Showing results by author "Dan Gutman" in All Categories

A lineman with something to prove. A vendetta against a baseball legend. The rise of a real-life NHL all-star. The luckiest grapefruit in sports history. Open up The Sports Pages, the third volume in the Guys Read Library of Great Reading, and you're in for all of this and more. From fiction to nonfiction, from baseball to mixed martial arts and everything in between, these are 10 stories about the rush of victory and the crush of defeat on and off the field. Compiled by kid-lit all-star Jon Scieszka, Guys Read: The Sports Pages is a thrilling collection of brand-new short stories.

The sponsor of his baseball team tells Stosh about the bum rap Shoeless Joe Jackson got for his part in the scheme to fix the 1919 World Series. Now Stosh decides to use his special talent of traveling back in time to warn Jackson against becoming involved. The trouble is, some vicious gangsters stand to make a bunch of money if the fix is on - and they'll do anything to keep Stosh from interfering.

A.J. is turning nine! So he's inviting all his family, friends, and favorite teachers over for a backyard birthday bash. His parents even hire a popular party planner, Mr. Marty. But what happens when Mr. Marty accidentally orders rival clowns, a bubble blower, and even a singing cowboy to entertain guests? This will be one weird party!

To celebrate National Poetry Month, Ella Mentry School will have a schoolwide poem-writing contest, and all the students have to enter. There’s just one problem: A.J. has no time for rhymes! But when an amazing secret prize is revealed, will A.J. be inspired to write a winning poem? And can he beat Little Miss Know-It-All Andrea—the best poet in school?

Robert Edwards Stevens, nicknamed "Qwerty", likes digging in his backyard when he's in a bad mood. He doesn't dig for anything special - he just digs to get his mind off things. One day, when he's really angry and has a lot on his mind, he starts digging...and thunk! He hits something, a wooden box with a famous signature: Thomas A. Edison. Is this a phonograph created by the famous inventor himself? Or is it something even more incredible - something that could take Qwerty right to Thomas Edison's doorstep? Get ready for one remarkable time-travel adventure!

My Weirdtastic School #8: Mr. Plummer Is Dumber! has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher.

When a kid is dragged to Central Park in New York on a Saturday (when he could be at home watching the ball game), the last thing he wants is a history lesson from his mom. But then his mother starts telling him a story. A story about the giant structure sitting in right in front of them—Cleopatra’s Needle. It turns out that an enslaved boy and hundreds of other people spent more than six hundred days carving the Needle out of stone and pulling it upright. And another kid’s drawings were used to create the hieroglyphs on its sides.

Funny Boy, a superhero who disarms villains with his powerful sense of humor, must save the Earth from a trio of bubble-headed barbers from another planet.

When cows across the country go on strike and cause a nationwide cheese shortage, everyone initially welcomes Romano, Fontina, Mozzarella, and Monterey Jack. These cliche-cracking giant cheeseheads claim they will return cheese to supermarket shelves everywhere. But Funny Boy isn't fooled for a minute. He knows these moldy manipulators are malicious aliens. You can bet your bottom dollar that Funny Boy will burn the midnight oil to come up with an artillery of jokes to defeat these cheesy aliens.

Join the gang from Ella Mentry School in this hilarious, hijinks-filled sports story as they show young readers and listeners why they attend the weirdest - and most fun! - school around. With help from Coach Deen, Ryan wants to form a sports team with A.J. and Andrea, but it's for one of the weirdest sports there is: curling! Will the sweepers be able to get the stones to the house, or will trouble among the teammates end in one weird mess?

Did you know that Theodore Roosevelt was shot before a rally, and went on to give his speech with the bullet in his chest? Or that he skinny-dipped in the Potomac River? Bet you didn’t know that he had a zebra, a lion, and a one-legged rooster at the White House! Siblings Paige and Turner have collected some of the most unusual and surprising facts about the larger-than-life president, from his childhood and his Rough Rider days to his rise to politics and his complicated presidential legacy.

Mr. Cooper's class is getting a pet! Alexia hopes it is something cool, like a snake. But is she ready to take care of the pet, or will it be one weird mess? Join A.J. and the gang from Ella Mentry School as they show young listeners why they attend the weirdest - and most fun! - school around.

One minute Qwerty Stevens is researching a last-minute report on the internet, and the next minute Benjamin Franklin is sitting on his bed! Thanks to the Anytime Anywhere Machine hooked up to his computer, Qwerty has snatched Franklin from July 4, 1776, the very day the Declaration of Independence was signed. Qwerty and his best friend, Joe, realize they have to get Franklin back in time for the signing, and they can't resist seeing it with their own eyes. Can the boys make sure the Declaration gets signed like history says it should? And can they make it back home?

When Rappy the Raptor's class goes to the library, it's all Rappy can do not to be noisy. Can he keep his rapping quiet, or will he start a book riot? When students are finding the library a bore, quick-thinking Rappy uses his rhyming skills to save the day!

Funny Boy, a superhero who disarms villains with his powerful sense of humor, is summoned to save Earth from a planet-gobbling alien from outer space.

A. J. and Andrea are taking a class trip to the museum! Their museum guide has been warned that one of them might misbehave. But who will it be?

Mr. Cooper's class is having a talent show. But A. J. has a problem - he doesn't have a talent! What will he do when the big day comes? Join A. J. and the gang from Ella Mentry School as they show young listeners why they attend the weirdest - and most fun! - school around.

Did you know that Albert Einstein was a high-school dropout and that he failed his physics class when he finally made it to college? Or that when he died, his brain and eyeballs were removed from his body? Have you ever wondered why his hair looked so wild? Siblings Paige and Turner have - and they’ve collected some of the kookiest and most unusual facts about him, from his childhood and school days through his time studying relativity and working on the atomic bomb.

Did you know that Lucille Ball could pick up radio signals through her teeth? Or that her career was almost destroyed because she was a registered Communist? Bet you didn’t know that, as a studio executive, she green-lit both Star Trek and Mission: Impossible! Siblings Paige and Turner have collected some of the most unusual and surprising facts about the beloved actress, from her impoverished childhood and her first forays into the film industry to her marriage with Desi Arnaz and her rise to become both the most prominent actress in television and one of its most successful executives.

We, the members of the Get Rich Quick Club, in order to form a more perfect summer, vow we will figure out a way to make a million dollars by September. We agree that neither rain nor snow nor gloom of night will prevent us from achieving our stated goal, until death do us part.