Showing results by narrator "Jesse Vilinsky" in All Categories

Sam Miller seems like an ordinary twelve-year-old boy, but the discovery of a mysterious box changes his life forever. He soon finds himself in a strange world full of adventure and magic where he must battle pirates, giant spiders, and an evil tyrant. To survive, Sam must overcome his fears, solve riddles, and most of all, be Extraordinary.

In the middle of an ashen wasteland lies the last known haven for mankind, a small, primitive town in a small oasis, where the dwindling population struggles daily to survive. Part of that survival hinges on an ancient ritual where a special few must make the perilous journey to the sacred Tower of Light. Addy Swift, a 16-year-old born with a power she can't control, is safe from that ritual for another year; that is, until the rules change.

Based on the Disney Channel series Andi Mack, these original novels extend the world and story of the hit show. Tomorrow Starts Today: Bex convinces Andi to throw a huge house party while the parents are away. It's all fun and glow sticks until mean-girl Amber shows up. Bum-mer! Rockin' Road Trip: Andi convinces Bex to take her to the Mountain Jam Music and Arts Festival, even though Bex worries it might offer more thrills than Andi can handle.

With that terrifying message, Jo and her family learned the truth: They are trapped forever on Tau Ceti e. But the planet’s current occupants - the Sorrow - are not interested in sharing. The fragile peace Jo negotiated abruptly shatters, and soon a bloody battle is raging between the Sorrow and the Pioneers. As tensions rise, the survival of everyone Jo cares for seems less likely by the second.

Eighteen-year-old Henrietta arrives in Los Angeles in 1934 with dreams of trading her boring life for stardom. She’s determined to make it as an actress, despite her family’s doubts and rumors of would-be starlets gone missing. And by the skin of her teeth, she pulls it off! A serendipitous job offer arrives and Henrietta finds herself on a whirlwind publicity tour for a major film role—with a vexingly unpleasant actor tapped by the studio to be her fake boyfriend.

A necklace. A bugle. A lion statue. What do they have to do with each other? Absolutely nothing unless you’re Tildy, Leon, or Nell. These items matter an awful lot to them. Not because of what they are, but what—and who—they represent. Anatomy of Lost Things shares the crisscrossing stories of Tildy, Leon, and Nell, of the impossible losses they’ve each recently faced, and the unexpected histories of their prized objects.

Ella knew transferring to a new school wouldn’t be easy. The first day, while defending her sister, Ella makes an enemy out of the student council president and lands in detention. Swearing revenge on him, Ella will stop at nothing to unseat him—even calling for a redo election in which she’s the only one brave enough to run against him. As a new student, Ella isn’t sure she can secure the votes until she meets unfailingly flirtatious Patrick and hears his wild idea to help her. He’ll pretend to be her boyfriend and show their classmates that she and her ideas for the school aren’t so bad.

Twelve-year-old Feliciana Fruge does not like Boston. If given the chance, she would gladly move herself and her mom from the freezing city right back to Grandma’s house in Louisiana. Feliciana dreams of escaping her stepfather’s corny jokes and bland food and the relentless bullying at school for “being poor” and having a Southern accent.

Twelve-year-old Kimmy Jones wants to excel at the unique (and secret) aspect of her family’s funeral home business. Under the watchful eye of Grandma Bev, Kimmy learns how to raise the recently deceased, request their last wish, and break the connection to send them on. But when Grandma unexpectedly dies herself, Kimmy can’t reach her spirit, and nothing seems like it’s ever going to be right again.

It’s been fifteen years since Kimmy Devine promised herself she’d never move back to Rocky Cape, the idyllic South Jersey beach town where she grew up. She doesn’t want to relive the crushing heartbreak and scandal that ravaged her world as a teen. Her younger sister Erin shares those feelings, the wounds she caused so many years ago forever binding her and Kimmy. As the sisters celebrate their homecoming at their parents’ yacht club, a handful of familiar faces arrive to dampen the revelry. The next morning, a body is found floating nearby.

