Billie Jo experiences heartbreaking hardships when she is only fourteen years old, something no child should ever have to go through. She exhibits quiet courage that is both startling and uplifting as she copes with an unthinkable loss.
This prize-winning story, which was written in free verse, is set in the midst of the Great Depression. It details the devastating dust storms that hit Oklahoma and the environmental and psychological havoc they cause. An inspirational ode to resilience and hope.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“the way i see it, hard times aren’t only about money, or drought, or dust. hard times are about losing spirit, and hope, and what happens when dreams dry up.”
“I hear the first drops. Like the tapping of a stranger at the door of a dream, the rain changes everything.”
“And she knows how to come into a home
and not step on the toes of a ghost.”
“By the summer I turned nine Daddy had given up about having a boy. He tried making me do.”
“Mr. Noble and Mr. Romney have a bet going as to who can kill the most rabbits. It all started at the rabbit drive last Monday over to Sturgis”
Weird things start to happen as Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay are brought together by a book of strange events: events that seem unrelated connect, an eccentric elderly woman wants their company, and a priceless Vermeer artwork vanishes. Before they realise it, the two are at the centre of a worldwide art scandal where everyone is under suspicion, including their neighbours, parents, and professors. Petra and Calder must use their intuition, problem-solving abilities, and understanding of Vermeer as they follow a trail of clues into a mystery labyrinth. Can they solve a case that has the FBI scratching its head?
Best Quotes from this Book:
“The greatest art belongs to the world. Do not be intimidated by the experts. Trust your instincts. Do not be afraid to go against what you were taught, or what you were told to see or believe. Every person, every set of eyes, has the right to the truth.”
― Blue Balliett, Chasing Vermeer
“You will come to agree with me.”
― Blue Balliett, Chasing Vermeer
“Picasso said that art is a lie, but a lie that tells the truth” … Calder wondered what Picasso had meant. Was it that art wasn’t exactly the real world, but it said something real?”
― Blue Balliett, Chasing Vermeer
“Depending on how you look at things. Your world could change completely. His thought was that most people bend over backward to fit everything that happened to them into something that they could understand. In other words, people sometimes twisted what was actually in front of them to fit what they thought should be there, and never even realize they were doing it. People like to see what they were supposed to see and find what they were supposed to find.”
― Blue Balliett, Chasing Vermeer
“Picasso said that art is a lie, but a lie that tells the truth.”
― Blue Balliett, Chasing Vermeer
The gathering of sixteen unexpected individuals to hear Samuel W. Westing’s will is the beginning of an odd series of events. Sam Westing may be dead, but that won’t stop him from playing one more game, no matter why the eccentric, game-loving millionaire chose a virtual stranger—and perhaps murderer—to receive his immense wealth.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“Life, too, is senseless unless you know who you are, what you want, and which way the wind blows.”
― Ellen Raskin, The Westing Game
“Smiling without good reason is demeaning.”
― Ellen Raskin, The Westing Game
“The poor are crazy, the rich just eccentric. – James Shin Hoo”
― Ellen Raskin, The Westing Game
“Hi Sandy, I won!”
― Ellen Raskin, The Westing Game
“I remember the will said, ‘May God thy gold refine.’ That must be from the Bible.”
“Shakespeare,” Turtle said. All quotations were either from the Bible or Shakespeare.”
― Ellen Raskin, The Westing Game
A brilliant new YA voice delivers an explosive and immensely fascinating thriller with a surprising twist that delves deep into the core of institutionalized racism. Welcome to Niveus Private Academy, where the kids are always at the top of their game and money paves the hallways. Before now. Because a mysterious texter named Aces is exposing the terrible secrets of two students.
Devon, a gifted musician, spends all of his time practicing, but when his personal images are made public, he is forced into the public eye. Chiamaka, the head girl, doesn’t hesitate to gain what she desires, but soon everyone will be aware of the cost of her obtaining power. Somebody wants to harm them both. a person with all the cards. And they have bigger plans than just a high school game…
Best Quotes from this Book:
“They say love and hate are the same, just at different ends of the blade”
“I hate how they have the power to kill my future, kill me. They treat my Black skin like a gun or a grenade or a knife that is dangerous and lethal, when really it’s them. The guys at the top powering everything.”
“I don’t straighten my hair because I hate it; I straighten it because everyone else hates it for me.”
“But I know dreams are dangerous; they give me too much false hope.”
“And I won’t roll over and let someone else take my crown. Not in a million years.”
Jazz “Jasper” Teenager Dent is pleasant. A charmer, if you will. He is, however, also the progeny of the most notorious serial killer in history, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was a year-round observance. Jazz has seen crime scenes from the perspective of the criminal, much like police officers wish they could.
And now Lobo’s Nod is overrun with bodies. Jazz assists the police in their search for a new serial killer in an effort to clear his name. Jazz, though, may be closer to his father than anyone realises.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“You won’t even know you’ve crossed the line until it’s way back in your rearview mirror.”
“This is why I forgive, but I don’t forget. When you forget someone, the forgiveness doesn’t mean anything anymore.”
“Medicine cabinets are dangerous. Those doors, man. They’ll just spring on you like a ninja.”
“[She] was made up of skin and bones and hate and crazy, and hate and crazy don’t weigh anything.”
“What if a puppet could cut its own strings, and in that act of defiance and strength of will become truly alive? Become is own puppetmaster?”
