Materials from United States of America
Twelve-year-old Thaddeus A. Ledbetter, who considers it a duty to share his knowledge and talent with others, refutes each of the charges which have sent him to “In-School Suspension” for the remainder of seventh grade.
The author describes Christmas at his grandmother’s apartment in Spanish Harlem the year she introduced him to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Diego Velazquez’s portrait of Juan de Pareja, which has had a profound and lasting effect on him.
Fresh from the spotlight of their first television experience, the Amigas Inc. team is back, but the heat is always on in Miami and when they get hired to do an unusual quince for a bratty debutante, the temperature goes sky high.
When someone takes a pet goldfish, then other items from Ms. Blackwell’s classroom, each time leaving a clue in the form of a poem, student Edgar Allan competes with a classmate to be first to solve the mystery.
The author of Tiempos Lejanos: Poetic Images from the Past returns to his roots in a new and exciting book of poetry about his childhood in Guadalupe, New Mexcio, originally called Ojo del Padre, presumably in honor of a priest who discovered a still-bubbling spring in the area. The village of Guadalupe is no more, but Garciacute;a’s vibrant word pictures transport us to a time and place of true community and existence. Written first in Spanish, then translated to English, these poems paint his young life and the lives of his family members and neighbors in west central New Mexico in the mid-twentieth century. Garcia’s perceptions of a wider world and all it includes, but still anchored in the routines of home and play and work, were imparted by his mother, who never attended a day of school in her life.
We the Children asks: Can a kid change the course of history?
At Spiro Agnew Elementary, the fifth graders rule the school. And class clown Justin Fisher rules them all. Or, at least, he did. Justin has always been the funniest kid in school. But this year, his new teacher isn’t amused. And when Justin gets in trouble with Mr. Tripp over and over, the other kids turn on him, too. No one wants to be friends with the class troublemaker. But Justin Fisher isn’t going down without a fight.
In her first novel for adults, the Newbery Medalist and bestselling author pens an exciting, beautifully written, erotic addition to the popular vampire genre. “A gripping, funny, page-turning, pretty much perfect work of magical literature.”–Neil Gaiman.
Decimus Rex and Olu Umbika have managed to do what no one else has ever doneÑflee the clutches of Slavious Doom. As expected, the overlord is furious, demands their immediate capture, and sends out a search party to find them. From the wild dogs running riot in the sewers, to the soldiers scouring the towns above, it seems only a matter of time before the boys are caught.
When the birds in the palace garden realize the princess is sad, they decide to offer their best to make her smile again. The peacock tries first, proudly displaying his beautiful plumes, but the princess barely lifts her head to look. Then the magpie brings silver and gold, but she only asks him whose jewels he stole. A banquet from the kingfisher, the jackdaws’ aerial show — nothing helps. Then the wren perches on her balcony and sings a soothing story full of all the happy words he’s been collecting. “Please never leave, little wren,” the princess says, “and I shall never be lonely.”