Showing results by narrator "Casey Holloway" in All Categories

When seven-year-old Bethany meets her six-year-old cousin Reana Mae, it's the beginning of a kinship of misfits that saves both from a bone-deep loneliness. Every summer, Bethany and her family leave Indianapolis for West Virginia's Coal River Valley. For Bethany's mother, the trips are a reminder of the coalmines and grinding poverty of her childhood, of a place she'd hoped to escape. But her loving relatives, and Bethany's friendship with Reana Mae, keep them coming back.

The stories in Paper Heart investigate contemporary romance from a wide range of angles, each centering around the timeless topics of love and heartbreak. Stories like "Sunday Morning at Jonseys' Diner" explore both familial and romantic love while stories like "Summer Fling" and "The Idea of the Mask" examine desire in the face of an inevitable end.

Women in 22nd-century sovereign America are expected to be seen and not heard. Caitriona Hayden did not get that memo. As she struggles to make her way in the world after her powerful uncle dies, being "seen" is the least of Cait's problems.

Twelve-year-old Mysti Murphy wishes she were a character in a book. If her life were fictional, she'd magically know how to deal with the fact that her best friend, Anibal Gomez, has abandoned her in favor of being a "hipster." She'd be able to take care of everyone when her dad has to spend...

Fleeing a turbulent Guatemala with her missionary parents, Penny returns to America and is forced to deal with a fresh kind of trauma: summer Bible camp for Mennonite teens. Along with her outspoken and rebellious friend, Gina, Penny struggles to deal with her past, the camp's fierce regulations, and the sexual energy that electrifies the air between the campers, counselors, and even visitors. This coming-of-age story offers an intimate look into a young girl’s attempt to find her place and start figuring out which rules are worth breaking.

They thought they had escaped. They were wrong. After fleeing the Branch with Sam, Cas, and Nick, Anna is learning how to survive in hiding, following Sam's rules: Don't draw attention to yourself. Always carry a weapon. Know your surroundings. Watch your back. When memories from Anna's old life...

Charlie, otherwise known as Queen Charlaina of Ludania, has become comfortable as a leader and a ruler. She’s done admirable work to restore Ludania’s broken communications systems with other Queendoms, and she’s mastered the art of ignoring Sabara, the evil former queen whose Essence is alive within Charlie. Or so she thinks. When the negotiation of a peace agreement with the Queendom of Astonia goes awry, Charlie receives a brutal message that threatens Ludania, and it seems her only option is to sacrifice herself in exchange for Ludanian freedom.

At the luminous conclusion of The Pledge, Charlaina defeated the tyrant Sabara and took her place as Queen of Ludania. But Charlie knows that Sabara has not disappeared: The evil queen’s Essence is fused to Charlie’s psyche, ready to arise at the first sign of weakness.

A class assignment - to blog - gets Ellie’s horse Dream noticed. Ellie and her family believed that the Pinto was a “runaway” horse without a home. But now the owners want him back. How will Ellie deal with losing her beloved backyard horse?

Feisty fourth-grader Ellie feels the need to prove to the world that her backyard horse (Dream) is worthy of attention. Ellie arranges a race to show off her dream. But her world is shaken when her horse gets sick and she is forced to realize that she could very well lose her Dream.

Declan O'Connell has a history with Pelicia Cobb, but not the kind that's going to help him win her back. It was bad enough that he broke her heart as a gruff ex-commando. Now he's got another side to his personality, a furry, fierce side that goes a little wild under the light of the moon....

Fourth-grader Ellie James has a great imagination. She spends a lot of time daydreaming of owning a black stallion show horse and winning trophies in the horse show. But when the answer to all her dreams and prayers gallops into her life, will Ellie be able to recognize it? Join Ellie and her quirky family in their exciting, horse-loving adventures.

Fourth-grader Ellie James and her horse, Dream, are best friends forever. But when her human best friend, Colt, starts acting strange, Ellie determines to fix his problem. She tries to find the perfect horse for Colt. But how? Ellie's brother is struggling to stay on his baseball team, her father is fighting to hold onto his job at the Jingle Bells Ad Agency, and her mother is volunteering at the cat farm and the worm ranch…so, Ellie is on her own. Or is she…? Join Ellie and Colt in their exciting, horse-loving adventures.

Armed with new weapons and a newfound confidence, Nearra and her friends plan to confront the wizard Maddoc. But before they can reach Cairngorn Keep, a skeletal griffin kidnaps Nearra and delivers her directly into the wizard's hands. As Maddoc prepares the final spell to unleash the Evergence, Davyn and the others struggle to rescue Nearra. But in the confines of Maddoc's keep, appearances deceive. Friends become enemies. Dark dreams become reality. And naive Nearra may not be as innocent as she seems.

In the 21st century, young girls recieve sex education training via time travel into the minds and bodies of women who lived in previous centuries. Youngsters relive great moments in history, and adults safely experience real-life segments of the past. But nobody realizes that this great achievemant may also have its dangerous side, until Angie Patterson finds herself trapped in the body of Elizabeth Tudor. In trying to escape, she discovers a secret which could jeopardize the past, present, and future of her world.

Mel, a faith-filled Pentecostal, has the chance to escape Slow Rapids, Indiana, by attending academic summer camp. The only catch? She has to read forbidden tomes like The Origin of Species. So she forges the permission slip, promising God she’ll bring him a lost soul in exchange. Mel conscientiously uses her Biblical expertise to argue Darwin’s theories, but meanwhile begins to realize that her parents, her pastor, and her church aren’t what she thought.

For most girls, sleepaway camp is great fun. But for Amy Becker, it's a nightmare. Amy, whose home life is in turmoil, is sent to Camp Takawanda for Girls for the first time as a teenager. Although Amy swears she hates her German-immigrant mother, who is unduly harsh with Amy's autistic younger brother, Amy is less than thrilled about going to camp. At Takawanda she is subjected to a humiliating "initiation" and relentless bullying by the ringleader of the senior campers.

Simone never saw herself as the "cute girl" - she was always the chunky smartmouth. But after a year of avoiding her wicked almost-stepmonster through Zumba class, Simone's now sporting a whole new retro style. And people keep acting oddly. One thing: her stepmonster seems to be trying to accidentally kill her, or at least fatten her back up. And so when Simone's brother offers to let her move in with him and his six roommates for the summer, Simone jumps at the chance for some normalcy.

In Tempest Rising, Tempest chose to return to the sea, following in her mother's footsteps and forging a relationship with the selkie Kona. Now many months have gone by, and she yearns to see her family again. Life under the ocean is full of rigorous training to eventually take over the throne, which leads to Tempest's powers growing and manifesting in new ways. When Tiamat, Tempest's power-hungry nemesis, attacks Tempest's brother Moku on land, she returns to his side, which also brings her back to her old flame, Mark.

Read the book that inspired the Nickelodeon TV show! Perfect for fans of Middle School and Awkward. Super-stylish and uber-harsh, Kacey Simon is the social dictator of Marquette Middle School. But when an eye infection and a visit to the dentist leave her with giant glasses, a mouth full of...