Growing Kids

Rafe Khatchadorian has enough problems at home without throwing his first year of middle school into the mix. Luckily, he's got an ace plan for the best year ever, if only he can pull it off: With his best friend Leonardo the Silent awarding him points, Rafe tries to break every rule in his school's oppressive Code of Conduct. Chewing gum in class - 5,000 points! Running in the hallway = 10,000 points! Pulling the fire alarm - 50,000 points! But when Rafe's game starts to catch up with him, he'll have to decide if winning is all that matters.

Do you have an adventurous and ambitious kid, and are wondering how to keep him engaged? Imagine if as a child, you had the opportunity to learn and understand earning and being able to invest properly, and how much better off you would have been as an adult with responsibilities now. In this book, your kid will discover the importance of money, how to earn money, what investing means, how to be safe while earning, how to manage your money, and much more. The step-by-step guide in this book is so easy to follow that you will succeed even if you never tried to earn and invest before.

Pizza and Taco have the oh-so-relatable problem of not knowing what to do when boredom strikes. The answer? Throw a party! They have a location, a guest list, and decorations. Everything is perfect . . . until it isn't. In fact, it's kind of a DISASTER! Ice Cream has a meltdown, and who knew Hamburger was lactose intolerant? (Who invited Cheeseburger anyway?) Well, now they know how NOT to throw a party!!

Catholic priests don't generally have children, but Australian legend Father Chris Riley has brought up about 60,000 – and they're some of the toughest kids around. He regularly encounters some of the most troubled children on Earth – kids who have given up or refuse to talk to others, who steal, take drugs, see themselves as irredeemable failures, hate everyone and everything, self-harm, have been abused or abuse other kids, and prostitute themselves.

Benjamin Banneker STEM Academy is the top middle school in Denver. Let’s just say the kids are . . . competitive. When Principal Yee announces the start of an epic Team Competition for the school, Frederick Douglass Zezzmer knows that trophy’s got his name on it. That’ll show his sports-obsessed Dad that he’s worthy, right? Only problem is, it’s a TEAM competition … and Doug isn’t so great working in a team environment (except with his best friend Huey, of course).

After sixth grade, the very worst year of his life, Rafe Khatchadorian thinks he has it made in seventh grade. He's been accepted to art school in the big city and imagines a math-and-history-free fun zone. Wrong! It's more competitive than Rafe ever expected, and to score big in class, he needs to find a way to turn his boring life into the inspiration for a work of art. His method? Operation: Get a Life! Anything he's never done before, he's going to do it, from learning to play poker to going to a modern art museum.

Cree singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie has been writing and performing her music for decades. She was the first Indigenous person to win an Academy Award (for an original song), the first person to breastfeed on TV (on her recurring role on Sesame Street), and is widely recognized for her activism on Indigenous rights and her powerful folk ballads.

Every parent must navigate the tricky situation of teaching kids about personal boundaries in a healthy, age-appropriate manner. Finding the right personal safety books to do it, however, just got easier with this book about personal space. Little Nick’s story is a consent book for parents to listen to with their little boys and girls. In this boundaries for kids book, Little Nick experiences several situations that make him uncomfortable, but once he tells his parents, he gains new ways to address the situations.

In this heartwarming tale, young listeners embark on an adventure alongside Mia, an endearing character brimming with curiosity and respect. Through her journey, children discover the significance of personal space, consent, and the art of recognizing boundaries. With a delightful relatable scenarios, young minds will be enchanted as they accompany Mia on her voyage of discovery.

Amelia Bedelia and her friends learn about recycling, upcycling, and making art in this funny story about community and friendship. With Amelia Bedelia involved, there are guaranteed to be a few funny mix-ups!

The year is 1926. Dave's beloved father is dead and his stepmother doesn't want him. Only the HHB will take him in. "Hebrew Home for Boys" better known as the "Hell Hold for Brats". But Dave is tough and a troublemaker. He can take care of himself. If he doesn't like the Home, he'll run away and find a better place. Only it's not that simple.

The best part of Kat's day is getting to walk her neighbor's irresistible pug, Meatball. So when her parents insist she start an extracurricular this year, she makes her own, by turning her hobby into a business: a dog-walking business, that is. She and her best friends, Taz and Lucy - as well as the cute new boy, Declan - try to get Four Paws Dog Walking into shape. But wrangling puppies and pleasing customers turns out to be harder than they thought! Can Kat keep taking care of the dogs she loves without hurting her friendships?

In this seventh Middle School episode, Rafe heads back to the place his misadventures began: the dreaded Hills Village Middle School, where he's now being forced to take "special" classes.... He also finds himself joining the school's football team - alongside his main tormenter, Miller the Killer! But Rafe has grand plans for a better year: First he decides to start a supersecret art project that's sure to rock the school.

When Kit’s family moves to Cozy Lane, she feels anxious. Exploring the neighborhood with her notebook where she writes everything down makes her feel a little better. But when her notebook goes missing, not even her new hamster friends can help her calm down. Then Mrs. G., the guinea pig next door, has an idea. They all make soup together, and as Kit breathes in the smell and breathes out to cool it, she finds herself feeling calmer. She even realizes her notebook isn’t as lost as she thought!

Jack Gantos' rocket-paced follow-up to the Newbery Medal–winning novel Dead End in Norvelt opens in the 1960s, deep in the shadow of the Cold War and the Cuban missile crisis. But instead of Russian warheads, other kinds of trouble are raining down on young Jack Gantos and his utopian town of Norvelt in western Pennsylvania. After an explosion, a new crime by an old murderer, and the sad passing of the town's founder, twelve-year-old Jack will soon find himself launched on a mission that takes him hundreds of miles away.

More than just a story, The Billionaire Jellybean helps kids develop habits that lead to lifelong financial success. Whether it’s jellybeans or dollars, the lesson is simple: the more you save, the more it grows!

When 12-year-old Lara Finkel starts her very own detective agency, FIASCCO (Finkel Investigation Agency Solving Consequential Crimes Only), she does not want her sister, Caroline, involved. She and Caroline don't have to do everything together! But Caroline won't give up, and when she brings Lara the firm's first mystery, Lara relents, and the mysteries start piling up. But Lara and Caroline’s truce doesn’t last for long. Caroline normally uses her tablet to talk, but now she's busily texting a new friend.

Look out, world - Llama Llama is a TV star! The beloved character, made famous by Anna Dewdney's best-selling picture books, is the star of his own original series, now airing on Netflix. In this episode-based book, Llama Llama is worried that his friends have forgotten about his birthday, but he's in for a big surprise when they throw him a party! Your little llamas will love relating to their favorite picture-book character as he faces new and challenging situations.

Kate’s life in Baton Rouge, full of friends and family, gymnastics and Girl Scouts, is just plain great. But then, at the age of twelve, she suddenly develops a mysterious shoulder pain that won’t go away . . . and that will change her life forever. It turns out that Kate has one of the rarest genetic disorders in the world, Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva. FOP causes bone to form in places in the body where it shouldn’t, and there’s no cure yet.

From the critically acclaimed author of the ALA Notable and Charlotte Huck Honor Book Forever, or a Long, Long Time comes a moving own-voices story that shines a light on how one girl’s learning differences are neither right nor wrong...just perfectly individual.