Two urchin brothers are offered protection by a gang of street children and their ringleader, the Thief Lord. Embroiled in a life of petty crimes, the two boys yearn for an opportunity to leave this venue. As a detective uncovers the identity of the Thief Lord and the location of the boys' hideaway, the plot takes a surprising twist. Elements of fantasy are intertwined as the ruffians steal a piece of a magic carousel that possesses the power to change a child to an adult and vice versa.

Hale has written an original tale similar to the Grimm's fairy tale of the princess who became a goose girl before she could become queen. Anodori, Crown Princess of Kildenree (a.k.a. Ani), spends her first years under her aunt's guidance learning to communicate with animals, but she is never comfortable speaking with people. When her silver-tongued lady-in-waiting leads a mutiny during Ani's journey to be married in a foreign land, Ani is helpless and cannot persuade anyone to assist her. Be...

A retelling of the classic tale "East of the Sun and West of the Moon," this is a resource to use in the study and discussion of superstition. Pattou's writing places readers between myth and fantasy in this fairy tale that involves magic, superstition and suspense. Many universal themes are dealt with in this story. Family dynamics and how they are influenced by individual and family values are most evident. Rose is a female explorer, which makes this story interesting because most explorers...

This is an authentic account of the Whaleship Essex that was attacked and sunk by an extraordinarily large whale in 1820. The ship sailed out of Nantucket to hunt for whales to harvest the whale oil. Three small lifeboats were launched as the Essex sank. In this abridged version of Heart of the Sea, Philbrick recounts the details of cannibalism and execution that were pieced together from a cabin boy's diary made public in 1984. Most of the book deals with the crew's struggle to survive and t...

Mike has to work at the community centre because his guardian, Riel, wants to teach him a lesson about trying to get something for nothing. Mike notices that the caretaker at the centre, Mr. Henderson, takes a particular interest in the girls, especially one swimmer, Emily Corwin. When a body is discovered in the woods, Mike works with Riel's friends, Detective Jones and Dr. Susan, to solve the mystery surrounding the death of Emily's mother and the new case that seems to be linked.

Based on a true event in 1944, a circus fire in Hartford, Connecticut kills 167 people and injures many more. Janeczko's poetic novel includes haunting poems that describe the events in the voices of 29 eyewitnesses including children, adults, circus people, the audience and the townspeople.