Download or read book Pack of Dorks written by Beth Vrabel and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2014-10-14 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Camp Dork written by Beth Vrabel and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-05-03 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Super Dorks written by Beth Vrabel and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2018-05-08 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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?
Download or read book Caleb and Kit written by Beth Vrabel and published by Running Press Kids. This book was released on 2017-09-12 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From award-winning author Beth Vrabel comes a powerfully moving story about a magical friendship, coping with disability, and the pains of growing up and growing apart. Twelve-year-old Caleb is shorter, frailer, and more protected than most kids his age. That's because he has cystic fibrosis, a diagnosis meaning lungs that fill with mucus and a shortened lifespan. Caleb tries not to let his disorder define him, but it can be hard with an overprotective mom and a perfect big brother. Then Caleb meets Kit -- a vibrant, independent, and free girl -- and his world changes instantly. Kit reads Caleb's palm and tells him they are destined to become friends. She calls birds down from the sky and turns every day into an adventure. Her magic is contagious, making Caleb question the rules and order in his life. But being Kit's friend means embracing deception and danger, and soon Caleb will have to decide if his friendship with Kit is really what's best for him -- or her.
Download or read book The Newspaper Club written by Beth Vrabel and published by Running Press Kids. This book was released on 2020-03-10 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Learn what it means to be a journalist in this fun, fast-paced new middle grade series about a club of kid reporters by an award-winning author. Nellie Murrow -- the daughter of two (former) newspaper reporters -- was named after one of the fiercest journalists who ever lived. When she moves to sleepy Bear Creek, Maine, rumors of vandalism and attacks at the only park in town are keeping her saddled to the house. Some townspeople say the attacks are gang recruitments. Others blame a vagrant spotted on the hiking trails around town. But when Nellie thinks like a reporter, none of those explanations make sense. Something is happening at the park, but what? All of the fake online news and rumors are clouding the truth. Nellie wants to break the story -- and break free from the front yard -- but she can't do it alone. She needs a whole club if she's going to start the Cub Report, the town's first independent newspaper. Creating a newspaper from scratch is going to be tough; but for Nellie, making friends is even harder. Starred Kirkus Review
Download or read book A Blind Guide to Stinkville written by Beth Vrabel and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-08-02 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Before Stinkville, Alice didn’t think albinism—or the blindness that goes with it—was a big deal. Sure, she uses a magnifier to read books. And a cane keeps her from bruising her hips on tables. Putting on sunscreen and always wearing a hat are just part of life. But life has always been like this for Alice. Until Stinkville. For the first time in her life, Alice feels different—like she’s at a disadvantage. Back in her old neighborhood in Seattle, everyone knew Alice, and Alice knew her way around. In Stinkville, Alice finds herself floundering—she can’t even get to the library on her own. But when her parents start looking into schools for the blind, Alice takes a stand. She’s going to show them—and herself—that blindness is just a part of who she is, not all that she can be. To prove it, Alice enters the Stinkville Success Stories essay contest. No one, not even her new friend Kerica, believes she can scout out her new town’s stories and write the essay by herself. The funny thing is, as Alice confronts her own blindness, everyone else seems to see her for the first time. This is a stirring small-town story that explores many different issues—albinism, blindness, depression, dyslexia, growing old, and more—with a light touch and lots of heart. Beth Vrabel’s characters are complicated and messy, but they come together in a story about the strength of community and friendship. This paperback edition includes a Q&A with the author and a sneak peak at the upcoming The Blind Guide to Normal. 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.
Download or read book To Tell You the Truth written by Beth Vrabel and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-06-07 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes a sneak peek at: Lies I tell myself.
Download or read book The Humiliations of Pipi McGee written by Beth Vrabel and published by Running Press Kids. This book was released on 2019-09-17 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Award-winning author Beth Vrabel writes with humor and empathy about a girl who wants to shed her embarrassing moments before she leaves middle school behind her. The first eight years of Penelope McGee's education have been a curriculum in humiliation. Now she is on a quest for redemption, and a little bit of revenge. From her kindergarten self-portrait as a bacon with boobs, to fourth grade when she peed her pants in the library thanks to a stuck zipper to seventh grade where...well, she doesn't talk about seventh grade. Ever. After hearing the guidance counselor lecturing them on how high school will be a clean slate for everyone, Pipi--fearing that her eight humiliations will follow her into the halls of Northbrook High School--decides to use her last year in middle school to right the wrongs of her early education and save other innocents from the same picked-on, laughed-at fate. Pipi McGee is seeking redemption, but she'll take revenge, too.
