Moving to the big city sure can be hectic for a crow. Everywhere you turn there are noisy humans, lots of litter, and lots of competition for French fries. NTB

(a)  

“Well, you may be smart, but you sure brag a lot,” his friend said after the crow had explained that he had a very big brain for a bird. NTB 

(a)  

She was the best of all the McBride children. She never woke the McBrides up in the night, she cleaned the crumbs from the kitchen floor, she didn’t wear sneakers and she loved to be kissed on the forehead. What more could anyone ask of a child? NTB 

(a)  

They had started paying less and less attention to her and more and more attention to other things, like the television and their computers and their vacation plans for next summer. NTB

(a)  

Step right up! Come and see the Marvelous...The Masterful...The Magical...The one and only Baloney!

Gasp! A magic show!

Oh fun!

Whatever... NTB

(a)  

They’re short.  They’re yellow.  They’re fuzzy.  They’re hungry.  The Chicken Squad is always there to help solve mysteries and fight crime. NTB 

(a)  

“Look, I’m glad to free it, but as a game warden, I only deal with wildlife. You’ll need to call your local animal control officer to come get this bunny.” NTB

(a)  

When his bike is stolen, Cassius decides there’s something else he wants:  to be able to fend off bullies by becoming a boxer.  NTB 

(a)  

Iggy and his friends were famous. They were not famous for being good, helpful or polite. They were famous for getting in trouble. NTB 

(a)  

I am not a real girl, thought Irreelle. More than anything, she wanted to be real, and she had just ruined any chance of Miss Vesper making her so. NTB

(a)  

It was beginning to get dark, but I could make out a boy marching up the bridge. He reminded me of a sunflower. Matted hair that looked like it had never been combed stuck out like petals around a face that seemed much too large for his skinny body. “Go away,” he said to us. NTB

(a)  

Something had caused Mom to turn away from Gingerbread Island. Cat needed to find the hidden story. She wanted to know why Mom stayed away for so long. Cat had an ocean of questions. She hoped the island would answer. NTB

(a)  

“But it’s unfair,” cried Fern.  “The pig couldn’t help being born small, could it?  If I had been very small at birth, would you have killed me?”  NTB

(a)  

As soon as Mr. Florez announced the show, everyone started talking about it. They all started splitting off. But none of the groups asked me to join them. It didn’t even cross their minds. NTB 

(a)  

Engineers teamed up with biologists to search for the perfect place to build the crossings. They used sand pits to record animal footprints and even counted poop piles to discover their favorite crossing spots. NTB 

(a)  

I was shocked. My own father a thief! This gentle, lovely man! I couldn’t believe he would go creeping into the woods at night to pinch valuable birds belonging to somebody else.  NTB

(a)  

Dear Dog, It has come to my attention that you wish to care for my boy, Andy. This letter is to inform you that your services are not needed… Please find yourself another human. There are many in need of a pet.  Thank you for your interest.  NTB

(a)  

I know they’re doughnuts, but since they were so popular, they’re also part of the town too, you know, like its history, and I just moved here and I thought that making the doughnuts would be a way of getting to know the town. NTB

(a)  

Caketown castle has been seized by the evil Queen Cordelia and her henchmen. Cucumber does not want to save the kingdom but his mom is sure that he can re-enroll into school once he’s done.  NTB

(a)  

Iris made her way to the Majestic Cinema, where she bought a small box of popcorn, sat in her regular seat.  A few rows back sat a little mouse.  NTB

(a)  

We’d lost my father’s shop first. And then our house. And then the life we’d always known. Which is why I understood the other name people used when they talked about the stock market crash. The Depression, they called it. The Great Depression. Which meant something dreadful and dark. NTB

(a)  

With no trace of her family, Lex grew up at the zoo with her foster father, Roger; her best friend, Fisher; and the wind whispering in her ear. Now that she’s twelve, Lex is finally old enough to help with the elephants. NTB

(a)  

Twelve-year-old Lexington, a girl found and raised at the zoo, spends a summer cementing friendships, growing closer to the elephant that saved her life, and learning about her family.  NTB

(a)  

My plans for a carefree vacation flew away faster than the jet outside the window. With Daren on the scene, I would spend my time trying to avoid getting punched, or tripped, or shoved into the pool, or worse. NTB

(a)  

The wagon came into view.  When it stopped, she could see a body in the back, completely covered with a blanket.  “Where’s Papa?” she cried.  Miguel hung his head.  Alfonso didn’t say a word but the tears running down his round cheeks confirmed the worst.  NTB

(a)  

Sutton’s dad was her very own emperor penguin - the papa bird who stayed and watched the baby while the mama penguin went off to do important things far away.  What would it mean for their little colony if a girlfriend came in and disrupted it all?  NTB 

(a)  

Frankie and the class needed to research different kinds of pets and prepare arguments. They had to figure out things like how much food and supplies will cost. NTB

