Great Friendships

Upon learning that the books with kids who look like her have been banned by her school district, Kanzi descends into fear and helplessness. But her classmates support her, and together—with their teacher’s help—they hatch a plan to hold a bake sale and use the proceeds to buy diverse books to donate to libraries. The event is a big success: the entire school participates, and the local TV station covers it in the evening news. Prodded by her classmates to read the poem she has written, Kanzi starts softly but finds her voice. “

A friendly competition to grow the best organic garden is underway. The prize is tempting . . . a ribbon, a photo and article in the newspaper, AND some all-you-can eat favorites from Ned’s Diner! Esmeralda, Annie, Oliver, and Rosamond are among the competitors. Just a few days before contest judging, some of Rosamond’s tomatoes go missing and Nate and Sludge are called to investigate. Who is eager for tomatoes, and why? Nate and Sludge are on the case, and what they find surprises all, but makes perfect sense!

Rebecca’s family members were murdered during the Holocaust. Soon after she starts work at a dream job, her life changes forever when she meets a charming, wealthy widower. He becomes her lover and takes her to his exclusive club and on vacations to exotic locations. She discovers he works for a company that conducted business with the Nazi government. What decision does she make?

Can a detective get a day off? Nate the Great and his dog, Sludge, want to take a break from solving cases. So they hide out in the woods. But soon they hear familiar voices shouting, “Nate the Great, where are you?” There are many mysteries to solve!

Esmeralda came up with the perfect name for Rosamond's pet concert. But she lost the pink paper where she wrote the word - and she can't remember what it is. Nate the Great and his dog, Sludge, take on the unusual case, and they are soon braving pink papers and barking, oinking, and talking pets. Will Nate and Sludge find the word in time for the show to go on?

Arnold is a large black bear. His best friend, Louise, is a small chipmunk. But one day, Louise insists she is not Louise - she's the Great Louweezie, and she can predict the future! But when the Great Louweezie's demands begin to test Arnold's patience, the game feels much less fun. What will happen if friendship isn't in their future?

You remember Unicorn. You know, Goat's friend? The one who can fly, make it rain cupcakes, and turn things into gold? On the first day of school, Unicorn expects to make his usual big splash. But no one pays him much attention - the other kids are much more interested in the latest trend in toys: rubber bands that look like other things. Unicorn comes up with a plan to get his mojo back, but his efforts turn out to be more annoying than impressive. Can Goat help him recover his magic, or is Unicorn destined to a life of mediocrity?

50+ Questions to Ask at a Party by Krista "KK" Mounsey offers an approach to starting and carrying on conversations at parties. Most books on having conversations at parties tell you to find some common ground and discuss that. Although there's nothing wrong with that, it can sometimes be much more fun to talk about random things to get thoughts and conversation flowing. Some of these are questions that you may have thought of, and others, perhaps, you have not considered yet. Either way, you’re sure to have lots of fun talking through them.