Download or read book The Reckless Club written by Beth Vrabel and published by Running Press Kids. This book was released on 2018-10-02 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From award-winning author Beth Vrabel comes a new middle-grade Breakfast Club drama set in a old folks' home. On the last day of middle school, five kids who couldn't be more different commit separate pranks, each sure they won't be caught and they can't get in trouble. They're wrong. As punishment, they each have to volunteer one beautiful summer day-the last one before school-at Northbrook Retirement and Assisted Living Home, where they'll push creamed carrots into toothless mouths, perform the world's most pathetic skit in front of residents who won't remember it anyway, hold gnarled hands of peach fuzzed old ladies who relentlessly push hard candies, and somehow forge a bond with each other that has nothing to do with what they've done and everything to do with who they're becoming. All the action takes place in the course of this one day, with each chapter one hour of that day, as the five kids reveal what they've done, why they did it, and what they're going to do now.
Download or read book The Dork Diaries Set written by Rachel Renée Russell and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-10-30 with total page 1375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Don’t miss this dorkalicious boxed set of the first six Dork Diaries books that comes with a special collectible poster! Dork Diaries are funnier in numbers, which is why this complete collection of Nikki Maxwell’s entertaining adventures is a must-have for Dorks everywhere. This boxed set includes all five standalone Dork Diary titles—Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life, Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl, Tales from a Not-So-Talented Pop Star, Tales from a Not-So-Graceful Ice Princess, and Tales from a Not-So-Smart Miss Know-it-All—as well as the interactive How to Dork Your Diary. And the added bonus of a special collectible poster means fans can proudly proclaim their love of all things Dorky!
Download or read book Bringing Me Back written by Beth Vrabel and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2018-02-06 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Noah is not having a good year. His mom is in prison, he's living with his mom's boyfriend—who he's sure is just waiting until his mother's six month sentence is up to kick him out—and he's officially hated by everyone at his middle school, including his former best friend. It's Noah's fault that the entire football program got shut down after last year. One day, Noah notices a young bear at the edge of the woods with her head stuck in a bucket. A bucket that was almost certainly left outside as part of a school fundraiser to bring back the football team. As days go by, the bear is still stuck—she's wasting away and clearly getting weaker, even as she runs from anyone who tries to help. And she's always alone. Though Noah ignores the taunts at school and ignores his mother's phone calls from jail, he can't ignore the bear. Everyone else has written the bear off as a lost cause—just like they have with Noah. He makes it his mission to help her. But rescuing the bear means tackling his past—and present—head-on. Could saving the bear ultimately save Noah, too?
Download or read book Lies I Tell Myself written by Beth Vrabel and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2023-06-13 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Eleven-year-old Raymond devises a plan to spend his summer proving to everyone how brave and confident he is, but will he really be able to change, or is it another lie he tells himself?
Download or read book A Blind Guide to Normal written by Beth Vrabel and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-10-11 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Richie “Ryder” Raymond has a gift. He can find the punchline in any situation, even in his limited vision and prosthetic eye. During the past year at Addison School for the Blind, Ryder’s quick wit earned the respect and friendship of his classmates. Heading to mainstream, or “normal,” school for eighth grade is going to be awesome. After all, what’s not to like? At Addison, Ryder was everyone’s favorite person. He could make anyone laugh, especially his best friend Alice. So long as he can be first to make all of the one-eyed jokes, Ryder is sure he’ll fit in just as quick at Papuaville Middle School, home of the Fighting Guinea Pigs. But Alice warns him fitting in might not be as easy as he thinks. Turns out, Alice was right. In just the first hour of “normal” school, Ryder is attacked by General MacCathur II (aka, Gramps’s cat), causes his bio teacher to pass out cold, makes an enemy out town hero Max, and falls for Jocelyn, the fierce girl next door who happens to be Max’s girlfriend. On top of that, Ryder struggles to hold onto his dignity in the face of students’ pity and Gramps’s non-stop practical jokes. Ryder quickly sees the only thing worse than explaining a joke is being the punchline. But with help from his stuck-in-the-70s Gramps and encouragement from Alice, Ryder finds the strength to not only fight back, but to make peace. This exciting sequel to A Blind Guide to Stinkville weaves humor, recovery and second chances into an unforgettable story, with characters who will hook you from page one.
