Showing results by publisher "Candlewick on Brilliance Audio" in Sports Fiction

Hardly a day passes without Trille and Lena inventing some kind of adventure that often ends in trouble. Whether it's coaxing a cow onto a boat or tobogganing down the steepest and iciest hill with a chicken, there is always a thrill - and sometimes an injury - to be had. Trille loves to share everything with Lena, even Auntie Granny's waffles, which make everything just perfect. But when Lena has to move away, and Auntie Granny leaves the world, it sometimes seems nothing will ever be right again.

Yikes! Stink Moody, family brain, brings home a report card that isn’t perfect? Time to get into fighting shape and beat back that U for Unsatisfactory he got in Phys Ed (aka gym class)! For Stink to be victorious, he’s going to need the help of a Snake in the Grass, a Banana Split, and a Tsunami Smash, not to mention a Moose, a Dragon Master, an Empty Hand, a Crouching Tiger, and a Hidden Thumb. Hiiiii-ya!

The town's annual Turkey Trot race and festival is coming up, and Judy and Stink are training to win. Judy has decided that she is going to take home the big prize: a fat, juicy turkey. They can taste it already: the moist turkey, the hot gravy, the savory stuffing, the cranberry sauce! Beep! Beep! Beep! That's the sound of Stink's Rapidfire Ultra XE611M25 stopwatch going off as Judy and Stink hop, crawl, and climb toward race day.

Ruby Redfort: You can count on her if you're between a rock and a hard place. A bite from a poisonous snake? Pass me the antivenom. Need someone to take the fall? You don't even have to ask. Stay one step ahead of trouble? Not so easy. There are always snakes to look out for, but they aren't half as poisonous as the rumors floating around Twinford. It's a lot to chew over. Will Ruby pull through in one piece?

Suddenly, something big and white bumps up against the car, and I jump. I think I must be dreamin’, ’cause I just saw a horse run by. When Cole’s mom dumps him in the mean streets of Philly to live with the dad he’s never met, the last thing he expects to see is a horse - let alone a stable full of them. He may not know much about cowboys, but what he knows for sure is that cowboys ain’t black, and they don’t live in the ’hood. But here, horses are a way of life, and soon Cole’s days of skipping school and getting in trouble in Detroit have been replaced by shoveling muck and trying not to get stomped on.

Trille and Lena may be getting older, but they still find everyday adventure - and trouble - in their coastal village, including sinking every raft they build, getting little sisters stuck up flag poles, and attending those dreaded music lessons. But that’s not all. The arrival of a less-than-encouraging new soccer coach is putting twelve-year-old Lena's goalkeeping career in doubt. And Trille is wondering how to impress the girl who has just joined his class.

Stink may be super smart and Stink may be uber-clever, but he just can’t seem to turn into a Dolphin. He’s been in the Polliwog swim class for what seems like frog-ever, and still can’t bear to put his face in the water. Then, one day, Stink has a close encounter with a freaky mutant frog. All of a sudden, his froggy senses are tingling! He has an urge to slurp up raisins-that-look-like-flies. He can’t wait to play in the rain and mud. And he has become very interested in the local frog population. Could it be? Is it true? Could Stink be turning into...the Amazing Frog-Boy?

Sixth-grader Lu Olivera just wants to keep her head down and get along with everyone in her class. Trouble is, Lu's old friends have been changing lately - acting boy-crazy and making snide remarks about Lu's newfound talent for running track. Lu's secret hope for a new friend is fellow runner Belinda Gresham, but in 1970 Red Grove, Alabama, blacks and whites don't mix. As segregationist ex-governor George Wallace ramps up his campaign against the current governor, Albert Brewer, growing tensions in the state - and in the classroom - mean that Lu can't stay neutral about the racial divide at school.

The big man went to the window and looked down at it all, spreading his large hands on the glass. "No," he said. "It found me." When Paul Faustino of LA NACION flips on his tape recorder for an exclusive Interview with El Gato - the phenomenal goalkeeper who single-handedly brought his team the World Cup - the seasoned reporter quickly learns that this will be no ordinary story. Instead, the legendary El Gato ("The Cat") quietly narrates a spellbinding tale that begins in a mythic corner of the South American rain forest, where a ghostly but very real mentor, the Keeper, emerges to teach the gangly boy....

What will it take for Mom and Dad to trust Hank to go to the mall unsupervised with his friends? Cooking a family dinner - er, disaster - doesn't exactly say “responsible”. But what if Hank signs up for the school's notorious survival camp and makes it through the whole weekend? Maybe he should factor in being teamed up with his nemesis, McKelty, in a leaky tent, not to mention a desperate search for a cell phone in a field of cow pies.... The amiable character originated by Henry Winkler - inspired by his own childhood - comes to life in a humorous adventure.

