After waking up late, Kate, Nate, and Maddie hurry to get ready while dealing with the many things that can derail a morning routine.

Being on time is an art—an art most of families have yet to master. From spilling coffee to misplacing keys, we've all dealt with the many things that can derail our morning routines. This humorous depiction of chaotic mornings is oh, so true. Kate and her two children, Nate, and his older sister, Maddie, have all overslept. How will they EVER make it to school and work on time dressed, fed, and organized?

A middle grade novel by Kate Egan, Golden Ticket, explores friendship, academic anxiety, and what it means to be special. “It’s practically like a private school,” Mrs. Silver said bitterly. “The best teacher, for such a tiny group of students. Who wouldn’t succeed in a class like that?” She took off her sunglasses to glare at the dad. “Those kids get picked out when they’re seven years old, and they get handed a golden ticket. Of course they become stars.” Eleven-year-old Ash McNulty is one of the “gifted and talented” kids at her school, spending most of her day in a special class with a few other advanced students. As the end of fifth grade rolls around, she should be on top of the world. According to everyone, she’s going to rock junior high! But Ash has a secret: She can’t keep up with her advanced classmates anymore. The minute she asks for help though, everyone will know she’s not who they think she is. She’s not so smart. She might not even be that special. And her parents will be crushed to discover the truth. If Ash can win the Quiz Bowl, though, that will show everyone that she is still on top. If she gets a lucky break ahead of time, all the better. Except that “lucky break” backfires . . . And Ash is left to question everything she thought she knew about school, friends, and success.

A giant chicken hatches from an enormous egg, but the other chickens cannot accept that he is one of them.

"Magic tricks with instructions inside!"--Cover.

Mike is doing better in school these days. Learning magic helps him to learn other things as well. Sure, he's gotten in trouble in the past, but things are different now. So why does everyone still think he's the same old Mike? If only there was a magic trick to change his reputation... Then, during one of his visits to The White Rabbit Magic Shop, Mike finds something that could be even better than a magic trick—it's possible that Mike could be related to Harry Houdini—the greatest magician ever! But when Mike lets the news slip, and Jackson Jacobs dares him to prove it, he knows that he's in the type of bind that only magic can help him escape!

The last year of elementary school is big for every kid. In this novel, equal parts funny and crushing, utterly honest and perfect for boys and girls alike, Christine Gouda faces change at every turn, starting with her own nickname—Tink—which just doesn't fit anymore. Readers will relate to this strong female protagonist whose voice rings with profound authenticity and absolute novelty, and her year's cringingly painful trials in normalcy—uncomfortable Halloween costumes, premature sleepover parties, crushed crushes, and changing friendships. Throughout all this, Tink learns, what you call yourself, and how you do it, has a lot to do with who you are. This book marks beloved author Karen Romano Young's masterful return to children's literature: a heartbreakingly honest account of what it means to be between girl and woman, elementary and middle school, inside and out—and just what you name that in-between self.