Authors: Carol Weston
Ava and Pip (14 page)
DOG DOO? GOOD GOD!
NEVER ODD OR EVEN
A NUT FOR A JAR OF TUNA
LIVE NOT ON EVIL
MY GYM
PARTY BOOBY TRAP
REWARD DRAWER
SPACE CAPS
HE DID, EH?
BORROW OR ROB
LLAMA MALL
MADAM, IN EDEN I'M ADAM
NOT A BANANA BATON
ABLE WAS I ERE I SAW ELBA
and
IN WORDS, ALAS, DROWN Iâ¦
I'd like to give a heartfelt shout-out to my early readers including kids, teachers, librarians, pros, friends, and family: Emme, Lizzi, and Rob Ackerman, Marybeth and Cynthia Weston, Denver Butson and Maybelle Keyser-Butson, Geraldine Rijs, Sandy and Stephanie Jenkins, Mary Lemons, Sue Hipkens, Carrie Silberman, Elise Howard, Sam Forman, Maureen Davison, Kelsey Allan, Nora Sheridan, Suzy Weiss, Anna Umansky, Olivia Framke, Cathy Roos, Lucie Aidinoff, Kathy and Ally Lathen, Anna Abrahams, Char and Clay Ezell, Laura Peterson, Elena Mechlin, Sinclair Target, Hannah Eisner, Karolina Ksiazek, Sydney Gabourel, and Max Lerman. Hurray for Trinity School in N.Y.C., Maret School in D.C., the Squam Lake family, Ragdale Foundation, and the New York Society Library where I'm lucky enough to be a judge of the annual Young Writers Awards. I'm hugely grateful to Susan Ginsburg and Stacy Testa of Writers House, and profoundly pleased that Steve Geck deemed Ava Jabberwocky-worthy, and that Victoria Jamieson, Jillian Bergsma, Derry Wilkens, and Cat Clyne all helped turn simple words into a beautiful book.
Carol Weston lives in Manhattan. Her first book,
Girltalk: All the Stuff Your Sister Never Told You,
was published in a dozen languages. Her next eleven books include
The
Diary
of
Melanie
Martin
and three other Melanie Martin novels. Carol studied French and Spanish comparative literature at Yale, graduating summa cum laude. She has an M.A. in Spanish from Middlebury. Since 1994, she has been the “Dear Carol” advice columnist at
Girls' Life
Magazine. Carol and her husband, playwright Rob Ackerman, have two daughters (Lizzi and Emme) and one cat (Mike). Carol kept diaries as a girl, and her parents were writer-editors. She has taught writing at Middlebury College and created a YouTube video in English and Spanish called “Get Your Kids to Read.” What will Ava do next? Find out more at
CarolWeston.com
.
THE SUMMER EXPERIMENT
Cathie Pelletier
Are there Aliens in Allagash?
Roberta is convinced she and her best friend Marilee can win the State Science Fair if only they can find an amazing project to showcase. And they've got the whole summer to work on it. But in order to win they'll need to defeat their chief competitor, “The 4Hs of the Apocalypse”: Henry Horton Harris Helmsby.
When mysterious lights begin to appear over her hometown, Roberta has a brilliant idea: finding aliens in Allagash and proving they exist would win her first place for sure. 4Hs could never top thatâ¦or could he?
THIS JOURNAL BELONGS TO RATCHET
Nancy J. Cavanaugh
It's the first day of school for all the kids in the neighborhood. But not for me. I'm homeschooled. That means nothing new. No new book bag, no new clothes, and no friendsâold or new. The best I've got is this notebook. I'm supposed to use it for my writing assignments, but my dad never checks. Here's what I'm really going to use it for:
Ratchet's Top Secret Plan: turn my old, recycled, freakish, friendless, motherless life into something shiny and new.
This is Ratchet's journal and in its pages are Ratchet's writings, her poems, and her drawings. Together, they tell Ratchet's story about her quest to make a friend, save a park, and find her own definition of normal.
THE CUPCAKE CLUB: PEACE, LOVE, AND CUPCAKES
Sheryl Berk and Carrie Berk
Meet Kylie Carson.
She's a fourth grader with a big problem. How will she make friends at her new school? Should she tell her classmates she loves monster movies? Forget it. Play the part of a turnip in the school play? Disaster! Then Kylie comes up with a delicious idea: What if she starts a cupcake club?
Soon Kylie's club is spinning out tasty treats with the help of her fellow bakers and new friends. But when the school bully tries to sabotage the girls' big cupcake party, will it be the end of the Cupcake Club?
