Showing results by narrator "Tara Sands" in All Categories

Once upon a time, Cat Starr lived with her astronaut mom in Houston. But when her mother gets sent on a long-term mission, Cat has to move to a faraway land - her dad's house, halfway across the country - and share a room with her real-life evil stepsister, Olivia. Just when Cat can't take it anymore, Great Aunt Abyssinia comes to the rescue. And things go from bad to cursed. The next morning, Cat opens her mouth and a toad hops out! What's more, when Olivia speaks, diamonds and flowers appear. How unfair is that?

Mackenzie "Mac" Lowell is living a dream come true on tour with her favorite boy band. Spending time on the road with Perfect Storm hasn't been what Mac expected, though—it's even BETTER! But with screaming fans and big-time recording sessions come haters and copycats, like Thunder and Lightning, a new band on the label whose first single sounds suspiciously like the song Perfect Storm's guitarist wrote for Mac.

Rose Montgomery parks her family’s trailer in Fort Glory, Oregon with one goal: to carve out a new life for herself and her little brother, Charlie. They need a fresh start for their family, and she thinks she's found it. But then, in an instant, Fort Glory disappears and every person in town vanishes into thin air - including Charlie. Rose and four other teens become trapped in the Fold, a patch of woods caught halfway between the real world and the lost town. In the Fold, a mysterious force suspends the laws of physics, and everyone’s inner darkness has the power to kill.

Life's a beach . . . and then you're undead? In this must-have collection, five of today's hottest writers tell supernatural tales of vacations gone awry. Lost luggage is only mildly unpleasant compared to bunking with a witch who holds a grudge. And a sunburn might be embarrassing and painful, but it doesn't last as long as a curse. Of course, even in the most hellish of situations, love can thrive.... From light and funny to dark and creepy, these stories have something for everyone. You definitely won't want to leave this collection at home!

Alice told the psychiatrist about her blind sister. "She has built a wall of eyes around her, the good eyes of the rest of us, the eyes of the people who hate her and watch her and wait for her to die. That's what she says, that the eyes are watching and waiting." Soon the waiting would be over.

Liza and Cliff are getting married, and it's set to be a grand affair. Happily, weddings bring family together, so Cliff's brother, Byron Forrester, makes the trip for the big event. He's visited the town of Tyler once before, and despite his uneasy relationship with Cliff, he's glad for the opportunity to return. Nora Gates, independent-minded owner of Tyler's department store, fancies herself a spinster. One brief, passionate affair sated her curiosity. But Byron's arrival shatters her tranquility.

Twelve-year-old Mackenzie "Mac" Lowell's dreams are about to come true. Thanks to her mom scoring the coolest job EVER, Mac is going from boy band fanatic to official tour member of her favorite group, Perfect Storm. Thankfully she's brought along her journal so she can record every moment, every breath, and every one of lead singer Zander Welling's killer smiles in written detail and doodles throughout the pages.

A suburban Boston school unwittingly started a firestorm of controversy over a sixth-grade field trip. The class was visiting a mosque to learn about world religions when a handful of boys, unnoticed by their teachers, joined the line of worshippers and acted out the motions of the Muslim call to prayer. A video of the prayer went viral with the title "Wellesley, Massachusetts Public School Students Learn to Pray to Allah". Charges flew that the school exposed the children to Muslims who intended to convert American schoolchildren.

It's time for school, but Ms. Bronte has one small problem...she really loves eating books. (Did I mention she's also a dinosaur?) Math books, cookbooks, old books, new books - she just can't help herself. Will Ms. Bronte ever be able to curb her page-turning appetite, or will she continue chomping her way through a tasty book buffet?

Sociology professor Matthew Larkin is barely holding on. After the death of his toddler son, his wife divorced him, his teenage daughter abandoned him, and he lost a job he loved. Landing a rare tenure track position at a small college in southern Minnesota, he’s trying to cope with the disaster his life has become. While driving down an empty highway in the middle of nowhere one gloomy Sunday evening, Matthew gets caught in a hailstorm. Pulling off the road to find shelter, he spies a disturbing sight.

The Spring Fling formal is the most important event on Salem University’s social calendar: a night when the entire school comes together to show off dresses, dance moves, and dates. But this year, just as the party is getting started, the stench of rotten eggs washes over the crowd. In the rush to escape the awful smell, a riot nearly breaks out. Somebody tossed a stink bomb to ruin the dance -but who would pull such a prank? Quinn Hadley doesn’t know anything about it; she couldn’t get a date, and she slept through the dance. But when she awakes, she finds one of her jackets reeking of sulfur.

Everyone on campus hates Doctor Stark, the severe woman who seems to take sadistic pleasure from doling out D’s and F’s on her infamous chemistry exams. Never before has Shea had so much trouble in school, and never before has she considered something so awful as cheating, but this time she has no choice. Her scholarship is riding on the class, and losing the scholarship would ruin her. Shea sneaks into Stark’s classroom and, terrified, makes a copy of tomorrow’s exam.

Minnie McClary is the new girl and knows that she doesn't quite fit in, especially not after she lost it one day in language arts. In art, Minnie has to paint a self-portrait - but how can she do this when she doesn't even know who she is anymore? Things aren't great at home, either. Her uncle Bill is building a huge replica of the Apache helicopter he flew in Iraq, and her father has blown some sort of whistle and has to start over in a new job. Then Miss Marks takes over Minnie's language class....

In this delightful chapter book, you'll meet Jamal, Lindalee, Hans, Matteo, and others - the kids who live on Cattywampus Street, not far from the Waddlebee Toy Store. Each of the 11 chapters in this magical, mysterious, silly, scary, happy, and sometimes sad chapter book tells an utterly unforgettable tale about one of the kids.

Dorothy awakens one morning to discover that Princess Ozma has disappeared, along with several magic items belonging to Glinda and the wizard. A search party comprising Dorothy, the wizard, Betsy Bobbin, Trot, and Button-Bright is formed, and the friends set off for the land of the Winkies. But who is behind the mysterious disappearances?

Annie has been promised a summer of freedom in the country. Freedom from a difficult school year, freedom from her fake "friends" back in the city, and, most of all, freedom from her mom's life-governing spreadsheets and rigid schedules.

With more than 300,000 copies sold, the Nightmare Hall series is steadily building a dedicated audience - and this eerie tale of terror is the most exciting title to date. High on a hillside overlooking Salem University sits Nightmare Hall, where a group of outcasts form a secret society with only one way to resign.

I'm Lucy Rose, and here's the thing about this summer: I am big on fun and big on plans. I am desperate to make a lanyard keychain, and Jonique is feeling the same about potholders. Plus I have to get rid of 78 or more squirrels that are climbing all over Madam and Pop's apricot tree and taking bites out of the puny fruits and flinging them to the ground which is maddening to Madam who wants to make them into jam. The apricots, not the squirrels.

A collection of sweet, tender, poetic, beautiful, heart-wrenching, sensual love stories.

Life is never quiet at the Homestead. First, it was disappearing animals, then a power-hungry dairy queen. Now it’s a Renaissance Faire, a noisy, stinky spectacle that drives Horace to distraction. Bunwinkle, on the other hand, can’t get enough of the festivities—she loves the thrilling jousts, the court intrigue…and especially the pickles on a stick.