Scholastic Book Fairs Podcast

Sylvie Scruggs doesn't like Georgie Diaz. He always calls her Scruggs. He always beats her in baseball. He didn't invite her to his party. Plus, he's a boy. Now Georgie is trying to steal Sylvie's best friend, Miranda Tan. He's giving Miranda a super-special birthday present, so Sylvie will too - only her present will be ten times better. With the help of her twin brothers, a ferret, a castle, and some glitter glue, Sylvie sets out to make Miranda remember who her REAL best friend is and forget about Georgie forever.

Kip and Molly are two abandoned Irish siblings who travel to work as servants at a creepy, crumbling English manor house. But the house and its inhabitants are not quite what they seem. Soon, the children are confronted by a mysterious stranger who haunts the house and tends to an overgrown, menacing tree that casts a shadow over the estate. Kip and Molly discover that this tree has the power to grant anyone their heart's truest desire - but at a dangerous price.

Fergus and Dink love playing at the beach. But when Dink wakes up from his nap in a crabby mood, it’s up to big brother Fergus to pull him out of it. Does the little fella want to take a swim? Build a sand castle? Have a juice box? Aaargh! Only one thing will tame the tantrum: Fergus inviting Dink to play with his new pirate ship of sand and giving him the starring role as pirate captain. Sometimes it feels right to squint your eyes and act like a scurvy dog of a pirate. And with a little brotherly love, you might even forget what was so terrible in the first place…

Logan is moving from the farm to the city. He'll miss all the things he's leaving behind, but at least he has Bear. He loves Bear more than anything else in the world--because Bear is his dog. Hannah lives in the city. What she wants, more than anything else in the world, is a dog of her own. At the Rainbow Street Shelter, Logan and Hannah find a talking parrot, an old black Labrador, a three-legged goat, a puppy that looks like a peanut--and a Surprise that just might be the best thing in the world.

For city girl Callie Velasquez, nothing sounds more terrifying than a night out in the wilderness. But since she wants to bond with her popular new friends Lissa and Penelope, she agrees to join them on a camping trip. At least Callie's sweet new boyfriend, Jeremy, will be coming too. However, nothing goes as planned. The group loses half their food supply. Then they lose their way. And with strange sounds all around her the snap of a twig, a sinister laugh Callie wonders if she's losing her mind. Tensions swirl among the group, with dark secrets suddenly revealed. And then, things take a fatal turn: Callie stumbles upon a cold dead body in the woods. Is the murderer close by, watching them? Callie has to figure out where she can turn and who she can trust before her own life is at stake.

Stella lives in the segregated South - in Bumblebee, North Carolina, to be exact about it. Some stores she can go into. Some stores she can’t. Some folks are right pleasant. Others are a lot less so. To Stella, it sort of evens out, and heck, the Klan hasn’t bothered them for years. But late one night, later than she should ever be up (much less wandering around outside), Stella and her little brother see something they’re never supposed to see, something that is the first flicker of change to come - unwelcome change by any stretch of the imagination. As Stella’s community is upended, she decides to fight fire with fire and learns that ashes don’t necessarily signify an end.

In all the ways that matter, Mark is a normal kid. He's got a dog named Beau and a best friend, Jessie. He likes to take photos and write haiku poems in his notebook. He dreams of climbing a mountain one day. But in one important way, Mark is not like other kids at all. Mark is sick. The kind of sick that means hospitals. And treatments. The kind of sick some people never get better from. So Mark runs away. He leaves home with his camera, his notebook, his dog, and a plan to reach the top of Mount Rainier - even if it's the last thing he ever does. This is a rare and extraordinary novel about big questions, small moments, and the incredible journey of the human spirit.

The Boundless, the greatest train ever built, is on its maiden voyage across the country, and first-class passenger Will Everett is about to embark on the adventure of his life! When Will ends up in possession of the key to a train car containing priceless treasures, he becomes the target of sinister figures from his past. In order to survive, Will must join a traveling circus, enlisting the aid of Mr. Dorian, the ringmaster and leader of the troupe, and Maren, a girl his age who is an expert escape artist. With villains fast on their heels, can Will and Maren reach Will’s father and save The Boundless before someone winds up dead?

When Theo gets off a bus in Destiny, Florida, he's left behind the only life he's ever known. Now he's got to live with Uncle Chester, a Vietnam War vet and a loner who wants nothing to do with this long-lost nephew. Thank goodness for Miss Sister Grandersole's Boarding House and Dance School. The piano that sits in Miss Sister's dance hall calls to Theo. He can't wait to play those ivory keys. When Anabel arrives, things get even more enticing. This feisty girl, a baseball fanatic, invites Theo on her quest to uncover the town's connection to old-time ball players rumored to have lived there years before. A mystery, an adventure, and a musical exploration unfold as this town called Destiny lives up to its name.

Lost and alone in a forbidden forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and suddenly finds himself entwined in a puzzling quest involving a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica. Decades later, Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California each, in turn, become interwoven when the very same harmonica lands in their lives. All the children face daunting challenges: rescuing a father, protecting a brother, holding a family together. And ultimately, pulled by the invisible thread of destiny, their suspenseful solo stories converge in an orchestral crescendo.

