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Ballet Shoes for Anna (Essential Modern Classics)

Having lost their parents in an earthquake, Anna and her siblings live with their prim uncle and feeble aunt. Anna lives only to dance – but her uncle forbids her to have anything to do with ballet. How will she survive? For Anna, everything takes second place to her burning desire to dance. Even the earthquake that destroyed her Turkish home has not made her think differently, only now she's stuck in a prim suburban household with an uncle who "doesn't approve" of dancing. What can Anna do? Not only is there no one to give her lessons, but there's no money for them either, and, anyway, dancing's forbidden. Will she ever become the ballerina she longs to be?
Views: 668

The Ghost in the Aisle Seat: A YA Christmas Story

It's Christmas Eve and Haley Smythe is working the late shift at Snowflake Cinema. But she's not alone. At her side is a notorious local ghosthunter, out for his biggest scoop. And in Theater 6 is a man who claims to see his wife in that very cinema, only on Christmas Eve. As the three converge on this holiday night, secrets will be revealed and all will meet... The Ghost in the Aisle Seat.In this story you will be introduced to a new kind of species called Whisperers; Wisps for short. Though they're different they are very much like every other human-minus the super natural abilities of course. All of the characters in the story have their own story to tell. They all have connections, some have better connections than others but they don't yet know that there's something connecting them all to each other--> a case about a man and, or woman kidnapping and killing fellow Whisperers. Can they put their personal issues behind in order to get to the bottom of this? Or will they have to sacrifice one secret for another?You have to be in a dark place to want to find the light and all of these characters are there in that dark place, some need the light and others won't let them-selves have it. They think they know what they need but they don’t, they just know what they want. We don’t always get what we want though. Everyone serves an important purpose; they’re all here for a reason they just have to find out what the reason is. Soon, soon this world they live in won't be so barren, so without life, so...meaningless. Soon they'll find purpose.
Views: 668

Karen's Magic Garden

Karen's family is having a reunion in Maine. Karen meets her cousin Diana for the first time. Diana is a lot of fun. Together the cousins explore the old house. They even find a hidden garden. Karen and Diana fix up the garden. Soon it looks beautiful. Special things happen when they are there. Could the garden be magical too?
Views: 668

Seesaw Girl

Impatient with the constraints put on her as an aristocratic girl living in 17th-century Korea, 12-year-old Jade Blossom determines to see beyond her small world. Jade Blossom can never go beyond her family's inner court. All girls from good Korean families must learn to sew, do laundry, and work in the kitchen. This prepares them for their future lives in their husbands' inner court. Jade has other interests. She longs to take trips to the mountains and the marketplace. If only she could read and paint, but these are things only boys can do. Jade won't stop thinking about the world beyond the high walls of her home. Then one day she secretly sets off to do what no other girl her age has ever done before.
Views: 668

Showing Off

A new friend helps Meg to realise that appearances aren't always what they seem in this exciting new addition to Tanya Landman's delightful horse-riding series. When Meg and Merlin go to the local horse show they enter the Handy Pony class – a fun test of how well horse and rider work together. Meg is looking forward to it until stuck-up Sam Houseman – a girl from school – rides into the ring. Meg's day seems ruined. But then she discovers that people, like ponies, can sometimes be very surprising ...
Views: 668

Hybrids (three chapter preview)

Following the near destruction of his home, a young dragon must overcome his fears and save the empire from the emperor himself.Professor Charlie Douglas is at it again, sleuthing when he should be working on his classes and papers. After his successes in Murder at the Break and Murder in the Dorm, he's now working with a new homicide detective and hoping to impress her. Kate, Charlie's wife, is also getting involved. The chef at the University Faculty Club has been killed. The problem is that Charlie can't figure out why. He has suspects, but no motive. Perhaps this time he won't be of any use to the police, and that would be hard to take.
Views: 667

Pretend You Love Me

In this fresh, poignant novel (originally published under the title Far From Xanadu), Mike is struggling to come to terms with her father's suicide and her mother's detachment from the family. Mike (real name: Mary Elizabeth) is gay and likes to pump iron, play softball, and fix plumbing. When a glamorous new girl, Xanadu, arrives in Mike's small Kansas town, Mike falls in love at first sight. Xanadu is everything Mike is not -- cool, confident, feminine, sexy.... straight. Julie Anne Peters has written a heartbreaking yet ultimately hopeful novel that will speak to anyone who has ever fallen in love with someone who can't love them back.
Views: 667

Bloomability

My second life began when I was kidnapped by two complete strangers . . . That the kidnappers are actually Aunt Sandy and Uncle Max makes no difference to thirteen-year-old Domenica Santolina Doone, better known as Dinnie--she just doesn't want to go. Dinnie's accustomed to change, with her family constantly moving for "opportunity"--but when her aunt and uncle whisk her far away to an international school in Switzerland, she's not sure she's ready to face this "opportunity" alone. All at once she finds herself in a foreign country, surrounded by kids from different cultures speaking all sorts of languages and sharing various beliefs. Home and her first life seem so far away. But new friendships and the awesome beauty of Switzerland begin to unlock thoughts and dreams within her. Her joys and struggles make up a rich tapestry of experiences she can find nowhere else. Switzerland begins to be more than a temporary home--it becomes a part of Dinnnie herself, the self she never knew she could be. Switzerland is the picturesque backdrop of Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech's new novel about a young girl discovering the beauty of nature, her place in the world, the value of friendship--and that life is full of wonderful "bloomabilites."
Views: 667

