Showing results by publisher "Recorded Books" in Growing Up & Facts of Life

Things Mischa "Ish" Love will miss when she goes to Mars: lying on the living room floor watching TV, ice cream, her parrot Buzz Aldrin. Things Ish Love will not miss when she goes to Mars: mosquitoes, heat waves, missing her former best friend Tig. Ish is convinced that she'll be one of the first settlers on Mars. She's applied to - and been rejected from - the Mars Now project 47 times, but the mission won't leave for 10 years, and Ish hasn't given up hope. When Ish collapses on the first day of seventh grade, she gets a diagnosis that threatens all her future plans.

With feudal wars raging through the Japanese countryside, it is no place for children, particularly homeless orphans like six-year-old Saru, who grow up fast and hard in the cold city. When begging does not fill his stomach, stealing and cunning do the trick. The only warmth Saru knows is from a kindly priest who allows him to sleep under his little Shinto shrine in the winter, and Neko, his adopted kitten. Living day-by-day, Saru gives little thought to the future or the course his life might take. But Saru’s fortunes change overnight....

Fig, a sixth grader, wants more than anything to see the world as her father does. The once-renowned pianist, who hasn't composed a song in years and has unpredictable good and bad days, is something of a mystery to Fig. Though she's a science and math nerd, she tries taking an art class just to be closer to him, to experience life the way an artist does. But then Fig's dad shows up at school, disoriented and desperately searching for Fig. Not only has the class not brought Fig closer to understanding him, it has brought social services to their door.

For Annie's tenth birthday, her papa gives her a pad of paper, some colored pencils, and the Klimas family secret. It’s called the nuodeema burna, or eater of sins. Every time Annie does something wrong, she writes it down and sticks the paper in a hidden hole in the floor of their house. But Annie is quick to discover that her inheritance has a dark side.

When Milo and Roxie stumble across two people playing a fascinating game they've never seen before, they become determined to learn the ancient game of Go. Between late-night library adventures and creating a Go club at their summer camp, Milo and Roxie form an unexpected friendship, realizing they have a lot more to learn from each other than just the game of Go. That is, if Milo can face his fears and tell his mom how he really feels about chess so he can stop living a lie.

To Lexi, a new school year means back to baking with her BFFs in the cupcake club. But the club president, Kylie, is mixing things up by inviting new members. And Lexi is in for a not-so-sweet surprise when she is cast in the school's production of Romeo and Juliet. If only she could be as confident onstage as she is in the kitchen. The icing on the cake: her secret crush is playing Romeo.

Kylie and her cupcaking friends are finally graduating from Blakely Elementary! The other girls of Peace, Love, and Cupcakes are feeling sentimental, but Kylie's all about looking toward the future. After all, PLC will continue on in middle school. But when Principal Fontina asks Kylie to create a PLC junior club to live on at Blakely after graduation, can Kylie find enough members to continue on the club? And will the walk down memory lane be more sweet than bitter?

When Elizabeth Springer goes missing just before the Winterton's big Thanksgiving celebration--their first reunion since the spelling bee--Hope knows it's time to come clean. Her secret may be the only thing that can save Ms. Springer. But none of the Winterton clan want to hear it. Worse, they accuse Hope of making up the whole thing as an attention-grab. Poised to give up on her newfound family, Hope gets a cryptic coded letter with instructions on how to find James Winterton--her long-estranged grandfather.

Jenna's stepdad Leo is taking his family on a Caribbean cruise. Unfortunately, Jenna's younger siblings get the chicken pox, leaving Leo with four extra tickets. Enter Peace, Love, and Cupcakes! Leo says Jenna's four besties can come—in exchange for baking twelve thousand cupcakes for his company's pirate-themed event. Shiver me timbers, that's a lot of icing! Now veterans in the cupcake-baking game, the PLC takes on the challenge.