Newcago is free. They told David it was impossible, that even the Reckoners had never killed a High Epic. Yet Steelheart - invincible, immortal, unconquerable - is dead. And he died by David's hand. Eliminating Steelheart was supposed to make life simpler. Instead, it only made David realize he has questions. Big ones. And no one in Newcago can give him answers. Babylon Restored, the city formerly known as the borough of Manhattan, has possibilities, though. Ruled by the mysterious High Epic Regalia, Babylon Restored is flooded and miserable, but David is sure it's the path that will lead him to what he needs to find. Entering a city oppressed by a High Epic despot is risky, but David's willing to take the gamble. Because killing Steelheart left a hole in David's heart. A hole where his thirst for vengeance once lived. Somehow, he filled that hole with another Epic - Firefight. And now he will go on a quest darker and even more dangerous than the fight against Steelheart to find her, and to get his answers.

It’s graduation day for sixteen-year-old Malencia Vale, and the entire Five Lakes Colony (the former Great Lakes) is celebrating. All Cia can think about - hope for - is whether she’ll be chosen for The Testing, a United Common-wealth program that selects the best and brightest new graduates to become possible leaders of the slowly revitalizing post-war civilization. When Cia is chosen, her father finally tells her about his own nightmarish half-memories of The Testing. Armed with his dire warnings (”Cia, trust no one”), she bravely heads off to Tosu City, far away from friends and family, perhaps forever. Danger, romance, and sheer terror await!

THE PARENT TRAP comes to the digital age! When Ruth Quayle used a special app to search for pictures of herself online, she found dozens of images of "Ruth Quayle" and one of "Ruby Starling." When Ruby Starling gets a message from a Ruth Quayle proclaiming them to be long-lost twin sisters, she doesn't know what to do with it , until another message arrives the day after, and another one. It could be a crazy stalker ... but she and this Ruth do share a birthday, and a very distinctive ear. Ruth is an extroverted American girl. Ruby is a shy English one. As they investigate the truth of their birth and the circumstances of their separation, they also share lives full of friends, family, and possible romances, and they realize they each may be the sister the other never knew she needed.

Rose Howard is obsessed with homonyms. She’s thrilled that her own name is a homonym, and she purposely gave her dog Rain a name with two homonyms (Reign, Rein), which, according to Rose’s rules of homonyms, is very special. Not everyone understands Rose’s obsessions, her rules, and the other things that make her different – not her teachers, not other kids, and not her single father. When a storm hits their rural town, rivers overflow, the roads are flooded, and Rain goes missing. Rose’s father shouldn’t have let Rain out. Now Rose has to find her dog, even if it means leaving her routines and safe places to search. Hearts will break and spirits will soar for this powerful story.

When Calamity came, it was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his will. Nobody fights back. Nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them. And David wants in. When Steelheart came to Chicago, he killed David’s father. For years, like the Reckoners, David has been studying, and planning, and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience. He’s seen Steelheart bleed. And he wants revenge.

Meet the amazing Stardust Girls: Marlo, Bella, Carly, and Allie! They all live and work at the Stardust Circus. Marlo, the new girl, is eager to make friends. The other girls welcome her, and she tries everything to fit in - trapeze, tightrope walking, juggling, and even dog training - all with hilarious results. Marlo wants to shine in the spotlight, but what will her special talent be? With black-and-white illustrations throughout, this glittery series is full of sparkle and friendship!

Twelve-year-old Mysti Murphy wishes she were a character in a book. If her life were fictional, she'd magically know how to deal with the fact that her best friend, Anibal Gomez, has abandoned her in favor of being a "hipster." She'd be able to take care of everyone when her dad has to spend time in the hospital. And she'd certainly be able to change her family's secret. Seventh grade is not turning out the way Mysti had planned. With the help of a hot-air balloon, her new friend Rama Khan, and a bright orange coat, can she find the courage to change?

When twelve magical superpowers are unleashed on the world, a Chinese-American teenager named Steven is thrown into the middle of an epic global chase. He'll have to master strange powers, outrun super-powered mercenaries, and unlock the mysterious powers of the Zodiac.

Lucy loves her half-brother Adam, but she has always struggled with him, too. He's definitely on the autism spectrum, though her step-father, Don, can barely bring himself to admit it. Dealing with Adam has forced Lily to become as much mother as sister. All Lily wants is for her step-father to acknowledge that Adam has a real issue and that they need to find some kind of program that can help him. Then maybe she can have a life of her own. Adam's always loved dolphins, so when Don, an oncologist, hears about a young dolphin with cancer, he offers to help. He brings Lily and Adam along. Adam and the dolphin, Nori, bond instantly. But though Lily sees how much Adam needs Nori, she also sees that the dolphin shouldn't spend the rest of her life in captivity. Can she help Nori regain her freedom without betraying her family?

Discover the tiniest and cutest animals from around the world. This Scholastic Level 2 reader will introduce kids to marmosets, chameleons, lemurs, and armadillos all smaller than the palm of their hands! With full-color photos of these fascinating and adorable animals and simple but engaging text, young readers will be oohing and ahhing over which animal is the cutest!