Thirteen-year-old Lillian, miserable about being a "beanpole" and a loser, stops feeling sorry for herself when she learns the difference between a loser and a winner

Boys' Life is the official youth magazine for the Boy Scouts of America. Published since 1911, it contains a proven mix of news, nature, sports, history, fiction, science, comics, and Scouting.

Boys' Life is the official youth magazine for the Boy Scouts of America. Published since 1911, it contains a proven mix of news, nature, sports, history, fiction, science, comics, and Scouting.

When Sprout and his father move from Long Island to Kansas after the death of his mother, he is sure he will find no friends, no love, no beauty. But friends find him, the strangeness of the landscape fascinates him, and when love shows up in an unexpected place, it proves impossible to hold. An incredible, literary story of a boy who knows he's gay, and the town that seems to have no place for him to hide.

Boys' Life is the official youth magazine for the Boy Scouts of America. Published since 1911, it contains a proven mix of news, nature, sports, history, fiction, science, comics, and Scouting.

Boys' Life is the official youth magazine for the Boy Scouts of America. Published since 1911, it contains a proven mix of news, nature, sports, history, fiction, science, comics, and Scouting.

According to Jim Mize, nature has no mercy - just a sense of humor - and in this hilarious romp through the woods, he proves why readers praise him as an amusing combination of Marlin Perkins and Lewis Grizzard. The way Jim tells it, such overlooked creatures as fleas, flying squirrels, and chipmunks become curiosities of hilarious proportions. In the opening section, Jim waxes comic about carnivorous plants, insects that make people nervous, and birds with bad names. He points out, for instance, that all plants are edible. It's just that some of them will kill you. He also notes potential uses for kudzu - erosion control, livestock fodder, and hiding the neighbors' house as a prank while they're on vacation. From the quirks of nature, Mize graduates to greasy kid stuff. He tells parents how to referee while paddling a boat, raise kids that people like, and survive the two hobbies no child can resist - rock collecting and entomology. And Jim has plenty of musings about hunting and fishing. Outdoors people are sure to chuckle as he ponders the purpose of carp ("fish so ugly they have to spawn in muddy water"), the perplexities of orienteering ("Getting lost has never been much of a problem for me; the problem is getting found".) and the procedure for getting crappie to bite at night ("Lay your rod down, hold a cup of scalding coffee in one hand and a floppy sandwich in the other, and, if possible, try to balance the open thermos on one leg. Then just wait. Bait is optional".). Saving some of his most laugh-provoking observations for his final section, Jim answers age-old questions about why women fish better than men, why people give homes to shoe-chewing puppies, and where to takespouses for a special occasion (he recommends steering clear of restaurants that proudly accept Bass Pro Shop credit cards). Jim's entertaining insights are guaranteed to make you laugh out loud in renewed appreciation of the great outdoors.

An unknown key. A reunion with an old friend. An unexpected outcome. As a private investigator, Sam is used to odd items in his pockets. A miniature fingerprint kit, small notebooks, even the occasional pistol round… just to name a few. But never a key he doesn’t recognize. The easy answer is to toss the key in the trash and finish his laundry. But Sam never takes the easy way out of anything… Join our intrepid gumshoe as he sets off on his next adventure, where things are rarely what they seem.

Everyone says Salome ran away. What if everybody's wrong? Salome was always wild. Since childhood, she said she wanted out of Amish life. So when she gets into a car with a group of Englischers on a Spring afternoon, everyone knows Salome ran away. But five years later and pregnant with her first child, Salome's best friend Susie stumbles on new, troubling evidence that makes her question everything. Caught between community, family, and friendship, Susie will put her life and her marriage on the line for the truth. Can Susie find out what really happened? And if she does, will her faith survive? Missing is a clean, Amish mystery about friendship and faith that will keep you up all night turning pages. If you love a Christian mystery with heaps of tension, start reading Missing today! If you love clean Amish mysteries, read Missing now! Great for lovers of Amish mysteries, Amish suspense, Amish secret, Amish mysteries and suspense, Amish cozy mysteries, Amish books, Christian books, Christian suspense, Christian suspense books