Most Popular Books by Eliot Schrefer

Deep in the desert there sits a beautiful oasis, ruled by a monarch unlike any other in Erdas. His name is Cabaro the Great Lion and he reigns over a kingdom of animals, jealously guarding his golden talisman. No human has ever set foot in the Great Beasts territory. The journey to his oasis is impossible. As a team Conor, Abeke, Meilin and Rollan have achieved the impossible before. But now that team is broken the friends scattered by a devastating betrayal. The young heroes and their spirit animals have already sacrificed much in their quest for the talismans. But with the world crumbling all around them and a ruthless enemy opposing their every move their greatest sacrifices are yet to come.

"This psychological thriller follows a girl with dark secrets to a school with uneasy mysteries of its own . . . Gripping, violent and terrifying." — Kirkus Reviews A New York Public Library "Best of the Teen Age" Angela''s parents think she''s on the road to ruin because she''s dating a "bad boy." After her behavior gets too much for them, they ship her off to Hidden Oak. Isolated and isolating, Hidden Oak promises to rehabilitate "dangerous girls." But as Angela gets drawn in further and further, she discovers that recovery is only on the agenda for the "better" girls. The other girls—designated as "the purple thread" —will instead be manipulated to become more and more dangerous . . . and more and more reliant on Hidden Oak''s care. "Teens might behave dangerously themselves to get their hands on this page-turner with its commentary on education." — Booklist "The struggle and eventual triumph of the bad girls over the evil teachers makes for an intriguing conflict that many teens will appreciate." — School Library Journal "Compelling and page-turning . . . For any fan of gothic, dark, gripping action, The School for Dangerous Girls should not be missed." — TeensReadToo.com

A dark threat faces the world of Erdas in this riveting new saga from the New York Times bestselling series. A heart-pounding new adventure from the New York Times bestselling series.In the world of Erdas, every child must discover if they will summon a spirit animal, a rare and incredible gift. Conor, Abeke, Meilin, and Rollan were rare even among those few. They summoned legendary animals--brave guardians who were reborn to protect their world.Now more of these legends are appearing across Erdas, bonded to special children. But a dark force has emerged. Older than memory, it has slept for centuries beneath the surface of the world. With the power to tear away spirit animals, it begins a rampage that will be felt in every corner of Erdas. If the young heroes can''t stop it, the darkness will first consume the spirit animals . . . and then the world.

From the New York Times–bestselling author of School for Dangerous Girls comes a suspenseful stunner of siblings caught up in a sinister deception. Abby Goodwin is sure her sister Maya isn''t a murderer. But her parents don''t agree. Her friends don''t agree. And the cops definitely don''t agree. Maya is a drop-out, a stoner, a girl who''s obsessed with her tutor, Jefferson Andrews . . . until he ends up dead. Maya runs away, and leaves Abby following the trail of clues. Each piece of evidence points to Maya, but it also appears that Jefferson had secrets of his own. And enemies. Like his brother, who Abby becomes involved with . . . until he falls under suspicion. Is Abby getting closer to finding the true murderer? Or is someone leading her down a twisted false path? " The Deadly Sister is riddled with red herrings and told by an unreliable narrator, which make the surprise ending all the more shocking. Well-drawn characters, realistic dialogue, and suspenseful twists and turns add to the appeal. Teens crave mystery, and this book will suit them just fine." — School Library Journal (starred review) "The page-turning action and the potent relationship between the two sisters will keep teens'' attention right up to the final confession." — Booklist "Let me tell you, The Deadly Sister was so creepily good, I would rather you read it yourself . . . Eliot Schrefer is the author of another thrillingly creepy book—and serious page-turner— The School for Dangerous Girls. The Deadly Sister is a great follow-up and a perfect read-alike." — ThisGrrlReads " The Deadly Sister is a perfect summer thriller." — TeensReadToo

A new threat faces the world of Erdas in this continuation of the New York Times bestselling series. Part engrossing book series, part action role-playing game - discover your spirit animal and join the adventure.

