Cracked Classics

Cracked Classics
Author: Tony Abbott
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 468
Release: 2018-07-10
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1504054768

When two sixth-grade friends magically enter classic literary books, their fun-filled adventures are “a treat for reluctant readers” (School Library Journal). They just didn’t want to read the books! Instead, through their school library’s magic security gates, sixth graders Devin and Frankie—short for Francine—are zapped into great works of literature and new worlds of adventure, including Dracula, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Around the World in Eighty Days, A Christmas Carol, Treasure Island, and Romeo and Juliet. “The message that reading is important and can be fun comes through loud and clear” (School Library Journal). Trapped in Transylvania: Transported into Bram Stoker’s vampire classic, the sarcastic sixth graders will need a few stakes, a lot of garlic, and a sharp sense of humor to defeat the bloodthirsty Count Dracula. Mississippi River Blues: These modern middle schoolers learn being a troublemaker is timeless, as they whitewash a fence, run away from home, solve a murder, become pirates, and search for hidden treasure along with Tom and Huck, the original slackers. What a Trip!: When you can travel into books, going around the world is easy. In the company of mad explorer Phileas Fogg, Devin and Frankie embark on a round-the-world journey by train, ship, and hot air balloon. Humbug Holiday: For two sixth graders who feel about school the way Scrooge feels about Christmas, an enchanted trip into Charles Dickens’s tale is just what their spirits need. X Marks the Spot: Devin and Frankie become marooned middle schoolers when they are swept away to Treasure Island and must match wits with legendary pirate Long John Silver. Crushing on a Capulet: Devin and Frankie try to save star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet when they find themselves in Shakespeare’s classic play.

Crushing on a Capulet

Crushing on a Capulet
Author: Tony Abbott
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 91
Release: 2014-07-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1480486922

Sixth graders Devin and Frankie try to save star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet when they’re magically transported into Shakespeare’s classic play. When their teacher assigns Devin and Frankie—short for Francine—the lead roles in their class production of Romeo and Juliet, the two best friends aren’t thrilled. How are they supposed to say their lines when they don’t even sound like they were written in English? Luckily, the library’s magic security gates come to their rescue again, and they leap into Shakespeare’s famous tragedy. Unfortunately, they land right in the middle of a sword fight between two warring families, the Montagues and the Capulets. When they find out that Romeo Montague has fallen in love with Juliet Capulet, Devin and Frankie decide it’s up to them to make sure this unlikely couple lives happily ever after. But can they change the book’s tragic end and save the young lovers from their fate? “The message that reading is important and can be fun comes through loud and clear,” writes School Library Journal about the Cracked Classics series. “The short chapters make this an ideal read-aloud and a treat for reluctant readers.”

Dracula

Dracula
Author: Tony Abbott
Publisher: Hyperion Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2002
Genre: Dracula, Count (Fictitious character)
ISBN: 9780786813247

A copy of the book Dracula transports Devin and Francine to Transylvania, where they must drive out Dracula.

Mississippi River Blues

Mississippi River Blues
Author: Tony Abbott
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 95
Release: 2014-07-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1480486884

“This affectionate if somewhat irreverent homage would probably win a chuckle from Twain himself” as pals tumble into Tom Sawyer (School Library Journal). Sixth graders Devin and Frankie—short for Francine—are the greatest goof-offs in the history of their school. When their teacher tells them to read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, they skip it. When there’s a surprise test on the novel, they hide. But when they accidentally drop the school’s prized Mark Twain autograph through the library’s magic metal detector, they find themselves transported to the world of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Soon these modern middle schoolers learn that being a troublemaker is timeless, as they whitewash a fence, run away from home, solve a murder mystery, become pirates, and search for hidden treasure along with Tom and Huck, the original slackers. “Reminiscent of Mary Pope Osborne’s ‘Magic Tree House’ series, but for an older audience,” the second book in Tony Abbott’s Cracked Classics series is a perfect introduction to Mark Twain for reluctant readers (School Library Journal).

A Crack in the Track (Thomas & Friends)

A Crack in the Track (Thomas & Friends)
Author: Rev. W. Awdry
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Total Pages: 51
Release: 2011-03-30
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0375986146

What does it take to bring the entire Island of Sodor Railway System to a halt? Just a crack in the track. Well, a crack in the track and some hail on rail . . . and a toad in the road, and a fuss on the bus. In fact, one thing leads to another until just about everything that can go wrong does go wrong. Luckily, there’s a breakdown train with a couple of cranes that can fix a big mess (and they don’t mind the rain). From the Hardcover edition.

