Growing Life

The hotly anticipated next novel from number-one best-selling author David Walliams, with audio hilariously read by the author himself! Jack's Grandpa wears his slippers to the supermarket, serves up Spam à la Custard for dinner, and often doesn't remember Jack's name. But he can still take to the skies in a speeding Spitfire and save the day.

Melody finally gets to fly on an airplane, and even the airline’s somewhat clumsy handling of her wheelchair can’t dampen her excitement to be in London. There, Melody meets kids from all over the world who are rallying for greater accessibility and more thoughtful planning on how to make the world more equal for every kid, no matter the unusual challenges they face. As Melody’s time to speak approaches, she hopes she can find a way to make every word count and make an impact.

A massive zombies-versus-skeletons war has broken out in Minecraft, threatening to engulf and destroy the entire Overworld, and there's only one furry creature clever enough to stop it. Always a great teacher of crafting, as the conflict breaks out Bacca is tutoring his first zombie student - a young crafter named Dug - and decides to take his pupil with him on this important quest. Together they discover that the skeletons have stolen an ancient sword from the zombies that has a powerful prophecy surrounding it.

A New York Times best seller and USA Today best-selling book! From award-winning actor Neil Patrick Harris comes the magical first book in a new series with plenty of tricks up its sleeve. When street magician Carter runs away, he never expects to find friends and magic in a sleepy New England town. But like any good trick, things change instantly as greedy B.B. Bosso and his crew of crooked carnies arrive to steal anything and everything they can get their sticky fingers on.

This title is the third in the series of delightful stories about Anna Hibiscus, a little girl who lives in Africa. Anna Hibiscus is looking forward to visiting her grandmother in Canada, where she will see snow for the first time! But before she goes, she must find suitable clothes to keep her warm in the cold winter weather, and say goodbye to the family she loves. Anna Hibiscus, the first book in the series, was shortlisted for the Branford Boase Award 2008.

Ellie McFadden has intuitive gifts. She can sense what other living things are feeling. She can even talk to animals! Too bad she can’t connect with her twin sister, Parker. Parker McFadden has kinetic gifts. She can cause shocks to the Earth and produce heat energy that explodes from her body like fire, especially when she is angry. The sisters aren’t aware of the legacy they inherited from their mother until, on their 13th birthday, two mysterious relatives on the Power side whisk them off to an isolated sanctuary called Haven.

Two girls, two centuries apart. One never knowing the other. But when Andi finds Alexandrine’s diary, she recognizes something in her words and is moved to the point of obsession. There’s comfort and distraction for Andi in the journal’s antique pages - until, on a midnight journey through the catacombs of Paris, Alexandrine’s words transcend paper and time, and the past becomes suddenly, terrifyingly present.

In Mockingbird—a poignant gem by acclaimed author Kathryn Erskine—a talented young artist struggles to overcome a disability. Diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, 10-year-old Caitlin faces a range of social and emotional challenges. The unexpected death of her caring brother makes matters even worse, but will the memory of his words of wisdom and the help of a compassionate counselor be enough to enable her to connect with others?

In middle school, words aren't just words. They can be weapons. They can be gifts. The right words can win you friends or make you enemies. They can come back to haunt you. Sometimes they can change things forever. When cell phones are banned at Branton Middle School, Frost and his friends Deedee, Wolf, and Bench come up with a new way to communicate: leaving sticky notes for each other all around the school. It catches on, and soon all the kids in school are leaving notes - though for every kind and friendly one, there is a cutting and cruel one as well.

As a young adult in wartime Vienna, Georg Rauch helped his mother hide dozens of Jews from the Nazis behind false walls in their top-floor apartment and arrange for their safe transport out of the country. His family was among the few who worked underground to resist Nazi rule. Then came the day he was shipped out to fight on the eastern front as part of the German infantry—in spite of his having confessed his own Jewish ancestry.

They said his uncle Ian died in a car accident. Alex Rider knows that's a lie, and the bullet holes in his uncle's car confirm the truth. But nothing can prepare him for the news that the uncle he always thought he knew was really a spy for Britain's top-secret intelligence agency. Enlisted to find his uncle's killers and complete Ian's final mission, Alex suddenly finds himself caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse, with no way out.

Karen's best friend, Hannie, just got a new kitten. Now all her friends have cats. And Karen has a great idea. She can start a club like her big sister, Kristy. It will be a Kittycat Club! What will the club do? Karen can't babysit like Kristy...but she can cat-sit! Will anyone want Karen as a cat-sitter? They'd better - running a club is hard work!

Sebastian Garcia, Juliet Okofor, and twins Angus and Celia McNeil could not be more different from one another. But when they accidently discover an enchanted house that once belonged to the great magician Moriarty Mortimer, everything changes. Legend has it that somewhere inside the mysterious mansion is the most powerful book of magic ever known, and the kids aren’t the only ones hoping to find it. Someone unexpected wants to use it for their evil plan.

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.

Thirteen-year-old Stewart is academically brilliant but socially clueless. Fourteen-year-old Ashley is the undisputed "it" girl in her class, but her grades stink. Their worlds are about to collide when Stewart and his dad move in with Ashley and her mom. Stewart is trying to be 89.9 percent happy about it, but Ashley is 110 percent horrified. She already has to hide the real reason her dad moved out; "Spewart" could further threaten her position at the top of the social ladder.

Aphrodite delights in helping mortals find love, but she is definitely not delighted by the constant attention from the godboys at Mount Olympus Academy. So she comes up with the perfect plan to try and deflect some of that attention: She'll help a fellow goddess girl, Athena, find her very first crush. After giving Athena a fabulous makeover, Aphrodite is suddenly an afterthought as the boys at MOA go gaga for Athena's new look. And Aphrodite is a bit unprepared for just how much attention one of her best friends is now receiving.

Kaitlyn is a top-notch babysitter: she's organized, disciplined, and efficient. And she needs her regular babysitting gigs to pay for new clothes, bedroom decor, and, of course, her cell phone. So when the Sweet family decides to replace her with a new, fun sitter named Doc, she's determined to beat her new competition…if only she could figure out who he is. As the story unfolds, Kaitlyn realizes that even an experienced sitter like her can learn a thing or two from the new guy on the block.

Three complete stories in one collection! Includes The Mystery Girl, The Mystery Cruise, and The Disappearing Friend Mystery. In The Mystery Girl, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny are working in a general store to help out a friend of Aunt Jane’s. It seems to the children that the young girl who works in the store is behaving very strangely. She seems nervous and won’t answer any questions about her past. Then a strange man comes to the store asking about her. What secret is the mystery girl hiding?

Zane Obispo spends every day exploring the sleeping volcano in his backyard. "The Beast", as he calls it, is the one place where he can escape other kids, who make fun of him because he has a limp and walks with a cane. After a plane crashes into The Beast, a mysterious girl named Brooks shows up at Zane's doorstep, insisting that they meet at the volcano, where she will reveal a terrible secret. Zane agrees. Brooks tells him that the volcano is actually a centuries-old prison for the Mayan god of death, whose destiny is directly tied to Zane's.

In a discontented kingdom, civil war is brewing. To unify the divided people, Conner, a nobleman of the court, devises a cunning plan to find an impersonator of the king's long-lost son and install him as a puppet prince. Four orphans are recruited to compete for the role, including a defiant boy named Sage. Sage knows that Conner's motives are more than questionable, yet his life balances on a sword's point - he must be chosen to play the prince or he will certainly be killed. But Sage's rivals have their own agendas as well.