Little Chicago opens in the office of Children's Services, where eleven-year-old Blacky Brown is being interviewed by a social worker who is trying to determine what has happened to him. At first, Blacky's emotions are blocked, but then he reveals that he has been sexually abused by his mother's boyfriend, and is released into his mother's custody. Thus begins an alternately harrowing and hopeful story of a brave boy's attempts to come to grips with a grim reality Mary Jane, a classmate who is similarly ostracized, tries to help Blackie, but he soon takes refuge instead in the gun that he buys easily from his sister's boyfriend. Little Chicago is an unblinking look at the world of a child who has been neglected and abused. It portrays head-on the indifference and hostility of classmates, teachers, and even Blacky's mother, once these people learn his "secret." Like Sura in The Buffalo Tree and Whensday in The Copper Elephant, Blacky is one of Adam Rapp's mesmerizing voices,...

Bobby's a classic urban teenager. He's restless. He's impulsive. But the thing that makes him different is this: He's going to be a father. His girlfriend, Nia, is pregnant, and their lives are about to change forever. Instead of spending time with friends, they'll be spending time with doctors, and next, diapers. They have options: keeping the baby, adoption. They want to do the right thing. If only it was clear what the right thing was.

Kendall is football town, and Jerry Downing is the high school's star quarterback, working to redeem himself after he nearly killed a girl in a drunk driving accident last year. Carla Jenson, lead reporter for the school newspaper's sports section, has recruited Jerry to co-author a blog chronicling the season from each of their perspectives. When Jerry's best friend on the team takes a hit too hard and gets hurt, Carla wonders publicly if injury in the game comes at too high a cost in a player's life—but not everyone in Kendall wants to hear it...David Klass and Perri Klass's Second Impact is an action-packed story will resonate with readers who have been following recent news stories are football injuries.

This heart-wrenching novel explores what it is like to be thrust into an unwanted marriage. Has Naila's fate been written in the stars? Or can she still make her own destiny? Naila's conservative immigrant parents have always said the same thing: She may choose what to study, how to wear her hair, and what to be when she grows up—but they will choose her husband. Following their cultural tradition, they will plan an arranged marriage for her. And until then, dating—even friendship with a boy—is forbidden. When Naila breaks their rule by falling in love with Saif, her parents are livid. Convinced she has forgotten who she truly is, they travel to Pakistan to visit relatives and explore their roots. But Naila's vacation turns into a nightmare when she learns that plans have changed—her parents have found her a husband and they want her to marry him, now! Despite her greatest efforts, Naila is aghast to find herself cut off from everything and...

A contemporary and irresistible story from Patricia Reilly GiffLidie lives in Jales, Brazil, where she's free to ride, to be a wild girl, and to dream of going to live with her father and older brother, Rafael, in New York City. Finally Lidie is 12--time to leave Brazil for New York.Meanwhile, a filly is born and begins her journey to a new home. As Lidie's story unfolds, so does the filly's.Lidie's father runs a stable at a famous race track, and Rafael is training to be a jockey. As much as they want to make Lidie feel welcome, they still think of her as the little girl they left behind. They don't even know what a strong rider she is, and that she's determined to befriend and ride the wild filly her father has just bought: Wild Girl.From the Hardcover edition.

Can the Beacon Street Girls' magic act bring the house down at Abigail Adams Junior High's talent show? Maeve, Avery, Katani, Isabel, and Charlotte face their toughest challenges yet -- keeping the Movie House from going out of business and helping Isabel deal with too many demands from the Queens of Mean. Plus, Maeve's relationship with Dillon is shaky, and Marty has a crush on a pink poodle owned by the fascinating Ms. Razzberry Pink. The BSG feel like they're dealing with a juggling act, not a magic act. Can they pull everything off and save the theater?

After Heaven and The First Part Last, three-time Coretta Scott King Award-winning author Angela Johnson concludes her acclaimed trilogy with a poignant tale of finding where you belong and who you belong with. Shoogy left home with all her jeans still in the washer because she couldn't think of a reason to stay. She's not sure where she belongs, until she meets Curtis. Curtis knows for certain where he does not want to be and that's to be back in the army. He is happy to be in Ohio, where it is quiet and he can spend time with Shoogy. But when Curtis gets orders to return to Iraq, will belonging with each other be enough to keep Shoogy and Curtis together? Angela Johnson takes us back to Heaven, Ohio in this bittersweet tale of first love found and lost.

Victor Spoil comes from a long line of famous supervillains and he's fully expected to join their ranks one day. But to his family's utter disappointment, Victor doesn't have a single bad-guy bone in his body. He won't run with scissors, he always finishes his peas, and he can't stand to be messy. Hopeless!As a last-ditch effort before they give up and let him be a—gasp!—civilian, Victor's exasperated parents send him to apprentice under a disgraced supervillain called The Stain. This matchup starts off as a complete disaster, but Victor and The Stain eventually find that they have a lot to learn from each other. The stakes get high when Victor is forced to choose between his mentor and his family morals (or lack thereof)...what will the world's nicest bad guy do?In this rollicking middle-grade adventure, Michael Fry's witty text and hysterical artwork combines superhero action with classic fish-out-of-water humor.

"The brevity, pacing, and humor are likely to appeal to reluctant readers. Fun for fans of fantasy and flatulence." —Kirkus ReviewsPerfect for fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Hilo! Author-illustrator team Michael Fry and Bradley Jackson return with a hilarious and heartfelt adventure starring the characters from The Naughty List.Some nasty imaginary creatures have just escaped into the real world, and it's an emergency! Bobbie and her friends must take on unicorns, farting spiders, a giant nightmare squid, and a scary Viking bounty hunter who is determined to land the whole gang in Trans-Dimensional prison.But Bobbie will learn that sometimes the things that scare us most aren't actually so terrifying once you've faced them.This zany, laugh-out-loud sequel packed with comic illustrations is sure to have kids laughing!

Gabriela's second novel picks up where her first left off. Her BFF may be going to another school, but Gabby is determined to make sixth grade the best year ever! She's even ready to stand up to confident and intimidating Aaliyah Reade-Johnson if she makes fun of Gabby for her stutter. What she isn't ready for is Sixth Grade Initiation—a series of pranks the older kids play on the sixth graders. Gabby could stop the tradition if she wins the school election . . . but Aaliyah is running, too, which means Gabby's chances for victory are slim. Can Gabby find the courage to stand on her own, speak out for change, and do what seems impossible?

Your mother's suicide attempt has left her in a coma from which she's never waking up. You know that she wouldn't want to live like this, but could you really help her die? Here you are, making the hardest decision of your life and there's no one to help you: Your father has disappeared into depression. Your best friend is becoming someone you no longer want to know. There is a girl who could help, maybe, if you'd let her. But in the end, it's all up to you. A free-verse novel from debut author Alma Fullerton plunges deep inside the psyche of a young man faced with a life-and-death decision.

A show-stopping middle-grade series about life in and out of the spotlight from Broadway stars and Internet sensations Andrew Keenan-Bolger and Kate Wetherhead.Two weeks at Camp Curtain-Up is just what Jack and Louisa need to fuel their passion for theater: Broadway musical sing-alongs, outdoor rehearsals, and tons of new MTNs (musical theater nerds) to meet... maybe even a special someone. It almost feels like fate when the two friends return home to find local auditions for The Sound of Music. But as Louisa fantasizes about frolicking in the Alps, Jack gets tempted by a student-run drama competition that would reunite the two with their camp friends. Will Jack get Louisa to skip an audition? Can Lou handle Jack as her director? And will someone finally get a big, Broadway happy ending?

Meet the Beacon Street Girls... They're real, they're fun - they're just like you! A family history project for school is giving the Beacon Street Girls a lot to think about -- especially Avery. She's got three families: her mother and brothers at home, her father in Colorado, and the birth mother she never really knew. But family is an uncomfortable subject for Maeve. Her parents have just separated, and she doesn't want to talk about it to anyone, not even her best friends in the world, the BSG. Can a bundle of old letters make Maeve see her family in a new light and give her something to share with the Beacon Street Girls?