Showing results by narrator "Cassandra Morris" in All Categories

When we first meet seven-year-old Dolly, she immediately grabs us with a voice that is both precocious and effervescent. It has been a while since her dad has spent time with her, and so when he scoops her up and promises to take her on the adventure of a lifetime, Dolly is thrilled. The first days on the road are incredibly exciting. Every pit stop promises a new delight for Dolly and her favourite plastic horse, Clemesta, who she's brought along for the adventure. But as they travel further south, her dad's behavior grows increasingly erratic. And home is ever farther away.

It seems like every Smurf has a purpose … except Smurfette. Join her and her smurfy pals on a smurftastic journey from Smurf Village to Smurfy Grove. Along the way, can she find her purpose and prove that she’s a true-blue Smurf at heart? Where there’s a Smurf, there’s a way!

From their top-selling albums and sensational sold-out tours to their forthcoming TV series and Disney Channel original movie Camp Rock, the Jonas Brothers have gone from obscurity to superstardom in the course of a year, and Kevin, Joe, and Nick are here to stay.

Dusty Everhart might be able to predict the future through the dreams of her crush Eli Booker, but that doesn't make her life even remotely easy. When one of her mermaid friends is viciously assaulted and left for dead, and the school's jokester Lance Rathbone is accused of the crime, Dusty's as shocked as everybody else. Lance needs Dusty to prove his innocence by finding the real attacker, but that's easier asked than done. Eli's dreams are no help, more nightmares than prophecies.

Young Tessa is a diminutive girl, far too small for farm work and the object of ridicule by both her own family and the other children in their isolated Midwestern community. Her father seems to believe in nothing beyond his crops, certainly not education for his misfit daughter. When a mysterious, entrancing librarian comes to town, full of fabulous stories, earthy wisdom and potions for the lovelorn, she takes Tessa under her wing, teaching her to read and to believe in herself and a whole new magical world of possibilities opens up.

Ten-year-old Jenny Kim and her two buddies, Fen Stenson and Barker Mifflin, live in the town of Nevermind, where strange happenings are so normal that finding a mysterious thing growing in your armpit isn’t even considered a big deal. But when the mysterious thing gets so big Jenny has to haul it around in a wheelbarrow, it’s cause for concern. She’s going to need some help sorting this out!

When Allison's best friend, TJ, convinces her to come along for an epic game of LARP (live-action roleplaying), she reluctantly agrees, despite her reservations about the geeky pastime. TJ's weekends are filled with powerful wizardry, mystical creatures, and intense battles with his LARP group. Each adventure is full of surprises, but the goal is always the same - to defeat the monsters and find the treasure. Not long after their quest begins, the friends discover that something has gone wrong.

Jules doesn't want to ruin the opportunity of a lifetime, and she's willing to turn to anyone for help - even her know-it-all ex-best friend! If only that lovely new girl in class would turn out to be the new best friend of her dreams, maybe, just maybe, Jules will be ready for her close-up...

With the new millennium approaching, the eccentric town of Thebes grows even stranger. Mrs. Leontina Scales begins speaking in tongues after being clocked by a Catholic statuette. Her daughter, Tabitha, and her sons scheme to save their mother or surrender her to Jesus - whatever comes first. Meanwhile, choir director Jeremy Carr, caught between lust and ambition, fumbles his way toward Y2K.

A brother and sister turn outlaw in a wild and brutal landscape. The daughter of a diplomat disappears and resurfaces across the world as a deadly woman of many names. A young Philadelphia boy struggles with the contradictions of privilege, violence, and the sway of an incarcerated father. A monk in 16th-century England suffers the dissolution of his monastery and the loss of all that he held sacred.

Beard's stunning debut is an epistolary novel written from 15-year-old Tess DeNunzio to her little sister Zoe. After Zoe's accidental death on September 11, 2001, a day so many others died, Tess' family is numbed by their personal tragedy. Already acutely aware of her odd place in a home where her mother and stepfather now have children of their own, Tess begins her letter as a means of figuring out her own life, from her two-hour-a-day hair and makeup ritual to her complicity in Zoe's death.

Anytime Josie Shilling’s large family gets too chaotic, volunteering at the local animal clinic is the one place she can escape - and she loves working with the animals. But when a box mysteriously appears on the clinic’s front steps, Josie suddenly becomes responsible for seven adorable puppies! Taking care of her pig, Hamlet, last fall was a bit harder than she thought. So how is she ever going to handle a whole litter of mischievous pups and find the right homes for them all?

A lush, glittering short story collection exploring female obsession and desire by an award-winning author Roxane Gay calls "a consummate storyteller." From Kentucky to the California desert, these 42 short stories - ranging from the '80s and '90s to present day - expose the hearts of girls and women in moments of obsessive desire and fantasy, wildness and bad behavior, brokenness and fearlessness, and more.

Zia remembers the exact night the Shadoom arrived. One moment she was laughing with her best friends, and the next a dark room of shadows had crept into her chest. Zia has always loved words, but she can’t find a real one for the fear growing inside her. How can you defeat something if you don’t know its name? After Zia’s mom announces that her grouchy Greek yiayia is moving into their tiny apartment, the Shadoom seems here to stay. Until Zia discovers an old family heirloom: the C. Scuro Dictionary, 13th Edition.

When her small town is rocked by a series of baby kidnappings, Teo vows to spend her summer break solving the mystery, and convinces her friend Logan—who would much rather spend his vacation relaxing—to help. Their search for answers soon leads them to the woods at the edge of town, and Teo fears some kind of supernatural creature might be behind the snatchings. What else could explain the creepy figure they see moving through the trees, or the bloodcurdling screams coming from the forest at dusk?

Marty McGuire would rather spend recess catching frogs in the pond than playing dress-up with the other girls in third grade. So when her teacher casts Marty as the princess in the class play, Marty's absolutely, positively sure that there's been a huge mistake. But after a special lesson in the art of improvisation, Marty comes up with her OWN plan to IMPROVE the play: Why use stuffed-animal frog onstage when a live one would be so much better? In the end, Marty's one-of-a-kind performance makes for an unforgettable show. Maybe a tomboy princess CAN live happily ever after, after all!

When fifth grader Penny Lowry and her classmates get invited to go to New York City for a weekend hosted by Billy J. Plumberry, the famous author her school is named for, Penny finds a lot to worry about. After all, isn't the city full of aggressive bike messengers ready to run kids over? And what if she gets stuck in an elevator for life? Not to mention all the pianos falling out of windows everywhere! On the other hand, what if it might actually be fun to explore an exciting new place with some of her best friends?

Sixteen-year-old Dusty Everhart breaks into houses late at night, but not because she's a criminal. No, she's a Nightmare. Literally. Dusty is a magical being who feeds on human dreams.

Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for magickind, and living in the shadow of her mother's infamy is hard enough, not to mention the crazy events of the past year.

Willa can’t wait to be surrounded by nature, sleeping under the stars. Ashlyn has prepared a list of camping supplies to bring, but Willa feels sure all that gear won’t be needed. When they get to the campsite, the girls discover they are missing some things. They don’t even have marshmallows for toasting! Just when their campout looks like a catastrophe, their friendship saves the day.

Spring has sprung in the garden, but the five friends discover it's a mess! The flower beds are weedy, the pond is mucky, and the swing is broken. Will their fairy powers be enough to clean up the garden in time for a party? Unexpectedly, the girls discover a new power—and a new friend!