Showing results by narrator "Tara Sands" in All Categories

Life is never quiet at the Homestead. First, it was disappearing animals, then a power-hungry dairy queen. Now it’s a Renaissance Faire, a noisy, stinky spectacle that drives Horace to distraction. Bunwinkle, on the other hand, can’t get enough of the festivities—she loves the thrilling jousts, the court intrigue…and especially the pickles on a stick.

In this delightful chapter book, you'll meet Jamal, Lindalee, Hans, Matteo, and others - the kids who live on Cattywampus Street, not far from the Waddlebee Toy Store. Each of the 11 chapters in this magical, mysterious, silly, scary, happy, and sometimes sad chapter book tells an utterly unforgettable tale about one of the kids.

The fallen queen of the sprites is about to be voted in as Head Councilor, and she wants Nathanial in her control. The magical battle blade that he wields is too good a weapon to pass up. If only adults like Boss would let him help stop this disaster, but even Nathanial's friends think this problem is too big for teenagers to interfere with. Now, he must prove to them how imperative it is for all to act.

Summer has begun, the beach beckons - and Francesca Schnell is going nowhere. Four years ago, Francesca's little brother, Simon, drowned, and Francesca's the one who should have been watching. Now Francesca is about to turn 16, but guilt keeps her stuck in the past. Meanwhile, her best friend, Lisette, is moving on, most recently with the boy Francesca wants but can't have. At loose ends, Francesca trails her father, who may be having an affair, to the local country club. There she meets four-year-old Frankie Sky, a little boy who bears an almost eerie resemblance to Simon.

Elfie Oster was sure that Hampshire Academy was going to be the perfect school for her. She was sure about it right up to the minute she got expelled. On her first day. It was all a terrible misunderstanding, but until she can find a way to fix things, Elfie has to go back to Cottonwood Elementary for fifth grade. Where she's never really fit in. Or had friends. It is not a perfect situation. And then it gets worse. Her babysitter gets really sick. Her aunt and uncle aren't speaking. She's forced to do a group project involving an egg....

Gwendolyn longs for a pet. What kind? Any kind! How many legs? Two, four, 10 - she's not picky! But her parents have other ideas, and instead they give her...a box of dirt. "It smells of swamp," Gwendolyn says - but her parents say it smells of possibilities. And once Gwendolyn gets savvy about seeds and soil, sun and shade, she finds they are right.

Horace is flying high after solving the pet-tectives' first mystery. But Bunwinkle just hasn’t been herself - she’s scared all the time and is too embarrassed to tell anyone. Before they can work on getting Bunwinkle’s confidence back, a new case lands in their laps - well, actually their trash cans - when Shoo the raccoon asks for help. The neighborhood humans think he’s behind a series of garbage upheavals and home break-ins - but he swears he’s innocent. Just because people call him a trash bandit doesn’t mean he is one.

Shy, 11-year-old Lily made her dad an important promise before he passed away - that she would “Strive for Five” and speak her mind at least five times. But speaking up one time, let alone five, is easier said than done. It’ll be even harder now that Lily must attend public school for the first time. Fortunately, she meets curling-obsessed Hobart and quiet Dunya at the beginning of sixth grade. Their kindness gives Lily hope that life without Dad might just be bearable. But then Lily and her friends are bullied by Ryan and his mean clique....

Becoming a sprite has come with the consequence of learning how to be tricky, a trait Nathanial has never respected but now relies on for his survival. He must use this skill to navigate the castle walls in which young sprites are learning how to properly dominate the planet. Having come here to free Aliya, Nathanial must now save her from a fate worse than her imprisonment, but she may not be the only one in need of a rescue.

Maeve struggles to live up the ideals of the strong, independent, successful businesswoman and guru whose books and classes are the gold-standard for woman entrepreneurs. All Maeve has ever wanted is to design red carpet attire for Hollywood’s brightest stars. But her Midwestern family and friends have nothing but discouragement for her. Get real. Get a real job. Get back to real life. Frustrated by the clannishness of the fashion industry and the lack of support in her own life, Maeve decides to start her own online company making custom garments from her own designs.

To celebrate her 14th birthday, Sammy’s newly found, long-lost father takes her and best friend Marissa on a cruise. As Sammy navigates her feelings about this new relationship, she and Marissa become involved in another family’s bizarre drama which includes the mysterious disappearance of the wealthy matriarch and suspicious activity by the greedy heirs.

Sixth grade is coming to an end, and so is life as Macy McMillan knows it. Soon, her mother will upend their perfect little family, adding a stepfather and six-year-old twin stepsisters. She sends Macy next door to help 86-year-old Iris Gillan, who is getting ready to move into an assisted-living facility. Iris can't pack a single box on her own, and, worse, she doesn't know sign language. Soon, through notes and books and cookies, a bond grows between them, and this friendship, odd and unexpected, may be just what Macy needs to face the changes in her life.

A suburban Boston school unwittingly started a firestorm of controversy over a sixth-grade field trip. The class was visiting a mosque to learn about world religions when a handful of boys, unnoticed by their teachers, joined the line of worshippers and acted out the motions of the Muslim call to prayer. A video of the prayer went viral with the title "Wellesley, Massachusetts Public School Students Learn to Pray to Allah". Charges flew that the school exposed the children to Muslims who intended to convert American schoolchildren.

Be careful what you wish for. We've all heard it, right? Nathanial only recalls ever wishing to be well. How could that possibly go wrong? He had been stuck in his bedroom hacking up a lung for 12 years, and as it had miraculously stopped about a year ago, the wishing seemed to have worked without consequence. But on his 13th birthday, that old rule of wishes comes back to bite.

In this 14th title in the popular series, Sammy is hoping for a fun Halloween for a change. But dressing up as zombies and cutting through the cemetery assures that the teenage sleuth and her pals are soon immersed in a satisfyingly suspenseful adventure full of secrets and surprises - not the least of which is a trick-or-treat bag with human skulls!

What is a hero? Paige Nolan knows. Edward Raynes, the young man who exposed America's unconstitutional spying techniques, is a hero, even if half the dum-dums in the country think he's a traitor. Or Paige's parents, journalists who were captured by terrorists while telling stories of the endangered and oppressed. They were heroes, too. Were...or are - no one has ever told Paige if they're still alive or dead.

Lemonade Liberty Witt's mama always told her: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But Lem can't possibly make lemonade out of her new life in Willow Creek, California - the Bigfoot Capital of the World - where she's forced to live with a grandfather she's never met after her mother passes away. Then she meets 11-year-old Tobin Sky, the CEO of Bigfoot Detectives Inc., who is the sole Bigfoot investigator for their small town.

Nathanial Thatcher believed he'd drawn the short straw in life and blamed his weak immune system for keeping him locked up in his sanitized bedroom. It took his 12th birthday wish to cure him and finally pull the trick off his eyes revealing the true culprits of his situation, and perhaps yours, the sprites!

Much like her hit TV show, I Love Lucy, Americans in the 1950s fell in love with Lucy. Born in New York in 1911, Lucille Ball was always a natural performer. She danced in the chorus of Broadway shows and acted in small parts in Hollywood movies. But Ball's true gift was comedy. She found a way to showcase her gifts in 1951 when CBS gave her the chance to star in a sitcom.

Liza and Cliff are getting married, and it's set to be a grand affair. Happily, weddings bring family together, so Cliff's brother, Byron Forrester, makes the trip for the big event. He's visited the town of Tyler once before, and despite his uneasy relationship with Cliff, he's glad for the opportunity to return. Nora Gates, independent-minded owner of Tyler's department store, fancies herself a spinster. One brief, passionate affair sated her curiosity. But Byron's arrival shatters her tranquility.