I felt something grab me around my ankles. I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing came out, and I thought I was going to faint dead away. I lost my grip on the wall, and my short life flashed before my eyes. A sickening thought raced through my mind—I will never see eleven. For best friends Izzy and Lucas, life couldn't be better. They just turned ten years old, and school's out for the summer, so they have three months of swimming, sunshine, ice cream sundaes...and pulling off their secret plan. Everyone in their small town knows about the Arliss house—that's where crazy Henry Arliss and his two grouchy sisters live. Izzy and Lucas have always wanted to peek inside, so they've hatched a brilliant plan to climb the gnarled tree overlooking the house and sneak in through the basement. Their plan soon goes awry, however, and when Lucas comes up missing, Izzy must ask for help before it's too late! Readers will loveIzzy's Summerwhere there's fun and adventure waiting around every corner.

While spending the summer at his grandmother's Indiana home, ten-year-old Henry Stone gets help from a new friend in coping with the recent death of his grandfather and the possibility of his parents getting divorced.

When twelve-year-old Izzy discovers a beat-up baseball marked with the words "Because magic" while unpacking in yet another new apartment, she is determined to figure out what it means. What secrets does this old ball have to tell? Her mom certainly isn't sharing anyespecially when it comes to Izzy's father, who died before Izzy was born. But when she spends the summer in her Nana's remote New Mexico village, Izzy discovers long-buried secrets that come alive in an enchanted landscape of watermelon mountains, whispering winds, and tortilla suns. Infused with the flavor of the southwest and sprinkled with just a pinch of magic, this heartfelt middle grade debut is as rich and satisfying as Nana's homemade enchiladas.

Readers can't help but get entangled in this USA Today bestselling series. Summertime’s salty breezes and the sun’s golden threads bring inspiration to the Seaside Knitters of Sea Harbor, Massachusetts. But when an old mystery washes ashore, they must cast their needles aside and bring some heat back into a cold case… Izzy Chambers is head over heels. She’s about to marry the love of her life, but much remains to be done before their big day. So the Seaside Knitters have pitched in to help and are even knitting Izzy a beautiful lace wedding shawl. Meanwhile, Izzy’s aunt, Nell, has hired a gardener to spruce up the backyard where the wedding will be held. The gardener, Claire, is just returning to Cape Anne after a long absence, hoping to put a dark secret to rest and find peace for herself. But the wedding plans get complicated when the wedding party’s hair stylist, Tiffany, is found dead. Rumors start to circulate about Tiffany’s past and her connection to an unsolved murder years ago. Is Claire’s return part of this pattern? Or are there more secrets simmering in the summer heat? All the Seaside Knitters know is they must rally to find some answers, so the whispers about town can be replaced by wedding bells.

Izzy is not looking forward to summer vacation. Her mom is sending her to stay with her grandfather, away from her friends. On top of that, Izzy thinks that her grandfather might be a pirate! He wears an eyepatch and has a suspiciously pirate-y laugh. This summer is shaping up to be more exciting than Izzy could ever hope for.

History, mystery, and enough bitchery to meet your daily nutritional requirement for snark, secrets, and sweet sentiment! The Brightonians Under Siege is about a group of warring socialites coping with the bonkersness of the first lockdown. But on a broader level, it's about how resourceful people can be when they feel under attack. Under siege you might say! The important role played by humour and friendship. And in the case of our Brightonians: dabbling in the dark arts, too! Beginning in 2020 with an ominous card-reading that the fortune-teller hasn't drawn for 40 years, one question preys on his mind. Could this scary new virus he's read about be as devastating as the one that killed so many of his friends in the mid-80s? Only time will tell. But as countries close their borders and people are told to stay at home, one set of Brightonians becomes transfixed by his reading. Especially the Saxon symbols on which the cards are based. Deprived of their usual battlegrounds of parties and social events, they take to the internet - and the occasional illegal gathering - in a race to be the first to capitalise on this ancient magic. Peppered with flashbacks to the hedonistic 80s, before the arrival of that 'other' pandemic and the darker period ushered in as a result, The Brightonians Under Siege explores how differently the world responded to both viruses. But far from being a sad tale, this is a joyously, funny story. Perhaps not so surprising when the key narrator is a 73-year-old ex-porn star turned drag queen, keen to reminisce about outrageous gay discos and leather fetish clubs! At a time of unprecedented crisis, the stakes couldn't be higher. What answers might the symbols offer in the fight against this new virus? And more importantly, who will be victorious in the battle to control this most colourful of social circles? Too soon to reminisce about lockdown? Not on your nelly. Cut yourself a slice of banana bread and let the socially distanced party begin! Following the success of The Brightonians - described variously on goodreads.com as evoking the style of E F Benson's Mapp & Lucia, P G Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster and Maupin's Tales of the City - The Brightonians Under Siege is written in the same satirical style. Of interest to fans of The Brightonians, the sequel is a standalone work aimed at readers not familiar with the first novel.

When middle-school mishaps happen, five friends form the S.M.A.R.T. Squad and use their collective skills and the power of STEM to bring order to their school. Join Izzy Newton in the second adventure of this fun new fiction series, where science reigns supreme. With their first mystery solved and first-day jitters triumphantly behind them, Izzy and her pals---the Solving Mysteries and Revealing Truths Squad---start to settle in to the normal day-to-day at Atom Middle School. Izzy even works up the courage to try out for an all-boys sports team! Things are going well until a mysterious illness threatens to shut down the media center---and maybe the entire school. The S.M.A.R.T. Squad is on the case in a race to figure out what ails them. But that's not all. A pop-up science fair causes excitement and tension for the Squad. And Izzy's failure to speak up in her speech class feels like an obstacle she can't overcome. Can the girls pull together to solve the media center mystery? Will their STEM smarts help them rock the science fair? Or will Izzy Newton's flaws mean the end of the S.M.A.R.T. Squad? Plus, learn more about the real science behind the fiction and meet some amazing real-life scientists. Join award-winning author and American Girl series co-creator Valerie Tripp and the diverse, brilliantly brainy S.M.A.R.T. Squad gang in this charming second book in the series . And don't forget to check out the first book in the series, Izzy Newton and S.M.A.R.T. Squad: Absolute Hero. Praise for the series: It's one thing to have children's books about scientists or podcasts or stories about strong women in STEM, but it's another world entirely when your children get to feel represented by the characters they're reading about. -Romper