Showing results by publisher "Simon & Schuster Audio" in Chapter Books & Readers

Summer is over, and Dad begins his important position at an Indiana hospital. Like it or not, Bloomington is the Baxter Family’s new home. As school starts, everyone finds reasons to be excited about the move. Everyone, that is, except Ashley. Ashley desperately misses the home and friends she left behind. As she realizes her siblings have their struggles, too, she can’t help but wonder if unlikely friends can be the best friends of all? And could time and love from her family be enough to make a house feel like home?

When Kari Baxter is assigned an essay about what she wants to be when she grows up, her mind goes blank. She doesn’t want to grow up; she wants everything to stay just like it is. But Kari comes to realize that while making time stand still isn’t possible, she can enjoy every moment with her best family ever. Meanwhile, Ashley Baxter feels the same way. She is worried her siblings are growing up too fast. When she wins the role of Wendy in her school performance of Peter Pan, Ashley gets an idea. Maybe she and her siblings can pledge to never grow up at all!

Brooke is the perfect older sister. For that reason, Kari and Ashley work hard to make their parents just as proud of them as they are of Brooke. Each girl has her own talents. Brooke is an excellent student. Kari is a great soccer player. Ashley, a talented artist. And they are always there for each other. But when the news comes that Dr. Baxter is moving the family from Ann Arbor to Bloomington, Indiana, and the Baxters need to leave the only home and friends they’ve ever known, no one is happy.

Eleven-year-old Nicholas Vargas thinks his sucky life has been turned upside down. His developer father has remarried and moved his new wife and daughter into his home in the soon-to-be-completed Melgrove Hollow. So, not only has Nick lost his bedroom to his wacko new step-sister, Laurie (who lugs around this huge book about faeries and wishes her name was Lauranathana...C'mon! How lame is that?!), but his father actually wants him to spend time with her.

He really just likes to liven things up at school -- and he's always had plenty of great ideas. When Nick learns some interesting information about how words are created, suddenly he's got the inspiration for his best plan ever: the frindle. Who says a pen has to be called a pen? Why not call it a frindle? Things begin innocently enough as Nick gets his friends to use the new word. Then other people in town start saying frindle. Soon the school is in an uproar, and Nick has become a local hero.

Things are changing in Bloomington for the Baxters. When Ashley’s teacher, Mr. Garrett, takes a month off work for the birth of his baby, the intimidating Ms. Stritch takes his place. Ashley tries but can’t seem to crack the new teacher’s tough exterior. Meanwhile, Brooke struggles when a popular girl excludes her at lunch, Erin adjusts to getting glasses, and when Kari is given a dance solo for the upcoming recital, she takes her success a little too seriously. When Principal Bond announces a new Character Awards initiative, competition breaks out between siblings and friends.

Mia has made a name for herself at her school as an entrepreneur after launching not one, but two, successful businesses. Now, her classmates need her help with their own ventures, and Mia must put her problem-solving skills to the test. Whether she’s helping them get their business off the ground, work with customers, or invent new problem-solving products, Mia is sure to teach them all something new.

Griffith, Graham, and Ruby's father passed away in the war. And now they must join their mother and their father's wartime traveling baseball team, The Travelin' Nine, on a a tour of America to raise money. No one will tell the kids why the team needs money so badly. Their only clue is a baseball with a hole the size of an acorn in it that their Uncle Owen gave to them the night of their father's funeral. When all three kids hold the ball, strange things begin to happen.

As the Travelin' Nine head to Chicago, the team is filled with hope and optimism. After a disappointing loss in Cincinnati at the start of their baseball tour, the heroes of the Spanish-American War bounced back in Louisville. Doc and Woody came through with timely fielding, Crazy Feet and Tales smacked clutch hits, and champion horses provided that extra kick, helping the barnstormers to their come-from-behind victory.

Shai Williams - third-grader and superstar in the making - loves to act, sing, and dance. So when her teacher, Ms. Englert, signs their class up for a major dance competition, Shai's fancy moves are put to the test. Paired up with her best friend, Emmie, and classmate Rio, Shai plans to settle her competition jitters by just having fun. That is until her rival, Gabby Supreme, challenges her to a bet....

Shai Williams was born to be a star (or a veterinarian - and maybe a dentist). She attends a special elementary school for the performing arts, and her grandma Rosa and aunt Mac-N-Cheese are both actresses. So Shai is shocked when she doesn't get the lead role in the third grade musical. Instead the part goes to the new girl, Gabby Supreme, who thinks she is better than everyone else. To add insult to injury, Ms. Gremillion has now asked Shai to help Gabby with the role.

When Ellie accidentally overhears that her family deli is most likely going to close, she does the only thing she can think of. She makes a wish on matzo ball soup. Eleven-year-old Ellie is feisty, determined, and a little bit anxious. She considers Lukshen Deli part of the family—after all, it’s been around for four generations, ever since her great-grandmother opened it.