Showing results by narrator "Tara Sands" in All Categories

Dorothy awakens one morning to discover that Princess Ozma has disappeared, along with several magic items belonging to Glinda and the wizard. A search party comprising Dorothy, the wizard, Betsy Bobbin, Trot, and Button-Bright is formed, and the friends set off for the land of the Winkies. But who is behind the mysterious disappearances?

The most important tradition in tiny St. Polonius is the annual Tasting of the Sacred Bear Liver. Each citizen over 12 must eat one bite of liver to prevent the recurrence of the Great Hibernation, when the town founders fell asleep for months. This year is Jean Huddy's first time to taste the liver. It doesn't go well. A few hours later, all the adults fall into a sleep from which they cannot be woken, and the kids are left to run things. At first, they have a blast. But then the town bullies take over the mayor's office and the police force....

It's the summer of '83 on Trowbridge Road, and June Bug Jordan is hungry. Months after her father's death from complications from AIDS, her mother has stopped cooking and refuses to leave the house, instead locking herself away to scour at the germs she believes are everywhere. June Bug threatens this precarious existence by going out into the neighborhood, gradually befriending Ziggy, an imaginative boy who is living with his Nana Jean after experiencing troubles of his own.

Sutton is having robot problems. Her mini-bot is supposed to be able to get through a maze in under a minute, but she must have gotten something wrong in the coding. This is frustrating for a science-minded girl like Sutton - almost as frustrating as the fact that her mother probably won't be home in time for Sutton's 10th birthday. Luis spends his days writing thrilling stories about brave kids, but there's only so much inspiration you can find when you're stuck inside all day.

At the start of 2020, in what felt already like an age of disorder, our world faced one of the gravest global challenges in a century. Yet in the midst of this crisis, billions of human beings responded with love. Tim Shriver saw an opportunity for those hungry for community to answer a call to heal, a call to hope, a call to unite. He asked monks and nuns, artists and activists, nurses and doctors, ex-presidents and ex-cons to come together to share messages of inspiration, transformation, and love. This book captures the spirit of that 24-hour event.

Gwendolyn longs for a pet. What kind? Any kind! How many legs? Two, four, 10 - she's not picky! But her parents have other ideas, and instead they give her...a box of dirt. "It smells of swamp," Gwendolyn says - but her parents say it smells of possibilities. And once Gwendolyn gets savvy about seeds and soil, sun and shade, she finds they are right.

Jen is just getting used to her life on Peapod Farm with her new stepsisters, Andy and Reese. But when the school year starts, there are even more changes in store for her. Jen has to navigate new friends and new challenges--but at least she'll have Andy with her, right? As she starts the sixth grade, she finds that her stepsister seems way more interested in crushes and boys than hanging out with her, while Jen wants to know when the world decided boys and girls couldn't be "just friends" anymore. 

It's time for school, but Ms. Bronte has one small problem...she really loves eating books. (Did I mention she's also a dinosaur?) Math books, cookbooks, old books, new books - she just can't help herself. Will Ms. Bronte ever be able to curb her page-turning appetite, or will she continue chomping her way through a tasty book buffet? 

Horace is flying high after solving the pet-tectives' first mystery. But Bunwinkle just hasn’t been herself - she’s scared all the time and is too embarrassed to tell anyone. Before they can work on getting Bunwinkle’s confidence back, a new case lands in their laps - well, actually their trash cans - when Shoo the raccoon asks for help. The neighborhood humans think he’s behind a series of garbage upheavals and home break-ins - but he swears he’s innocent. Just because people call him a trash bandit doesn’t mean he is one.

Shy, 11-year-old Lily made her dad an important promise before he passed away - that she would “Strive for Five” and speak her mind at least five times. But speaking up one time, let alone five, is easier said than done. It’ll be even harder now that Lily must attend public school for the first time. Fortunately, she meets curling-obsessed Hobart and quiet Dunya at the beginning of sixth grade. Their kindness gives Lily hope that life without Dad might just be bearable. But then Lily and her friends are bullied by Ryan and his mean clique....

