"Is this the station, Gran'pa Jim?" inquired a young girl, as the train began to slow up. "I think so, Mary Louise," replied the handsome old gentleman addressed. "It does look very promising, does it?" she continued, glancing eagerly out of the window. "The station? No, my dear; but the station isn't Cragg's Crossing, you know; it is merely the nearest railway point to our new home." The conductor opened their drawing-room door. "The next stop is Chargrove, Colonel," he said. "Thank you.

How did Riot escape from the Night Church? How did she survive the Rot & Ruin—and the horrors of her own past? There’s only one way to find out.... Jonathan Maberry explores the origins of a fascinating new character in an exclusive e-short story set in the land of the Rot & Ruin.

Ruby Oliver is 15 and has a shrink. She knows it’s unusual, but give her a break—she’s had a rough 10 days. In the past 10 days she:* lost her boyfriend (#13 on the list), lost her best friend (Kim), lost all her other friends (Nora, Cricket), did something suspicious with a boy (#10), did something advanced with a boy (#15), had an argument with a boy (#14), drank her first beer (someone handed it to her), got caught by her mom (ag!), had a panic attack (scary), lost a lacrosse game (she’s the goalie), failed a math test (she’ll make it up), hurt Meghan’s feelings (even though they aren’t really friends), became a social outcast (no one to sit with at lunch) and had graffiti written about her in the girls’ bathroom (who knows what was in the boys’!?!). * But don’t worry—Ruby lives to tell the tale. And make more lists.

First there is a Before, and then there is an After. . . . The lives of three teens—Claire, Jasper, and Peter—are altered forever on September 11, 2001. Claire, a high school junior, has to get to her younger brother in his classroom. Jasper, a college sophomore from Brooklyn, wakes to his parents’ frantic calls from Korea, wondering if he’s okay. Peter, a classmate of Claire’s, has to make his way back to school as everything happens around him. Here are three teens whose intertwining lives are reshaped by this catastrophic event. As each gets to know the other, their moments become wound around each other’s in a way that leads to new understandings, new friendships, and new levels of awareness for the world around them and the people close by. David Levithan has written a novel of loss and grief, but also one of hope and redemption as his characters slowly learn to move forward in their lives, despite being changed forever. From the Hardcover edition.

Flavia de Luce, a dangerously smart eleven-year-old with a passion for chemistry and a genius for solving murders, thinks that her days of crime-solving in the bucolic English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey are over—until beloved puppeteer Rupert Porson has his own strings sizzled in an unfortunate rendezvous with electricity. But who’d do such a thing, and why? Does the madwoman who lives in Gibbet Wood know more than she’s letting on? What about Porson’s charming but erratic assistant? All clues point toward a suspicious death years earlier and a case the local constables can’t solve—without Flavia’s help. But in getting so close to who’s secretly pulling the strings of this dance of death, has our precocious heroine finally gotten in way over her head?

Nancy Brandon By Lilian GarisNancy Brandon By Lilian Garis

If you’ve ever used the phrase “rags to riches,” you owe that to Horatio Alger, Jr. (1832-1899), who popularized the idea through his fictional writings that also served as a theme for the way America viewed itself as a country. Alger’s works about poor boys rising to better living conditions through hard work, determination, courage, honesty, and morals was popular with both adults and younger readers. Alger’s writings happened to correspond with America’s Gilded Age, a time of increasing prosperity in a nation rebuilding from the Civil War. His lifelong theme of rags to riches continued to gain popularity but has gradually lessened since the 1920s. Still, readers today often come across Ragged Dick and stories like it in school.

An antique dealer's revelation about a former queen's priceless heirloom starts Nancy on a trail of exciting adventures. Madame Alexandra, now living incognito in River Heights, asks Nancy to find her missing grandson. With only one clue to go on -- a faded photograph of the prince at the age of four -- the young detective begins her search, which rapidly involves her in a series of dangerous and harrowing adventures. When Nancy needs help, she calls on Bess, George, Burt, Dave, and her special friend, Ned. How Nancy's discovery of the heirloom's secret unmasks a slick imposter and reunites the long-separated family climaxes this suspense-filled mystery story.

The Mystery of the Singing Ghost *  * Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny used to live alone in a boxcar. Now they have a home with their grandfather, and are excited because their cousins are moving to Greenfield. The Boxcar Children decide to fix up the house that cousins Joe and Alice have bought. There’s just one problem. It seems to be haunted—by a ghost that sings! Is someone trying to keep Joe and Alice from moving in?  The Mystery of the Mummy’s Curse *  * Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny used to live alone in a boxcar. Now they have a home with their grandfather, and they’re about to meet a mysterious mummy! The Greenfield Museum is holding a special exhibit all about ancient Egypt, and the main attraction is a 4,000-year-old mummy. The Aldens are helping the museum curator set up the exhibit and learning all about life in ancient Egypt. But ever since the mummy arrived, nothing’s gone right for the museum or its workers. The longer the Aldens are around the mummy, the more things go wrong. As the children search for the cause of all the bad luck, everything points back to the spooky sarcophagus. Has the museum been struck by the curse of an ancient mummy? The Aldens are about to find out, whether they’re ready or not!  The Mystery at Skeleton Point *  * When Grandfather’s friend bought Skeleton Point, she invited the Alden children to help her fix it up. But this empty mansion is even spookier than it looks. The man who used to live there studied bones—and the house is filled with skeletons! Then the mansion’s valuable statues begin to disappear. Could the Skeleton Point ghost be causing mischief?

Sarah Byrnes and Eric have been friends for years. When they were children, his fat and her terrible scars made them both outcasts. Later, although swimming slimmed Eric, she stayed his closest friend.Now Sarah Byrnes -- the smartest, toughest person Eric has ever known -- sits silent in a hospital. Eric must uncover the terrible secret she's hiding, before its dark currents pull them both under.

Kate was Lissa's best friend. They've shared everything for four years. Then one night at a drunken party, Kate leaned in to kiss Lissa, and Lissa kissed her back. And now Kate is pretending Lissa doesn't exist. Confused and alone, Lissa's left questioning everything she thought she knew about herself, and about life. But with the help of a free-spirit new friend, Lissa's beginning to find the strength to realize that sometimes falling in love with the wrong person is the only way to find your footing.

This collection of literature attempts to compile many classics that have stood the test of time and offer them at a reduced, affordable price in an attractive volume so that everyone can enjoy them.

Now in its fourth hardcover printing, Define "Normal" has become a word-of-mouth phenomenon. This is a thoughtful, wry story about two girls--a "punk" and a "priss"--who find themselves facing each other in a peer-counseling program, and discover that they have some surprising things in common. A brand-new reading-group guide written by the author is included in the back of this paperback edition.