Patricia McCormick

Front Street

A story of hope during a time of desolation. The Pestilence has arrived. A young girl is hastened out of her dying town and told by her mother, "Run far, run fast." The child travels from village to castle, castle to countryside, in search of shelter. Wherever she turns, the Pestilence has already appeared. Scared and tired, she finally meets a stranger who knows something of this plague. He is kind and learned, but will his knowledge be enough to save her family? Timothy Decker explores the bleak yet breathtaking world of fourteenth-century Europe. Stark pen-and-ink drawings emphasize the realism of this romanticized period, and straightforward prose creates a truly haunting tale.

Run Far, Run Fast

Children's Books

Decker, Timothy

Literature & Fiction

When Morris meets Betty, love is unavoidable. In short prose passages, we follow the course of their passionate first love. A confident debut written in a surprising form, which gives the story intelligence and depth. Morris feels like Betty can see everything he's thinking. Betty believes Morris understands her like no one ever before. She tells him everything, even about the dried-up worm that she saw on the sidewalk on the way to school. But sometimes the darkness closes in on Morris. His father is manic-depressive and his mother is always talking about dreams and poetry and her new boyfriend. Morris begins to wonder if crazy people are drawn to each other. Betty points out that he is like his father. As their love grows, it almost consumes them. Soon it's as if they are always trying to escape themselves until they ask, "How do you know when it's over?" With both arms he pulls the comforter over their heads, fluffs it up so it forms a little tent. "Time has stopped in here," he says, huddling against her. "under this comforter our names are Peanut and Sailor, there aren't any other people and we're going to live here forever, maybe have some little brats who think this bed is the whole universe." "How will we get food?" "There's no need for food, we'll live on hugs and kisses. And if we want something after all then we can just order out for Thai food." "I'm starting to find it a little hard to breathe," she says, gasping for air. "Would a little breathing hole be all right?" —FROM THE BOOK

I Need You More Than I Love You and I Love You to Bits

Teen & Young Adult

Gunnar Ardelius

If it's not one thing, it's a mother! Kit's life is simple--farmwork, school, and dance--until her beloved dance teacher, Ursula, gets sick and her mother decides to homeschool Kit because of an incident at school. Kit doesn't know how she can possibly deal with her mother, the Lady of Sorrows, and she can't stand not dancing. The senior students take over giving lessons at the dance studio, giving Kit some respite from her daily struggles with her mother. The arrival of Luis and Clara, professional dancers who will serve as substitutes at the studio, transforms her days and gives her hope. Luis is gorgeous, a brilliant teacher and dancer, and very supportive of Kit, even encouraging her to apply to a special dance school in Montreal and volunteering to take her to the competition and personally introduce her to the director. And that is when Kit's life gets complicated. Finally! The subs are here! Luis and Clara Coll and baby Lola. When we arrive for class they are simply there occupying the studio, no introduction or grande entrance. Luis just says, "Come in, come in, to the barre, sweatshirts off, please, let's see what we have here." … He says ballet is the most royal of dance. In a black T-shirt and tights his body looks royal, exquisite. Lean, carved muscles look powerful as coiled rope, still, waiting to whip into action. Hers too. They make me think of high-class horses. —FROM THE BOOK

According to Kit

Doyle, Eugenie

A humorous look at the way one quirky teacher brings out the best in each of his students. Steven Herrick delves into the murky waters of a middle-school classroom, complete with a nerdy vegetarian teacher, Mr. Carey. What a crazy class! And what a funny, unpredictable year—the year of Naked Bunyip Dancing—when the students find out who they are, what they're good at, and how to put on a fantastic show. The cast of characters includes Mr. Carey the Hairy, Billy the punk genius, J-man the rapper, Sophie the poet, Ahmet the soccer star, Anna the yoga master, Peter the boy with the talking bottom, Emily the ballerina, and others, each with a special talent. Mr. Carey introduces strange, new activities—from belly dancing to poetry jams—and the class responds with a passion for learning. The night of the class concert will undoubtedly be one of the best nights of their lives.Mr. Carey has long hairand a beard.He wears flared trousersand beadsand a T-shirt with the sloganMeat Is Murder on the frontand McDonald’s = McJunk on the back.Today is his first day....This is going to beone very interesting year! —FROM THE BOOK

