National Network for Equitable Library Service

In the vein of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and Number the Stars, this fusion of fairy tales, folklore, and World War II history eloquently illustrates the power of love and the inherent will to survive even in the darkest of times. In the land of dolls, there is magic. In the land of humans, there is war. Everywhere there is pain. But together there is hope. Karolina is a living doll whose king and queen have been overthrown.

A boy tries to steer a safe path through the projects in Harlem in the wake of his brother's death in this outstanding debut novel that's been described as a "fast and furious read in which we meet some amazing people, people that stay with us" by Newbery Honor and National Book Award'winning author Jacqueline Woodson. It's Christmas Eve in Harlem, but twelve-year-old Lolly Rachpaul and his mom aren't celebrating. They're still reeling from his older brother's death in a gang-related shooting just a few months earlier.

On their own, pranksters Miles and Niles were pretty devious. Now that they've formed a pranking duo, they're terrible! But their powers will be tested when their favorite nemesis, Principal Barkin, is replaced by his stern and cunning father, former Principal Barkin. Now Miles and Niles will do just about anything to get their old antagonist back-including pranking alongside him.

After the time of the legends, the tale of the Guardians returns to the present in which Soren, the hero of books 1- 6 in the New York Times bestselling Guardians of Ga' Hoole series, must train a new king. Get ready for old friends and new adventures! Coryn, Soren, and the Band preside over a new golden age of the Great Tree under the subtle influence of the ember. All seems well, but beneath the prosperity of peace, Coryn is tortured by the suspicion that his evil mother, Nyra, is a hagsfiend and that his own blood carries the haggish taint.

The eleventh title in this best-selling series brings Hoole to kingship and the legends to fulfilment signaling a return to the adventures of Coryn, Soren and the Band. In this final book of the Legends trilogy Hoole reclaims the thrown of his father and goes on to wage a war against the forces of chaos, greed and oppression led by the powerful warlord-tyrants. Grank, the first collier, uses his skills with fire and metals to forge weapons for battle. With great trepidation Hoole uses the power of the Ember in the final, decisive battle and wins.

A tale of chaos, betrayal, and nachtmagen unfolds in the second of three ancient legends. It is no idle history, for hidden in its pages are the truths about the great promise-and great danger-that lies just ahead for the Guardians. And so Soren, Coryn, and the members of the Band read on: A grizzled collier will tend a young prince in exile. An owl who would be monk will don battle claws. A mother who is also a queen will raise an army. And under the shower of embers in the shadow of the Sacred Volcanoes, a king will be born-or die.

Nyroc has exiled himself from the Pure Ones. He flies alone, feared and despised by those who know him as Kludd's son, hunted by those whose despotism he has rejected, and haunted by ghostly creatures conjured by Nyra to lure him back to the Pure Ones. He yearns for a place he only half believes in-the great tree-and an uncle-the near-mythic Soren-who might be a true father to him. Yet he cannot approach the tree while the rumor of evil still clings to him. To prove his worth, Nyroc will fly to The Beyond the Beyond to seek the legendary Relic as a talisman of his own.

Soren and his band are sent to the mysterious Northern Kingdoms to gather allies and learn the art of war in preparation for the coming cataclysmic battle against the sinister Pure Ones. Meanwhile, in the Southern Kingdoms, St. Aggies has fallen to the Pure Ones and they are using its resources to plan a final invasion of The Great Ga'Hoole Tree. With the future of all Owldom in the balance, the parliament of Ga'Hoole must decide whether or not to join forces with the brutal Skench and Spoorn and the scattered remnants of St. Aggies who remain faithful to them.

Soren's beloved mentor, Ezylryb, is finally back at the Great Ga'Hoole Tree. But all is not well. There's a war between good and evil in the owl kingdom. On one side is a group led by Soren's fearsome brother, Kludd, who wears a terrifying metal mask to cover his battle-scarred face. On the other side are the owls of the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, who must fight to protect their legendary tree from Kludd's attacks. Soren, his friends, and the other owls at the Great Ga'Hoole Tree enter into fierce combat against Kludd's forces. They win a major battle, but warfare is not over yet.

Ever since Soren was kidnapped and taken to the St. aegolius School for Orphaned Owls, he has longed to see his sister, Eglantine, again. Now Eglantine is back is Soren's life, but she's been through an ordeal too terrible for words. Deep within Soren's gizzard, something more powerful than knowledge tells him there's a connection between these mysterious events. In order to rescue Ezylryb, Soren must embark upon a perilous quest. It will bring him face-to-face with a force more dangerous than anything the rulers of St.