The Boy Who Taught the Beekeeper to Read: And Other Stories

A young school boy visiting his aunt's country house finds company and friendship with the gentle beekeeper and begins teaching the man to read, so that it seems nothing can ever intrude upon their closeness. A young country girl fights against becoming a downtrodden domestic skivvy like her dead mother, while another young girl reaches a delicate understanding with an elderly blind man as they walk along the beach together. On another beach a more sinister plot unfolds as a gang of boys plans the most wicked deed.
Views: 666

Probable Impossibilities

Cody's friend, Gen, thinks she spotted Bigfoot in the woods. George Roge, an Internet blogger, is tracking the creature down. His blogs have attracted the press and curiosity seekers. George is getting close to their town. Too close. Cody wants life to return to normal, but Gen insists on going back into the woods to rescue Bigfoot.Cody’s friend, Gen, thinks she spotted Bigfoot living in the woods. The whole school hears about it, and they aren’t going to let them live it down. When Cody and Gen get caught passing notes in class, everyone gets stuck with an extra assignment. Cody’s dad tries to help him by sharing his password to an experimental program, EGOR. The program works great for the assignment. But then a blogger, named George Roge, appears on the Internet. George believes in Bigfoot. In fact, he's tracking the creature down, and the search is getting close to where Cody lives. Too close. Everyone is talking about George, even the teachers. Reporters and groups of Bigfoot hunters are swarming the town. Cody wants to avoid any more attention, but Gen insists on going back into the woods to rescue Bigfoot.
Views: 666

Murky Manor

When Meredith visits Murky Manor there is more mystery than just the fog surrounding the house. She discovers an old cup that affects the weather. Before she can figure it out, others become interested in the cup. There are creatures that appear to be made of mist and a strange girl who claims she is from another world and the cup belongs to her.How is power gained, retained and exercised; and what happens to a power structure when a young girl with magical abilities hacks and slashes her way into the very core of its apparatus?In a magical city that travels through multiple dimensions, a young girl named Hemlock has risen from being a lowly cutpurse to discovering that she is a powerful fighter. Under the guidance of an aging freedom fighter named Safreon, Hemlock battles to keep the peace in her run-down district, while across the City the upper class Elites enjoy peace, prosperity and freedom.The Wizard Tower looms in the center of the City, casting a long shadow over its affairs. The Wizards rule behind the scenes, dictating and controlling the use of magic. Hemlock instinctively feels that the Wizards are her enemies, but Safreon will not discuss openly opposing them, as he seeks to methodically mentor Hemlock, and advance his own cryptic plans for the City.Hemlock makes a decision to make a bold attack on the Wizard Tower alone, convinced that she can destroy or undo whatever method the Wizards are using to control and ration magic. As the novel opens, we join Hemlock just after she has infiltrated the Wizard Tower, learning what happens through a narrative interspersed with flashbacks to events leading up to the attack.This is a complete, standalone story; but interested readers can continue to follow Hemlock's adventures in The Maker's Fire series. Hemlock and the Dead God's Legacy (Book II) and Hemlock and the Dread Sorceress (Book III) are both available now!
Views: 665

Stacey's Movie

As part of her exciting film course, Stacey is making a documentary about teen life in Stoneybrook. The movie creates a conflict with friendships when Stacey pursues tell-all interviews with her friends and enemies.
Views: 665

Surprise Party

When an old friend returns to town, Meg plans a party to bring the old gang back together, but someone—or something—will do anything to keep it from happening in this chilling tale from Goosebumps author R.L. Stine.A year ago, Meg Dalton's group of friends fractured. Evan died in the Fear Street woods. Ellen moved away. The ones that stayed behind changed. And Meg felt as if she'd lost her best friends. Lately, even her boyfriend Tony has been acting moody and strange. But things may finally be looking up. Ellen is coming to visit! And what better way to bring old friends together than with a surprise party for her arrival? That's when the terror begins—the phone calls, the threats, the acts of violence. "Cancel the party—or else," whispers the voice on the phone. Meg is terrified. Who would do so many terrible things to stop her party? To find out, she'll have to venture into the dark Fear Street woods that took Evan's life last year.
Views: 665

Bus Station Mystery

A puzzle in relationships concerns two boys ejected from the bus station.
Views: 665

The Hostile Hospital

There is nothing to be found in the pages of these books but misery and despair. You still have time to choose something else to read. But if you must know what unpleasantries befall the charming and clever Baudelaire children read on...The Hostile Hospital - There are many pleasant things to read about, but this book contains none of them. Within its pages are such burdensome details as a suspicious shopkeeper, unnecessary surgery, heartshaped balloons, and some very starling news about a fire. Clearly you do not want to read about such things.
Views: 665