How Lunchbox Jones Saved Me From Robots Traitors And Missy The Cruel

Luke Abbott's school is the losing-est school in the history of losing. And that's just fine for him. He'd rather be at home playing video games and avoiding his older brother Rob and the Greatest Betrayal of All Time. But now he's being forced to join the robotics team, where he'll meet a colorful cast of characters, including: Mikayla, the girl who does everything with her toes; Jacob and Jacob, who aren't twins but might as well be; the sunflower seed-obsessed Stuart; and Missy the Cruel, Luke's innocent-looking bully since they were six-years-old. But it's an unlikely connection with a mysterious boy known only as “Lunchbox Jones" that will change Luke's life. Turns out, Luke and Lunchbox Jones have a lot more in common than just robots . . . .

"With the holidays around the corner, empty nester Bren Epperson realizes that for the first time in decades, she has no large family to cook for and no celebration to create. Her daughter has moved to Thailand, her son has ditched college to backpack around the world, and her husband has disappeared into the basement to indulge his midlife crisis. So Bren starts teaching a holiday cooking class, and it's a hit--until Virginia Mash, the old lady living upstairs, bursts in, complaining of the noise, the smells, and the mess. Rather than retaliate, Bren suggests that the class shower Virginia with kindness--that they give her one hundred gifts. So they embark on a plan to lift a heart. Along the way, amid knitting and making and baking, they'll discover that family celebrations can be reborn and that the very best gifts can't be bought--they're from the heart"--

Twelve-year-old Arcturus Betelgeuse Chambers comes from a family of stargazers and his quest to find life on other planets is unstoppable. But when Arty's family announces they're moving to Las Vegas, the City of Lights threatens to put an end to his stargazing dreams forever-especially when he has to stay with his scary next door neighbor while his parents look for a house. As it turns out, “Mr. Death” isn't terrifying at all-he's actually Cash Maddox, a bonafide astronaut! But when Cash falls ill, will Arty find the courage to complete his mission by himself? And might he actually prove, once and for all, that there is life on Mars? For fans of Frank Cottrell Boyce's Cosmic and Jack Gantos's Dead End in Norvelt comes a heartwarming story of true friendship-earthly or otherwise.

For readers of Marieke Nijkamp's This Is Where It Ends, a powerful and timely contemporary classic about the aftermath of a school shooting. Five months ago, Valerie Leftman's boyfriend, Nick, opened fire on their school cafeteria. Shot trying to stop him, Valerie inadvertently saved the life of a classmate, but was implicated in the shootings because of the list she helped create. A list of people and things she and Nick hated. The list he used to pick his targets. Now, after a summer of seclusion, Val is forced to confront her guilt as she returns to school to complete her senior year. Haunted by the memory of the boyfriend she still loves and navigating rocky relationships with her family, former friends, and the girl whose life she saved, Val must come to grips with the tragedy that took place and her role in it, in order to make amends and move on with her life. Jennifer Brown's critically acclaimed novel now includes the bonus novella Say Something, another arresting Hate List story.

Sixth-grader Thomas Fallgrout is finally settling in at Pennybaker School, home of student unicyclers, thespians, acrobats, and other classmates with unique and unusual gifts. After a bit of an unusual start to the school year, things are finally starting to seem normal. As normal as they ever could be at this decidedly unusual school, anyway. Until his Facts After the Fact (aka History) teacher Mr. Faboo goes missing, right in the middle of his favorite lesson of the year, leaving the class not a clue as to why or how. And his Four Square (aka Phys Ed) teacher introduces a new unit that is decidedly distressing. And Thomas's neighbor, the formerly friendless Chip (he of the wacky sock collection), swoops in and bonds with all of Thomas's friends, leaving Thomas in the dust. This year is getting out of control, and it's up to Thomas to take matters into his own hands. It's time... for a revolution. Featuring black-and-white illustrations throughout, this wildly funny follow-up to Pennybaker School is Headed for Disaster is full of humor and wacky wit by acclaimed author Jennifer Brown.

Thomas Fallgrout always thought of himself as a regular kid until the day he accidentally creates a little big of magic using his grandpa's old potions. Suddenly, he's pulled from public school and enrolled in Pennybaker Academy for the Uniquely Gifted, where kids are busy perfecting their chainsaw juggling, unicycling feats, and didgeridoo playing. Pennybaker is full of spirit thanks to its most beloved teacher: the late, great Helen Heirmauser. The school has even erected a statue of her head on a pedestal. Then, life is uprooted when the statue goes missing -- and everyone thinks Thomas is behind its disappearance. Now his head is on the line. As his new friends turn on him, Thomas finds himself pairing up with the only person who will associate with him: his oddball next door neighbor Chip Mason. Together they work to hunt down the missing statue . . . only to discover that maybe what they've both needed to find all along was true friendship. Featuring black-and-white illustrations, this wildly fun first book kicks off a hilarious new middle-grade series from acclaimed author Jennifer Brown.

For fans of authors like Gordon Korman and Stuart Gibbs comes a commercial new middle-grade series about the adventures of uniquely-gifted sixth graders.

Worker robots keep the high-tech town of Terabyte Heights humming, but ten-year-old George Gearing is the only one who has a robot for a best friend. When his scrappy but beloved pal Jackbot is hit by a car, the whiz kid re-engineers him with fancy parts from state-of-the-art TinkerTech Laboratories. Jackbot’s astounding new skills far exceed anything George—or even TinkerTech’s head of robotics—could ever have imagined. Will the villainous Dr. Micron destroy the whole town to see his tech-driven dream realized? Not if George can help it . . .