Sunny Sweet Is So Dead Meat

When a bottle of ketchup explodes all over Masha Sweet, she thinks it's an accident. She's trying to be kinder to her little sister, Sunny so she shouldn't jump to conclusions...or should she? Turns out Sunny has devised a special science experiment that requires Masha to look totally weird all day. But Masha is not having it. If it kills her (or Sunny!) she will figure out how to get them home from the science fair without causing a scene. But add in a pair of little brothers who take Masha on a wild goose chase through the school, a short detour through a cemetery, and a run-in with a cute boy and this whole day is one big scene. Which just might be what Sunny had in mind...she is so dead meat!

We've all woken up on the wrong side of the bed... but have you ever woken up actually stuck to the bed? Fifth grader Masha Sweet wakes one morning to discover that her evil-genius little sister, Sunny, has glued plastic flowers onto Masha's head. When it seems that nothing will get the flowers out, Masha's mother lets her stay home alone for the day--she can't leave the house like this! But when her neighbor, Mrs. Song, has a bike accident, Masha has to rush to the rescue and soon finds herself (and her giant flower bouquet headpiece) at the hospital with an unlikely cast of characters. What starts as a "my sister is a pest!" tale, quickly evolves into a much bigger, zanier adventure. But as the events snowball, Masha keeps one thing in mind: Sunny Sweet is going to be so sorry!

Masha, Junchao, and Alice have planned the perfect slumber party-that is until Sunny insists their house is haunted! An unexplained howl. Flickering lights. And someone, or something, may be watching them from the front hall closet. At first, Sunny tries to scientifically explain what's going on. But as more strange things happen, she sees the opportunity to be the first scientist to collect actual data on the spirit world and becomes Sunny Sweet: Ghost Hunter. The girls are sufficiently spooked, but they can't wake up Mrs. Song. Alice's parents weren't too keen on Alice participating in this sleepover. And the girls are afraid that if they wake up Mrs. Song, she will call Alice's parents and Alice will be forever banned from all future sleepovers. With no other choice in sight, Masha, Junchao, and Alice reluctantly follow Sunny on the trail of a real “live" ghost.

Masha can't wait for summer vacation with her dad. He's taking Masha and Sunny to a dude ranch and he has a big surprise for them. But Sunny has other plans. After some creative deception only an evil genius can pull off, Sunny rearranges the summer to include The Newton Camp of Mathematics. As always, Sunny's plans mean chaos for Masha. And who wants to spend the summer at a camp where afternoon activities include math problems indoors? Haven't these kids heard of canoeing and horseback riding? But it turns out camp is a little bit fun . . . until Sunny goes missing. When Masha finds her sister, she discovers that Sunny purposely ran away. She knows what dad's big surprise really is, and she doesn't ever want to go home. Sunny has now gotten them both lost, but surely Masha can push that aside so the sisters can deal with this “surprise” together, right?

On a hot summer day in a quiet frontier settlement, a bloody raid leads to an even bloodier conflict. A young Mohawk warrior and a patrotic farm boy have survived the battle, but can they survive the night? Sixteen-year-old Noah Daniels wants nothing more than to fight in George Washington's Continental Army, but an accident as a child left him maimed and unable to enlist. He is forced to watch the Revolution from his family's hard scrabble farm in Upstate New York—until a violent raid on his settlement thrusts him into one of the bloodiest battles of the American Revolution, and ultimately, face to face with the enemy. In Scar: A Revolutionary War Tale, J. Albert Mann takes readers deep into the woods of northern New York, where two young enemies meet face to face. Based on actual events and exhaustive research, this gripping, dramatic tale of courage and honor will prove impossible to forget.