(a)  

He needed a brand name for his company.  In Danish the term “leg godt” means “play well.”  He combined the two to create a new name:  LEGO.  NTB

(a)  

When the three-quarter moon finally returned from behind a cloud, the lake stretched out smooth as glass beneath it. The rowboat, Katie, Matt, and the rest of the adventurous crew were gone! Vanished! NTB

(a)  

Years pass. The girl stops looking at the drawings on the wall. She wearies of the people in the paintings. What good are they to her? They’re just faces on canvas. They cannot see or hear her. They cannot talk to her. They cannot help her. NTB

(a)  

Every spring, the Boston Marathon goes through a neighborhood not far from Bobbi’s house. 26.2 miles! Can people even run that far? Her legs twitch to join the race. NTB 

(a)  

But when I look at my hands, empty as the road in front of us. My grin fades. The anniversary celebration. I bet everyone will have something to share except me. NTB 

(a)  

By now you’ve probably guessed the intruder’s identity.  She was none other than the furless yellow-hair we are currently trying to ignore.  Her name?  Goldilocks.  “Hey there! How ya doin’? Party at the bears’ house!  Boo-ya!”  NTB 

(a)  

The instant Walter saw that birthmark, he began to think that maybe he and Posey were destined to be kindred spirits, bound together by the misfortune of being an easy target. NTB

(a)  

Unlike the typical neighborhood, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood was filled with actors, camera operators, musicians, stage sets, and puppets. NTB

(a)  

On his first day skipping Rec camp, Ware meets Jolene, a tough, secretive girl planting a garden in the rubble of an abandoned church next to camp.  Soon he starts creating a castle-like space of his own in the church lot.  NTB 

(a)  

This is the true story of one extra-special childhood rescue- a dog named Honey, who found his way into Abe’s heart, became his best friend, and saved his life. NTB 

(a)  

Beneath some branches at the base of a cliff, Abe found a dog whimpering softly. The dog’s front leg was broken. NTB 

(a)  

Apis’s first job is to tidy the nursery.  She hauls away left over bits, carts off old wax caps, leaves each cell ready for a new egg.  NTB

(a)  

This man spoke about the dream of a kinder future, and bravely led the way toward racial equality in America. NTB 

(a)  

They stared out the window at the massive zeppelin. It sat on its airfield, tied down by thick white ropes. It reminded Hugo of a spectacular beast, with metal bones showing through silver skin. NTB

(a)  

Soon she became one of the three dogs considered for a special new mission. A second soviet satellite, Sputnik 2, would be launched in less than a month. NTB

(a)  

Two young people and their stories of survival in the same country. Nya walks to the pond twice a day to fetch water for her family and Salva walks away from his war-torn village. NTB 

(a)  

My parents were famous trapeze artists known as the Flying Elefantes. They are dead, and I do not remember them at all. I have only ever known Granny. She has been my mother and my father. She has taught me everything I know. NTB

(a)  

They had the start of a car, the shell of a car. It was already low and slow. So slow, it didn’t even go… we’ll need a lot of car parts to fix this thing up. NTB

(a)  

With a treasured compass, a mysterious stone rubbing, and Buelo’s legend as his only guides, Max sets out on a perilous quest to determine if he is true of heart and what the future holds. NTB

(a)  

Somebody stole the Crown Jewels! The Queen of England asked me to find the missing treasure and bring it back to her. And just like that a plane ticket and a stack of British money was in my hand. NTB

(a)  

Land speculators snapped up land by the gallons in the Everglades. Developers called it useless, soggy swampland but Marjory thought differently.  NTB

(a)  

Max had no idea who she was, where she came from, how she ended up in New York City, or where she got the name Einstein. She liked to think of it as the one great mystery in life that she couldn’t begin to solve, especially not today. NTB

(a)  

Maybe he’s planning to steal again at the night of the party. If Casa Azul is full of guests wearing masks, the cameras can’t identify him or the Trench Coat Man. NTB

ME, FRIDA, AND THE SECRET OF THE PEACOCK RING

(a)  

Cici dreams of winning the Platinum Jr. Chef contest. The $1000 grand prize will surely be enough money for A-má’s plane ticket to Seattle. The competition is tough and her partner does not think her Taiwanese recipes are sophisticated enough for the judges. NTB

(a)  

“I said, please don’t suck my blood,” Daniel repeated, in the direction of the bat, just in case it was the bat talking. “Blood? Yours is drinking blood? Dust-gusting!” spat the voice. NTB 

(a)  

Pellegrina took Edward from Abilene. She put him in his bed and pulled the sheet up to his whiskers. She leaned close to him. She whispered, “You disappoint me.” NTB 

T

(a)  

