Showing results by narrator "Ellen Grafton" in All Categories

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “the Duff,” she throws her Coke in his face. But things aren’t so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it.

Here are 33 Stories of first love, finding your passion and self-esteem for younger teens. Topics include "Finding Your Passion", "In Like, In Love, and Just Not Into You", and "Being Happy with Yourself".

Octavia has big questions on her mind: Why do bad things happen, like Hurricane Katrina and 9/11? What is the meaning of life? Is there a God? Octavia’s father is convinced that art and Henry David Thoreau hold the key to life. Her mother, Ray, though, has always been seeking greater meaning - up until now. Octavia’s problem is not only that her parents have different answers to the big questions but that their answers are threatening to tear her family apart.

Here are 35 stories of life’s ups and downs, and family, mentors and doing what’s right for younger teens. Topics include "Tough Times", "That's My Family", "The People Who Are There for Us" and "Doing What's Right".

It's a question as old as time itself: which is better, the zombie or the unicorn? In this anthology, edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier (unicorn and zombie, respectively), strong arguments are made for both sides in the form of short stories. Half of the stories portray the strengths - for good and evil - of unicorns and half show the good (and really, really bad-ass) side of zombies.

School's out! And so is an energetic Amish girl with trouble following close on her barefooted heels! When nine-year-old Rachel Yoder isn't bringing frogs to church or taking wild buggy rides, she's setting fireflies free and trying out new skateboads in all the wrong places. Will Rachel's friends and family survive the mischief she brings into their lives - and will Rachel learn any life lessons along the way?

The fantastic land of Amara is recovering from years of war as well as from the spiritual apathy corroding the Amarans' hearts. With Kale and her father serving as dragon keepers for Paladin, the dragon populace has exploded. It's a peaceful, exciting time of rebuilding. And yet, an insidious, unseen evil lurks just beneath the surface of the idyllic countryside.

Before vowing his allegiance to Wulder as a knight, Bardon heads to the mountains for solitude. His life is suddenly complicated by a woman and her granddaughter, N'Rae, on a mission to rescue the woman's son trapped in a chamber of sleep. Bardon learns that more of Paladin's knights are imprisoned - and suspects one of them is Dragon Keeper Kale's missing father.

Three years of strife have passed since Kale and Bardon freed Paladin's knights. Now, fiery dragons scorch their beautiful countryside as an evil husband-and-wife wizard duo fight for supremacy. The people of Amara just want to be left alone, hoping the conflict will disappear. But Paladin is dying, and Bardon and Kale - now married - must accept fateful, separate assignments if their land is to survive. Can their efforts turn the tide against their adversaries?

Here are 33 stories about bullies and the ups and downs of friendship for younger teens, including "True Friends and New Friends", "Mean Girls... and Boys", "Embarrassing Moments" and "Bully Payback".

A dragonkeeper of Paladin, Kale is summoned from the Hall to The Bogs by the Wizard Fenworth to serve as his apprentice and tend his newly hatched meech dragon, Regidor. But Kale isn't going alone. The Hall is sending a student to monitor her performance and report back to the scholars. Worst of all, it's Bardon - an older boy Kale finds irritating, but who at least can hold his own in a sword fight.

Once a slave girl in the village of River Away, Kale is freed when she discovers a dragon's egg. She is given the unexpected opportunity to journey to the great walled city of Vendala to become a servant to Paladin. Yet this young girl has much to learn about the difference between slavery and service.

For Annabelle, starting middle school hasn't been so bad. She's made an awesome group of friends, and it turns out that taming those wild boys is a lot like training a puppy! But now Annabelle is about to encounter a whole new kind of headache: Taylor and the Three Terrors

As summer is coming to an end, Rachel’s troubles are just beginning. Not only does she have a new baby sister to deal with, but she has an ornery cat on the loose, too. Rachel begins to feel that life just isn’t fair. When her jealousy leads her to take a trip to an amusement park with her English friend – without her parents’ permission – her problems only get worse. Will Rachel ever learn to be content?

Rachel Yoder has been out-of-sorts ever since her best friend moved away. What will she do without her? When a new girl named Audra shows up at the Amish schoolhouse, Rachel soon finds herself with a sticky sandwich, a mud-spattered dress, a sore nose, and a rotten attitude. As things go from bad to worse, Rachel is in danger of losing more than one friend. Will she ever learn the value of forgiveness?

Ten-year old Rachel is driving her Amish friends and family “buggy” with her lack of patience, which brings her trouble at every turn – from sledding into a creek to ruining a yummy shoofly pie, to flunking a test in school, to being dragged facedown in the snow. Will Rachel spend the entire winter getting into more trouble than her Lancaster County family and schoolmates can handle? Or will she finally discover that patience has its own rewards?

Rachel's back in school in Lancaster County! And that's where trouble finds her once again! Except this time, trouble has a freckled face and an unruly cowlick. His name is Orlie, and he seems determined to humiliate this 10-year-old Amish girl at every turn.

Rachel's not enjoying her school year - there are so many other things she'd rather be doing than schoolwork! As she shirks her responsibilities, Rachel encounters everything from cows escaping the pasture to an overflowing sink, dirty sheets, and rotten eggs. Rachel wants to be all grown up, but she's having a hard time accepting the responsibility that goes with it. Will she ever learn the value of growing up into a dependable adult?

That's what Annabelle discovers on her first day in her brand-new life. Birchwood Middle School is totally different from her old all-girls elementary. In fact, lots of things in Annabelle's life are totally different now that she's back from summer camp. There's mom's new boyfriend, a new house, new friends - even a new puppy that likes to chew on Annabelle's clothes. Well, at least the puppy comes with a leash and a training manual! If only she could say the same for the boys...

Middle school is hard. Your bodies are changing, your friends are changing, classes are harder, and tough things happen. This “support group in a book” is specifically geared to you. Read stories written by kids just like you, about their middle school years, and: true friends and new friends; mean girls... and boys!; embarrassing moments; bully payback; crushes and young love; being happy with yourself; tough times; family issues; doing what’s right and lots more!