When Steve Best was 12, his mom disappeared--literally vanishing from her armchair in the sitting room. A terror-stricken scream for help, a blinding flash of light, and she was gone. Only a puddle of coffee and a stained notebook remained. Now, on the second Christmas since her disappearance, Steve's life is a disaster. He?s failing at school. His dad alternately mopes, yells, and apologizes. Even Steve's attempt to save a duck from the school bullies has led to the nickname he's d...

A selection of twenty-nine insightful, creative essays, alive with superb and tender detail. Hymns of Home focuses on family and life in a way that references the questions we ask and are asked as parents, the way naming creates meaning, and the reflective nature of observation, the contained nature of technology. The man at the heart of these stories brings us closer to the world of childhood wonder, closer to our own knowledge, and asks us to ask of ourselves profound questions that, ultima...

Sean Bulger is a 16-year-old alcoholic from Newfoundland. His life revolves around avoiding his abusive stepfather and sneaking booze wherever and whenever he can. One of his party crashes goes wrong when a group of fellow teens dare him to check out a condemned Russian cruise ship.Stone drunk and obsessed with the promise of more alcohol, Sean scrambles aboard the ship, and  blacks out when the boat is towed from harbourand soon he’s adrift in a ruined ship, looking for fresh wate...

More than a dozen WWII-era German U-boats remain unaccounted for, the fate of their crews unknown. In summer 2012, sonar scanning found a submerged vessel of the right dimensions in Canadian province of Labrador. From this find grew Kill Shot, a fictionalization of the events that switches between the circumstances of the war that led the German crew to submerge and eventually die in the river, and the adventures that occur seventy years later when a teen boy finds the remains of the vesse...

THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES WITH OVER 80 MILLION COPIES SOLD • Junie B. Jones gets her first crush in the hit chapter book series that keeps kids laughing and “makes reading fun” (Dav Pilkey, author of Dog Man).“Junie B. is the darling of the young-reader set.”—USA TodayMeet the World’s Funniest Kindergartner—Junie B. Jones! There’s a new boy named Warren in kindergarten, and guess what? He’s the hand...

Rotten Apple Books: Unexpected. Unforgettable. Undead. Get bitten! Becky's family has moved right next door to the creepy, abandoned McNally house. Rumors fly around school about the ghosts and monsters that live there, and Becky isn't sure what to believe. Even her mischievous dog, Bear, stays away from it. When Becky starts hearing mysterious howls coming from next door, paired with an awful smell, she starts to wonder if the rumors might be true. Snarls and glowing eyes confirm it--some...

**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The bestselling author of Anna and the French Kiss presents with a fresh take on the classic teen slasher story that’s fun, quick-witted, and completely impossible to put down.“A heart-pounding page-turner with an outstanding cast of characters, a deliciously creepy setting, and an absolutely merciless body count.”—Courtney Summers, New York Times bestselling author**It’s been almost a year since Makani Young came to ...

When Nate Chance arrives home from school, he sees two police cars and an ambulance in his yard. Before his mother can get him and his little sister, Junie, inside, Nate and Junie witness their father, blood pouring down his face, being led by two police officers into an ambulance. He has tried to kill himself.Home quickly becomes a different place. Junie stays curled up in front of the TV; Nate's mom retreats inside herself; and the rumor of mental illness makes Nate a social pari...

Kate and Jake have always been best friends; always, that is, until Jake's cousin, Lionel, moves nearby.Jake starts spending time with Lionel instead of Kate. Kate struggles with his abandonment and her own loneliness as she seeks new friends that share her likes and dislikes. And, perhaps there is a place in her life for her old best friend after all.The epub edition of this title is fully accessible.

Featuring acclaimed humorist David Sedaris's unique blend of hilarity and heart, this illustrated collection of animal-themed tales is an utter delight.Though the characters may not be human, the situations in these stories bear an uncanny resemblance to the insanity of everyday life. In "The Toad, the Turtle, and the Duck," three strangers commiserate about animal bureaucracy while waiting in a complaint line. In "Hello Kitty," a cynical feline struggles to sit th...

Schuyler Van Alen is confused about what is happening to her. Her veins are starting to turn blue, and she's starting to crave raw meat. Soon, her world is thrust into an intricate maze of secret societies and bitter intrigue. Schuyler has never been a part of the trendy crowd at her prestigious New York private school. Now, all of a sudden, Jack Force, the most popular guy in school, is showing an interest in her. And when one of the popular girls is found dead, Schuyler and Jack are dete...

New York Times bestseller! A heart-stopping post-apocalyptic thriller that's "absorbing from first to last page."*When a meteor knocks the moon closer to earth, Miranda, a high school sophomore, takes shelter with her family.Told in a year’s worth of journal entries, Life as We Knew It chronicles the human struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all—hope—in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.As August turn...