New cupcake club member Delaney is shocked to find out her mom is expecting twins! When her parents first tell her, the practical joker thinks they must be pulling her leg. For 10 years she's had her parents—and her room—all to herself. She LIKED being an only child. But now she's going to be a big sis.

Meredith's favorite hobby is picking on Lexi. So when the PLC gets a cupcake order from the New England Shooting Starz—the beauty pageant Meredith is competing in—the girls have a genius idea: enter Lexi into the competition so she can show Meredith once and for all that she's no better than anyone else. Problem is, PLC has to make Lexi a pageant queen—and 1,000 cupcakes—all in a matter of weeks!

Sadie's basketball coach falls on tough times. But the girls know that the power of friendship and cupcakes might be just what Coach Walsh needs! But when Coach Walsh has to take a leave of absence from school, Sadie's suddenly at a loss. What will she do without coach's spot-on advice and uplifting encouragement?

When Delaney discovers there's been a cut to the art budget, she decides it's time to make a change! The race for class president is quickly approaching, and Delaney's going to run. Her besties in Peace, Love, and Cupcakes are ready to help however they can. But when Delaney's demands start infringing on PLC's ability to get out their orders—and the girls' friendships—things start to get out of hand. The girls aren't sure Delaney really knows what it takes to become president…or whether she's running for the right reasons.

The fifth graders at Blakely Elementary are having their very first dance! The girls of Peace, Love, and Cupcakes are all thrilled…except for Kylie, who confides in Lexi that she wishes she had a special someone to go with. Before long, notes and gift show up in Kylie's locker from a "secret admirer" who seems to know her perfectly!

As the founder and president of Peace, Love, and Cupcakes, Kylie's kept the club going through all kinds of sticky situations. But when PLC's advisor surprises the group with an impromptu trip to London, the rest of the group jumps on board—without even asking Kylie. All of a sudden, Kylie's noticing the club doesn't need their president nearly as much as they used to. To top it off, the girls get an order for two thousand cupcakes from Lady Wakefield of Wilshire herself—to be presented in the shape of the London Bridge! Talk about a royal challenge...

In the land of Tsaretsvo, civil war has divided the human Tsardom from the Republic of Birds. Magic is outlawed, and young witches are sent to a mysterious boarding school from which no one returns. Olga and her family live a life of dull privilege in the capital until her father displeases the tyrannical tsarina. The family is sent off into exile at the Imperial Center for Avian Observation, an isolated shack near the Republic of Birds.

Ten-year-old business phenom Zaria Carter returns to serve us with another glittered platter full of boss magic! A little unfriendly competition by the name of Kionna "KiKi" Dyers is now glossing the halls of A.J. Stanly Elementary - but she's not alone. With her fierce looks, mega-influencer vibes, and free samples of Magic Lemonade from her own lip gloss line, the Gloss Goddess is coming for Zaria's friends and her number one spot. But once Zaria's grades start to slip and iZight products go missing, KiKi becomes the least of Zaria's troubles.

It’s Dat’s first day of school in a new country! Dat and his Mah made a long journey to get here, and Dat doesn’t know the language. To Dat, everything everybody says - from the school bus driver to his new classmates - sounds like gibberish. How is Dat going to make new friends if they can’t understand each other? Luckily there’s a friendly girl in Dat’s class who knows that there are other ways to communicate, besides just talking. Could she help make sense of the gibberish?

A long-ago “accident”. An isolated girl named Aviva. A community that wants to help but doesn’t know how. And a ghostly dybbuk that no one but Aviva can see, causing mayhem and mischief that everyone blames on her.

Ever since the day when everything changed, Cal Scott’s answer has been to run - run from her mother, who’s fighting cancer, run from her father, whom she can’t forgive, and run from those classmates who never seemed to “get” her. The only thing Cal runs toward is nearby Mount Meteorite, named for the extraterrestrial object some claim crashed there 50 years ago. Cal spends her afternoons plotting to summit the mountain so she can find the magic she believes will make possible the impossible: to heal her mother. But no one has successfully reached its peak.