On the night Chancey is born, a fire star gallops across the sky. But many years of hardship will pass before the orphaned albino Appaloosa can believe the prophecy his dam foretold - that his fire star was a beacon for a horse of profound wisdom and extraordinary potential, one who will eventually change the lives of two children forever. Told through Chancey's eyes in the classic tradition of great horse stories, here is a tale about bravery, destiny, and hope - and about sharing the magic of a second chance.

When Macadoo is just a colt, he challenges his father, a huge Belgian stallion, in order to protect his mother and the rest of the herd. From that moment on, Mac knows that his purpose in life is to help and serve others however he can. Though Macadoo endures much adversity - leaving the only home he’s ever known, being separated from his dam, and surviving an auction that for many horses is their final stop before the slaughterhouse - he finds the courage to "walk on" through even the most difficult circumstances.

The Loch Ness Monster. The Frogman. Bigfoot. Twelve-year-old Miranda Cho used to believe in it all, used to love poring over every strange footprint, every stray hair, everything that proved that the world was full of wonders. But that was before her mother’s obsession with monsters cost Miranda her friends and her perfect school record, before Miranda found the stack of unopened bills and notices of foreclosure in the silverware drawer. Now the fact that her mom’s a cryptozoologist doesn’t seem wonderful - it’s embarrassing and irresponsible, and it could cost them everything.

When Dante's Inferno is born early on a February night, there are great expectations for him. He may be the grandson of the greatest racehorse in modern times, but Dante's start proves a rough one: He doesn't bond with many people, as they always seem to be either poking and prodding him or trying to get him to fulfill their dreams.

The White Tiger Temple is under threat. To help the Shaolin monks, Sensei Ki-Yaga and the whole gang of samurai kids embark on a perilous journey across the Sea of Japan to China. But they soon discover that getting there is only half the battle. An enemy awaits them: a former student of Sensei’s named Qing-Shen, China’s Warrior, who is now the most skilled soldier in the Middle Kingdom and who holds a grudge against his onetime teacher.

Across the valley, a drumbeat echoes. For ten days, the drum will call the mountain ryus to war, including the samurai kids from the Cockroach Ryu. Only Japan’s feudal emperor can stop the war, so Niya and Sensei Ki-Yaga set off on a grueling journey with all the Cockroaches, whose firm friendship and unusual skills must be put to the test in order to beg the Emperor to maintain peace. Sensei Ki-Yaga is respected and wise, but unfortunately, the last time he encountered the Emperor, the Emperor threatened to cut off his head.

The mayor flipped a lever, and everyone cheered as Old Lower Grange was submerged beneath five thousand swimming pools’ worth of water. But Cassie’s family wasn’t there to see it - they were too busy rushing to the hospital to deliver an eight-weeks-early Cassie. Now, twelve years later, Cassie feels drawn to the mysteries hidden beneath the surface of the manmade lake - and she’s not the only one.

When Cole moves in with his dad, Harp, he thinks life will be sweet - just him and his horse, Boo, hanging out with Philadelphia’s urban cowboys. But when Harp says he has to get a job, Cole winds up as a stable hand for the polo team at George Washington Military Academy, where the players are rich, white, and stuck-up - all except Ruthie, the team’s first and only girl, who’s determined to show the others she can beat them at their own game. As Cole and Ruthie become friends - and maybe more - he starts imagining his future, maybe even at the academy.

Ever since local boy Lester Ward got drafted by the University of Iowa Hawkeyes and football fever hit Goodhue, Iowa, scrawny Ned Button can think of nothing but the game. Sure, Lester’s younger bully of a brother is determined to keep Ned and his gang from ever getting near a real pickup game. But Ned has a few tricks up his sleeve: he can catch and sometimes even throw, much to his surprise. And he’s got his eccentric grandpa Ike, who has less get-up-and-go these days, but no shortage of down-home wisdom.

Niya Moto is the only one-legged samurai kid in Japan, famous for falling flat on his face in the dirt. None of the samurai schools will teach crippled Niya, until an offer arrives from the legendary samurai warrior Ki-Yaga, sensei of the Cockroach Ryu. Niya and the other Cockroaches must defeat the fierce samurai students from the Dragon Ryu at the Samurai Trainee Games. Though they seem to be at a terrible disadvantage, it’s not long before they learn that if they stick together, there is no journey that they cannot complete, no fear that they cannot face....