Download or read book King Dork written by Frank Portman and published by Delacorte Press. This book was released on 2008-02-12 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As John Green, New York Times bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars said, “King Dork will rock your world.” The cult favorite from Frank Portman, aka Dr. Frank of the Mr. T. Experience, is a book like nothing ever done before--King Dork literally has something for everyone: At least a half-dozen mysteries, love, mistaken identity, girls, monks, books, blood, bubblegum, and rock and roll. This book is based on music--a passion most kids have--and it has original (hilarious) songs and song lyrics throughout. When Tom Henderson finds his deceased father’s copy of J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, his world is turned upside down. Suddenly high school gets more complicated: Tom (aka King Dork) is in the middle of at least half a dozen mysteries involving dead people, naked people, fake people, a secret code, girls, and rock and roll. As he goes through sophomore year, he finds clues that may very well solve the puzzle of his father’s death and—oddly—reveal the secret to attracting semi-hot girls (the secret might be being in a band, if he can find a drummer who can count to four. A brilliant story told in first person, King Dork includes a glossary and a bandography, which readers will find helpful and hilarious. Praise for King Dork: “Basically, if you are a human being with even a vague grasp of the English language, King Dork, will rock your world.”—John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars “[No account of high school] has made me laugh more than King Dork. . . . Grade A.”—Entertainment Weekly “Impossibly brilliant.”—Time “Provides a window into what it would be like if Holden Caulfield read The Catcher in the Rye.”—New York Post [STAR] “Original, heartfelt, and sparkling with wit and intelligence. This novel will linger long in readers’ memories.”—School Library Journal, Starred [STAR] “A biting and witty high-school satire.”—Kirkus Reviews, Starred [STAR] “Tom’s narration is piercingly satirical and acidly witty.”—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, Starred “Loaded with sharp and offbeat humor.”—USA Today “King Dork is smart, funny, occasionally raunchy and refreshingly clear about what it’s like to be in high school.”—San Francisco Chronicle “King Dork: Best Punk Rock Book Ever.”—The Village Voice “I love this book as much as I hated high school, and that’s some of the highest praise I can possibly give.”—Bookslut.com
Download or read book Wandmaker written by Ed Masessa and published by Scholastic Inc.. This book was released on 2016-05-10 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Magical fiction from the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling Wandmaker's Guidebook! Magic is real -- and it runs in the family -- in this charming fantasy adventure about a boy who must balance his magical education with the demands of big-brotherhood, perfect for fans of Jenny Nimmo and Angie Sage.Henry Leach the Eighth doesn't know it yet, but he's descended from a long line of wandmakers. That means he has inherited mysterious powers, a trunk full of strange artifacts... and a whole host of problems.His biggest problem at the moment, however, is his little sister, Brianna. She's always had a special talent for getting in his way. And she takes troublemaking to new heights when she's caught in the crossfire of Henry's first major spell!Heartfelt, funny, and imaginative, Wandmaker is sure to leave young readers spellbound.
Download or read book Geek Love written by Katherine Dunn and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2011-05-25 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: National Book Award Finalist • Here is the unforgettable story of the Binewskis, a circus-geek family whose matriarch and patriarch have bred their own exhibit of human oddities—with the help of amphetamines, arsenic, and radioisotopes. One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years Their offspring include Arturo the Aquaboy, who has flippers for limbs and a megalomaniac ambition worthy of Genghis Khan . . . Iphy and Elly, the lissome Siamese twins . . . albino hunchback Oly, and the outwardly normal Chick, whose mysterious gifts make him the family’s most precious—and dangerous—asset. As the Binewskis take their act across the backwaters of the U.S., inspiring fanatical devotion and murderous revulsion; as its members conduct their own Machiavellian version of sibling rivalry, Geek Love throws its sulfurous light on our notions of the freakish and the normal, the beautiful and the ugly, the holy and the obscene. Family values will never be the same.
Download or read book The Popularity Pact Camp Clique written by Eileen Moskowitz-Palma and published by Running Press Kids. This book was released on 2020-04-14 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the blink of a summer, Bea goes from having a best friend and a place she belongs to being dropped and invisible, eating lunch alone and only talking to teachers. The end of sixth grade and the start of Camp Amelia can't come soon enough. But then the worst part of school, ex-best friend Maisy, shows up in Bea's safe place and ruins it all. Maisy lands in the same bunk as Bea and summer suddenly seems dire. Never having camped a day in her life, Maisy agrees: it's hopeless. She should be at home, spending time with her little sister and hanging out with her super popular crew of friends--not at this stupid adventure camp failing everything and being hated by everyone. In a desperate bid to belong, Maisy offers Bea a deal: if Bea helps her fit in at the camp, she will get Bea into the M & M's, their town's popular clique, when they enter seventh grade in the fall. The Popularity Pact is born.
