Astrid the Unstoppable

Astrid the Unstoppable
Author: Maria Parr
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Total Pages: 205
Release: 2018-11-13
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1536204013

Pippi Longstocking meets Heidi meets Anne Shirley in this tale of an irrepressible girl in a mountain village who navigates unexpected changes with warmth and humor. Speed and self-confidence, that’s Astrid’s motto. Nicknamed “the little thunderbolt,” she loves to spend her days racing down the hillside on her sled, singing loudly as she goes, and visiting Gunnvald, her grumpy, septuagenarian best friend and godfather, who makes hot chocolate from real chocolate bars. She just wishes there were other children to share her hair-raising adventures with. But Astrid’s world is about to be turned upside down by two startling arrivals to the village of Glimmerdal: first a new family, then a mysterious, towering woman who everyone seems to know but Astrid. It turns out that Gunnvald has been keeping a big secret from his goddaughter, one that will test their friendship to its limits. Astrid is not too happy about some of these upheavals in Glimmerdal — but, luckily, she has a plan to set things right.

Lena, the Sea, and Me

Lena, the Sea, and Me
Author: Maria Parr
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2021-08-03
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1536218170

In a charming sequel to Adventures with Waffles, Trille and Lena navigate the rough waters of friendship when a new soccer coach and a new girl in school disrupt their seaside escapades. Trille and Lena may be getting older, but they still find everyday adventure—and trouble—in their coastal village, including sinking every raft they build, getting little sisters stuck up flag poles, and attending those dreaded music lessons. But that’s not all. The arrival of a less-than-encouraging new soccer coach is putting twelve-year-old Lena's goalkeeping career in doubt. And Trille is wondering how to impress the girl who has just joined his class. As the best friends battle the elements and their own emotions, one thing is for sure: they're not giving up, not if Lena has anything to do with it! In Maria Parr’s follow-up to Adventures with Waffles, the acclaimed author returns to Mathildewick Cove with a rib-tickling story of growing up.

Adventures with Waffles

Adventures with Waffles
Author: Maria Parr
Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2015
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0763672815

Trille must overcome the death of Auntie Granny and her best friend, Lena, moving away.

Astrid Sees All

Astrid Sees All
Author: Natalie Standiford
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2021-04-06
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1982153679

This “vivid portrait of a seedy, edgy, artsy, and seething New York City that will never exist again” (Elizabeth Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author)—the glittering, decadent downtown club scene of the 1980s—follows a smart, vulnerable young woman as she takes a deep dive into her dark side. Essential reading for fans of Sweetbitter, Fleabag, and books by Patti Smith. New York, 1984: Twenty-two-year-old Phoebe Hayes is a young woman in search of excitement and adventure. But the recent death of her father has so devastated her that her mother wants her to remain home in Baltimore to recover. Phoebe wants to return to New York, not only to chase the glamorous life she so desperately craves but also to confront Ivan, the older man who wronged her. With her best friend Carmen, she escapes to the East Village, disappearing into an underworld haunted by artists, It Girls, and lost souls trying to party their pain away. Carmen juggles her junkie-poet boyfriend and a sexy painter while, as Astrid the Star Girl, Phoebe tells fortunes in a nightclub and plots her revenge on Ivan. When the intoxicating brew of sex, drugs, and self-destruction leads Phoebe to betray her friend, Carmen disappears, and Phoebe begins an unstoppable descent into darkness. “A new wave coming-of-age story, Astrid Sees All is a blast from the past” (Stewart O’Nan, author of The Speed Queen) about female friendship, sex, romance, and what it’s like to be a young woman searching for an identity.

White Oleander

White Oleander
Author: Janet Fitch
Publisher: Little, Brown
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2006-09-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0759568170

The unforgettable story of a young woman's odyssey through a series of Los Angeles foster homes on her journey to redemption. Astrid is the only child of a single mother, Ingrid, a brilliant, obsessed poet who wields her luminous beauty to intimidate and manipulate men. Astrid worships her mother and cherishes their private world full of ritual and mystery - but their idyll is shattered when Astrid's mother falls apart over a lover. Deranged by rejection, Ingrid murders the man, and is sentenced to life in prison. White Oleander is the unforgettable story of Astrid's journey through a series of foster homes and her efforts to find a place for herself in impossible circumstances. Each home is its own universe, with a new set of laws and lessons to be learned. With determination and humor, Astrid confronts the challenges of loneliness and poverty, and strives to learn who a motherless child in an indifferent world can become. Oprah Winfrey enjoyed this gripping first novel so much that she not only made it her book club pick, she asked if she could narrate the audio release.

Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat

Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat
Author: Lynne Jonell
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company (BYR)
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2008-09-02
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1466824662

Emmy was a good girl. At least she tried very hard to be good. She did her homework without being told. She ate all her vegetables, even the slimy ones. And she never talked back to her nanny, Miss Barmy, although it was almost impossible to keep quiet, some days. She really was a little too good. Which is why she liked to sit by the Rat. The Rat was not good at all . . . Hilarious, inventive, and irresistably rodent-friendly, Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat is a fantastic first novel from acclaimed picture book author Lynne Jonell.

Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes

Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes
Author: Jonathan Auxier
Publisher: Abrams
Total Pages: 347
Release: 2011-12-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 161312158X

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Night Gardener, Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes is the utterly beguiling tale of a ten-year-old blind orphan who has been schooled in a life of thievery. One fateful afternoon, he steals a box from a mysterious traveling haberdasher—a box that contains three pairs of magical eyes. When he tries the first pair, he is instantly transported to a hidden island where he is presented with a special quest: to travel to the dangerous Vanished Kingdom and rescue a people in need. Along with his loyal sidekick—a knight who has been turned into an unfortunate combination of horse and cat—and the magic eyes, he embarks on an unforgettable, swashbuckling adventure to discover his true destiny. Be sure to read the companion book, Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard. Praise for Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes “Auxier has a juggler’s dexterity with prose that makes this fantastical tale quicken the senses.” –Kirkus Reviews

The Gilded Girl

The Gilded Girl
Author: Alyssa Colman
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2021-04-06
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0374313946

Heartfelt, fast-paced, and utterly absorbing, The Gilded Girl is Alyssa Colman’s sparkling debut novel about determination, spirit, and the magic of friendship. Any child can spark magic, but only the elite are allowed to kindle it. Those denied access to the secrets of the kindling ritual will see their magic snuffed out before their thirteenth birthday. Miss Posterity’s Academy for Practical Magic is the best kindling school in New York City—and wealthy twelve-year-old Emma Harris is accustomed to the best. But when her father dies, leaving her penniless, Emma is reduced to working off her debts to Miss Posterity alongside Izzy, a daring servant girl who refuses to let her magic be snuffed out, even if society dictates she must. Emma and Izzy reluctantly form a pact: If Izzy teaches Emma how to survive as a servant, Emma will reveal to Izzy what she knows about magic. Along the way, they encounter quizzes that literally pop, shy libraries, and talking cats (that is, house dragons). But when another student’s kindling goes horribly wrong, revealing the fiery dangers of magic, Emma and Izzy must set aside their differences or risk their magic being snuffed out forever.

The Wondrous Prune

The Wondrous Prune
Author: Ellie Clements
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 293
Release: 2022-05-12
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1526638339

'A warm and charming journey of self-discovery; I particularly liked the irresistible voice of heroine Prune' - Fiona Noble, Bookseller _______________________ Magic comes from within ... Uprooted by her single mum along with her troublesome older brother, eleven-year-old Prune Robinson is trying to settle in a new town. She figures she can't burden her hard-working mother with the fact she's being bullied. Or the fact that her drawings have started coming to life. But with her brother soon in danger, Prune comes to realise that she can't hide her power forever; in fact, it might just be the one thing that brings her family back together and saves them all. Planned as the start of a series about remarkable children from the same neighbourhood, The Wondrous Prune is poignant and surprising with wonderful wish fulfilment and accessible storytelling.

Lightning Mary

Lightning Mary
Author: Anthea Simmons
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 214
Release: 2019-04-04
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1787611779

Ordinary is what most people are and I am not. I am not ordinary at all. I am a scientist. One stormy night, a group of villagers are struck by lightning. The only survivor is a baby - Mary Anning. From that moment on, a spark is lit within her. Growing up poor but proud on the windswept Dorset coast, Mary follows after her father, hunting for fossils uncovered by waves and landslips: ancient creatures, turned to stone. Ignoring other people's taunts, Mary faces danger to bring back valuable treasures to help feed her family. But tragedy and despair is never far away. Mary must depend upon her unique courage and knowledge to fulfil her dream of becoming a scientist in a time when girls have no opportunities for such ambitions. What will happen when she makes her greatest discovery of all...? With a factual section about Mary Anning, her life, and the discoveries she made.