The beloved New York Times bestselling author reflects on home, family, friendships and writing in this deeply personal collection of essays. "The elegance of Patchett’s prose is seductive and inviting: with Patchett as a guide, readers will really get to grips with the power of struggles, failures, and triumphs alike." —Publisher's Weekly “Any story that starts will also end.” As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth in these wise essays that afford a fresh and intimate look into her mind and heart. At the center of These Precious Days is the title essay, a surprising and moving meditation on an unexpected friendship that explores “what it means to be seen, to find someone with whom you can be your best and most complete self.” When Patchett chose an early galley of actor and producer Tom Hanks’ short story collection to read one night before bed, she had no idea that this single choice would be life changing. It would introduce her to a remarkable woman—Tom’s brilliant assistant Sooki—with whom she would form a profound bond that held monumental consequences for them both. A literary alchemist, Patchett plumbs the depths of her experiences to create gold: engaging and moving pieces that are both self-portrait and landscape, each vibrant with emotion and rich in insight. Turning her writer’s eye on her own experiences, she transforms the private into the universal, providing us all a way to look at our own worlds anew, and reminds how fleeting and enigmatic life can be. From the enchantments of Kate DiCamillo’s children’s books (author of The Beatryce Prophecy) to youthful memories of Paris; the cherished life gifts given by her three fathers to the unexpected influence of Charles Schultz’s Snoopy; the expansive vision of Eudora Welty to the importance of knitting, Patchett connects life and art as she illuminates what matters most. Infused with the author’s grace, wit, and warmth, the pieces in These Precious Days resonate deep in the soul, leaving an indelible mark—and demonstrate why Ann Patchett is one of the most celebrated writers of our time.

A powerful, moving, and revelatory novel set in nineteenth-century Africa--the captivating story of the loyal men and women who carried the body of explorer and missionary David Livingstone from Zambia to Zanzibar so that his remains could be returned home to England. Dawn, 1 May 1873, on the outskirts of Chitambo's village, near Lake Bangweulu in modern-day Zambia. The Scottish explorer and missionary David Livingstone has died. He had been heading south in the African interior on an increasingly maniacal mission to penetrate the greatest secret of Victorian exploration. He wanted to find the source of the world's longest river, the Nile. Instead, on an isolated and swampy floodplain, Dr. Livingstone found his death. How Livingstone is to be buried will be decided by his African companions, a group of sixty-nine men, women, and children. They decide that come what may, Livingstone, his papers and maps, must all be carried to England. They bury his heart and other organs under a tree and dry his flesh like jerky in the sun. Over nine months, battling severe illness and hunger, hostile chiefs and unknown terrain, all while taking a tortuous route of more than 1,000 miles to the coast to avoid marauding slave traders, they march with Livingstone's body and the evidence of his explorations. Their journey has been called "the most extraordinary story in African exploration." In this novel, their story is retold anew in the distinct, indelible voices of Livingstone's sharp-tongued female cook, Halima; a repressed, formerly enslaved African missionary named Jacob Wainwright; and the collective voice of the retainers. The result is a profound and tragic journey--an epic like no other--that encompasses all of the hypocrisy of slavery and colonization while celebrating resilience, loyalty, and love. In Out of Darkness, Shining Light, Petina Gappah has created an ambitious and artful masterpiece.

When Auntie Ned spontaneously combusts, she leaves behind a pair of smoking orthopedic shoes and a house that she wills to her best friend's daughters. Amy and Gwendolyn are sisters--closer than close--who move into Ned's bungalow and inherit her legacies: a closet full of housedresses, a freezer full of meat, and the passionate flames of unrequited desire. Amy's appetites--for meat, for sex, for getting her way--are ferocious, while Gwendolyn longs for a more normal existence but can't refuse her big sister anything at all. Not the intrusion of Dr. Minor, Professor of Pyrophenomena, who has come to investigate Auntie Ned's death. And not the presence in their bed of Roosevelt, a troubled carpenter whose steamy entanglement with the sisters will either save them all or create a situation that's bound to combust. ...a good Hollywood thriller... as well done as an exercise in flash defrosting. Spontaneous microwaves rather than thaws... - Kirkus Reviews