Akron Public Library

"Ruth Chew's classic books perfectly capture the joy of everyday magic."—Mary Pope Osborne, bestselling author of the Magic Tree House series Ruth Chew's chapter books are full of simple, matter-of-fact magic that's sure to enchant budding fantasy readers. Did that cat just talk to me? Did that button just move? Is that flower petal flying?  In Witch's Cat,The Witch's Buttons, Ruth Chew's children loved stories about witches, and she figured...

Puffin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of The Racehorse Who Wouldn't Gallop, written and read by Clare Balding. Charlie Bass is a horse-mad nine-year-old who dreams of owning her own pony. So when her eccentric parents announce that they are going to buy a racehorse, Charlie is thrilled. The horse they buy, Noble Warrior, looks the part: strong, fit and healthy. There's just one problem - he won't gallop. In fact, he won't...

An all-new, never-before-published original short novel by the bestselling author of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, Shortlisted for the 2015 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse prize for comic fiction Cornelius P. “Fatty” O'Leary and his wife, Betty, plan a vacation in Ireland for his fortieth birthday, where they will tour his ancestral homeland and relax in the countryside. Almost immediately, things go terribly wrong: the seats in economy class...

The end of the stars draws near. Three must become four to battle the darkness that lasts forever. . . . After countless moons of treachery, Tigerstar's Dark Forest apprentices are ready to lay siege upon the warrior Clans. As Jayfeather, Dovewing, and Lionblaze prepare to lead their Clanmates into battle, they await the arrival of the mysterious fourth warrior who is prophesied to help lead the Clans to glory.The darkest hour the Clans have ever...

-- It's been a year since Septimus Heap discovered his real family and true calling to be a wizard. As Apprentice to ExtraOrdinary Wizard Marcia Overstrand, he is learning the fine arts of Conjurations, Charms, and other Magyk, while Jenna is adapting to life as the Princess and enjoying the freedom of the Castle.But there is something sinister at work. Marcia is constantly trailed by a menacing Darke Shadow, and Septimus's brother Simon seems bent...

It seemed so logical at first. Fourteen-year-old Lenny Cyrus had loved Zooey Andrews since third grade. All the boy genius needed to do to win her heart, surely, was shrink down to the size of an amoeba, ooze into a gelatin capsule, and have his friend Harlan slip it (him!) into Zooey’s Diet Coke. Told in three voices, this fantastical middle grade novel takes Lenny deep into Zooey’s loud, splashing innards, where a talking astrovirus named Astro...

-- In this eleventh book in the My Weirder School series, A.J. and his friends learn that the reading scores at Ella Mentry School are way down. So, Mr. Macky decides to hire a special new helper to whip the kids into shape—Miss Klute, a Labradoodle! No one understands why they have to read to a therapy dog every day at story time, until the first time they try it. Suddenly everyone wants a turn to read to Miss Klute! But when the kids decide that...

"Mouse and Chipmunk covet the same nut"--

When the evil Mrs. Stricker threatens to send Junior, Rafe Khatchadorian's dog, back to the pound, Junior and Rafe go to obedience school to learn how to follow the rules.

In this tongue-in-cheek take on classic themes in children's literature, the four Willoughby children set about to become "deserving orphans" after their neglectful parents embark on a treacherous around-the-world adventure, leaving them in the care of an odious nanny.