A tender, transformative novel for all who sometimes feel they don't fit in. A terrific story.
-- Naomi Shihab Nye, Young People's Poet Laureate of the United States (2021) and author of The Turtle of Oman.
Junior and his family live in a junkyard, where his father creates pieces of art from the junk surrounding them. When Junior's father falls ill and dies, Junior and his mother are left with few resources, other than what his mother brings in from her job as a waitress. The junkyard is threatened by encroaching development, and just when Junior thinks all is lost, he finds that a tin man, gifted to him by his father, begins to speak to him. The junkman provides advice in the form of enigmas. Are they clues? Or is it nonsense? Junior and his best friend, Isaac, embark on a journey to find out. Can a man made of junk parts teach Junior about art and friendship and overcoming the loss of a loved one? Only if Junior believes it can.
A must-read for anyone who has ever fought their own battles with both fitting in and being themselves. --Shannon Schuren, author of Where Echoes Lie
Ben Snyder is ready for middle school. But his super picky eating, which has never been a big deal before, is about to take him down. Suddenly everybody's on his case about what he's eating and what he's not--his old friends, his new friends, his weird lab partner, the girl he's crushing on, and a bully--and Ben finds himself in social free fall, sliding toward the bottom of the middle school food chain. Even worse, there's an upcoming three-day class trip to a colonial campsite. Knowing he can't handle the gag-worthy menu, Ben prepares for the outing like it's a survival mission. Armed with new and unexpected information about his eating habits that could change everything, he sets out with three tactical goals: impress the girl, outsmart the bully, and avoid every single meal. But when epic hunger threatens to push him over the edge, Ben must decide how far he will go to fit in and if he has the courage to stand out.
That brief, blinding dazzle? The blue smudge and lingering stink? The Flash Gang has struck again! They are the most notorious thieves in Pittsburgh, food-stealing crooks the police and newspapers say are highly trained and very dangerous. But eleven-year-old Lewis Carter isn't a thief, he's just homeless and hungry. The Flash is a recipe he invented from bits of his missing father's scientific research. He uses it to pinch his dinners. It's been going pretty well, until now...Now his recipe is stolen, and he is in the clutches of some rather nasty people. Enter tutu-wearing, starry-eyed, and all around extraordinary (she will tell you) Pearl Alice Clavell. She is on a mission to uncover a Nefarious Deed she's convinced involves the Flash Gang. Rescuing Lewis is right up her alley. Truth is, a Nefarious Deed is afoot, one that threatens the entire country. It will take Lewis and Pearl joining forces to save the recipe and themselves against an enemy who will stop at nothing, including kidnapping, and, very possibly, murder.
...Artemis Sparke is pure energy! ...Kenna's well-crafted debut is a timely gift. --Leslie Connor, National Book Award finalist and author of The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle and Anybody Here Seen Frenchie?
When Artemis Sparke has had it with humans, she heads to the nearby salt marsh to hang out with the birds, plants, and mollusks who don't make a big deal of her stutter. The shoreline sanctuary is predictable, unlike her family and friends, and the data in her science journal proves it. But one day that data goes haywire, and her bird friend RT confirms it: the salt marsh is dying. Artemis discovers that the historic hotel where she lives with her mom may be part of the problem, but speaking up would mean confronting the cranky hotel owner who happens to be her mom's boyfriend and boss. Artemis conjures up help from deceased ecologists, and as she works to untangle their clues, she finds family secrets that could be the key to saving the salt marsh but also may destroy her life as she knows it.