Growing Life

Year-round adventures await, with a summertime trip to a ghost town, an Easter egg hunt, a Fourth of July celebration, and two short story collections spanning the calendar (one story for each month of the year), perfect for bedtime listening. Short stories include a Valentine's Day, a Thanksgiving, and a Christmas story, as well as a trip to the county fair and a day at the beach, among others.

One summer's day, 10-year-old India Opal Buloni goes down to the local supermarket for some groceries - and comes home with a dog. But Winn-Dixie is no ordinary dog. It's because of Winn-Dixie that Opal begins to make friends. And it's because of Winn-Dixie that she finally dares to ask her father about her mother, who left when Opal was three. In fact, as Opal admits, just about everything that happens that summer is because of Winn-Dixie.

Sophie Foster is back in the Lost Cities - but the Lost Cities have changed. The threat of war hangs heavy over her glittering world, and the Neverseen are wreaking havoc. The lines between friend and enemy have blurred, and Sophie is unsure whom to trust. But when she’s warned that the people she loves most will be the next victims, she knows she has to act. A mysterious symbol could be the key - if only she knew how to translate it. Every new clue seems to lead deeper into her world’s underbelly and the Black Swans aren’t the only ones who have plans.

Lucas and Clara search for Queen Tasha's missing emerald. On their exciting adventure, they travel to all the main attractions of Wrenly: Primlox (the island of fairies), Burth (the island of trolls), Crestwood (the island of dragons), Hobsgrove (the island of wizards), and the beautiful Mermaid's Cove. King Caleb has promised to reward the person who finds the precious stone, and Lucas and Clara are determined to search the entire kingdom until they find it!

This first novel from Nebula Award-winning short story writer Ellen Klages was picked as a Junior Library Guild selection and named a Book Sense Number-One Children's Pick. It follows a young girl named Dewey, whose father is part of a super-secret project in 1943 Los Alamos. Dewey, a gifted scientist herself, slowly realizes the implications of "the gadget" her father is working on. She and Suze, another Los Alamos child, find comfort in each other's friendship.

Fox kit O-370 hungers for a life of adventure, like those lived long ago by Mia and Uly. But on the Farm, foxes know only the safety of their wire dens and the promise of eternal happiness in the White Barn. Or so they’re told. When O-370 gets free of his cage, he witnesses the gruesome reality awaiting all the Farm’s foxes and narrowly escapes with his life. In a nearby suburb, young Cozy and her skulk are facing an unknown danger, one that hunts foxes.

Have you ever wondered why some people are persistently successful, while others continually fail? Has it ever happened to you that you wished to achieve some goal and you achieved it just as you imagined? Why is it that sometimes our desires are fulfilled as if by magic, and at other times the opposite happens? Is there a method to materialize everything we want? What do you want most? Maybe to be happier, healthier and richer? To become a magnet for everything you desire, including money, opportunities and people? Happiness, love? Throughout history there has been a Great Secret that has ...

Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all. Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he's seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.

To 12-year-old Molly Nathans, perfect is: the number four; the tip of a newly sharpened No. 2 pencil; a crisp white pad of paper; her neatly aligned glass animal figurines. What's not perfect is Molly's mother leaving the family to take a faraway job with the promise to return in one year. Molly knows that promises are sometimes broken, so she hatches a plan to bring her mother home: Win the Lakeville Middle School Poetry Slam Contest. The winner is honored at a fancy banquet with white tablecloths. Molly is sure her mother would never miss that. Right?

Grey has improved a ton with the help of his friends, and he's closing in on the top tier of players. But then his closest friend announces that he's been asked to join a new squad on the top tier and leaves them in hopes of making the top five with his new squad. Grey is devastated, and his team struggles. He falls back several ranks and begins to wonder if it's even possible to escape the game this season. Some players have been there for many seasons...some aren't even trying to leave because they like it so much. Maybe he should just accept it as his life.

It’s the biggest dance of the year and Nikki Maxwell is hoping her crush, Brandon, wants to be her date. But time is running out. What if he doesn’t ask her? Or worse…what if he asks Mackenzie?!!

It's 1969, and the Apollo 11 mission is getting ready to go to the moon. But for half-black, half-Japanese Mimi, moving to a predominantly white Vermont town is enough to make her feel alien. Suddenly, Mimi's appearance is all anyone notices. She struggles to fit in with her classmates, even as she fights for her right to stand out. This historical middle-grade novel is told in poems from Mimi's perspective over the course of one year in her new town, and shows listeners that positive change can start with just one person speaking up.

Sheldon convinces Lucy, Sam, April, and Amanda to join him at a weeklong sleepaway summer camp - Camp Paleo: Live Like a Caveman. Like cavemen, they're going to have to make do without air-conditioning or a heated pool. They'll learn archery and dig for fossils. And Grandma's coming, too; she's taking a job as lunch lady for the camp next door.

When Lily's blind dog, Lucky, slips his collar and runs away across the wide-open blueberry barrens of Eastern Maine, it's Salma Santiago who manages to catch him. Salma, the daughter of migrant workers, is in the small town with her family for the blueberry-picking season.

In the fourth Monsterstreet book, the best summer of Harper's life could be her last. On the way to Camp Moon Lake, the most magical summer camp on earth, all Harper can think about is her parents' looming divorce. Soon enough, though, the outdoor movie theater, the water park, and the chocolate buffet begin to work their magic on her. But then campers start to disappear, and Harper notices the counselors acting unusual. The cheerful facade of the camp falls apart to reveal strange secrets and a sinister plan. Escaping will take everything Harper has - maybe even her life.

Of especially naughty children, it is sometimes said: “They must have been raised by wolves.” The Incorrigible children actually were. Discovered in the forests of Ashton Place, the Incorrigibles are no ordinary children: Alexander keeps his siblings in line with gentle nips; Cassiopeia has a bark that is (usually) worse than her bite; and Beowulf is alarmingly adept at chasing squirrels.

Hadley is angry about a lot of things: Her mom going to jail. Having to move to another state to live with her older sister, Beth, even though they haven't spoken in five years. Leaving her friends and her school behind. And going blind. But then Hadley meets Lila. Lila is an abandoned dog who spends her days just quietly lying around at the local dog rescue where Beth works. She doesn't listen to directions or play with the other dogs or show any interest in people.

Cam Jansen and her best friend, Eric Shelton, are at a charity function with their mothers to raise money for local firefighters. When the host's pearl necklace goes missing, the luncheon turns into a whodunit, and all the guests are suspects. Can Cam use her photographic memory to identify the culprit?

When Lise Santos stumbles into a bakery's midnight taste test, she meets a supercute boy. He's as sweet as the macarons they share, and Lise is totally smitten. She's pretty sure he is, too—but they never get a chance to exchange names. Now Lise has to find him again . . . When Lise finally discovers who her mystery guy is, he's not at all what she expected—and suddenly they don't get along anymore!

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle loves everyone, and everyone loves her right back. The Children love her because she is lots of fun. Their parents love her because she can cure children of absolutely any bad habit. The treatments are unusual, but they work! Who better than a pig, for instance, to teach a piggy little boy table manners? And what better way to cure the rainy-day "waddle-I-do's" than hunt for pirate treasure in Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's upside-down house?