Lucy is ready to be a superhero! Lucy loves her best friends—her pack of dorks. But this year, everyone in the pack has become a hero . . . except for her! Sam rescues twin toddlers about to get hit by a car. April helps bring about the downfall of a ring of bicycle thieves. Sheldon and Amanda launch a campaign to protect turtle eggs laid on the school playground. Even Lucy's new teacher asks the class about their bravest moments. But Lucy's not brave—she doesn't even like to go to the basement by herself! So Lucy decides she's going to do something heroic. She'll be a super dork! This might be her chance to find her awesome. Unfortunately, all her attempts to help save the day seem to go awry, and usually end up making the situation much worse. Is ordinary dorkdom her destiny—or can Lucy ever find a way to be a hero?
"You know how, since the dawn of humanity, great philosophers and poets have dedicated their entire lives to exploring concepts like love, life itself, logic, and sorrow? Well, those great philosophers and poets are dead now, so I win." — Shen Emotions Explained With Buff Dudes is your fully illustrated guide to the hyper-conflicted, tragicomic feelings of our age. Featuring the resilient, shaggy-haired Shen, this debut collection of Owlturd Comix is a tale of triumph and survival — of getting your ass kicked by sleep deprivation and student loans, but never losing hope. Most of all, it's an amusing, instructive journey through a vast array of emotions, including those best explained with dudes who are buff.
The comic book universe is adventurous, mystifying, and filled with heroes, villains, and cosplaying Comic-Con attendees. This book by one of Wired magazine's art directors traverses the graphic world through a collection of pie charts, bar graphs, timelines, scatter plots, and more. Super Graphic offers readers a unique look at the intricate and sometimes contradictory storylines that weave their way through comic books, and shares advice for navigating the pages of some of the most popular, longest-running, and best-loved comics and graphic novels out there. From a colorful breakdown of the DC Comics reader demographic to a witty Venn diagram of superhero comic tropes and a Chris Ware sadness scale, this book charts the most arbitrary and monumental characters, moments, and equipment of the wide world of comics. Plus, this is the fixed format version, which includes high-resolution images.
The pack of dorks heads to camp—and this time the bully they face might just be one of their own. Sheldon convinces Lucy, Sam, April, and Amanda to join him at Camp Paleo. Like cavemen, the campers are going to have to make do without air conditioning, and they'll dig for fossils during the day. And Grandma's coming too—as the lunch lady for the camp next door. But Sam backs out at the last minute to attend a gymnastics camp instead. Lucy wonders why she misses him so much—it's not like he's her boyfriend. Why does the word "boyfriend" make her blush? She needs a distraction. Enter Mr. Bosserman, the grouchy camp leader who won't budge on the camp's caveman theme. The old man needs some softening up, and Lucy knows just the person for the job: Grandma. One successful match made, Lucy starts to see potential lovebirds everywhere. But when the wrong campers pair up, the pack falls apart, all under the watchful eye of a secret blogger who's been writing about the camp's activities. Even worse? A thief is targeting everyone but Lucy, setting her up to look guilty. Soon Lucy finds herself alone, left to fix the messes she's made. If she fails, the pack may be splintered for good.
Lucy knows that kissing Tom Lemmings behind the ball shed will make her a legend. But she doesn’t count on that quick clap of lips propelling her from coolest to lamest fourth grader overnight. Suddenly Lucy finds herself trapped in Dorkdom, where a diamond ring turns your finger green, where the boy you kiss hates you three days later, where your best friend laughs as you cry, where parents seem to stop liking you, and where baby sisters are born different. Now Lucy has a choice: she can be like her former best friend Becky, who would do anything to claim her seat at the cool table in the cafeteria, or Lucy can pull up a chair among the solo eaters—also known as the dorks. Still unsure, Lucy partners with super quiet Sam Righter on a research project about wolves. Lucy connects her own school hierarchy with what she learns about animal pack life—where some wolves pin down weaker ones just because they can, and others risk everything to fight their given place in the pack. Soon Lucy finds her third option: creating a pack of her own, even if it is simply a pack of dorks. Weaving tough issues, including bullying, loyalty, and disability, with a thread of snarky humor, family bonds, and fresh perspective, Pack of Dorks paints characters coming-of-age and coming-to-terms. Beth Vrabel’s stellar debut contemporary middle grade novel is sure to please fans of Jack Gantos, Elizabeth Atkinson, and Judy Blume. Sky Pony Press, with our Good Books, Racehorse and Arcade imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of books for young readers—picture books for small children, chapter books, books for middle grade readers, and novels for young adults. Our list includes bestsellers for children who love to play Minecraft; stories told with LEGO bricks; books that teach lessons about tolerance, patience, and the environment, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Meet the NERDS, a team of eleven-year-old super spies: Duncan “Gluestick” Dewey: He’s a paste-eater who can stick to walls. Ruby “Pufferfish” Peet: Her allergies help her detect danger and dishonesty. Heathcliff “Choppers” Hodges: He controls minds with his buckteeth. Julio “Flinch” Escala: His hyperactivity gives him super speed and strength. Matilda “Wheezer” Choi: Her inhalers enable her to fly and blast enemies. Jackson “Braceface” Jones, the new recruit. This metal mouth is the team’s go-to gadget guy . . . if only he can get over becoming a NERD. Can this team of misfits save the world from their secret headquarters in the basement of their school? Can you read NERDS without laughing? Go ahead and try!
Nikki's diary describes a frightful Halloween, on which she helps with her sister's ballet class party at the same time she is Brandon's date for their middle school Halloween dance, where she has promised to spend the evening with her two best friends.
Can anyone be a hero in an age where the lines are so blurred? Sexy, racy, hilarious, and even moving, The Indifference League is a story of what happens when the starry-eyed optimism of the Greatest Generation crashes into the obsessions and fears of the New Lost Generation. Under the faded banner of Superman, Wonder Woman, and other heroes past steps the Indifference League: The Statistician, Time Bomb, Hippie Avenger, SuperKen, SuperBarbie, Miss Demeanour, Mr. Nice Guy, Psycho Superstar, The Drifter, and The Stunner. All archetypes of Generations X and Y, they are here to show us just how much things have changed. Sex and love. Religion and politics. Left and Right. Right and Wrong. Can anyone be a hero in an age where the lines are so blurred? When they meet again at The Hall of Indifference for a long weekend together, The Indifference League will fight to find out. Or not.
