For Bixby Alexander Tam (nicknamed Bat), life tends to be full of surprises some of them good, some not so good. Today, though, is a good-surprise day. Bat s mom, a veterinarian, has brought home a stray baby skunk, which she needs to take care of until she can hand him over to a wild-animal shelter. But the minute Bat meets the kit, he knows they belong together. And he s got one month to show his mom that a baby skunk might just make a pretty terrific...

Starla Jean is full of moxie, clever as a fox, and obsessed with catching a chicken she finds at the park. When Starla first sees the scrawny bird wandering around, she just knows they're destined for one another. Her dad says, 'If you can catch it, you can keep it,' and Starla Jean is not one to back down from a challenge.

"There are some things you should know about Harriet Wermer: She used to lie a lot, but not anymore. Seriously, she only tells the truth now. Even though she hadn’t wanted to come to Marble Island in the first place, now she doesn’t want to leave. It's the truth. With her mom and new baby brother home from the hospital, it's almost time for Harriet to pack up and head home from Marble Island and all the friends she's made. But Harriet doesn't...

"Alder has always lived in his cozy little house in Southern California. And for as long as he can remember, the old, reliable, comforting walnut tree has stood between his house and the one next door. That is, until a new family—with a particularly annoying girl his age—moves into the neighboring house and, without warning, cuts it down. Oak doesn’t understand why her family had to move to Southern California. She has to attend a new school,...

A dark, engrossing, blood-drenched tale of the familiar threats to female power--and one girl’s journey to regain it. Five starred reviews greeted this powerful story from Elana K. Arnold, author of the Printz Honor winner Damsel. You are alone in the woods, seen only by the unblinking yellow moon. Your hands are empty. You are nearly naked. And the wolf is angry. Since her grandmother became her caretaker when she was four years old, Bisou Martel...

Sixteen-year-old Nina Faye navigates the difficult world of teenage relationships and dysfunctional family dynamics.

"Bat grows anxious as his third-grade year comes to an end and the time to release his pet skunk, Thor, out into the wild approaches"--

As far as twelve-year-old Odette Zyskowski is concerned, her parents have ruined her life by selling the house she and her younger brother have grown up in, getting an RV, and giving her some little mutt instead of the Labrador Retriever she wanted--but as they travel north to see her grandmother, Odette becomes aware of an even more frightening problem: her parents may be on the verge of a divorce.

Unhappy about moving from sunny California to rainy Corvallis, Oregon, and grieving over the death of her best friend, sixth-grader Iris looks for a miracle and may find one in new friend Boris.

"An ordinary day in an ordinary neighborhood turns out to be extraordinary in this story about new life, death, and family"--