New Releases by Tracey Baptiste

A good leader leads by example, and leaders in the conservation movement are especially hands on. The new 10-title Conservation Heroes set focuses on famous and inspirational luminaries, both historical and contemporary, who became champions for protecting the natural world. Readers will learn about the leaders'' lives, influences, and work and gain a greater understanding of Earth, oceans, and animals—and the importance of each to our lives—in the process. Each fully illustrated book presents the methods and accomplishments of a particular prominent conservationist, providing more than 100 pages of useable information for middle and high school students. Science concepts and terms are presented in clear language, giving readers the background they need to understand the conservation issues. Each volume comes complete with sidebars, further resources and Web sites, a section providing resources to readers who want to get involved in similar conservation issues, a glossary, and an index.

A Wrinkle in Time; ""Harry Potter and the Sorcerer''s Stone""; and, ""Where the Wild Things Are"". You know the stories, you love the characters, but do you know ''who wrote that''? Find out about the people behind your favorite tales and why they felt compelled to write for children. This series offers great insights with ''Did You Know?'' boxes that highlight interesting facts about the authors. In addition, the ''Popular Books'' and ''Popular Characters'' sections allow students to discover new works by their favorite authors.

Grace has always had wild red hair like no one else in her family and a birthmark on her shoulder that her mother told her was the mark of an angel. When Grace is sent from New York to spend the summer with her grandmother in Trinidad, she looks through the family album and discovers a blurred photograph of a stranger with a birthmark -- her birthmark -- and Grace is full of questions. No one is able to identify the man in the photo, and Grace is left with no choice but to find out who he is and what he might mean to her. What Grace does not know is that her search will lead to a discovery about herself and her family that she never could have imagined. Tracey Baptiste''s first novel is a tender coming-of-age story set on the island of Trinidad. Angel''s Grace explores the meaning of identity and truth, and the unbreakable ties of a family bound by love.

Madeleine L''Engle''s long writing career began when she wrote her first story about a ''grul'', or girl, at age five. L''Engle spent her childhood bouncing between governesses and boarding school before she attended Smith College and made a permanent home in New York City. L''Engle completed her most famous work, ""A Wrinkle in Time"", in 1960, but it was rejected by more than two dozen publishers before it came out in 1962. L''Engle''s picture books, fantastic young adult novels, and Christian writing made her one of the most popular and recognizable authors in American literature. In ""Madeleine L''Engle"", learn more about this author''s life and writing, which set the standard for blurring the lines between reality and fantasy.

Most communities and organizations require an organizer to be successful and create change. Being a Leader and Making Decisions tells the stories of great leaders--why they led, how they gained support and became leaders, and why people followed them. Through historical and modern examples, readers will learn about both positive and negative traits of leaders and find suggestions about how to take the lead in their own lives and communities.