So begins the story of two orphaned sisters at Mrs. Monday’s Boarding School. But nothing is heavenly for Nancy and Pamela (aka Plum): their parents died in a tragic accident years ago, they’re constantly punished by the cruel Mrs. Monday, and they’re all alone for the holidays.

Luckily, Nancy and Plum have each other, and though their prospects may be bleak, they’re determined to change their lot for the better. If their plan works, the spirited sisters will never spend Christmas at the cold, dark boarding school again. But what will they find on the other side of Mrs. Monday’s gate?

Adventure, warmth, unforgettable characters, and unexpected kindness abound in this classic story by Betty MacDonald, which was originally published in 1952. With illustrations by the acclaimed Mary GrandPré and an introduction by Jeanne Birdsall, National Book Award–winning author of The Penderwicks, this edition introduces the spunky, beloved heroines to a new generation of fans.

Brad is a paper boy who wants to be a rock star, so when he discovers the band Black Day playing in old Professor Hammer’s garage, he really wants to join. The band’s monsters have a different idea and send him away, ”No humans!”

Brad sets out to change their minds, but the monsters have bigger problems than finding a bass player.

Halloween may never be the same again.

From the Hardcover edition.

This special edition of “Gingerboy’s Search for Christmas”  has been prepared for the Salvation Army Corps Kroc Community Centers throughout the country.  In addition to the Salvation Army logo page, it also has a page acknowledging Ray and Joan Kroc.

Easter is coming, and Sam loves Easter! But this year, he is upset about a lie he told his parents. Even though he apologized and they forgave him, Sam can’t shake the feeling that he is a bad kid for what he did. Meanwhile, his parents help him make a special Easter craft called a Sparkle Egg. His mom tells him to write anything he feels sorry about or ashamed of on a piece of paper and put it inside his Sparkle Egg.

On Easter morning, when he opens his Sparkle Egg expecting a surprise, Sam finds that it is empty! His parents explain that because Jesus died and rose again, we are forgiven. Like the tomb that first Easter Day, Sam’s egg is empty — and Sam’s wrongdoing is completely forgiven. Once he accepts this forgiveness fully, Sam realizes a truth: we can sparkle and shine with God’s light when we let God’s gift of grace into our hearts.

This touching story will strike a deep chord with readers of all ages, and the Sparkle Egg tradition will help readers and their families grasp the totality of God’s perfect grace. Ages 4-8.

Lights! Camera! ACTION!

Lulu in LA LA Land

A screenplay by Lulu Harrison

Scene 1:

ZOOM IN on Hollywood mega stars LINC and FIONA HARRISON singing happy birthday to their daughter LULU. Lulu blows out the candles, and they all gather for a group hug—

CUT!

If only real life were like the movies. Instead, Lulu Harrison’s massively important eleventh birthday is just three weeks away—and her parents still haven’t RSVPed!

Lulu’s not like the rest of her glamorous Hollywood family. She likes tamales and they like tofu. She likes gardening and they like grooming. But all she wants for her birthday is for her whole family to be there. Together. So this year she’s planning a super fabulous SPA-tacular party. But what if trying to fit in leaves Lulu feeling even more like she was cast in the wrong family?

Christmas is eagerly awaited by Lulu, a young girl living in a small Wisconsin town during the Great Depression. Anticipation is transformed into anxiety when Daddy loses his job, doubts about Santa flicker, and that Shirley Temple doll seems further away than ever. Mama reveals her own brutal Christmas as an orphan, adding new worries. But it’s Lulu’s deep faith and vibrant hope that keeps her looking forward to each new day and the glorious gift of Christmas. In her touching memoir, Ludmilla Bollow, an award-winning playwright and novelist, recounts the year before her family’s toughest Christmas. There’s a haunting encounter with freaks at a circus sideshow, the heartbreaking loss of the town’s recluse who was committed to finding true love, a disastrous Thanksgiving at Grandma’s, and, of course, the long-awaited Christmas! Lulu’s spirit of love and joy radiates throughout this emotional recall of family life during hard times.

