Family Library

Fiercely feminist and set in a thrilling, intoxicating world evoking the Jazz Age—full of speakeasies with magic cocktails, sharp-edged, duplicitous glamour, and handsome rogue alchemists—Nightbirds is an exciting debut fantasy that dazzles as powerful girls emerge from the shadows to determine their own fates.

Ellen and Avery North share a stable and secure life. Everything is well looked after: their teenage children, their garden, and Avery’s elderly mother who lives nearby. In time, old Mrs North decides she is in need of a live-in companion, and Louise Lanier arrives after responding to a newspaper advert. When Louise sets out to seduce Avery for the fun of it, her behaviour threatens to destroy Ellen and Avery’s peaceful life together.

Moose Flanagan lives on a famous island in California: Alcatraz, home to some of the most dangerous prisoners in the United States in the 1930s. It's the summer before he starts high school, and Moose is going to play a lot of baseball and win a spot on the high school team. But he still needs to watch his special older sister, Natalie - and then the warden asks Moose to look after his two-faced, danger-loving daughter, Piper. In the cell house there are rumors that the cons will a strike, and that Moose's father might step up to a new job.

It was a dumb idea, but one of those dumb ideas that accidentally turns out to be brilliant - which, I’ve come to realize, is much worse than being dumb. My name’s Antsy Bonano - but you probably already know that - and unless you got, like, memory issues, you’ll remember the kid named the Schwa, who I told you about last time. Well, now there’s this other kid, and his story is a whole lot stranger. It all started when Gunnar Ümlaut and I were watching three airborne bozos struggle with a runaway parade balloon. That’s when Gunnar tells me he’s only got six months to live.

E. M. Forster's first novel is a witty comedy of manners that is tinged with tragedy. It tells the story of Lilia Herriton, who proves to be an embarrassment to her late husband's family as, in the small Tuscan town of Monteriano, she begins a relationship with a much younger Italian man - classless, uncouth, and highly unsuitable. A subtle attack on Edwardian values and a humanely sympathetic portrayal of the clash of two cultures, Where Angels Fear to Tread is also a profound exploration of character and virtue.

Adam is a pretty regular teen, except he's navigating high school life while living with paranoid schizophrenia. His hallucinations include a cast of characters that range from the good (beautiful Rebecca) to the bad (angry Mob Boss) to the just plain weird (polite naked guy). An experimental drug promises to help him hide his illness from the world. When Adam meets Maya, a fiercely intelligent girl, he desperately wants to be the normal, great guy that she thinks he is. But as the miracle drug begins to fail, how long can he keep this secret from the girl of his dreams?

Gypsy Beaumont has always been a whirly-twirly free spirit, so as her thirteenth birthday approaches, she hopes to get a magical ability that will let her fly, or dance up to the stars. Instead, she wakes up on her birthday with blurry vision...and starts seeing flashes of the future and past. But when Momma and Poppa announce that her very un-magical, downright mean Grandma Pat has Alzheimer's and is going to move in with them, Gypsy's savvy - along with her family's - suddenly becomes its opposite.

Washed up on a foreign shore, Tristan is lucky to be alive. As before, it seems to be a miracle - the Holy Grail the young Templar squire is protecting has saved his life yet again. But now he is lost in a strange land, and he doesn’t know if his friends, the fiery archer Robard Hode and the Saracen assassin maid Maryam, still survive. Tristan’s knack for getting into trouble is alive and well, though, and he quickly finds himself drawn into a conflict between a heretical band of Cathars and the oppressive King of France.

Ginny Rose and Peggy were best friends at seven, picking peaches on hot summer days. Peggy’s family owned the farm, and Ginny Rose’s were pickers, escaping the Oklahoma dust storms. That didn’t matter to them then, but now, 10 years, hard miles, and a world war later, Ginny Rose’s family is back in town and their differences feel somehow starker. Especially since Peggy’s new best friend, Lisette, is a wealthy banker’s daughter.

