Showing results by narrator "Taylor Meskimen" in All Categories

Mimi has a plan for her seventh grade year: play piano in the Young Artists competition at Carnegie Hall with her best friend, Lee; enjoy a good old Massachusetts snow day or two; and work in her community garden plot with her dad. But all that changes when her family’s Greek restaurant falls on hard times. The Laskarises’ relocation to Wilford Island, Florida, is a big key change for Mimi. Where does she fit in in this shell-covered paradise without Lee? Mimi is taken by the beauty of the island and alarmed by the plastic pollution she sees on the beaches.

Loretta and her twin brother, Waylon, are headed to middle school. Loretta has always been quick with her fists and her wits. Since Waylon is on the small side, Loretta doesn’t let anyone mess with him. But now she worries he won’t survive without her by his side. Her secret plan: Bulk him up with muscle over the summer. Little does she know that Waylon has a plan of his own. He’ll show his sister he can take care of himself.

Super spies reporting for duty! When Maddie Robinson and her team are assigned a new super secret mission to protect the world’s most famous pop star from a mysterious foe, she knows she’ll need every tool available. That’s when she discovers a secret buried deep within the Illuminati’s archives: a device that can predict the future, invented by renowned Renaissance man Leonardo da Vinci himself!

Ring in Valentine's Day - and love - with the New York Times best-selling Crayons! This charming title featuring everyone's favorite coloring crew is the perfect gift for that special someone on Valentine's Day - or any day of the year.

Jim Stenson has been flown to the bohemian island of Formentera for a monthlong gig: writing a screenplay for a famous Spanish director, loosely based on the classic French film Contempt. With his career flagging, Jim is determined to make the most of the opportunity. But the director raises the stakes, pushing Jim to draw inspiration for the script from his strained relationship with his wife Anna.

Adam, a Southern gentleman, knew the call to arms was near when President Lincoln asked for 100,000 men to stop secession and rebellion in the South. He joined the Union Cavalry - but not before he married his best, and only, friend. Abby, an Irish immigrant that settled with her family in Virginia, was as Southern as you could get.

From a distance, Claudia Castro has it all: a famous family, a trust fund, thousands of Instagram followers, and a spot in NYU’s freshman class. But look closer, and things are messier: Her parents are separating, she’s just been humiliated by a sleazy documentary, and her sister is about to have a baby with a man she barely knows. Claudia starts the school year resolved to find a path toward something positive, maybe even meaningful - and then one drunken night everything changes.

Maddie Robinson has always been overlooked: by her parents (who disappeared), by her friends (who are nonexistent), and even science fair judges (who think she has “so much...potential”). So when a mysterious man called The Recruiter invites her to join a secret society of spies, Maddie is floored. Then she discovers that these super secret super spies are the Illuminati - the world’s most covert organization rumored to control, well, everything. And one more thing: The Illuminati are kids, like Maddie!

The dark truth behind the Johnstown Flood of 1889 - one of the greatest calamities our country has ever experienced - is revealed in a beautiful, harrowing story, told in luminous verse.

In many ways, the Hamilton children are like any other kids. Eleven-year-old Mia and ten-year-old Will love playing Minecraft, eating pizza, and playing in the yard. But Mia knows that because Will is on the autism spectrum, some things are different for him. For starters, he doesn’t like things to change. Pizza has to be just so crispy, or he won’t eat it. He uses lines from movies to answer most questions. If his toast is too dark, Will could have a total meltdown. When Mom and Dad announce they’re getting a babysitter for the first time, Mia is alarmed.

Despite their differences, Daphne and Velma were able to solve the mystery of The Vanishing Girl. But there are a lot of secrets buried in the town of Crystal Cove. And the biggest case of all still remains unsolved...why did the town's original settlers all disappear? What happened to them? Velma is determined to find out... especially because her family's ancestors were among the disappeared. And now that she and Daphne have started to get a reputation for solving mysteries, everyone in town is looking to them for answers.

A husband’s search for his wife’s lover, lost amid the turbulence of the Yom Kippur War, is the heart of this dreamlike novel. Through five different perspectives, Yehoshua explores the realities and consequences of the affair and the search, laying bare deep-rooted tensions within family, between generations, between Jews and Arabs.

Welcome to Pity Party, where the social anxieties that plague us all are twisted into funny, deeply resonant, and ultimately reassuring psychological thrills. There's a story about a mood ring that tells the absolute truth. One about social media followers who literally follow you around. And one about a kid whose wish for a new, improved self is answered when a mysterious box arrives in the mail. There's also a personality test, a fortune teller, a letter from the Department of Insecurity, and an interactive Choose Your Own Catastrophe.

Archie, Betty, Jughead, Veronica, and the rest of the gang are all getting ready for the next stage of their lives after high school graduation - or, at least, they're trying to. But then, one by one, they all receive a mysterious letter from someone calling themselves the Poison Pen. Somehow, the letter writer knows some of Riverdale's deepest, darkest secrets. And the Poison Pen is threatening to reveal all unless Archie and his friends do exactly what they're told - from posting embarrassing videos of themselves to blowing up someone else's marriage.

Spring break...heartache? For coder extraordinaire Ashley, high school is all about prepping for college. Her love life? Virtually nonexistent. She's never been on a date. Never been kissed. Never been in love. When her plans veer off course, Ashley realizes she might be missing out on her high school experience. Now that spring break is finally here, Ashley vows to have fun...and, for the first time, follow her heart.

Bailey and Vanessa shared everything: laughter, secrets, and packets of Pop Rocks to ward off bad days. But that all changed the night Vanessa left Bailey’s, headed for home, and ended up swerving off a cliff nowhere near her house. Now Bailey, who thought she knew Vanessa better than anyone in the world, is left with a million unanswered questions, and the only person with answers is gone.

Port Winston, Texas - home to sun, sand, and shopping. What's not to like? Everything to 14-year-old Elizabeth Barker. Port Winston is a far cry from small-town Missouri where Elizabeth used to be somebody and family meant something a whole lot different. Taunted at school as the newbie camera geek, Elizabeth's given up trying to fit in. Between Mom's journalism assignment in Mexico, Dad's 14-hour workdays on top of weekends minding Grandpa and his shrimp boat, Elizabeth's once close-knit family life is in shreds....

Willa likes certain things to be certain ways. Her socks have to be soft...and definitely can't have irritating tags on the inside. She loves the crunch of popcorn and nachos...but is grossed out by the crunch of a baby carrot. And slimy foods? Those are the worst. Willa can manage all these things - but there are some things she can't deal with, like her father's big news. He's been keeping a big secret from her...that he's been dating the mom of Willa's best friend Ruby.

SoHo, 1981. Twelve-year-old Olympia is an artist - and in her neighborhood, that's normal. Her dad and his business partner Apollo bring antique paintings back to life, while her mother makes intricate sculptures in a corner of their loft, leaving Ollie to roam the streets of New York with her best friends Richard and Alex, drawing everything that catches her eye. Then everything falls apart. Ollie's dad disappears in the middle of the night, leaving her only a cryptic note and instructions to destroy it. Her mom has gone to bed, and she's not getting up.

Being recruited by the CIA to join a top-secret intelligence program should be the opportunity of a lifetime. For Issa, it's a shot at creating a new and better life for herself and her siblings. For clever con artist Harper, it's a chance to bury the secrets of her troubled past and make sure those secrets stay buried. But for Owen - honor student, star quarterback, and computer-hacking genius - it sounds like a trap. He's right. They've all been tricked by a multibillion-dollar tech company into creating the ultimate computer virus.