Young Readers Fiction

When Peter Mills descends into the creepy basement of Finley Junior High, he discovers a dark and twisted truth: Girls haven't always ruled the world. Now armed with a book of ancient, forbidden man secrets (such as how to make paper airplanes, stink bombs, and beef jerky), Peter and his friends think they've found the recipe to changing their lives. But the boys of the Beef Jerky Gang will soon find out that the girls aren't about to give up control to a bunch of prank-pulling punks.

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.

The story involves foreign espionage against a secret government missile project that is based in Washington. Steve Ames comes for help from the Spindrift Foundation after several scientists are struck down by a mysterious neural malady that seems to cause severe aphasia and inability to communicate. Steve suspects foul play and decides that isolating the remaining members of the research group on Spindrift Island for security purposes might save them from further attacks, but as the whole Brant family discovers the enemy does not give up that easily.

After the overnight mega success of his dad's cookie store, twelve-year-old Ellis Johnson is on top of the world. He’s met celebrities, strangers stop “the Cookie Kid” on the street, and he’s even headed to NYC to be in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with his dad. Ellis is ready for his star turn, playing harmonica on national television—until his big break turns into the most embarrassing moment of his life.

Nine girls bound together in beautiful, virtuous Havenwood, a refuge from an unsafe world. Then there are eight, one of them gone—departed with no warning. Did this member of their pack stray willingly, or did something more sinister occur? The girls seek answers not knowing if they should be angry or frightened or perhaps, they should be both.

Meet Erik Sheepflattener. Each member of his modern-day Viking-heritage family has a motto to live by. His parents have Family and Pride. His sisters have Conquer and Win. His grandfather has Turnip. But Erik is developing a motto he can truly believe in: Avoid Stuff. Mostly, Erik’s fierce family ignores or discounts him, especially when he tries to say no. But while spending the summer with his rough-and-tumble cousins and older sister Brunhilde in Minnesota, axe-wielding Bru gets the idea to name and Conquer all of Erik’s fears.

Luna-C is madness for music, for performing. Luna-C is two friends, one dream, one man. It's an obsession and a gift, a sacrifice and a celebration. Luna-C is the story of a band, and the people in it.

Fifteen-year-old Simran "Simi" Sangha comes from a long line of Indian vichole - matchmakers - with a rich history for helping parents find good matches for their grown children. When Simi accidentally sets up her cousin and a soon-to-be lawyer, her family is thrilled that she has the "gift." But Simi is an artist, and she doesn't want to have anything to do with relationships, helicopter parents, and family drama. That is, until she realizes this might be just the thing to improve her and her best friend Noah's social status.

Jack knows every wrestling move there is to know, and his dreams come true when he's recruited as a training assistant to Waldo's Wrestling Trolls. Little does Jack know that he's actually part troll, and that when his new family is in trouble he morphs into the terrifying Thud! He'll have to build a team of wrestling trolls to take on Lord Veto's evil orcs at the tournament of tournaments.

The Electronic Mind Reader, the 12th Rick Brant novel, was published in 1957 and is another JANIG-based adventure with government spook Steve Ames as one of the main characters. The story involves foreign espionage against a secret government missile project based in Washington. Steve Ames comes for help from the Spindrift Foundation after several project scientists are struck down by a mysterious neural malady that seems to cause severe aphasia and inability to communicate.

University-trained Battle Wizards are rare on this continent, so Mazart has advantages over other wizards. But there's a plot to set him up. It starts with a spell that is placed on him by some unknown party. The spell gives him waking dreams of a beautiful queen with elfin features. Seems harmless enough, but what is the purpose? He wonders if he's going to end up having to teach someone a lesson about Battle Wizards.

Pinkalicious is absolutely positive that a flower fairy will visit her garden. After all, flower fairies love pink, and so does Pinkalicious! When Pinkalicious transforms her garden into a pink wonderland, will it entice the flower fairy to visit?

Growing up in a remote part of Alaska, Ivan and September Crane know that autumn is an unpredictable season - days of clear blue skies can give way to fierce, sudden storms in a blink. They know the trouble signs: changes in the wind, the temperature, or even the color of the dawn. But somehow, this time, left alone when their fisherman father is delayed at sea, even their keen sense of their surroundings and the lessons they've been taught fail them.

Marnie Wells knows that she creeps people out. It's not really her fault; her brother is always in trouble, and her grandmother, who's been their guardian since Mom took off, is...eccentric. So no one even bats an eye when Marnie finds an old tea-leaf-reading book and starts telling fortunes. The ceremony and symbols are weirdly soothing, but she knows - and hopes everyone else does, too - that none of it's real. Then basketball star Matt Cotrell asks for a reading.

Back in his old basketball league, before the car accident, 13-year-old Carlos Cooper owned the court, sprinting and jumping and lighting up the scoreboard as his opponents (and teammates) watched in amazement. But now, Carlos feels completely out of his league on his new wheelchair basketball team, the Rollin’ Rats. After all, how can he make a layup when he’s still struggling to learn how to dribble? But when the city’s crooked mayor threatens to tear down the Rollin’ Rats’ gym, Carlos realizes that he can’t stay on the sidelines forever.

Gwen is sick of hiding—hiding the fact that she’s taken over her father’s blacksmithing duties, hiding her attraction to girls, hiding her yearning for glory as a knight. Meanwhile, Lady Isobelle of Avington, queen bee of the castle, has never once considered hiding who she is—until now. She’s been chosen as the grand prize in the Tournament of Dragonslayers, to be given to whichever knight can claim her hand. And for the first time in her life, she can’t talk her way out of trouble.

Gabriel's life is about to change. He lives in a world where change never happens. In Harmony, a tyrannical mayor dictates everyone's lives without opposition. Gabriel makes a plan to change the routine of such a boring, regimented life. In his quest, he never expected to find himself in an unfamiliar place. And, unfortunately for him, his past is hot on his trail.

Adele grew up in the shadows—first watching from backstage at her mother’s Parisian dance halls, then wandering around the gloomy, haunted rooms of her father’s manor. When she’s finally sent away to boarding school in London, she’s happy to enter the brightly lit world of society girls and their wealthy suitors. Yet there are shadows there, too. Many of the men that try to charm Adele’s new friends do so with dark intentions. After a violent assault, she turns to a roguish young con woman for help. Together, they become vigilantes meting out justice.

For 17-year-old Flannery Fields, the only respite from the plaid-skirted mean girls at Sacred Heart High School is her beloved teacher Miss Sweeney's AP English class. But when Miss Sweeney doesn't show up to teach Flannery's favorite book, Wuthering Heights, leaving behind her purse, Flannery knows something is wrong.

Noah Nicholson has plenty to be grateful for. He has solid grades and great friends, he’s finally becoming closer with Lucy Martinez—his crush since second grade—and he just might have a chance to be elected class president next week. But despite all that, Noah fixates on the should’ve-beens and could’ve-beens and the belief that he can make his life perfect. Then Noah comes upon an opportunity to do just that.