A nanny?  It sounded like someone was going to replace my dad. It didn’t seem like a great idea. Then again, I thought maybe this nanny person could also be a bodybuilder and they’d help me lift weights. It could happen. NTB

(a)  

Mr. Wolf has just started teaching at Hazelwood Elementary. He wants the first day of school to go well, but he’s got his hands full with his new class. Can the class, and Mr. Wolf, overcome their nervousness and settle into a new school year? NTB

(a)  

Life in Louisa’s family’s camp in the Tasmanian rainforest is intriguing to say the least. There are pig-footed bandicoots, scary spiders and weird noises. Not the least strange is her uncle, with his unusual pet and veiled hints about something named Convict Rock. NTB

(a)  

His dreams are all nightmares and a Dream Wasp wants him as a host for its eggs. So, with Great Grandfather’s help, his friends enter his dreams to try and defeat the wasp. NTB 

(a)  

You’d think that I would feel a huge wave of relief. I wasn’t getting arrested today, and neither was my mom! But the truth was, I’d rather be going to jail than to school with a bunch of judgemental, prying, cliquey twelve-year olds.  NTB

(a)  

Resistance fighters were Danish people who were determined to bring harm to the Nazis however they could.  They damaged German trucks and cars, and bombed their factories.  NTB

(a)  

I live in a human habitat called the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade. We are conveniently located off I-95, with shows at two, four, and seven, 365 days a year. NTB

(a)  

Otto’s mother is missing, and he is convinced she is lost in the surrounding forest. Worse still, the days in Hodeldorf are growing shorter, darker and colder. With things growing more dire every day, Otto and Nim set off into the murky woods surrounding the city in search for answers. NTB

(a)  

“Good job capturing Spidra yesterday,Mom!” I said. “You and Dad are so confident out there. It's really inspiring.” “Thank you, Peter,” Mom said. “Did you want something too?”  “Just to be a superhero,” I said. NTB

(a)  

Astronauts, welcome out of hibernation.  You have been activated to explore/to explore the Plant Planet. NTB

(a)  

That was just some scientists from Earth. They say I’m not a planet anymore, no biggie. NTB 

(a)  

I go into my room and stare at the many basketball posters on the wall.  If it were up to my mom, my room would look completely different.  She suggested a musical theme, with musical-note decals on the walls and violin-decorated bedding. NTB 

(a)  

Unlike other pups, one member of the Singing Creek Pack was born with eyes wide open and ears no bigger than thumbnails. NTB

(a)  

She was born on Easter Sunday, April 16, 1971.  Marcella and Abraham Quintanilla had thought their third child would be a boy.  At a loss for girl names, they borrowed another mom’s original choice meaning “moon goddess.”  NTB

(a)  

I’m not hard to please.  Ask anyone.  But when you’re covered with fur and you’ve spent two full days traveling up the Nile under the fiery summer sun, you expect a little pampering.  NTB 

(a)  

Maude recently moved to California, and I'm not sure my life will be possible without her. I tried to explain this to her mom and dad, but they refused to listen. We were the perfect problem-solving duo, known to clients and enemies alike as M&M Inc. NTB

(a)  

It was Mr. Nekobi who showed Sam what Eerie Elementary really was: a living breathing thing that fed on students. Sam, the hall monitor, was now the protector of the school. NTB

(a)  

It had to be that these teenagers were just a bunch of friends. But Marin kept thinking they acted more like family. Maybe some or all of them were adopted. Maybe they were foster brothers and sisters. Marin blinked, trying to figure it out. And in that one instant, every single one of the nineteen teenagers vanished. NTB 

(a)  

“A mini donkey?” Louie’s hand cupped the donkey’s head, patting it gently. The donkey seemed too weak to move. “Something wrong with it?”  NTB

(a)  

Dad won’t be interested in a fancy picture frame.  Not after Dr. Throckmorton Claus has already given him what he considers the greatest Christmas present since gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Chumley Prep?  Bah, Humbug!  NTB 

(a)  

He got his name because he looked like a Cheerio when he was running in a circle chasing his tail. He was running so fast that you couldn’t see where his head stopped and his tail began. NTB 

(a)  

Stew was better than milk. It was even better than mice. It had orange things and yellow things and even a few green things in it, all mixed up with the gravy and lots and lots of meat. And I was sooo hungry. NTB

(a)  

My sister spent her day in the garden and I spent all day with my face pressed to the fence, my eyes glued to the boys chasing after the black-and-white leather ball. NTB

T

(a)  

Blue 55 didn’t have a pod of friends or a family who spoke his language. But he still sang. He was calling and calling, and no one heard him. NTB

(a)  

“Listen up, Tibbs. We’re supposed to be friends for the whole week. We need to fool Mrs. Davis into believing we are or she might not give us the points we need to win those tickets. So next week, we’re fake friends. And you better not double-cross me, got it?” NTB

(a)  