Eli has spent the last six years living in the underground Compound with his family. They are adjusted to their new life now that the world they once knew is gone. accustomed, but unsatisfied Eli believes that no amount of luxury will be able to escape the monotonous monotony of living in the same home with just his two sisters, his mother, and father, and doing the same thing every day.
Eli is forced to consider if it would be better to take his chances outside as issues with their meticulously arranged existence threaten to undermine their sanctuary—and their sanity. To keep them safe, Eli’s father constructed the Compound. But are they secure or regretful?
Best Quotes from this Book:
“Yeah, well, wish in one hand, crap in the other, and see which fills up first”
“My dad was never one of those dads you could ask for a quarter if you saw a gumball machine. Instead he had one of those black American Express cards not available to general public. Gumball machines didn’t have slots for those.”
“That night I dreamed of turduckens.”
“Most dads had hobbies that they passed down to their sons; hunting, fishing, auto repair. Dad’s hobby was nuclear war, which meant his sons knew everything about it.”
“I wanted to let go, drop him, anything to get him out of my arms.”
Affinities are despised inside the Cyrilian Empire. Their various abilities to influence the environment are considered abnormal and even hazardous. One of the most dreadful Affinities is the crown princess, Anastacya Mikhailov.
Ana is the only suspect in the murder of her father, the emperor, despite the fact that her talent to control blood has always been kept a secret. Ana now has to track down her father’s killer in order to preserve her own life. Beyond the royal walls, however, is a corrupt society where a larger scheme that jeopardizes Ana’s world’s entire equilibrium is in full swing. Ramson Quicktongue is the only one who is sufficiently corrupt to assist Ana in discovering the true nature of the scheme. Ramson is a crafty crime boss with evil schemes, but Ana might be his match. Because the princess could be the most deadly character in this tale.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“But perhaps all monsters were heroes in their own eyes.”
“You can achieve everything in this world, but if it’s for someone else, it’s pointless. Live for yourself.”
“In the face of fear, one could choose to run, or to rise.”
“Perhaps monsters never meant to hurt others, either. Perhaps monsters didn’t even know they were monsters.”
“Choices were for those with privilege and power. When you had none, all you could do was survive.”
Six kindergarten students vanished without a trace eleven years ago. The ones who were left behind eventually moved on—or at least tried to. Until now, five of the kids are back today. They are sixteen years old and doing nicely. When Scarlett gets home, she discovers a mother who she hardly recognizes and who she also doesn’t really recognize as the person she should be. But she believes she can recall Lucas. Scarlett and Lucas both remember each other, but neither can place where they were or what happened to them. Both of them had forgotten Max, the sixth victim. He doesn’t return. Everyone seeks solutions. Most importantly, Max’s sister Avery, who must locate her brother—dead or alive—and doesn’t believe the entire memory-loss explanation.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“People who were gone only lived on in your memory if you had memories. Why hadn’t she held on tighter?”
“THERE’S NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT
AND NO PRESENT LIKE TIME.”
“What was the exact percentage of this day that had already slipped away?”
“Every time the woman turned her head, it was like she was posing for a picture with an Instagram setting that filtered out humility.”
“The world was so big!
Her life story so huge in it.
The stuff of movies!
And yet her part in it all felt so small.
One tiny stitch.”
The matter is finished. Schoolgirl Andie Bell was killed by Sal Singh five years ago. He committed it, and the cops are aware of it. He did it, and everyone in town understands it.
Pippa Fitz-Amobi, who grew up in the same little village that was devastated by the murder, isn’t so sure. She begins to learn truths that someone in the community urgently wants to keep concealed when she selects the case as the subject for her senior year project. How far will they go to protect Pip from learning the truth if the true killer is still out there?
Best Quotes from this Book:
“The people you love weren’t algebra: to be calculated, subtracted, or held at arm’s length across a decimal point.”
“But sometimes remembering isn’t for yourself, sometimes you do it just to make someone else smile. Those lies were allowed.”
“Real men wear floral when trespassing”
“I’m not sure I’m the good girl i once thought i was . I’ve lost her along the way”
“Your efficiency offends me.”
Readers are introduced to Milo and his escapades in the Lands Beyond in this cherished tale, which was first published more than fifty years ago.
Everything is dull to Milo. He only drives through a toll booth that magically emerges in his room since he has nothing else to do. On the other hand, things appear to be different. In addition to learning about time from a ticking watchdog named Tock and seeing the Island of Conclusions (which you get to by jumping), Milo also sets out on a mission to save Rhyme and Reason. Milo comes to a startling realization sometime along the route. Life is not at all boring. In fact, it’s more thrilling than he could have imagined.
Best Quotes from this Book:
“So many things are possible just as long as you don’t know they’re impossible.”
― Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth
“Expect everything, I always say, and the unexpected never happens.”
― Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth
“Have you ever heard the wonderful silence just before dawn? Or the quiet and calm just as a storm ends? Or perhaps you know the silence when you haven’t the answer to a question you’ve been asked, or the hush of a country road at night, or the expectant pause of a room full of people when someone is just about to speak, or, most beautiful of all, the moment after the door closes and you’re alone in the whole house? Each one is different, you know, and all very beautiful if you listen carefully.”
― Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth
“The most important reason for going from one place to another is to see what’s in between, and they took great pleasure in doing just that.”
― Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth
“You must never feel bad about making mistakes … as long as you take the trouble to learn from them. For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons than you do by being right for the wrong reasons.”
― Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth