"Glittering. That’s how Katie Takeshima’s sister, Lynn, makes everything seem. The sky is kira-kira because its color is deep but see-through at the same time. The sea is kira-kira for the same reason. And so are people’s eyes. When Katie and her family move from a Japanese community in Iowa to the Deep South of Georgia, it’s Lynn who explains to her why people stop them on the street to stare. And it’s Lynn who, with her special way of viewing the world, teaches Katie to look beyond tomorrow. But when Lynn becomes desperately ill, and the whole family begins to fall apart, it is up to Katie to find a way to remind them all that there is always something glittering—kira-kira—in the future.
Luminous in its persistence of love and hope, Kira-Kira is Cynthia Kadohata’s stunning debut in middle-grade fiction."
"Not only is Turner Buckminster the son of the new minister in a small Maine town, he is shunned for playing baseball differently than the local boys. Then he befriends smart and lively Lizzie Bright Griffin, a girl from Malaga Island, a poor community founded by former slaves. Lizzie shows Turner a new world along the Maine coast from digging clams to rowing a boat next to a whale. When the powerful town elders, including Turner’s father, decide to drive the people off the island to set up a tourist business, Turner stands alone against them. He and Lizzie try to save her community, but there’s a terrible price to pay for going against the tide."
"Fifth grader Nora Rose Rowley is really a genius.
It’s true.
But don’t tell anyone.
Nora always gets average grades so she can forgo the pressure-cooker gifted program or Brainiac Academy.
But when Nora gets one hundred percent fed up over testing and the fuss everyone makes about grades, she brings home a terrible report card just to prove a point.
Pretty soon her teachers, parents, and the principal are launching a massive effort to find out what’s wrong. Can Nora convince them that tests alone are a stupid way to measure intelligence?"
"Esmé tells us about the night she and her mother became "egg vigilantes" against an illegally parked car; her freewheeling first school, where kids sat on sofas instead of at desks and could choose disco dancing instead of math; her dangerous neighborhood, which her father made seem friendly and wondrous; the Passover dinner when she stole a matzoh right out from under a rabbi; the awe-inspiring, life-threatening Chicago snowstorms; and lessons about love from tea-reading gypsies and Popeye cartoons.
In stories that perfectly evoke the perspective of her ten-year-old self, author Esmé Raji Codell demonstrates her gift for making the ordinary extraordinary, and the unusual familiar. SING A SONG OF TUNA FISH is a memoir of a Chicago childhood; a tribute to the art of attention; and most of all, a joyful listening experience for kids and families."
"A brilliant, touching coming-of-age story, and a Newbery Honor Book.
Martha Boyle and Olive Barstow could have been friends, but they weren't. Weeks after a tragic accident, all that is left are eerie connections between the two girls, former classmates who both kept the same secret without knowing it.
Now, even while on vacation at the ocean, Martha can't stop thinking about Olive. Things only get more complicated when Martha begins to like Jimmy Manning, a neighbor boy she used to despise. What is going on? Can life for Martha be the same ever again?
Multiple award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Kevin Henkes brings his insightful, gentle, real-world insight to middle grade novels, including:
Billy Miller Makes a Wish
Bird Lake Moon
The Birthday Room
Junonia
Olive's Ocean
Protecting Marie
Sun & Spoon
Sweeping Up the Heart
Two Under Par
Words of Stone
The Year of Billy Miller
The Zebra Wall"
"Now a major motion picture starring Alfre Woodard, Jessica Collins, John Heard, Jacinda Barrett, Cloris Leachman, and Talitha Bateman—in theaters October 2017!
From acclaimed author Sarah Weeks comes a touching coming-of-age story about a young girl who goes on a cross-country journey to discover the truth about her parents, which the New York Times called ''a remarkable novel.'' Perfect for fans of Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me and Ali Benjamin's The Thing About Jellyfish.
She doesn't know when her birthday is or who her father is. In fact, everything about Heidi and her mentally disabled mother's past is a mystery. When a strange word in her mother's vocabulary begins to haunt her, Heidi sets out on a cross-country journey in search of the secrets of her past.
