Synopsis: Once upon a time, there was a girl who wanted to be pretty . . . Aza's singing is the fairest in all the land, and the most unusual. She can "throw" her voice so it seems to come from anywhere. But singing is only one of the two qualities prized in the Kingdom of Ayortha. Aza doesn't possess the other: beauty. Not even close. She's hidden in the shadows in her parents' inn, but when she becomes lady-in-waiting to the new queen, she has to…

Synopsis: Two boys, separated by the canyons of time and two vastly different cultures, face the challenges by which they will become men.Coyote Runs, an Apache boy, takes part in his first raid. But he is to be a man for only a short time.More than a hundred years later, while camping near Dog Canyon, 15-year-old Brennan Cole becomes obsessed with a skull that he finds, pierced by a bullet. He learns that it is the skull of an Apache boy executed by…

Synopsis: “Let’s face facts: We may be the most boring twelve-year-olds on the planet.”   Henry Mosley decides that he and his pals Riley and Reed have got to liven things up. They need to go on some earth-shaking adventures and make a name for themselves. Henry is the mastermind; Riley’s the cautious researcher who’s prepared for anything. And somehow fearful Reed always ends up with the scariest, craziest assignments.             Roped into wacky…

Synopsis: Fourteen-year-old Francis Tucket is heading west on the Oregon Trail with his family by wagon train. When he receives a rifle for his birthday, he is thrilled that he is being treated like an adult. But Francis lags behind to practice shooting and is captured by Pawnees. It will take wild horses, hostile tribes, and a mysterious one-armed mountain man named Mr. Grimes to help Francis become the man who will be called Mr. Tucket.

Synopsis: "You can live on the same farm, in the same house with your uncle for eleven summers, eleven winters, and still not know him. You and your older brother, Wayne, can work in the fields alongside him and Father and Nels - the other old, old man on the farm - and still Uncle David can one day amaze you. Every night in the winter room, used only in winter because then no work can be done outside, Mother and Father, Nels and Wayne and you - Eldon -…

Synopsis: In his first novel for young adults, Gary Soto paints a moving portrait of two sweet, ambitious Mexican American brothers who hope junior college will help them escape their heritage of tedious physical labor. Their struggles are humorous, true to life, and deeply affecting, and young adults will sympathize with them as they work through their problems and eventually come to terms with what is possible in an imperfect world. “Readers looking for…

Synopsis: Hurt Go Happy is a captivating novel for young readers by beloved author Ginny Rorby. The Schneider Family Book Award-winning novel is inspired by the true story of a chimpanzee raised as a human.Thirteen-year-old Joey Willis is used to being left out of conversations. Though she's been deaf since the age of six, Joey's mother has never allowed her to learn sign language. She strains to read the lips of those around her and often fails.…

Synopsis: A baby whale is the latest mammal stranded on the beaches of Acadia National Park. When the Landons run to get help, they don’t notice Bindy Callister slip away. When they track her down, she’s acting strange—she knows the strandings are no accident. She even knows those responsible. But she’s too scared to tell. Time is running out; and now the kids too are in real danger—unless Bindy talks!

Synopsis: Gloria Whelan's National Book Award–winning novel, chronicles the breathtaking story of a remarkable young woman who dares to defy fate. Like many girls her age in India, thirteen–year–old Koly faces her arranged marriage with hope and courage. But Koly's story takes a terrible turn when in the wake of the ceremony, she discovers she's been horribly misled; her life has been sold for a dowry. In prose both graceful and unflinching, this…

Synopsis: This boxed set includes the first and third book in the Macdonald Hall series; This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall! and Beware the Fish!.This Can't Be Happening at Macdonald Hall!In Gordon Korman's beloved first book, Bruno and Boots team up...and school is never the same!Bruno and Boots are always in trouble. So the Headmaster, aka "The Fish" decides it would be best to separate them. Bruno must now room with ghoulish Elmer Dimsdale, plus…

Synopsis: Jason and his two friends are about to have the ultimate summer experience, because they've just taken over Jason's cool older brother Joe's apartment for the summer. Now all they have to do is just say no: No parents. No rules. No problems. Right? Wrong. And Jason's brother hasn't even found out what happened to his apartment. Yet.

Synopsis: This funny and heartwarming sequel to Ungifted, which has become a word-of-mouth hit,cleverly sends up our ideas about intelligence, heroism, and popularity.Donovan Curtis has never been what anyone would call “gifted.” But his genius friend Noah Youkilis is actually supergifted, with one of the highest IQs around. After years at the Academy for Scholastic Distinction, all Noah dreams of is the opportunity to fail if he wants to. And he’s landed…

Synopsis: A story of telling truth from lies -- and finding out what being a hero really means.There are two things Trevor loves more than anything else: playing war-based video games, and his great-grandfather Jacob, who is a true-blue, bona fide war hero. At the height of the war, Jacob helped liberate a small French village, and was given a hero's welcome upon his return to America.Now it's decades later, and Jacob wants to retrace the steps he took…

Synopsis: Jeff Bussey walked briskly up the rutted wagon road toward Fort Leavenworth on his way to join the Union volunteers. It was 1861 in Linn County, Kansas, and Jeff was elated at the prospect of fighting for the North at last. In the Indian country south of Kansas there was dread in the air; and the name, Stand Watie, was on every tongue. A hero to the rebel, a devil to the Union man, Stand Watie led the Cherokee Indian Na-tion fearlessly and…

Synopsis: "WHAT ABOUT WHAT THEY DID TO MY FATHER?... THE JAPS KILLED HIM!" Adam Pelko witnessed something horrible: the sinking of the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor -- with his father aboard. Since then, Adam and his mother and sister have moved to California, where they are trying to rebuild their lives. But no matter where Adam goes, he can't get away from the effects of the war. His best friend, Davi, has asked for help. Davi is…

Synopsis: With an Introduction and Notes by David Herd, Lecturer in English and American Literature at the University of Kent at Canterbury and co-editor of 'Poetry Review'. Moby Dick is the story of Captain Ahab's quest to avenge the whale that 'reaped' his leg. The quest is an obsession and the novel is a diabolical study of how a man becomes a fanatic. But it is also a hymn to democracy. Bent as the crew is on Ahab's appalling crusade, it is equally…

Synopsis: From New York Times bestselling authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare comes a riveting new series that defies what you think you know about the world of magic.Most kids would do anything to pass the Iron Trial. Not Callum Hunt. He wants to fail. All his life, Call has been warned by his father to stay away from magic. If he succeeds at the Iron Trial and is admitted into the Magisterium, he is sure it can only mean bad things for him. So he…

Synopsis: The great epic of Western literature, translated by the acclaimed classicist Robert FaglesSoon to be a major motion picture directed by Christopher NolanA Penguin ClassicRobert Fagles, winner of the PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation and a 1996 Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, presents us with Homer's best-loved and most accessible poem in a stunning modern-verse translation. "Sing to me of the man…