*A 2014 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST* When he was a boy, Luc''s mother would warn him about the "mock men" living in the trees by their home -- chimpanzees whose cries would fill the night.Luc is older now, his mother gone. He lives in a house of mistreated orphans, barely getting by. Then a man calling himself Prof comes to town with a mysterious mission. When Luc tries to rob him, the man isn''t mad. Instead, he offers Luc a job.Together, Luc and Prof head into the rough, dangerous jungle in order to study the elusive chimpanzees. There, Luc finally finds a new family -- and must act when that family comes under attack.As he did in his acclaimed novel ENDANGERED, a finalist for the National Book Award, Eliot Schrefer takes us somewhere fiction rarely goes, introducing us to characters we rarely get to meet. The unforgettable result is the story of a boy fleeing his present, a man fleeing his past, and a trio of chimpanzees who are struggling not to flee at all.

Named one of the Best Books of 2024 by the Chicago Public Library! In this sequel to The Darkness Outside Us, a Stonewall Honor Book, New York Times bestselling author Eliot Schrefer delivers another ambitious, genre-bending novel and epic love story that spans thousands of years and the far reaches of the galaxy. Seventeen years have gone by since the Coordinated Endeavor crashed on a distant exoplanet. Ambrose Cusk and Kodiak Celius are now the devoted parents of two teenage children, Owl and Yarrow, in a hardscrabble frontier home. Though life on Minerva is full of danger, the family’s bond is enough to make it all worth it—until they learn that the biggest threat to their survival might come from within. More than thirty thousand years in the past, Ambrose wakes on Earth to find that his mission to save his sister was a ruse. His mother betrayed him, and the cruelty of her true plans sets Ambrose spiraling. When he discovers that another spacefarer is suffering his same fate, he will have to decide whether to risk crossing a world at war to reach him. Separated by time and space, a young family and two strangers learn that their lives are intimately intertwined. They race to uncover the unexpected connections that might save them all . . . and perhaps humanity as well.

Ready? Okay! It''s time for school at the brand new Curiosity Academy, and there''s a certain third grade classroom that stands out from the rest. It''s got a cool teacher named Mrs. Z, who wears high-tops and science earrings, and is full of unique classmates from all over Peppermint Falls, who all have a secret. Emma just wants to makes friends at her new school, but an old friend-turned-enemy might ruin her chance at a fresh start. Rohan opens a pet care company to raise money for a school garden, but it''s hard to care for pets when you''ve never done it before and might be a little afraid of them! Poppy tries out a new candy recipe for her class, but she''s distracted by her grandma, who''s suddenly forgetting things she used to know by heart. Memo is thrilled to be going to a sci-fi fantasy convention with his friend, but his Spanish-speaking abuela has to take them there and Memo doesn''t speak Spanish. In a crowded space with no way to talk to each other, nothing could go wrong, right? Wyatt usually keeps to himself and chats with his best friend, Lizzie, who happens to be a stuffed lizard. But as he''s growing older, is it still okay for him to bring Lizzie to school? What if someone sees? And lastly, when Mrs. Z''s class is getting ready for a variety show, Ayana, who likes blending into the background, is having enough trouble deciding what she could perform center stage when she realizes her loud, bad-joke-telling, all-eyes-on-me dad is a variety show volunteer! Will she ever figure out her performance when she''s feeling this embarrassed by her dad? Join the kids in Mrs. Z''s class in these six exciting tales of friendship and family, which can be read in any order you choose! Emma McKenna, Full Out Rohan Murthy Has a Plan Poppy Song Bakes a Way The Legend of Memo Castillo Wyatt Hill''s Best Friend Is a Lizard Ayana Ndoum Takes the Stage

A new threat faces the world of Erdas in this continuation of the New York Times bestselling series. Part engrossing book series, part action role-playing game - discover your spirit animal and join the adventure.