Stepping on the Cracks

Stepping on the Cracks
Author: Mary Downing Hahn
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Total Pages: 229
Release: 2009
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0547076606

In a small Southern town in 1944, two girls secretly help a seriously ill army deserter, a decision that changes their perceptions of right and wrong. Issues of moral ambiguity and accepting consequences for actions are thoughtfully considered in this deftly crafted story.

How to Fight Presidents

How to Fight Presidents
Author: Daniel O'Brien
Publisher: Crown
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2014-03-18
Genre: Humor
ISBN: 038534757X

Make no mistake: Our founding fathers were more bandanas-and-muscles than powdered-wigs-and-tea. As a prisoner of war, Andrew Jackson walked several miles barefoot across state lines while suffering from smallpox and a serious head wound received when he refused to polish the boots of the soldiers who had taken him captive. He was thirteen years old. A few decades later, he became the first popularly elected president and served the nation, pausing briefly only to beat a would-be assassin with a cane to within an inch of his life. Theodore Roosevelt had asthma, was blind in one eye, survived multiple gunshot wounds, had only one regret (that there were no wars to fight under his presidency), and was the first U.S. president to win the Medal of Honor, which he did after he died. Faced with the choice, George Washington actually preferred the sound of bullets whizzing by his head in battle over the sound of silence. And now these men—these hallowed leaders of the free world—want to kick your ass. Plenty of historians can tell you which president had the most effective economic strategies, and which president helped shape our current political parties, but can any of them tell you what to do if you encounter Chester A. Arthur in a bare-knuckled boxing fight? This book will teach you how to be better, stronger, faster, and more deadly than the most powerful (and craziest) men in history. You’re welcome.

The Cracked Spine

The Cracked Spine
Author: Paige Shelton
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2016-03-29
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1466861215

Wanted: A bold adventurer who wants to travel the world from a comfortable and safe spot behind a desk that has seen the likes of kings and queens, paupers and princes. A humble book and rare manuscript shop seeks a keenly intelligent investigator to assist us in our search for things thought lost, and in our quest to return lost items to their rightful owners. Never an adventurer, no one was more surprised than Delaney Nichols when she packed her bags and moved halfway across the world to Edinburgh, Scotland to start a job at The Cracked Spine, a bookshop located in the heart of the city. Her new boss, Edwin MacAlister, has given her the opportunity of a lifetime, albeit a cryptic one, and Delaney can’t wait to take her spot behind the desk. The Cracked Spine is filled with everything a book lover could want, each item as eclectic as the people who work there; the spirited and lovable Rosie, who always has tiny dog Hector in tow; Hamlet, a nineteen-year-old thespian with a colored past and bright future; and Edwin, who is just as enigmatic and mysterious as Delaney expected. An extra bonus is Tom the bartender from across the street, with his cobalt eyes, and a gentle brogue—and it doesn’t hurt that he looks awfully good in a kilt. But before she can settle into her new life, a precious artifact goes missing, and Edwin’s sister is brutally murdered. Never did Delaney think that searching for things lost could mean a killer, but if she’s to keep her job, and protect her new friends, she’ll need to learn the truth behind this Scottish tragedy.

I Broke My Butt!

I Broke My Butt!
Author: Dawn McMillan
Publisher: Courier Dover Publications
Total Pages: 34
Release: 2019-10-16
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0486844234

The inventive young hero from the bestselling I Need a New Butt! is back and this time he has accidentally glued a serving tray to his behind — and it's great for sliding down hills, surfing big waves, and other booty-full fun. Now all his friends want one too!

Cracked Pots

Cracked Pots
Author: Heather Tucker
Publisher: ECW Press
Total Pages: 475
Release: 2021-10-05
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1773058126

“It is the voice of the characters, the kindness of strangers, and the ingenuity and determination of our protagonist against terrible forces that make this story sing.” — San Francisco Chronicle on Tucker’s debut, The Clay Girl From the author of the Indie Next List pick The Clay Girl comes a deeply moving novel about the resilience of a remarkable young woman unraveling the mystery of a missing friend while struggling to grow past the trauma of her calamitous upbringing. From the waning flower-power ’60s in Toronto through her East Coast university years, Ari fights to discover who she is and what it means to be the child of an addicted mother and depraved father. When her friend Natasha, the perfect girl from the nicest family, suddenly vanishes, Ari sets out to find out what has happened to her — are her troubled parents to blame? With wit, tenacity, and the incessant meddling of Jasper — the seahorse in her head — Ari rides turbulent waves of devilry and discovery, calamity and creation, abandonment and atonement on a journey to find her true self, and to find Natasha. Cracked Pots is a story about a girl broken by both cruelty and truth. It is a revelation that destiny is shaped in clay, not stone. It is also a celebration of rising after the blows, gathering the fragments, and piecing together a remarkable life through creativity, kindness, and belonging.