Horace Homer Higgins III despises dirt. And the outdoors. And ducks. But when his person, Eleanor, moves to a farm called the Homestead, the anxious Boston Terrier is forced to adapt. As if that isn’t enough to strain his nerves, Ellie adopts a perpetually cheerful potbellied pig named Bunwinkle to be his baby sister. Bunwinkle is delighted to be on the farm despite the stuffy demeanor of her new canine brother. She’s sure she’ll crack his shell eventually—no one can resist her cuteness for long—especially once they bond over watching a TV pet-tective show.

What is a hero? Paige Nolan knows. Edward Raynes, the young man who exposed America's unconstitutional spying techniques, is a hero, even if half the dum-dums in the country think he's a traitor. Or Paige's parents, journalists who were captured by terrorists while telling stories of the endangered and oppressed. They were heroes, too. Were...or are - no one has ever told Paige if they're still alive or dead.

Lemonade Liberty Witt's mama always told her: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. But Lem can't possibly make lemonade out of her new life in Willow Creek, California - the Bigfoot Capital of the World - where she's forced to live with a grandfather she's never met after her mother passes away. Then she meets 11-year-old Tobin Sky, the CEO of Bigfoot Detectives Inc., who is the sole Bigfoot investigator for their small town.

Much like her hit TV show, I Love Lucy, Americans in the 1950s fell in love with Lucy. Born in New York in 1911, Lucille Ball was always a natural performer. She danced in the chorus of Broadway shows and acted in small parts in Hollywood movies. But Ball's true gift was comedy. She found a way to showcase her gifts in 1951 when CBS gave her the chance to star in a sitcom.

Nathanial Thatcher believed he'd drawn the short straw in life and blamed his weak immune system for keeping him locked up in his sanitized bedroom. It took his 12th birthday wish to cure him and finally pull the trick off his eyes revealing the true culprits of his situation, and perhaps yours, the sprites!

Once upon a time, Cat Starr lived with her astronaut mom in Houston. But when her mother gets sent on a long-term mission, Cat has to move to a faraway land - her dad's house, halfway across the country - and share a room with her real-life evil stepsister, Olivia. Just when Cat can't take it anymore, Great Aunt Abyssinia comes to the rescue. And things go from bad to cursed. The next morning, Cat opens her mouth and a toad hops out! What's more, when Olivia speaks, diamonds and flowers appear. How unfair is that?

Liza and Cliff are getting married, and it's set to be a grand affair. Happily, weddings bring family together, so Cliff's brother, Byron Forrester, makes the trip for the big event. He's visited the town of Tyler once before, and despite his uneasy relationship with Cliff, he's glad for the opportunity to return. Nora Gates, independent-minded owner of Tyler's department store, fancies herself a spinster. One brief, passionate affair sated her curiosity. But Byron's arrival shatters her tranquility.

Gertie Reece Foy is 100 percent not-from-concentrate awesome. She has a daddy who works on an oil rig, a great-aunt who always finds the lowest prices at the Piggly Wiggly, and two loyal best friends. So when her absent mother decides to move away from their small town, Gertie sets out on her greatest mission yet: becoming the best fifth grader in the universe to show her mother exactly what she'll be leaving behind.

Meet Abbie Wu. Abbie is in crisis - and not just because she's starting middle school or because she's stuck in a family that doesn't quite get her or because everyone seems to have a Thing except her. Abbie Wu is always in crisis.

Mackenzie "Mac" Lowell is living a dream come true on tour with her favorite boy band. Spending time on the road with Perfect Storm hasn't been what Mac expected, though—it's even BETTER! But with screaming fans and big-time recording sessions come haters and copycats, like Thunder and Lightning, a new band on the label whose first single sounds suspiciously like the song Perfect Storm's guitarist wrote for Mac.