Alvin, an Asian American second grader who's afraid of everything, has started to notice his mother getting bigger...and bigger. Alvin's sure it's all the mochi cakes she's been eating, but it turns out she's pregnant! There are lots of scary things about babies, as everybody knows. There's learning CPR for the newborn and changing diapers (no way). But the scariest thing of all is the fact that the baby could be a GIRL. As a result of the stress, Alvin puts on a few pounds and - in one hilarious misunderstanding - worries that he might actually be pregnant, too!

It isn't easy being a pioneer in the state of Washington in 1899 - particularly when you are the only girl ever born to the new settlement. With seven older brothers and a love of adventure, May Amelia Jackson just can't seem to abide her family's insistence that she behave like a Proper Young Lady. Not when there's fishing to be done, sheep to be herded, and real live murderers to be captured!

Go to The Dancing Men and ask for a saucer of milk for your snake. Then all will be revealed. That’s all the note says - before the ink disappears! Xena and Xander Holmes think living in London will be boring. But when they discover they’re related to Sherlock Holmes and inherit his unsolved casebook, life becomes much more exciting. The siblings set out to solve the cases their famous ancestor couldn’t, starting with the mystery of a prized painting that vanished 1000 years ago. Can two smart 21st-century kids succeed where the celebrated Sherlock Holmes could not?

When Eben McAllister reads about the Seven Wonders of the World, he longs to escape the small farming community of Sassafras Springs and do some exploring of his own. No one else ever seems to want to leave Sassafras, however, not even his best pal, Jeb, and so, for now, Eben figures he's stuck on the farm with Pa and Aunt Pretty until he grows up. All that changes when Pa, tired of Eben's moping, challenges him to find the Seven Wonders in Sassafras Springs.

Lila Santos is ready for her last winter break of high school. The snow in her small town of Holly, New York, is plentiful, the mood is as cozy as a fuzzy Christmas sweater, and she's earning extra cash working at the local inn - AKA the setting of the greatest film of all time, Holiday by the Lake - while moonlighting as an anonymous book blogger. But her perfect holiday plans crash to a halt when her boss's frustratingly cute nephew, Teddy Rivera, becomes her coworker. Lila is type A; Teddy is type “Anything but Lila’s Way".

Ellie's Grandpa Melvin is a world-renowned scientist...in the body of a 14-year-old boy. His feet stink, he eats everything in the refrigerator, and Ellie is so happy to have him around. Grandpa may not exactly fit in at middle school, but he certainly keeps things interesting. When he and Ellie team up for the county science fair, no one realizes just how groundbreaking their experiment will be.

From bears and otters to rabbits and raccoons, these animals describe the many things they pray to God for as their little ones grow right before their eyes. This is a touching ode to unconditional love and the perfect audiobook to help introduce little ones to prayer.

For budding costume designer Lola Nolan, the more outrageous, the outfit - more sparkly, more fun, more wild - the better. But even though Lola's style is outrageous, she's a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins move back into the house next door.

When Mrs. Seahorse lays her eggs, she does it on Mr. Seahorse's belly! She knows he will take good care of them. While he swims waiting for the eggs to hatch, he meets some other underwater fathers caring for their babies: Mr. Tilapia, who carries his babies in his mouth; Mr. Kurtus, who keeps his on his head; and Mr. Catfish, who is babysitting his young hatchlings. Eric Carle has done it again, with a story that introduces the very young to the wonders of aquatic life...and some very special daddies.

Twig lives in Sidwell, where people whisper that fairy tales are real. After all, her town is rumored to hide a monster. And 200 years ago, a witch placed a curse on Twig's family that was meant to last forever. But this summer, everything will change when the red moon rises. It's time to break the spell.

A Ranger’s Guide to Glipwood Forest expands the legend and lore of this treacherous land of fatal flora and fanged beasts—and the history of the first adventurers daring enough to brave the forest depths. Through detailed line art, maps, and directions, travelers can safely marvel at the majestic glipwood trees, poke around the (possibly haunted) Anklejelly Cavern, dip their toes into the Mighty River Blapp (if they dare!), and avoid falling off a cliff edge into the Dark Sea of Darkness and being swallowed by a sea dragon.