This is a collection of more than 500 annotated book recommendations. Organized around 44 topics considered by the panel to be 'the most frequently requested', this readers' advisory guide for children's literature (includes titles) on everything from dogs and diaries to adventure and science.
After Hazen Wood kidnaps twelve-year-old Gemma Sullivan, the two embark upon a cross-country journey that tests the limits of Gemma's endurance. In scenes of physical and sexual violence, Hazen tries to destroy the young girl's will. When she does manage to escape he drags her back and threatens to have her arrested for the violent acts he performs. It is only Gemma's resilience and fertile imagination that protects her from the worst of the trauma she suffers. And, in the end, it is the healing power of unconditional love that gives Gemma the courage to speak out against her abuser at last and claim the life she deserves. Alternating between the voices of Gemma and Hazen Wood, Meg Tilly has brilliantly brought to life powerful and unforgettable characters that will leave you thinking about them long after you turn the last page.
Lola the sheep has the most extraordinary wool. It's soft and silky and is her pride and joy! But down on the farm, when the sun comes out, the wool comes off! Poor Lola is so upset by her haircut that she runs away to the far side of the farm where she sits all alone, waiting for it to grow back. And when it does, it's no longer silky, it's completely wild! But with it comes a wonderful surprise . . . Thanks to a tiny chick, this self-obsessed sheep learns an important life lesson; that great friendships are more important than simply having great hair. The Sheep Who Hatched an Egg is a funny, thoughtful, springtime story from award-winning, Gemma Merino, author of the bestselling The Crocodile Who Didn't Like Water and The Cow who Climbed a Tree.
It's 1895, and after the death of her mother, 16-year-old Gemma Doyle is shipped off from the life she knows in India to Spence, a proper boarding school in England. Lonely, guilt-ridden, and prone to visions of the future that have an uncomfortable habit of coming true, Gemma's reception there is a chilly one. To make things worse, she's being followed by a mysterious young Indian man, a man sent to watch her. But why? What is her destiny? And what will her entanglement with Spence's most powerful girls - and their foray into the spiritual world - lead to?
The heartwarming true story of two penguins who create a nontraditional family. At the penguin house at the Central Park Zoo, two penguins named Roy and Silo were a little bit different from the others. But their desire for a family was the same. And with the help of a kindly zookeeper, Roy and Silo got the chance to welcome a baby penguin of their very own.
Let's Get Lucky Catch and cuff a perp without batting a false eyelash? No problem for NYPD undercover cop Julie Excelsior. But her big mouth just got her demoted. . .seems that the department doesn't appreciate a whistle-blower. Well, Julie is too restless to park her long legs under a desk and twiddle her thumbs. She might break a nail--or somebody's head--just to relieve the boredom. Hello? Is anybody listening? That's it. I quit. I'm moving on. Time to say goodbye to the grit and grime of the precinct house, and hello to the simple life upstate where her Uncle Wes, that old practical joker, just died and left her a house on twenty acres. Plus about a million chickens. And the little town of Excelsior Falls has a few other surprises in store. . .like Julie's childhood pal Cas Reynolds, who grew up to be quite a man. As in six foot two of buff-a-licious fantasy fun. And he's the sheriff. Who could ask for anything more? How about a hidden treasure? Yes, Uncle Wes hid something wonderful for his near and dear ones to find but exactly what it is and where it is, no one really knows. Everybody's got a clue but nobody's talking--and the whole damn town is digging up her north forty inch by inch, hoping to get lucky. But Cas and Julie already have, what with toe-curling kisses and tangling up the sheets. In fact, they're having the hottest time of their lives. . . Gemma Bruce is the alter ego of a popular mystery writer, who loves the excitement of a "who done it" and the sizzle of romance. After a career in dance, theater, television and film, performing before packed houses even on a bad-hair-bloat day, Gemma now goes one on one with her computer screen to create the characters and stories she loves. Her laptop has never once made a snide remark about her hair (though it has eaten a few sentences that made it blush).
It has been a year of change since Gemma Doyle arrived at the foreboding Spence Academy. Having bound the wild, dark magic of the realms to her, Gemma has forged unlikely and unsuspected new alliances both with the headstrong Felicity and timid Ann, Kartik, the exotic young man whose companionship is forbidden, and the fearsome creatures of the realms. Now, as Gemma approaches her London debut, the time has come to test those bonds. As her friendship with Felicity and Ann faces its gravest trial, and with the Order grappling for control of the realms, Gemma is compelled to decide once and for all which path she is meant to take. Pulled forward by fate, the destiny Gemma faces threatens to set chaos loose, not only in the realms, but also upon the rigid Victorian society whose rules Gemma has both defied and followed. Where does Gemma really belong? And will she, can she, survive?