Story of the life of a jazz bass player Charlie DeGrettzo. It spans the period from 1900-2003 and covers some history of the jazz music scene in the 40's, 50's, and 60's. It also is a touching story of the lives of an immigrant Italian family

Four hilarious stories, two inventive brothers, one irresistible story! Join Charlie and Mouse as they talk to lumps, take the neighborhood to a party, sell some rocks, and invent the bedtime banana. With imagination and humor, Laurel Snyder and Emily Hughes paint a lively picture of brotherhood that children will relish in a format perfect for children not quite ready for chapter books.

The Newberry Medalist brings humor and heart to this story of a Civil War–era boy struggling to do right in the face of history’s cruelest evils. Twelve-year-old Charlie is down on his luck: His sharecropper father just died, and Cap’n Buck—the most fearsome man in Possum Moan, South Carolina—has come to collect a debt. Fearing for his life, Charlie strikes a deal with Cap’n Buck and agrees to track down some folks accused of stealing from the cap’n and his boss. It’s not too bad of a bargain for Charlie . . . until he comes face-to-face with the fugitives and discovers their true identities. Torn between his guilty conscience and his survival instinct, Charlie needs to figure out his next move—and soon. It’s only a matter of time before Cap’n Buck catches on. Praise for The Journey of Little Charlie A National Book Award Finalist “This is a compelling and ugly story for middle-grade readers told with genuine care. Little Charlie is a product of his Southern upbringing, yet in Curtis’s skillful hands he learns the world is not as he’d thought . . . Christopher Paul Curtis does it again.” —Historical Novel Society “A characteristically lively and complex addition to the historical fiction of the era from Curtis.” —Kirkus Reviews

A delightfully uplifting tale about self-belief, courage, and—above all—the power of friendship. Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley are the best of friends. But they are different in almost every way: Pearl loves solving mysteries and moves rather fast in the world, and Charlie likes taking leisurely baths and watching his flowers grow. So how can Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley be such good friends?

Now a Broadway musical! Roald Dahl's iconic story of a little boy, a golden ticket, and a fantastical chocolate factory has been adapted into a wonderful new musical. This edition has a great new cover featuring the musical's poster art and a foreword by Jack O'Brien, Tony Award-winning Director. Willy Wonka's famous chocolate factory is opening at last! But only five lucky children will be allowed inside. And the winners are: Augustus Gloop, an enormously fat boy whose hobby is eating; Veruca Salt, a spoiled-rotten brat whose parents are wrapped around her little finger; Violet Beauregarde, a dim-witted gum-chewer with the fastest jaws around; Mike Teavee, a toy pistol-toting gangster-in-training who is obsessed with television; and Charlie Bucket, Our Hero, a boy who is honest and kind, brave and true, and good and ready for the wildest time of his life!

During the pilot year of a Los Angeles school system integration program, Armstrong and Charlie learn to cope with everything from first crushes and playground politics to the loss of loved ones and racial prejudice in the 1970s. Charlie isn’t looking forward to sixth grade. If he starts sixth grade, chances are he’ll finish it, and he’ll be older than his older brother ever was. Armstrong isn’t looking forward to sixth grade either. He’ll have to wake up at five-thirty to ride a bus to an all-white school in the Hollywood Hills. When they are assigned seats next to each other, what starts as a rivalry becomes a close friendship. Set in Los Angeles in the 1970s, Armstrong and Charlie is the funny and heartwarming tale of two boys. Different, yet the same.