The word "heart" in the series statement appears as the heart symbol.

Band Geeks unite in this fresh new middle-grade series by debut author (and former band director) Michelle Schusterman! The band’s bake-sale fund-raiser pits the sections against each other, and Holly is positive the brass section will win. After all, the two most competitive kids in band are Holly and Natasha. When Holly hears a rumor that Aaron Cook is going to ask her to the winter dance, she’s ecstatic. So when Aaron asks Natasha to the dance, Holly thinks she can’t feel much worse. When a small disaster sets the brass section way behind in the band’s bake sale, Holly gets a brilliant idea that’s guaranteed to help them win—and with a little good fortune, it might save Holly’s friendship with Natasha, too!

The word "heart" in the title and series statement appears as the heart symbol.

Doll Bones meets Splendors and Glooms as a boy who trades bodies with a wooden marionette. . . . The Museum of Peculiar Arts holds many oddities--a mechanical heart, a diary bound in its owner's skin . . . and Penny, a child-size marionette who almost looks alive. Fog clouds Penny's memories from before the museum, but she catches glimpses here and there: a stage, deep red curtains, long-fingered hands gripping her strings. One day, a boy named Chance touches Penny's strings and hears her voice in his head. Penny can listen, and watch, and think? Now someone else is watching Penny and Chance--a man with a sharp face, a puppeteer who has the tools to change things. A string through a needle. A twist of a spindle. And suddenly Chance is trapped in Penny's marionette body, while Penny is free to run and dance. She knows that finding a way to switch back is the right thing to do. But this body feels so wonderful, so full of life! How can Penny ever return to her puppet shell?

Band Geeks unite in this fresh new middle-grade series by debut author (and former band director) Michelle Schusterman! Holly Mead’s first day of seventh grade isn’t going as planned. Her brother ruins her carefully chosen outfit, she’s almost late, and her new band director has some surprisingly strict rules. Worst of all, it seems like her best friend, Julia, has replaced her with Natasha, the pretty, smart, new French horn player! Holly is determined to get first chair, but Natasha is turning out to be some pretty stiff competition—and not just in band. Band might be a competition, but friendship isn’t—and Holly needs to figure it out before she loses Julia for good.

A ghost story with a literary heart for fans of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline and The Graveyard Book. Theater kids and ghost-story readers alike will find new meaning in the term stage fright. All great theaters have their ghosts. . . . After Olive Preiss freezes during a theater camp audition, she flees in despair. She finds herself at Maudeville, a beautiful old theater that she’s never noticed before. She enters, goes onstage, and sings her song. “Thank you for that lovely audition, darling,” comes a voice from the shadows. “I believe I have just the part for you.” Olive is thrilled to work with Maude Devore, the glamorous actress who owns the theater, and her eclectic cast of misfits. Yet gradually there are signs that Maudeville isn’t exactly what it seems. Sometimes—just for a moment!—it feels wrong. As opening day approaches, Olive’s doubts and fears grow. But no matter what, this show must go on . . . and on . . . and on. . . . “Richly drawn . . . a haunting and ethereal tale.” —Booklist, Starred Review

Funny and totally gross! Stella Min never gets scared. In fact, she?s pretty certain that she is the bravest one in the Monster Squad. But lately she can?t shake the feeling that she?s being watched?all the time! Soon she?s seeing floating eyeballs everywhere and quickly discovers it?s the Beast with 1000 Eyes. She knows she needs to stop it, but how do you kill a monster than can blink you to death?