Mourning the loss of his mother, nine-year-old David forms an unlikely friendship with independent, quirky thirteen-year-old Primrose, as the two help each other deal with what is missing in their lives.

Told entirely through notes, grocery receipts, and a vast array of other items, this story follows Ginny as she accidentally dyes her hair pink, throws live frogs in class, and loses the lead role in ballet to her ex-best friend.

Hannah finds herself in the middle of a dognapping mystery while she and her mother house-sit in Seattle's Fremond neighborhood, also known as the Center of the Universe.

When Asa Pike, a Bloor's Academy student with the ability to change into a beast at dusk, goes missing, twelve-year-old Charlie Bone suspects a new classmate, the magically gifted Dagobert Endless, of foul play.

Quint leaves his studies at the Knights Academy in Sanctaphrax to assist his father Wind Jackall in his obsessive and dangerous quest to track down and bring to justice the evil Turbot Smeal.

As Christmas approaches, eleven-year-old Rose, the youngest member of the eccentric Casson family, discovers that life is filled with both catastrophic problems and wonderful surprises

Fiction. Calliope was happy until her mom decided to "find herself" and they started moving from one Renaissance fair to the next, camping or living in crappy apartments. Eliot was content before his dad found religion and started a Christian fat camp in the North Carolina woods (the camp's motto is "What Would Jesus Eat?"). After Calliope and her mom arrive in Asheville, NC, she and Eliot meet and are immediately attracted to each other. Theirs is a quirky, funny, and sweet romance--but will it be doomed by Cal's mother's wanderlust and Eliot's dad's disapproval? If you enjoy love stories that, like this one, are told from two points of view, try Wendelin Van Draanen's Flipped next.

Fiction. Kendra Bishop is tired of her workaholic parents and their uptight life, so she tries out for a new reality-TV show "The Black Sheep," which gives two American teens the chance to swap families. Soon a film crew shows up at her New York City home--she's been picked to switch households with California teen Maya Mulligan, whose parents are peace-loving, animal-activist hippies...and whose 17-year-old brother, Mitch, is hot. Will Kendra find happiness in saving otters and outsmarting the Mulligan's kleptomaniac ferret? Will the romance she dreams of with Mitch be able to flourish in front of the cameras and despite the TV producer's constant meddling? Tune in to find out.

Historical Fiction. It's 1924, and clever young Annie Grey and her mother, Caterina, who claims to be a clairvoyant "spiritual advisor," have just moved to the small town of Peach Hill, NY. Madam Caterina has always used her daughter to help her con clients, but now she has a new scheme: she wants Annie to pretend that she's mentally disabled so she can eavesdrop unnoticed. Annie doesn't like the dishonest way they make a living and longs for a normal life with friends and school, so she cooks up her own plot to escape her role as her mother's feeble-minded accomplice. Great characters, a quick pace, and colorful period details make this a gripping read.

Fiction. Alice MacLeod started first grade dressed as a Hobbit, and she's been in therapy and homeschooled by her aging-hippie parents ever since (the other kids rejected her outright). Her mom is still "deep into her granola routine" and her dad writes steamy romance novels, but Alice wants to create something like a normal life for herself--so she decides to enroll at the local high school. Written in the form of her sarcastically funny diary entries, this 1st of three books about Alice reveals how she handles her embarrassing parents, the school bully, career guidance, and a really bad haircut. For a boy's-eye-view of life with hippie parents, check out I'm Being Stalked by a Moonshadow.

Historical Fiction. In the late 1800s, those born with physical deformities were often sent to asylums or joined circus sideshows known as "freak shows." Fourteen-year-old Abel is perfectly normal (a disadvantage in the circus biz) but has been raised in the Faeryland Freak Show by his legless father and armless mother; his friends are dwarves, conjoined twins, and Apollo the Dog-Faced Boy. Longing for adventure, romance, and a sense of purpose, Abel runs away...and Apollo follows him. When Apollo is lured into joining Mink's Traveling Monster Menagerie, Abel signs up, too--and he's horrified by the way Dr. Mink treats his performers. It's up to Abel to help them escape and make better lives for themselves.

Fiction. Jaiden Beale's parents were killed in a work-related accident when he was just a baby, and NECorp, the Beales' employer, adopted him in order to avoid a lawsuit. Now 14, Jaiden wishes he lived in a house instead of a high-rise office building, hates being "managed" by a team of economists and marketers, and thinks it's the last straw when he's forced to view a PowerPoint presentation on girls that NECorp believes are good dating prospect for him. But when he and his only two friends discover that NECorp may be poisoning the local water supply--and lying about it--Jaiden decides that it's time to put his "family" out of business. This fast-paced, wryly funny read delivers non-stop action and dirty secrets galore.