CHILDREN'S
Released: April 1, 2011
"Spiced with plenty of slapstick, the yarn speeds its protagonist through a succession of highs, lows and improbable triumphs on the way to a hilariously melodramatic finish. (Adventure. 11-13)"
The revelation that every time a new Martin is born into his family another one kicks the bucket stuns, bums and ultimately lights a rocket under 13-year-old Martin Boyle.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Sept. 1, 2010
"Beaver's illustrations and Chad W. Beckerman's art direction make for a terrific package for reluctant readers or book lovers out for thrills, gadgets and larfs. (Adventure. 8-12)"
CHILDREN'S
Released: Aug. 1, 2010
"A good, solid adventure. (Mystery. 8-12)"
First-rate suspense with an original premise and an appealing theme support this story about a boy who stumbles upon two kidnapped children and endangers his own life in trying to help them.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: March 1, 2009
"This sure-to-please adventure for middle-grade readers is a promising new direction for the prolific nature writer. (Fiction. 8-11)"
After a wild ride down I-95 with their unpredictably violent father, Sandy and Jack Casperin find themselves in the Florida Keys, far from home.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Jan. 27, 2009
"A cluster of likable stock characters and whip-wielding warriors keeps the endearing plot moving. (Adventure. 10-12)"
Intrepid heroes preserve the peace of a war-torn Muslim country in this adventuresome Boy's Own–type treasure hunt.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Sept. 5, 2006
"Key writes honestly about hunting, trapping and the hardships of survival in this rather unusual coming-of-age story. (Fiction. 10-14)"
All his life, Moon Blake has lived with his reclusive father, Oliver, on a remote tract of land in the woods surviving only on what they trap and grow.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Sept. 1, 2006
"Super storytelling. (author's note) (Historical fiction. 10-14)"
An orphan boy continues searching for freedom amid the social and political chaos of 14th-century England in this swiftly paced sequel to Crispin: The Cross of Lead (2004).
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CHILDREN'S
Released: May 10, 2005
"Here are adventures worthy of Peck's Soup for a new generation. (Fiction. 10-14)"
CHILDREN'S
Released: Feb. 1, 2005
"Spirited and entertaining. (Fiction. 9-13)"
Edmund Amos Peters, nearly 13, is the cabin boy on the vessel known as the Giant Rat of Sumatra (named for its memorable figurehead) and the narrator of this delightfully crisp, compact tale of adventure and fortune.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: July 1, 2004
"As with so many games, the fun of the novel is not in the ending but in the getting there, and readers willing to suspend every ounce of disbelief will be rewarded by this smart, consciously complex offering that never panders to its middle-grade audience. (Fiction. 10-14)"
When wise-cracking Gregory and brainy Brian go to Vermont to visit Gregory's "strange . . . [p]robably insane" Uncle Max, they "couldn't know what an adventure it would be."
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CHILDREN'S
Released: May 1, 2004
"Most memorable are the corporate and police structures and weapons (including a slug shot that wraps its victim instantly in cellophane, requiring a vat of acid for removal) and the intriguing, philosophically elusive nature of the blue supernatural creatures. (Science fiction. 10-14)"
In the future's Satellite City, where everything's controlled by an enormous satellite, a plot-twisting adventure includes supernatural creatures, a disenfranchised band of Supernaturalists, and abundant use of futuristic weapons.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Jan. 1, 2004
"Intriguing. (Fiction. 9-12)"
Panicked, Charlie sets off to find his kidnapped scientist parents in this adventurous romp set in a future England when pollution has banned cars, closed schools, and created an asthma epidemic.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Dec. 23, 2003
"Based on real incidents, this well-written sequel to Hatchet and its successors will be gobbled up by the author's legions of fans. (Fiction. 10+)"
Brian Robeson has returned to the Canadian wilderness, where his plane crashed two years before.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Oct. 20, 2003
"Though friendship with a local Mi'kmaq boy and success following his grandmother's advice come too easily, this story of adventure, coming of age, and moral ideas has much to offer. (Fiction. 10-14)"
When 14-year-old Lauchie convinces his mother to let him work on a lobster boat for the summer, little does he know he's in for the "absolute best" summer of his life.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: May 8, 1995
"The attention-grabbing action and emotional struggles of the hero will hook reluctant readers, too. (Fiction. 9-12)"
A suspense tale that pits moose against men, when poachers' greed threatens wildlife in the north woods of Minnesota.
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