Far away from home, pieces of her puzzling history come together. But it isn't until she learns to accept not knowing that Heidi truly arrives."
"This extraordinary collection of dramatized audio stories illustrates the power of God’s protection, the compassion of people for one another, and courage to face difficult circumstances. Great listening for the whole family!"
"Blackstone Audiobooks presents, from the unabridged collection A. A. Milne's Pooh Classics, the ten stories of Winnie-the-Pooh performed by Peter Dennis.
Come with us to an enchanted place, a forest where Winnie-the-Pooh lived with Piglet, Rabbit, Owl, Eeyore, Kanga, and Little Roo. The stories are about Christopher Robin and these good companions having wonderful times getting in and out of trouble. It is all very exciting and, really, quite thrilling no matter how young or old you may be.
This reading has earned the prestigious Audie Award, Parents' Choice Gold Award, Ohio State Award of Merit, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting Silver Award.
This is the only reading of these immortal stories authorized by A. A. Milne's son, Christopher Robin, who wrote, 'Peter Dennis has made himself Pooh's Ambassador Extraordinary and no bear has ever had a more devoted friend. So if you want to meet the real Pooh, the bear I knew, the bear my father wrote about, listen to Peter.'"
"The fourth book in the series that began with the Newbery Medal–winning Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan.
I am a watcher. I am a listener, too. I am invisible. I can make myself so small and quiet and hidden that sometimes no one knows I am there to watch and listen.
Cassie spends her days watching Grandfather and Caleb in the barn, looking out at Papa working the fields, spying on her mother, Sarah, feeding the goslings. She's an observer, a writer, a storyteller. Everything is as it should be.
But change is inevitable, even on the prairie. Something new is expected, and Sarah says it will be the perfect gift. Cassie isn't so sure. But just as life changes, people change too. And Cassie learns that unexpected surprises can bring great joy."
"NOW A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES
Like a car alarm, bagpipe music, or a doorbell ringing in the middle of the night, hearing this audio edition of The Bad Beginning will only upset you. This unique multi-voice recording brings the first book in Lemony Snicket's alarming A Series of Unfortunate Events to such terrible life that no one should really have to experience it. Unless you have an ear for such ghastly details as a tragic fire, a nefarious villain, itchy clothing, and cold porridge for breakfast, all narrated in chilly detail by the distinguished, and disturbed, Tim Curry with a team of talented readers, you would be better off listening to something else."
"The Secrets of Droon is an ongoing epic saga published for listeners who enjoy fantasy at its most exciting and engaging. This much-lauded series was cited by the American Booksellers Association as one of the top ten works to read while waiting for the next Harry Potter, and will finally make its audio debut in Fall 2004. Fast, whimsical action, engaging characters, and surprising, imaginative situations are the hallmarks of The Secrets of Droon, one of the best-selling series for its age group.
Book #1 - THE HIDDEN STAIRS AND THE MAGIC CARPET
A hidden door. A magical staircase. Discover the World of Droon with Eric, Julie, and Neal.
Book #2 - JOURNEY TO THE VOLCANO PALACE
The nasty Lord Sparr has stolen a magic jewel from Eric, Julie, and Neal's friend Princess Keeah. The jewel is in Lord Sparr's secret palace, which is in a volcano!
Book #3 - THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND
Eric, Julie, and Neal are sailing with Princess Keeah and suddenly they are caught in the middle of a magical ocean storm. and they are shipwrecked on an island that belongs to one of Lord Sparr's witches."
""I always thought that the biggest trial in my life was my name, Naomi Guadalupe Zamora Outlaw, but little did I know that it was the least of my problems, or that someday I would live up to it."
One evening, everything Naomi has known with Gram and her little brother begins to unravel. Naomi's mother wants to kidnap her. Gram is willing to go to the end of the earth to save Naomi, but will that be enough? A quiet life in Lemon Tree, California, becomes a runaway journey to find an estranged father in exotic Oaxaca, Mexico."
