Changes are never easy to accept.Kevin, a man who suffers from the passing of time and what old age takes away.Anita, a woman with a tormented past behind her who tries to find serenity and peace for herself, while trying to be a leader and a mentor for those around her.Jolene, who tries to survive those years that should be the best of her life that are turning out to be a nightmare with a thousand questions and few answers.Together they will try to support eac...

THE PET WAR is a hilarious story about the timeless battles of dog vs. cat, brother vs. sister, know-it-all vs. know-nothing. Eleven-year-old Otto wants a dog. His twelve-year-old perfect sister, Lexi, wants a cat. Their mother, who works very long hours as a nurse, wants neither. Pets are expensive so who's going to pay for everything? And what happens to the pet when the siblings are at their dad's for the weekend? Otto has an idea. What if he got a job and earned enough money to pay for...

**A small-town girl and a troubled boy find an unexpected connection that transcends their differences.“Griffin gracefully answers questions and solves mysteries, leaving us with hope and a smile without making things falsely shiny and bright.”—The New York Times Book Review**Céce and Mack couldn’t be more opposite. She’s a sensitive A-student and he’s a high school dropout. But one thing’s for certain: They can’t resist their love for each other and soon they’re s...

Reunited after years apart, an intriguing cast of teens face heartbreak and home truths as they return to their old school and discover no one can ever truly go back.Four friends meet up at their old school to open the memory box they stowed there years ago – with five letters inside for four of them, because their friend Millie has died. When they open the box they find a new letter from Millie and discover that she has left them special instructions: permission t...

Owen has a crush on Kamryn. Kamryn has a crush on Owen's brother Kyle.Owen knows extreme action is necessary to make sure Kamryn does not end up dating his brother, a jerk who manipulates every situation to get what he wants. So what does Owen do? He manipulates the situation. With the help of his friend Hannah, Owen sets up a blog called The Oracle that gives out relationship advice to local teens. Everything seems to be going great. Hannah and Owen are having fun...

Rufus and his sister Alexa hate each other at the best of times.When Rufus's friend Phil manages to hypnotize Alexa, Rufus is ready to enjoy the power. They begin by ordering Alexa to be kind to her parents and Phil. The plan backfires when Alexa sweetly suggests canceling an expensive family vacation in favor of a week at home playing board games. Then Alexa turns on the charm with Phil and suddenly Rufus has to deal with a lovesick amateur hypnotist. Rufus is cer...

When grade-eight science-project time rolls around, J.J. Murphy skips the beakers and the papiermâché and dives into research about jerks. And idiots. But mostly jerks.By his own estimation, his science project, On a Scale from Idiot to Complete Jerk, is groundbreaking, exhaustive, highly scientific and seriously worthy of bonus marks. Beginning with the dawn of humankind and concluding conclusively with a very cool pie chart, the project dissects the elem...

Cathy Carr’s Lost Kites and Other Treasures is a moving and heartfelt middle-grade novel about mental illness, the transformative power of art, and the ever-changing complications and joys of family life."Sincere and funny . . . leaves readers with a sense of hope." –Sara Zarr**, author of A Song Called Home"Will be treasured by readers everywhere**." –Megan E. Freeman, award-winni...

I start up the street toward my grandfather's house. Just how weird is it that I, Brad Stanislawski, am walking toward a funeral home of my own free will?Where do you fit in when you're oversized, underappreciated, and faced with a name like Stanislawski?Brad Stanislawski is looking forward to summer vacation, if only to get away from the classmates who make fun of his size (it's not his fault he's so tall) and his last name (Stan-is-lousy being thei...