It’s the first week of middle school, i.e., the Worst Place in the Entire World. How do you survive in a place where there are tough kids twice your size, sadistic teachers, and restrictions that make jail look like a five-star resort? Easy: with the help of Max Corrigan, middle school “expert” and life coach. Let Max teach you how to win over not just one, but all of the groups in school, from the Preps to the Band Geeks. Along the way, Max offers surefire advice and revealing tips on how to get through universal middle school experiences like gym class, detention, faking sick, dealing with jocks and bullies, and acing exams (without getting caught cheating). In an innovative format that is part narrative and part how-to, acclaimed illustrator Neil Swaab has created a hilarious new reading experience that is reminiscent of video games and sure to engage even the most reluctant reader.

The Highlights Book of Things to Do is the essential book of pure creativity and inspiration. Kids ages seven and up will find hundreds of ways to build, play, experiment, craft, cook, dream, think, and become outstanding citizens of the world. This highly visual, hands-on activity book shows kids some of the best ways to do great things--from practicing the lost arts of knot-tying, building campfires, connecting circuits, playing jump rope, drawing maps, and writing letters, to learning how to empower themselves socially, emotionally, and in their communities. The final chapter, Do Great Things, inspires kids become caring individuals, confident problem solvers, and thoughtful people who can change the world. Full List of Chapters: Things to Do Inside Things to Do Outside Science Experiments to Do Things to Build Things to Do with Your Brain Things to Do in the Kitchen Things to Draw Things to Write Things to Do with Color Things to Do with Paper More Things to Do with Recycled Materials Do Great Things National Parenting Seal of Approval Winner, National Parenting Product Award (NAPPA) Winner, Mom's Choice Award, Gold

Middle school expert Max Corrigan is back in the second book of this hilarious middle-grade series, and he wants YOU to run for class president. This book by comic artist Neil Swaab, which follows the hit first book, The Secrets to Ruling School, is a perfect read in advance of the 2016 elections and ideal for budding republicans, democrats, and independents. The competition is fierce, but luckily, you’ve got a killer campaign manager on your side. With Max’s help, you’ll conquer all the steps of running for office and winning votes, including advertisements, endorsements, campaign speeches, and more. Along the way, you’ll learn more essential skills for thriving in middle school, including making a viral video, trading your lunch in the school cafeteria, and putting a positive spin on any situation. Neil Swaab once again combines comics, kid-friendly humor, and direct-address narrative perfect for reluctant readers in an innovative format reminiscent of video games that is “sure to hit the mark with middle schoolers in the trenches” (Publishers Weekly) and with fans of the Big Nate and Terrible Two series.

Paul Laurence Dunbar was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in Dayton, Ohio, to parents who had been enslaved in Kentucky before the American Civil War, Dunbar began writing stories and verse when he was a child. He published his first poems at the age of 16 in a Dayton newspaper, and served as president of his high school's literary society. Dunbar's popularity increased rapidly after his work was praised by William Dean Howells, a leading editor associated with Harper's Weekly. Dunbar became one of the first African-American writers to establish an international reputation. In addition to his poems, short stories, and novels, he also wrote the lyrics for the musical comedy In Dahomey (1903), the first all-African-American musical produced on Broadway in New York. The musical later toured in the United States and the United Kingdom. Suffering from tuberculosis, which then had no cure, Dunbar died in Dayton, Ohio, at the age of 33. Much of Dunbar's more popular work in his lifetime was written in the "Negro dialect" associated with the antebellum South, though he also used the Midwestern regional dialect of James Whitcomb Riley. Dunbar also wrote in conventional English in other poetry and novels and is considered the first important African American sonnet writer. Since the late 20th century, scholars have become more interested in these other works. COMPLETE POETICAL WORKS INTRODUCTION TO LYRICS OF LOWLY LIFE LYRICS OF LOWLY LIFE NATURE AND ART LYRICS OF THE HEARTHSIDE THE CONQUERORS HUMOUR AND DIALECT LYRICS OF LOVE AND LAUGHTER LYRICS OF LOVE AND SORROW LYRICS OF SUNSHINE AND SHADOW MISCELLANEOUS THE NOVELS THE UNCALLED THE LOVE OF LANDRY THE FANATICS THE SPORT OF THE GODS THE SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS FOLKS FROM DIXIE THE HEART OF HAPPY HOLLOW THE STRENGTH OF GIDEON AND OTHER STORIES IN OLD PLANTATION DAYS UNCOLLECTED SHORT STORIES THE NON-FICTION REPRESENTATIVE AMERICAN NEGROES

Fans of Jon Klassen and Oliver Jeffers will love this mischievously funny read-aloud from award-winning author/illustrator Jon Agee Mysterious noises keep waking up the Wimbledon family. "That's very odd," says Mr. Wimbledon each time, but when he returns from checking on the sounds, he's always reassuring: "It's only Stanley; he's fixing the oil tank." "It's only Stanley; he's clearing the bathtub drain." But what Stanley the dog is actually doing while his oblivious family goes back to bed is deliciously absurd: he's turning the house into a rocket ship to zoom himself and his family to another planet for an alien encounter. This is a perfect rhyming read-aloud for fans of irreverent tales like Click Clack Moo and I Want My Hat Back.