Seventh-grader Alex Schrader's life changes when he meets Bijou Doucet, a Haitian girl recently relocated to Brooklyn, and while he is determined to win her heart Alex also learns about dating rules and Haitian culture.

Life for Alex Schrader has never involved girls. He goes to an all-boys prep school and spends most of his time goofing around with his friends. But all that changes the first time he meets Bijou Doucet, a Haitian girl recently relocated to Brooklyn after the earthquake-and he is determined to win her heart. For Bijou, change is the only constant, and she's surprised every day by how different life is in America, especially when a boy asks her out. Alex quickly learns that there are rules when it comes to girls-both in Haitian culture and with his own friends. And Bijou soon learns that she doesn't have to let go of her roots to find joy in her new life. Told in alternating viewpoints against the vibrant backdrop of Haitian-American culture, Alex and Bijou take their first tender steps toward love in this heartwarming story.

You'd never guess it now, but Annabelle Cabrera used to be a rock star. And not like her mom or dad called her a "total rock star" after she won a spelling bee or something. She was a real rock star, the bassist of Egg Mountain, the most popular band in the New York music scene. But when her parents uproot her from Brooklyn and move her to Rhode Island so they can record their own album, Annabelle feels lost. Starting a new band isn't as easy as she'd hoped, the school's rival band is a bunch of bullies, and her parents are so immersed in recording that they're completely neglecting Annabelle and her younger brother. How can Annabelle truly make herself heard?

Three little kittens create a sensation when they join dancers onstage of a Parisian theater known for its ballet and for the artist who paints there.

Rhyming verse and brightly colored illustrations tell the story of a boy and his family planting a tree for Tu B’Shevat and watching it grow. This board book is just right for little hands.

What happens to the Responsorial Psalm in the Sunday liturgy? How can it help us pray the Sunday readings? How can it help in planning the liturgy? The Responsorial Psalm is the most neglected part of the Liturgy of the Word, yet it can be the key to all the rest. Its intent is to help bring the message of the other readings into our lives. This book addresses the riches of the Responsorial Psalm for every Sunday of the three-year cycle. It explains the psalm genre, offers exposition on the meaning and beauty of the psalm itself, and comments on the relationship of the Responsorial Psalm to the other readings. It is the book for anyone who wants to understand and appreciate the Sunday readings -- preachers, catechists, liturgists and all the people in the pews.

One autumn day Frog discovers a blackbird lying motionless in the grass. Worried, he asks his friends what can be the matter. Very gently and simply, then animals begin to understand the meaning of death and the beauty of life in this moving story.

From Bassem Youssef, aka the Jon Stewart of the Arab World, and author Catherine R. Daly comes a hilarious and heartfelt story about prejudice, friendship, empathy, and courage. Nadia loves fun facts. Here are a few about her:• She collects bobbleheads -- she has 77 so far.• She moved from Egypt to America when she was six years old.• The hippo amulet she wears is ancient... as in it's literally from ancient Egypt.• She's going to win the contest to design a new exhibit at the local museum. Because how cool would that be?!(Okay, so that last one isn't a fact just yet, but Nadia has plans to make it one.)But then a new kid shows up and teases Nadia about her Egyptian heritage. It's totally unexpected, and totally throws her off her game.And something else happens that Nadia can't explain: Her amulet starts glowing! She soon discovers that the hippo is holding a helpful -- and hilarious -- secret. Can she use it to confront the new kid and win the contest?From The Daily Show comedian Bassem Youssef and author Catherine R. Daly comes a humorous and heartfelt story about prejudice, friendship, empathy, and courage.Includes sections of black-and-white comics as well as lively black-and-white illustrations throughout.

Eric Jerome Dickey, author of fourteen New York Times bestselling novels, imagines the formative college years of one of his most popular heroines, Nia Simone Bijou. This Penguin Special includes a preview of Decadence, coming April 2013. From her first days at Virginia’s Hampton University, impressionable, creative Nia falls smitten with Chris Eidos Alleyne, an athlete and a scholar. “Love is sweet nothings and beautiful promises,” Nia writes in her journal. What her girlfriends know, and her mother doesn’t, is that Chris’s expression of love is deeply physical. Wielding powerful charisma, Chris soon has Nia abandoning innocence for experience. Believing that Chris will reward her sacrifices with lifelong commitment, Nia thrills to her newfound pleasures. She knows in her heart that each act of intimacy draws them ever closer. But when the Big Man on Campus learns to take what is freely given, without regard to love, Nia finds herself newly enrolled in Heartbreak 101. The Education of Nia Simone Bijou is a rousing tale of youthful passion, once kindled, never extinguished.

An utterly gripping love story set in nineteenth-century Norway, about a woman rescued from the sea, the fisherman who marries her, their tiny and unusually gifted daughter, and the shapeshifter who follows their every move, perfect for fans of Alice Hoffman, Yangsze Choo, Eowyn Ivey, and Neil Gaiman. The sky opens up... I hear them laugh. They don’t feel the sadness in the air. They don’t feel the danger coming, riding in on the wind. In the hinterlands of old Norway, Leidah Pietersdatter is born blue-skinned, with webbed hands and feet. Upon every turn of season, her mother, Maeva, worries as her daughter’s peculiarities blossom—inside the root of the tiny child, a strange power is taking hold. Maeva tries to hide the girl from the suspicious townsfolk of the austere village of Ørken, just as she conceals her own magical ancestry from her daughter. And Maeva’s adoring husband, Pieter, wants nothing more than for his new family to be accepted by all. But unlike Pieter, who is blinded by love, Maeva is aware that the villagers, who profess a rigid faith to the new God and claim to have abandoned the old ways, are watching for any sign of transgression—and are eager to pounce and punish. Following both mother and daughter from the shadows and through time, an inquisitive shapeshifter waits for the Fates to spin their web, and for Maeva to finally reclaim who she once was. And as Maeva’s elusive past begins to beckon, she realizes that she must help her daughter navigate and control her own singular birthright if the child is to survive the human world. But the protective love Pieter has for his family is threatening the secure life they have slowly built and increasingly becoming a tragic obstacle. Witnessing this, Maeva comes to a drastic conclusion: she must make Leidah promise to keep a secret from Pieter—a perilous one that may eventually free them all.