From two-time National Book Award finalist Eliot Schrefer comes an original penguin-tastic adventure inspired by the beloved classic Mr. Popper''s Penguins. It''s been years and years since the Popper family lived in Stillwater, but the town is still riding high on its former penguin residents. Across the river, in Hillport, residents try to re-create the magic with penguin carnival rides and penguin petting zoos, pretending they''re the Popper originals. As the years have gone by, fewer and fewer people have come, and the small attractions shuttered. Nina and Joe Popper have just moved to Hillport with their mother. There''s a lot to do: unpacking, scrubbing the floors, investigating the basement—wait, what''s this? Two penguin eggs are tucked snugly near the furnace! It''s up to Nina and Joe to find their newly hatched penguin chicks a home. Setting off on the adventure of a lifetime, they endure perilous storms, a long journey to the Arctic, and of course, penguins. Lots and lots of Popper penguins!

They Both Die at the End meets Gravity in this mind-bending sci-fi mystery and tender love story about two boys aboard a spaceship sent on a rescue mission, from two-time National Book Award finalist Eliot Schrefer. Stonewall Honor Award winner! Two boys, alone in space. Sworn enemies sent on the same rescue mission. Ambrose wakes up on the Coordinated Endeavor with no memory of a launch. There’s more that doesn’t add up: evidence indicates strangers have been on board, the ship’s operating system is voiced by his mother, and his handsome, brooding shipmate has barricaded himself away. But nothing will stop Ambrose from making his mission succeed—not when he’s rescuing his own sister. In order to survive the ship’s secrets, Ambrose and Kodiak will need to work together and learn to trust each other . . . especially once they discover what they are truly up against. Love might be the only way to survive. * Chicago Public Library''s Best of the Best Books of the Year * A Booklist Editor''s Choice of the Year * A BCCB Blue Ribbon Book of the Year * A YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults & Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults Book of the Year *

The adventure continues in this sixth book in the NEW YORK TIMES bestselling series. Deep in the desert there sits a beautiful oasis, ruled by a monarch unlike any other in Erdas. His name is Cabaro, the Great Lion, and he reigns over a kingdom of animals, jealously guarding his golden talisman. No human has ever set foot in the Great Beast''s territory. The journey to his oasis is impossible.As a team, Conor, Abeke, Meilin, and Rollan have achieved the impossible before. But now that team is broken -- the friends scattered by a devastating betrayal. The young heroes and their spirit animals have already sacrificed much in their quest for the talismans. But with the world crumbling all around them-and a ruthless enemy opposing their every move-their greatest sacrifices are yet to come.

From two-time National Book Award finalist Eliot Schrefer comes an unbelievable story of survival. Raja has been raised in captivity. Not behind the bars of a zoo, but within the confines of an American home. He was stolen when he was young to be someone''s pet. Now he''s grown up . . . and is about to be sent away again, to a place from which there will be no return. John grew up with Raja. The orangutan was his friend, his brother -- never his pet. But when John''s parents split up and he moved across the country, he left Raja behind. Now Raja is suffering.There''s one last chance to save Raja -- a chance that will force John to confront his fractured family and the captivity he''s imposed on himself all of these years.Eliot Schrefer''s last two novels, Endangered and Threatened, were both finalists for the National Book Award. With Rescued, he brings his remarkable storytelling to the American landscape, giving us a boy who must redefine his own humanity and an orangutan who will need his help in order to return home.

