New Releases by Mary Hershey

Even though her father is in prison for embezzlement, ten-year-old Effie considers herself pretty lucky until her friend Aurora leaves Catholic school to attend public school and her contrary sister begins to transform herself into "Saint Maxey."

Camp Wickitawa, here we come! Mary Hershey''s third book about fourth grader Effie Maloney is a hilarious Texas adventure, complete with a camp ghost, swim lessons, rescued armadillos, campfires, and cowgirl stew. Effie has been waiting forEVER for St. Dom''s special fourth-grade camp. Could there be anything more thrilling than an entire week with her two best friends? But when her big sister Maxey (Bosszilla) ends up working there, Camp Oh-So-Perfect turns into Camp Calamity. And Effie has to figure out how to hide the fact that she''s not, um, the greatest swimmer. She can''t even float. But she better learn fast, because she just HAS to be named Outstanding Camper of the Week and win back her family''s good name! (And she is N-O-T homesick. Completely and totally not even.)

Something of great importance entrusted to fourth-grader Effi Maloney has disappeared and she’s sure her big sister, Maxey, had something to do with it. Effi’s no pushover, but trying to stand up to Maxey is like trying to stop an earthquake. It would be easier to deal with Maxey if Effi had a buddy. She hasn’t had a best friend since Lola Jo moved, and she has so many secrets saved to tell a best friend—including the most amazing idea in the world for a winning science project—she’s about to explode. Effi’s got to win that science prize, find a best friend, and get back at Maxey—in just one week!

"Mom didn’t think it was funny when I took off my leg at school, put it in my locker, and then tied a rag around my stump with fake blood on it. After that, though, the kids at school pretty much knew if anyone was going to be cracking jokes about my leg, it was gonna be me." So says thirteen-year-old Alastair Hudson in this darkly humorous coming-of-age story about the relationship between Alastair—who calls himself Stump to draw shocked attention to his missing leg—and his father, who left the family after the accident that resulted in the amputation five years earlier. When Alastair is sent to spend the summer with his dad and his dad’s new wife, father and son are forced to confront the truth of what happened years ago, finally allowing Alastair to move forward with his life.