Naked Bunyip Dancing

Herrick, Steven

Arts, Music & Photography

Baby is a teenager in trouble, and her last chance is a foster home with a couple whose idea of fun is dog sledding. Still, it beats going to the juvenile detention center. Baby comes to love the dogs and takes naturally to sledding, but when her old boyfriend, Bobby, shows up, she can't stop herself from running off with him. Life with Bobby goes bad, and Baby has to make some hard decisions.

Baby

Joseph Monninger

The return of Markus, who's fallen in love again. Today Markus is in love with Ellen Christine; yesterday it was Therese, but that was after Elisabeth; in short, he's been in love with all the girls in his class in just two months of his first year at junior high. His best friend, Sigmund, is always there to help in his humorous pursuits of each girl, but sometimes he gets in the way. Markus's father isn't any help at all; he has only ever been in love with Markus's mother, who died when Markus was very young. With affection and charm, Klaus Hagerup depicts the daily ups and downs, joys and fears of a completely unusual, completely normal teenager and his first steps into the unpredictable world of love. This is the second book in the warm, humorous series about thirteen-year-old Markus. "What, again?" Sigmund exclaimed, concerned. "It just isn't normal, Wormster." "I can't help it, Sigmund. It just sort of keeps happening. …" "First it was Ellen Christine, then it was Beate, then it was Karianne, then it was Mona, then it was Hanne, then it was Hilde, then it was Turid, then it was Ellen, then it was Lise, then it was Anne Berit. … Then it was Elisabeth, then it was Therese. I mean, that's like pretty much every girl in our class. So who is it now?" "Now it's Ellen Christine." "Ellen Christine? What, again?" "Yeah," Markus said quietly. "She has such pretty ears. I didn't notice them the first time." Markus Simonsen was in love. For the fifteenth time since starting junior high. That was two months ago. —FROM THE BOOK

Markus and the Girls

Hagerup, Klaus

High in the mountains of the Lake District is a secret valley where the Vikings have their last stronghold--their Shield Ring. The Normans seek to crush this group of Northmen and to bring all of England under their control. They build a castle in Carlisle and send an army north. Meanwhile, the Northmen lamb and harvest as though life were normal, but Ari Knudson sharpens Wave-flame and the Jarl prepares his War Host. Two youths of the village--Frytha, a Saxon girl who fled to the valley when the Normans burned her home, and Bjorn, the foster-son of the old harper--make ready, too. As the Norman's approach the secret valley, the Northmen recruit able bodies, and Bjorn volunteers to enter the Norman camp as a spy. Frytha knows Bjorn's deepest fear: that if he is captured, he will fall to Norman torture and reveal the location of the Shield Ring.

The Shield Ring

Sutcliff, Rosemary

Historical Fiction

At seventeen, Clara Lorenzo seems to have everything--brains, beauty, and an extraordinary talent for the piano. Her parents have provided her with the finest teacher and rearranged their lives to nurture Clara's genius, and Clara has worked hard--to the point of obsession--to develop her talent. But Clara's many gifts and her obsessive practicing have hidden the truth, a truth so startling that it takes an important piano competition, the confusions of first love, and a mysterious Russian folktale for Clara to begin to understand. By the time she fully sees her predicament, events have taken on a powerful momentum of their own. Winner of the Oklahoma Book Award, Broken Chords is a romance acted out in the highly charged world of an internationally renowned piano competition. Told with suspense, artistry, and an appreciation of the ever-tightening pressures that hold Clara captive, Barbara Snow Gilbert weaves the themes of self-awareness, family bonds, and courage in a classic coming-of-age story that is as lyrical as the music at its heart.

Broken Chords

Gilbert, Barbara Snow

Boyds Mills Press publishes a wide range of high-quality fiction and nonfiction picture books, chapter books, novels, and nonfiction

Rits

Jongman, Mariken

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