NPR''s "All Things Considered," calls Queer Ducks "teenager-friendly. It''s a Printz Honor young adult book filled with comics and humor and accessible science, and it''s filled with research on the diversity of sexual behavior in the animal world." This groundbreaking illustrated YA nonfiction title from two-time National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author Eliot Schrefer is a well-researched and teen-friendly exploration of the gamut of queer behaviors observed in animals. A quiet revolution has been underway in recent years, with study after study revealing substantial same-sex sexual behavior in animals. Join celebrated author Eliot Schrefer on an exploration of queer behavior in the animal world—from albatrosses to bonobos to clownfish to doodlebugs. In sharp and witty prose—aided by humorous comics from artist Jules Zuckerberg—Schrefer uses science, history, anthropology, and sociology to illustrate the diversity of sexual behavior in the animal world. Interviews with researchers in the field offer additional insights for readers and aspiring scientists. Queer behavior in animals is as diverse and complex—and as natural—as it is in our own species. It doesn’t set us apart from animals—it bonds us even closer to our animal selves.

In the glossy private world of Fifth Avenue teens, some millionaire parents will do, pay, or say anything to help their children ace the SATs. Noah rose from humble beginnings and, through pure grit and resourcefulness, got himself through Princeton. Now staggering under the weight of massive student loans and dazzled by life in the big city, Noah enters the rarefied field of SAT tutoring in Manhattan, working one-on-one with the spoiled, gorgeous children of the American aristocracy. He takes on the considerable academic challenges that are Dylan Thayer, a dissipated high school athlete-socialite, and his waifish sister Tuscany. Dylan won''t lift a finger to do anything but pick up a lacrosse stick, and Tuscany is avidly pursuing her own downfall via drugs and relationships with men more than twice her age. But their mother, a self-medicating pediatrician, has ambitious plans for them in spite of their shortcomings -- and she has plans for their SAT tutor as well. Trying to build his own life while living on a shoestring in Harlem and flirting with his beautiful roommate keeps Noah busy enough, but the needs of the glamorous, struggling Thayer kids and the inappropriate advances of their mother prove all-consuming. As deadlines for college admissions near and the SAT tension builds, Noah finds himself presented with a Faustian bargain, and he must make a moral decision that will affect him and his students for years to come. With echoes of The Devil Wears Prada, The Nanny Diaries, and Bright Lights, Big City, Glamorous Disasters is an incisive portrayal of a small and privileged world, a cautionary tale written by a Harvard grad who was once an SAT tutor himself -- an outsider who became a magnificently observant insider.

Black Mirror meets Goosebumps in the first installment of this fast-paced middle-grade horror series by New York Times-bestselling authors Erin Entrada Kelly and Eliot Schrefer featuring tales of technology gone wrong. Eleven-year-old Sofia Mendoza is a gamer, not a camper. She should be at home building landscapes and fighting monsters in Sandbox, not deep in the forest with six other kids, who might as well be playing her favorite game in tutorial mode. Even worse, there''s something off about this summer camp. There are creepy, mechanical vultures, cloaked NPC figures, and the only adult is Monarch, a grim woman in combat boots. And then the game of elimination begins. Sofia may be caught in the clutches of Camp Forestjaw, but she''ll do anything to survive. Anything. The problem is, in Forestjaw, everything you''ve ever done—no matter how long ago—comes back to you . . .

At fifteen years old, Humphrey has spent his life as the new kid, moving from town to town as his parents keep losing jobs. The latest move brings him to Haven, Florida, where his family rents a motel room for lack of money. Humphrey gradually makes his way into a circle of the local cool kids, but when his friendship with one handsome boy and the boy''s mother leads to illicit and confusing sexual attractions, he begins to question the nature of his own desires, with perilous consequences. Humphrey''s half-sister Gretchen escaped the family''s itinerant lifestyle long ago, and is now graduating from Harvard College and pining for a Harvard boy who broke her heart. When fate offers Gretchen a chance to go abroad, both brother and sister find themselves with the opportunity to leave their problems behind and travel to Italy. But the siblings'' Roman holiday takes a sinister turn when what was supposed to be a glamorous jaunt has fateful consequences. The New Kid is an account of love, family, sexual awakening, and the peculiarly dangerous twists life can take -- a deftly written novel from the acclaimed author of Glamorous Disasters.