In the battle between good and evil, there’s only one who has the courage to do what’s right; his name is Squish! He is saving the world, one cell at a time. NTB

(a)  

My best friend was a girl named Pearl. She was small and beautiful. When I got teased at recess on account of my size...Pearl suggested I hide in a secret place. Where could I hide? I was too big for everything. NTB 

(a)  

The new girl in class is rumored to beat up on people, her mom runs the plant nursery and sings to her plants.  NTB

(a)  

Jewel tears the sandwich, puts half on the ground for Baby.  “Remember this, Baby,” Jewel says.  Baby cocks his head to one side and listens.  “There are good folks out there.  Some bad folks, but mostly good.  Don’t ever forget, Baby.  Mostly good.”  NTB 

(a)  

“Twenty-eight,” I think, but I can’t talk. I’m trying so hard to get the words out, but my mouth is too dry. I even try puffing up my cheeks like we do in speech class, but nothing is working! My mouth only feels drier. NTB

(a)  

Smack in the middle of the game, each player performed a ball handling trick while the others took a short rest. Crowds howled with delight at the surprising sights. Suddenly people didn’t mind when the hilarious Trotters beat their team. NTB 

(a)  

We were so busy fooling around that we didn’t notice Fudge up on the jungle gym flapping his arms pretending to be a birdie. It was too late. He already found out he didn’t have wings. He fell to the ground knocking out his two front teeth. NTB

(a)  

All of the animals at Open Bud Ranch can see that Jack likes keeping to himself. But when Charlie arrives, he doesn’t see Jack at all! He is still getting used to seeing in a whole new way - out of only one of his eyes. NTB

(a)  

Though all the children of the village of Dumphrey’s Mill called the woman whose little house sat at the edge of Goose Pond “the old witch,” Howard never suspected till too late that she truly was a witch.  NTB

(a)  

Standing on the road beside Aaron, I don't tell him he hurt my feelings. I don’t ask why he doesn’t try even a little. I don’t point out that he has to live somewhere, and at least we want him. And I don’t admit the thing I’m most scared of. We’ve all made a big mistake. NTB 

(a)  

“You don’t get it. I don’t want either of us to change classes. I knew it wasn’t a computer glitch that caused our schedules to be different. I asked Mom and Dad to put us in separate classes.” NTB

T

(a)  

You’re not giving volcanic ash enough respect! First of all, it’s really small! NTB

(a)  

This new house is not new at all. The kitchen is too small for us to eat as a family. It is not even big enough to fit my sous-chef table -- the one that Mom bought so I could help to cook alongside her in the kitchen. NTB

(a)  

She saw it again!  A dark shape that looked like the polished back of a seal.  The shape slid and twisted into long curves and streaks of reflected light.  She had seen a whale in the Seine!  NTB

(a)  

Every day in a refugee camp is the same...except when it’s not.  Sometimes your life can change in an instant, but you can never be sure if it’s a good change or a bad change.  NTB

(a)  

Unlike many enslaved children, Minty lived with her loving parents. NTB

(a)  

I will steal things. I will break things. I will cause ruin and disaster! And if none of that works, I will show that man-people my foul face, and he will run away in terror. NTB

(a)  

Considered lazy and unathletic, twelve year old Ryan discovers a heroic side of himself when a kayak trip with his older brother goes terribly wrong. NTB

(a)  

The ravine walls are higher and steeper than I expected, especially on the opposite shore. And it’s just us. Not another raft in sight. Feels like we’re all alone in the world. Us and the river and the unspoiled scenery. Not a bad feeling, and just scary enough to be exciting. NTB

(a)  

A wave of flame erupts from the base of the tree trunks, setting up a wall of fire between me and the buses. A wall of fire that wants to kill me. There’s only one thing to do. Run the opposite way. Run for my life. NTB

(a)  

I sit on my wag, but it will not hold still. I breathe in the smell of him, deeper and longer until his scent holds a spot in my memory right next to Mother. I will do anything for him! I jump-spin, hoping he will like it. I yip-wag. “Father! Mine!” NTB

(a)  

“I’m flummoxed, Gracie,” she says. “I don’t know what new story to write. I’m like a sailboat without a sail. I’m wandering. I need help. Flummoxed!” NTB

(a)  

I love being an owl! Owls do all sorts of cool things - like fly super fast. We stay awake all night. We sleep in the daytime. And we see things really far away with our BIG eyes. NTB

(a)  

Ever since he’d mysteriously arrived at the cave as an orphaned baby ten years ago, a bee, a nymph, and a goat had watched over him.  He was glad for their companionship.  Still, he did often wonder who his parents were and why they’d abandoned him.  NTB

(a)  

Andy and Terry owe a book to their publisher, Mr. Big Nose, by 5 o’clock the next day. If they don’t get it done, his nose could inflate and EXPLODE! NTB

(a)