![]() To fit in with the rest of the high schoolers and to increase his odds of scoring a girlfriend, he pretends to be a "believer" and attends every single group activity-even blindfold dodge ball. In the new faith-based YA romantic comedy adventure, NEVER SORRY EVER JOLLY, homeschooled and unchurched seventeen-year-old Collin Uttley moves to SoCal (Southern California) and joins a church youth group out of sheer desperation for a social life. I'm just not sure if that means with me or at me." ![]() "Or if-nope, you'll just have to read the story of my crazytown adventure. "Or if I'd listened to the advice of the Freedom Fighters. Not even Rule #1: "No romantic entanglements allowed." But I gotta admit I didn't expect a rival-my summer would have gone a whole lot smoother if Twain Abernathy had stayed home. When I found out she was spending her summer working with orphans in refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border-guess who joined the outreach team? And you better believe I didn't let a little thing like the Expected Behavior Guidelines cramp my style. ![]() ![]() ![]() Why else would an atheist join a church youth group? (It sure wasn't for the coffee.) And it paid off-I met Shelby Wanderal, the soul mate I never knew existed. "Honestly, I didn't set out to be an imposter. What do you get when you mix dating with refugee camps, freedom fighters, and a thousand pairs of googly eyes? ![]()
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![]() ![]() "Wandering Son is a delightful, quiet manga about a girly boy and a boyish girl. Meanwhile, Maho plans a trip to the beach with her boyfriend, and Nitori-kun must chaperone. Chiba-san forces Nitori-kun to confront a question he's been avoiding.Īre his feelings for Takatsuki-san those of a boy for a girl, a girl for a girl, or a girl for a boy? But Nitori-kun wants Takatsuki-san to play Romeo. ![]() ![]() Nitori-kun and his friend Chiba-san write the script together, but Chiba-san has an agenda: She wants to play Romeo, with Nitori-kun in the role of Juliet. Faced with unwanted changes to their growing bodies, male-identified Takatsuki-san discovers the wonders of "breast binders," and female-identified Nitori-kun explores the limits of his ability to "pass."Īlso: the success of their performance of The Rose of Versailles in the fifth grade - in which the boys played the women and the girls played the men - inspires our protagonists to put on another gender-bending play for the junior-high school festival. Shimura Takako's sensitive and charming manga series about two middle-schoolers wrestling with their gender identities continues. ![]() ![]() ![]() Maas so that’s one big faerie writer (I think?) that I’m not reading. I’m not a huge faerie reader–it’s just not something I find a lot of. Yet, the civil war looming upon them threatens both Jude’s plan and the life of her sisters, let alone the fate of Faerie itself. To reach her goal and win a place at Court, Jude must defy him and face the consequences with it, becoming tangled in a web of palace intrigues and deceptions, learning her own capacity for bloodshed. When she was seven years old, Jude’s parents were murdered and she and her sisters were taken away to live with their murderer Madoc in Faerie, away from the mortal world.įor years, Jude has yearned to be like the faeries, despite their cruel nature towards mortals, most of all, sixth-child Prince Cardan, the most beautiful and her worst tormenter. Luckily, it was a very awesome brand new experience. I’ve never read any of her work before (not even The Spiderwick Chronicles) and so this was a brand new experience for me. ![]() I know now why Holly Black is called the Queen of Faerie. ![]() ![]() ![]() Bram is to be left behind as Modoc and the other animals are moved to America.īut Bram can’t leave Mo. But then reality catches up and the owner of the circus where Modoc performs with her elephant family sells everything to an American circus owner. ![]() The two grew up together, and the pastoral idyll of this portion of the book is almost painfully innocent and sweet – it did, for me, get a bit saccharine, especially when Gerdie comes into the picture and she, Bram, and Mo spend summertime frolicking through the hedgerows and splish-splashing in the lakes. Mo and Bram were born on the same day, in the same hour, on the farm owned by Bram’s elephant-trainer father, near the Black Forest in Germany. ![]() It’s a story about a man named Bram Gunterstein and the three loves of his life: the two women he loved, Sian and Gerdie, and the elephant, a female Indian pachyderm named Modoc. Most love stories are cheesy to one extent or another, and this is, most definitely, a love story. That doesn’t have to be a problem, of course. This is a very sweet book, an amazing story about a remarkable elephant. Modoc: The True Story of the Greatest Elephant That Ever Lived ![]() ![]() ![]() On multiple pages, and most prominently on the cover, James surrounds characters’ heads with radiating lines or symbols in a halo effect, “crowning” them with pride. James’s oil paintings have a wonderful tactile quality and sense of movement. Together with the narrator we all feel, “Magnificent.