What Elisa, Lucia, and Alice see–and judge–of each other from the outside is drastically different from how each girl feels inside. They attend the same classes in the same New York City middle school, but no one knows that Elisa is trying to navigate the bewildering asylum process having just arrived from El Salvador; or that Lucia, who also speaks Spanish and brims with self-confidence, is caught in the middle of her parents’ heartbreaking divorce; or that Alice, who appears to be a rebel in combat boots, carries the burden of her mother’s progressing cancer.

Rhett and his brother, Nash, have never been allowed to play board games. It's their mom's most important rule; the twins don't know why, but they know not to push her on it. When their mom suddenly disappears, they're reunited with Ace, their long-lost grandfather, who reveals that their family is descended from a board game character who escaped his game and lived in the real world. Their family now has the ability to enter the world of any game they want—but this gift also comes with a price.

Life on the road with Daddy is as good as gets for Hazmat. Together, they’ve been taking jobs and crisscrossing the US for years. Now Daddy’s talking about putting down roots—somewhere Hazmat can go to a real school and make friends. Somewhere Daddy doesn’t have to mail-order textbooks about “nature’s promise to all women.” Somewhere Mom’s ashes can rest on a mantel and not on a dashboard. While everything just keeps changing, sometimes in ways she can’t control, Hazmat isn’t ready to give up the freedom of long-distance hauling.

I escaped from the first wave of monsters with a magic sword, a kidnapped duke, and a big chip on my shoulder. It's not enough for me to run. Not when this tide threatens to sweep over the entire world. I'm the only one who can warn people of what's coming. I'm the only one who knows the truth. And I'm the only one who holds a sword able to fight against the tide of plague and monsters...or am I?

In the year 2164, the World Government has extended communication to Planet Scepter but has yet to enforce any rules which makes it the perfect spot for Cromwell. Instead of Sierra's father, he now holds her mother. In order to save her, Sierra will need to make new friends in this place of glowing leaves and a floating capital.

Seventh graders Sammy and Matty are the Putterman twins—the perfect team of two. But Matty has a secret he’s not ready to share with his family yet, and he suddenly quits baseball and stops talking to his sister. With their twin telepathy broken, Sammy doesn’t know what to do without her teammate.

I'm hiding in my father's closet, desperately picking the lock on a box containing an ancient evil...when he emerges. He doesn't seem all that evil, but neither did my friends before they turned into monsters. I'd like to think that I don't need him. But I love books and he loves battles. I'm used to drinking tea and he's used to drinking the blood of his enemies....or whatever his kind drink. In a world stricken by plague, all my friends have become terrifying monsters, and I have no other option but to trust him to keep me safe.

Jane is the only person left on the planet, minding the only business left: a gift shop. She wasn’t born on Earth, but her ancestors were; they lived there before the AI in charge of geoengineering failed and the oceans got too hot to sustain the terrestrial food web and before humans took off to colonize other planets. She’s heading to college on Jupiter in the fall of 3020, so her days on the home planet—selling “American Epoch” postcards, “History: The Poster!” and “War: The Soundtrack” to tourists from the suburbs of Europa—are numbered. 

Millie has one goal: to make a movie in tribute to her late father. At the Manhattan Movie Academy, run by Ricky O’Naire, her favorite director, she’s determined to make it happen. But before she can finish her project, the academy is shut down. Six months later, she sees a preview for the new O’Naire movie—and he’s stolen her idea. Outraged, she reunites her former film crew to steal the movie and hold it for ransom days before its high-profile premiere. Putting their training and film-nerd backgrounds to use, they pull off the heist in extravagant fashion.

From severe flooding in Louisiana to wildfires in the Pacific Northwest to melting permafrost in Alaska, catastrophic climate events are occurring more frequently—and severely—than ever. And these events are having a direct impact on the lives (and futures) of young people and their families.