning grandparents and that first loud cry - pregnancy might just be the biggest workout yet! But there's nothing this mom and new baby can't tackle together as a team.

¿Por qué es la tierra tan importante para la familia de Cassie? Los acontecimientos de un año agitado—el año de los hombres de la noche y de los incendios, el año en que una muchacha blanca humilló a Cassie en público porque era negra—sirvieron para que Cassie se diera cuenta de que tener un lugar propio constituye el alma de la familia Logan. El valor y el orgullo de los Logan se los da la tierra, porque sin importar cuánto los puedan subestimar, los Logan poseen algo que nadie les puede quitar.

Ethan and Ella are excited to get to Paris - they've only ever seen pictures of the Eiffel Tower! After arriving, the twins receive an email from their beloved Grandpa Harry. He tells them that there's a secret bakery near the Louvre museum - so secret, in fact, that you need a password to get inside. Lucky for the twins, their dad wants to take them to see some artwork at the Louvre.

Thirteen-year-old Bosworth Hartie didn't think his parents could inflict much more mental torture on him. However, they get it into their heads to find him a wife, to keep him on the straight and narrow! And they match him up with the spiteful Veronica Melling.

When ten-year-old Liam moves house to be closer to his dementia-suffering grandma, he's thrown into an unfamiliar place, with a family that seems to be falling apart. Liam doesn't remember what his grandma was like before she became ill. He only knows the witchlike old woman who snaps and snarls and eats her birthday cards. He wants to fix it, but he can't. Walking his dog one day, Liam discovers an old stone gargoyle in a rundown church, and his life changes in impossible ways.

It’s the longest day of the year, and eighteen-year-old Brandy Bailey has just received the worst news of her life: She’s been accepted to a top nursing school, making her mother overwhelmingly proud. The thing is, Brandy wants to be an artist. She knows all the risks of chasing her dream. She’s heard them from her mother over and over. On top of that, Brandy’s annoying classmate from high school, the startlingly handsome Ben Nolan, is catching his far-fetched dream of being an actor.

High school senior Autumn Reeves has been waitlisted at her dream school. Determined to move to the top of the list, she must find a way to stand out. When a promposal she planned for a friend has half the senior class asking for her help, a brilliant business idea that will look great on her application is born: Promposal Queen. Autumn has no clue how to start a business, so she joins the Young Black Entrepreneurs group and finds herself face-to-face with Mekhi Winston, the boy whose unexpected freshman-year kiss.

On the day of a rare super blue blood moon eclipse, 12-year-old Amira and her little brother, Hamza, can’t stop their bickering while attending a special exhibit on medieval Islamic astronomy. While stargazer Amira is wowed by the amazing gadgets, a bored Hamza wanders off, stumbling across the mesmerizing and forbidden Box of the Moon. Amira can only watch in horror as Hamza grabs the defunct box and it springs to life, setting off a series of events that could shatter their world - literally.

When Lori’s Dorothy Parker-loving grandmother dies, Lori’s world is turned upside down. Grandma Sheryl was everything to Lori—and not just because Sheryl raised Lori when Lori’s mom got a job out of town. Now Lori’s mom is insisting on moving her away from her beloved Boston right before senior year. Desperate to stay for as long as possible, Lori insists on honoring her grandmother’s last request before she moves: to scatter Sheryl’s ashes near things that grow.

Mouse is desperate to be a superhero. To find that power that will make him stand out in the crowd. But his every attempt ends in failure. He can't even get any attention at home, as his five brothers (triplets and twins) take every second of Mum and Dad's attention. When Mum foils a bank robbery while on duty as a lollipop lady, she and Mouse are lauded as superheroes. Joining forces with Mouse are The Z List - a group of unlikely crime fighters. But in their midst is a traitor hell-bent on revenge.

Ancient pyramids can be flat-out dangerous! Ever since Stanley was flattened by a bulletin board, there are places he can get to that no one else can. So when Stanley receives a letter from an archaeologist, he travels by airmail to Egypt to help find an ancient treasure deep in the heart of a great pyramid. But what if even the flattest boy on earth can't wriggle out of this dark tomb - and the terrible mess he finds himself in?

It's summer before eighth grade, and Erica "Chia" Montenegro is feeling so many things that she needs a mood ring to keep track of her emotions. She's happy when she hangs out with her best friends, the Robins. She's jealous that her genius little sister skipped two grades. And she's passionate about the crushes on her Boyfriend Wish list. And when Erica's mom is diagnosed with breast cancer, she feels worried and doesn't know what she can do to help.

Stevie’s life is fluctuating rapidly. She's starting over in a brand-new middle school. Quiet and observant, it's hard for her to make friends. Plus, her mind is too occupied. The tension in her home is building as her parents' arguments are becoming more frequent. To top it all off, Stevie's older cousin Naomi is coming to live with the family in an attempt to keep her from a "bad" crowd—The Black Panthers.

Accidents happen. Sometimes that’s a good thing. Did you realize cheese puffs, Coca-Cola, Bubble Wrap, and the Post-it note were all invented by accident? This audiobook covers fascinating origin stories of 60 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 audiobook share amazing stories about everyday products, but it will also inspire you. We all encounter things that go wrong, and this audiobook reminds us that when life gives lemons, we can make lemonade.

For seventeen-year-old Maya, the equation for happiness is simple: a dream internship at MIT + two new science nerd friends + a perfect boyfriend = one amazing summer. Then Whit dumps her out of the blue. Maya is miserable until she discovers that her scientist mother, before she died, was conducting research on manipulating pheromones to enhance human attraction.

In the third book of this lauded series, Grandma, Granddad, We Want to Praise God follows inquisitive children who learn from their loving grandparents that praising God brings joy. Grandparents and their grandchildren, as well as parents, guardians, and caregivers, will love the rhyming stanzas of a child's natural curiosity and growing discovery that we can express praise through the good and the bad; anywhere or anytime; and with singing, dancing, shouting, and clapping. This engaging story will empower children in fostering habits of praise and thankfulness.