Ĭrown’s illustrations burst with confidence and swagger. Imagine along with the narrator to feel “intellectual,” like a “brilliant,īlazing star,” “so FLY!” His carefully chosen descriptive details expertly evokeĪ shared experience, and his use of the second person pulls the reader along to The barber’s handheld mirror, he smiles because, “That’s the you that you loveĮxpressive language, Barnes’s poetic picture book debut invites the reader to Girls, an extra compliment from his mother. While the barberĭoes his methodical work, the boy imagines all that might come when he stepsīack out into the street: an A on his test, admiring glances and whispers from The shop, appreciating each one’s individual style and swagger. During his turn in the chair, he surveys the adults in ![]() ![]() ![]() Young African-American boy visits his neighborhood shop and leaves the troubles That comes from a trip to the barbershop. ISBN 1572842245Ĭrown taps into the magical feeling of renewed confidence ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Based on Roald Dahl's children's book of the same name, the show follows Matilda Wormwood, an exceptionally bright five-year-old with telekinetic powers. The original production won seven Olivier Awards, including Best Musical, and was followed by a Broadway run, a US national tour, and several international productions. ‘Roald Dahl's Matilda The Musical,’ with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin and a book by Dennis Kelly, opened on the West End in 2011 to critical acclaim. A delightful romp through a world of magic, mischief and miracles, this lively musical is as hilarious as it is heartfelt. ![]() That's the question put forth in Wakefield High School's production of Matilda. But what happens when their overlooked child may truly be miraculous after all? Every parent thinks their child is a miracle. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The great ships, now considered frivolous, were left to rot at their moorings and the records of their journeys were destroyed. When they returned in October 1423, the emperor had fallen, leaving China in political and economic chaos. Their journey would last more than two years and circle the globe. Their mission was "to proceed all the way to the end of the earth to collect tribute from the barbarians beyond the seas" and unite the whole world in Confucian harmony. The ships, huge junks nearly five hundred feet long and built from the finest teak, were under the command of Emperor Zhu Di's loyal eunuch admirals. On March 8, 1421, the largest fleet the world had ever seen sailed from its base in China. The incredible true story of the discovery of America before Columbus was even born.Gavin Menzies's extraordinary findings rewrite history. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The spirit escorts Scrooge on a journey into the past to previous Christmases from the curmudgeon's earlier years. He wakes moments before the arrival of the Ghost of Christmas Past, a strange childlike phantom with a brightly glowing head. After the wraith disappears, Scrooge collapses into a deep sleep. Marley informs Scrooge that three spirits will visit him during each of the next three nights. Marley hopes to save Scrooge from sharing the same fate. As punishment for his greedy and self-serving life his spirit has been condemned to wander the Earth weighted down with heavy chains. Marley, looking haggard and pallid, relates his unfortunate story. Later that evening, after returning to his dark, cold apartment, Scrooge receives a chilling visitation from the ghost of his dead partner, Jacob Marley. Scrooge reacts to the holiday visitors with bitterness and venom, spitting out an angry "Bah! Humbug!" in response to his nephew's "Merry Christmas!" ![]() Two portly gentlemen also drop by and ask Scrooge for a contribution to their charity. Scrooge's nephew, Fred, pays his uncle a visit and invites him to his annual Christmas party. His clerk, Bob Cratchit, shivers in the anteroom because Scrooge refuses to spend money on heating coals for a fire. A mean-spirited, miserly old man named Ebenezer Scrooge sits in his counting-house on a frigid Christmas Eve. ![]() ![]() ![]() For more Pinkalicious and Peterrific fun, visit. Readers can follow Pinkalicious on Facebook and Twitter. She lives with her husband and two daughters. Her award-winning artwork has graced the covers and pages of many magazines, newspapers, and books. Victoria is the co-executive producer of Pinkalicious & Peterrific on PBS Kids. In addition, Victoria cowrote Pinkalicious: The Musical which premiered in New York City to sold-out audiences and continues to be performed across the country. She is the artist and coauthor of the New York Times bestsellers Pinkalicious and Purplicious. For more Pinkalicious and Peterrific fun, visit Victoria Kann is the author-artist of the New York Times bestseller Peterrific, and four #1 New York Times bestselling books Aqualicious, Emeraldalicious, Silverlicious, and Goldilicous. ![]() ![]() ![]() Victoria Kann is the author-artist of the New York Times bestseller Peterrific, and four #1 New York Times bestselling books Aqualicious, Emeraldalicious, Silverlicious, and Goldilicous. Pinkalicious and the Pinkettes is a Level One I Can Read book, which means it’s perfect for children learning to sound out words and sentences. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The true meaning behind the twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany are explored throughout, making it a perfect addition to any holiday family reading tradition.įrom a partridge in a pear tree to twelve drummers drumming, The 12 Days of Christmas unpacks the real meaning behind the popular Christmas song. Share with your child this beautiful picture book recounting the last days of Jesus on earth and the first days after his resurrection. You and your children can discover the Christian symbolism behind the classic Christmas carol “The 12 Days of Christmas” in this vibrantly illustrated picture book. ![]() |