Children's New Releases - July 2014

A young boy named Bobby has the worst teacher. She's loud, she yells, and if you throw paper airplanes, she won't allow you to enjoy recess. She is a monster! Luckily, Bobby can go to his favorite spot in the park on weekends to play. Until one day... he finds his teacher there! Over the course of one day, Bobby learns that monsters are not always what they seem.

Relates the adventures of a family with two fathers, four adopted boys, and a variety of pets as they make their way through a school year, Kindergarten through sixth grade, and deal with a grumpy new neighbor. This story relates the adventures of a family with two fathers, four adopted boys, and a variety of pets as they make their way through a school year, kindergarten through sixth grade, and deal with a grumpy new neighbor.

"The year is 1906, and twelve-year-old Violet Blake unearths an ancient talisman--a copper hand--beside the stream where her mother used to harvest medicine. Violet's touch warms the copper hand and it begins to reveal glimpses of another time. Violet is certain that the copper hand is magic--and if anyone is in need of its powers, it's Violet. Her mother and adored baby brother are gone, perhaps never to return. Her heartbroken father can't seem to sustain the failing farm on the outskirts of Pigeon Harbor, on the shores of Lake Michigan. Surely the magic of the copper hand can make things right for Violet and restore her fractured family. Violet makes a wish. But her ignorant carelessness unleashes formidable powers--and her attempts to control them jeopardizes not only herself, but the entire town of Pigeon Harbor. In Copper Magic, land and waters are alive with memories, intentions, and impulses. Magic alters Violet and brings her gifts--but not always the kind she thinks she needs. First-time author Julia Mary Gibson brings Violet and her community to life in this impressive and assured debut"--

When Larissa Renaud starts receiving eerie phone calls on a disconnected phone in her family's shop, Bayou Bridge Antiques, she finds herself directed to the river bank near her house, where a cloud of fireflies take her on a journey through time to learn the secrets of her family's past--and save their future. When Larissa starts receiving eerie phone calls on a disconnected phone in her family's shop, she finds herself directed to the riverbank near her house, where a cloud of fireflies take her on a journey through time.

Eleven-year-old Gladys Gatsby loves food and cooking, so when she lands an assignment to write a restaurant review for a New York City newspaper, she will do anything to make it happen, even risk the wrath of her fast-food loving parents.