(Ludmilla Bollow)

One lousy miracle.  Is that too much to ask?

Evidently so for Joel, as he tries to survive Hannukah, 1971 in the suburbs of the suburbs of Los Angeles (or, as he calls it, “The Land of Shriveled Dreams”). That’s no small task when you’re a “seriously funny-looking” twelve-year-old magician who dreams of being his own superhero: Normalman.  And Joel’s a long way from that as the only Jew at Bixby School, where his attempts to make himself disappear fail spectacularly.  Home is no better, with a family that’s not just mortifyingly embarrassing but flat-out broke.

That’s why Joel’s betting everything on these eight nights, to see whether it’s worth believing in God or miracles or anything at all.  Armed with his favorite jokes, some choice Yiddish words, and a suitcase full of magic tricks, he’s scrambling to come to terms with the world he lives in—from hospitals to Houdini to the Holocaust—before the last of the candles burns out.

No wonder his head is spinning: He’s got dreidels on the brain. And little does he know that what’s actually about to happen to him and his family this Hanukkah will be worse than he’d feared . . . And better than he could have imagined.

From the Hardcover edition.

WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD Small parts. Not for children under 3 years.

That’s what’s in store this holiday season for Holly Daniels. Two days before Christmas, she takes a special trip to the mall to see Santa Claus. He sends her to the library on a quest to find a book that could make her dreams come true.

Since moving to Montana, Holly hasn’t made any new friends. And, being an only child can be very lonely. All that could change when Holly meets Dylan, the princess of the Winter Court in the Fairy Realm.

Christmas fun and Fairy enchantment is on its way in,
Have a Fairy Christmas!

Twelve-year-old Sadie loves helping her mom with her wedding planning business, and with Sadie’s mad organizational skills, she’s a natural! That’s why it’s so devastating when her mother “fires” her after a Little Mermaid–themed wedding goes awry.

Enter Sadie’s best friends: sporty Vi, ace student Lauren, and boy-crazy Becca. The girls decide that in order to get Sadie’s mom to reconsider, they have to make her see how amazing Sadie is at party planning. Except no one’s gonna hire a twelve-year-old to plan a wedding. A birthday party, though? Definite possibility.

Before long, RSVP—your one-stop shop for the most creative parties in town—is born. Of course, Sadie can’t wait to prove herself to her mom, but the other girls also have their reasons for enlisting: Vi has her eye on the perfect gift for her hardworking dad, and Becca’s all aflush at the thought of connecting with Ryan, the new Irish cutie in town. And though Lauren thinks she’s too busy with summer studies to “officially” join, she’s willing to help out in any way she can.

But in this particular party-planning business, nothing goes according to plan! Sadie’s mom is a perpetual no-show, Vi’s archrival is dead set on ruining her summer, Becca can’t seem to get Ryan to glance in her direction, and Lauren keeps choosing studying over her friends. Is the girls’ friendship strong enough to survive a business? Or does RSVP spell the end of these BFFs?

All she wants is to fit in at her new school and join the art class. When Viki and her family move to a new house in Draxon Hollow, she makes both a new friend and enemy.

During a Halloween celebration, Viki is humiliated in front of all of Draxon Hollow Elementary by a mean girl at her school. With the guidance of her ghostly grandfather, whom she recently discovered, she devises a plan to teach the bully a lesson.

Will she take the darker road and seek revenge?

What she does next may be surprising for a Monster Girl.

Book 2 NOW Available!

“Monster Girl: Ghost in the Attic” available here – http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TZAYU0M/

Notchmas is the most important holiday in the world of Minecraft.

But greedy, selfish villager Ebenezer Scrooge could care less. That is, until he is visited by strange and terrifying creatures who teach him the true meaning of Notchmas.

Inspired by the beloved classic, A Christmas Carol, this book tells Minecraft fans the story of a bitter old miser villager named Ebenezer Scrooge and his transformation into a gentler, kindlier man after visitations by the spirit of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the Hostile Mobs of Notchmas Past, Present and Yet to Come.