Parker is a normal sixth grader—or he was normal before the puppet. It’s just an old hand puppet, sticking out of a garbage can, and even though Parker’s best friend says leave it, Parker brings the puppet home and tries it on. Or maybe it tries him on. “You will call me Drog!” the puppet commands once they’re alone. And now, no matter how hard Parker tries, he can’t get Drog off his hand. Drog is sarcastic, cruel, unpredictable, and loud—everything Parker isn’t. Worse yet, no one believes that Drog—not Parker—is the one saying the outrageous things that get Parker into trouble. Then Drog starts sharpening his snarky wit on the most fragile parts of Parker’s life—like his parents’ divorce. Parker’s shocked, but deep down he agrees with Drog a little. Perhaps Drog is saying things Parker wants to say after all. Maybe the only way to get rid of Drog is to truly listen to him.

Everything was fine until Drog showed up. Don t ask me why I picked him out of the trash he just looked like an ugly old puppet. And I wish I had never put him on, cos no matter how hard I try, I can t get him off. Eleven-year-old Parker is trying to come to terms with his parents divorce when he stumbles upon Drog, an ugly hand puppet left in the rubbish. But Drog is no ordinary puppet; he s a sarcastic, obnoxious, talking puppet who won t let go of Parker s hand The trouble is no one else believes Parker. How can he prove that he s not the one doing the talking, and how can he get Drog off his hand? Bold, crazy and a little bit creepy, Call Me Drog is an unforgettable coming-of-age story, perfect for study in the Key Stage 3 classroom."

What if your soul mate was decided for you? It started happening a few years ago: the names of MTBs—“meant to be” mates—appeared emblazoned on the skin at age eighteen. Agatha’s best friend has embraced the phenomenon and is head over heels in love with her MTB. But Aggy isn’t so sure. As she struggles with accepting her MTB fate, she finds herself falling for a coworker at the local amusement park. Is he a better match? What does Agatha really want in a mate, and moreover, what does she want for herself? With her trademark wit and irreverence, acclaimed author Julie Halpern explores an age-old question: Who are we meant to be with?

Four teens, who couldn't be any less alike, are thrown together because they share a single goal: to help themselves. Well, three of them do anyway. I, on the other hand, would rather be anywhere else than group therapy. I didn't think I needed any help. I wasn't "crazy" like the others because I already knew how to handle my problems...with fire. As long as there was always something to burn, I could face anything, including a few hours at group therapy with a drug addict, an alcoholic, and a big, angry "Leprechaun". What I didn't realize though, is that these people were going to become more than just my group mates. I learned that the longer you're stuck together, the stronger your relationships can be, so long as they can surpass the bitter trials of love, hate, and (what may be the hardest of them all) addiction.

Ava has a loving family, a beautiful house, and a solid faith. Suddenly, her ideal life will be completely broken . . . in the best of ways. Ava’s life is full of great things. Her daughter is getting married to just the right guy, her husband’s company has kept them financially successful for years, her son is thriving as a high-school football player, and the ministry she started is keeping her busy as she reaches out to those with “broken hearts.” Then it all falls apart. Ava’s safe world becomes unanchored, and she is forced to face the childhood she’s run away from her entire life. Just as she’s trying to sift through the pieces, the doorbell rings and Ava is confronted with the surprise of her life. Ava must set out on a journey that takes her back home. Along the way, she encounters God in new and unexpected ways. She sees she's been hiding her brokenness behind good deeds and the comforts of a safe life. Learning what it means to lose it all is just the start of Ava’s journey—as is the new song God is writing on her heart.

Joseph Stanton's Things Seen is one of the great books of poetry this year that probably will not get the attention it deserves, though I hope my sheer delight might conspire otherwise. His is a major voice and these poems artifacts of an exquisite musical craftsman possessed of a generosity of vision and a special quality of attention that transforms art into being. As the poem about Paul Gauguin's "Vision After the Sermon" offers us, "a roseate window" in which the story "gleams for all to see; / my struggle to know, my difficult wrestling / with that indefatigable god--/ my deft, ungraspable self." Things Seen is divided into five discrete sections--ekphrasis that gives fresh insight into that timeless practice; reinventions of fairy tales that remake the Prince Frog, The Fir Apple, Godfather Death and leave us the Shepherd Boy to calculate the universe; Noh variations that demonstrate why that word is derived from the Japanese word for "skill"; a series on Edward Hopper that intertwines his art and life; and deft poems about paintings about baseball--and yet by the end the sections feel as triumphantly cohesive as the movements in a symphony. "Things Seen" offers us the poet at the height of perception and the skills of conjuration.--Ravi Shankar, founding editor of Drunken Boat and author of What Else Could It Be