When compared to her nearly perfect little sister, Phoebe Paz Petersen feels she doesn't measure up in her parents' eyes. Okalee is smart and beloved for her sunny disposition, which makes it hard for Phoebe to stand out in their small town in Montana. But if she can get picked for the coveted solo in the school choir, she'll stop being a middle-school nobody and finally get her chance to shine. Despite her sister's annoying perfection, Phoebe actually loves spending time with Okalee. They have one very special, secret tradition: River Day--when they hold hands and make their way across the cold, rushing Grayling River, to celebrate the first hint of spring. This year's River Day crossing, however, goes horribly wrong, and Phoebe's world is suddenly turned upside down. Heartbroken and facing life without Okalee, Phoebe is more determined than ever to sing the solo in the school concert as a way of speaking to her sister one last time. But Phoebe's so traumatized by what happened, she's lost her beautiful singing voice. Kat Waters wants the choir solo for herself and is spreading a terrible rumor about what really happened to Okalee on River Day. If Phoebe tells the truth, she believes her family will never forgive her and she may never get to sing her goodbye to Okalee. Even worse, somebody is leaving Phoebe anonymous notes telling her they saw what really happened at the river. Missing Okalee is an empathy-building novel about the unbreakable bond between sisters and finding the courage to do what's right amid heartbreak and tragedy.

Kristin O’Donnell Tubb, the award-winning author of A Dog Like Daisy, delivers another heartwarming must-read middle grade novel for dog lovers. Equal parts funny and poignant, this book from the point of view of the service dog, Zeus, is perfect for fans of Max and A Dog Called Homeless. Zeus comes from a long line of heroic dogs, and he dreams of glory as a K9 commander. But he receives a much more dangerous assignment—middle school! And as all good service dogs know, the only way to get through hostile territory is by being invisible. Zeus’s new human, Madden, is diabetic, and he wants to be invisible, too. That’s hard to do with a huge German Shepherd at his side to alert him when his blood sugar drops. And it’s even harder because Madden makes this noise called music that draws attention. Zeus’s mission becomes clear: he must destroy music. While Zeus’s training prepared him for his most important job—keeping Madden safe—he discovers the human world is complicated. As Madden dreams of winning the state band competition and tries to reconnect with his mom, the lieutenant, Zeus must learn that, sometimes, you need to stand out to fulfill your duty.

When Karen leaves New Jersey to spend time with her enigmatic father on Mount Olympus, she is shocked to learn that her junior high classmates are gods and goddesses, and that one of them is turning people to stone.

"Along with Kick Ass, this is one of the best collections of occasional journalism published in recent years."--Booklist (starred review)

A lyrically told, exquisitely illustrated biography of influential Jewish artist and activist Ben Shahn “The first thing I can remember,” Ben said, “I drew.” As an observant child growing up in Lithuania, Ben Shahn yearns to draw everything he sees—and, after seeing his father banished by the Czar for demanding workers’ rights, he develops a keen sense of justice, too. So when Ben and the rest of his family make their way to America, Ben brings both his sharp artistic eye and his desire to fight for what’s right. As he grows, he speaks for justice through his art—by disarming classmates who bully him because he’s Jewish, by defying his teachers’ insistence that he paint beautiful landscapes rather than true stories, by urging the US government to pass Depression-era laws to help people find food and jobs. In this moving and timely portrait, award-winning author Cynthia Levinson and illustrator Evan Turk honor an artist, immigrant, and activist whose work still resonates today: a true painter for the people.

Linda O'Neal recounts the events surrounding the 2002 disappearance of her step-granddaughter and her best friend, and shares what her private investigation has revealed about the case.

An NPR Best Book of the Year A Vanity Fair Best Summer Read "A haunting, mind-bending memoir. . . . riveting." —New York Times "A mixture of biography and true crime, this narrative . . . offers more plot twists, shocking revelations and shady characters than most contemporary thrillers." —NPR The Book of Atlantis Black will have you questioning facts, rooting for secrets, and asking what it means to know the truth. A young woman is found dead on the floor of a Tijuana hotel room. An ID in a nearby purse reads “Atlantis Black.” The police report states that the body does not seem to match the identification, yet the body is quickly cremated and the case is considered closed. So begins Betsy Bonner’s search for her sister, Atlantis, and the unraveling of the mysterious final months before Atlantis’s disappearance, alleged overdose, and death. With access to her sister’s email and social media accounts, Bonner attempts to decipher and construct a narrative: frantic and unintelligible Facebook posts, alarming images of a woman with a handgun, Craigslist companionship ads, DEA agent testimony, video surveillance, police reports, and various phone calls and moments in the flesh conjured from memory. Through a history only she and Atlantis shared—a childhood fraught with abuse and mental illness, Atlantis’s precocious yet short rise in the music world, and through it all an unshakable bond of sisterhood—Bonner finds questions that lead only to more questions and possible clues that seem to point in no particular direction. In this haunting memoir and piercing true crime account, Bonner must decide how far she will go to understand a sister who, like the mythical island she renamed herself for, might prove impossible to find.

Lost and Missing Vol. 2, More True Stories of People Gone Missing and Never Found Volume 2 is a continuation of the Murders, Mayhem and Scandals Series. As in Vol. 1, it contains stories of people who have disappeared without a trace and are still missing. These cases include stories of lost people going back to pre-AD times and continuing into the 21st century. From the noted gladiator Spartacus to the Carnegie heir Andrew Carnegie Whitfield and from Joan Gay Croft, the child who disappeared from the hospital after a tornado to Iraena Asher the New Zealand model who walked naked into the dark and was never seen again. The book includes the following cases: Spartacus, the legendary gladiator, 71 BCThe Princes in the Tower, Edward V of England and Richard of Shrewsbury, 1483Captain Benjamin Briggs, his wife Sarah Elizabeth, their daughter Sophia Matilda, and all seven crew members of the Mary Celeste, 1872Bobby Dunbar, believed found but was he?, 1912Bela Kiss, the Hungarian Serial Killer, 1916Andrew Carnegie Whitfield, a member of one of the wealthiest American families, 1938Joan Gay Croft, vanished during the aftermath of a tornado, 1947Jean Spangler, went out for the night, never came back, 1949Robin Graham, taken from a Hollywood Freeway, 1970Kevin Andrew Collins, disappeared after basketball practice, 1984The Springfield Three, three women mysteriously disappear, 1992Richey Edwards, left his car near a bridge, 1995Amy Lynn Bradley, another cruise ship mystery, 1998Iraena Asher, a very preventable mystery, 2004Lyle and Marie McCann, the couple on a road trip, 2010 These stories of missing people, while tragic, peak our interest in many ways. The mysteries, even ones from long ago, keep our curiosity and imaginations in high gear as we contemplate how these people vanished and why they were never found. Lost people, especially those who could still be alive, make for riveting reading. This new volume is sure to grab and hold your attention throughout.

Here is the true story of the disappearance, pursuit, and discovery of a violated, murdered, buried eight-year-old girl, including and the police tracking, arrest, and classic trial which led to the conviction of the murderer. In Little Girl Is Missing, Samuel Roen gives the full details of Florida's most heinous sexual murder, and places readers right in the midst of the unfolding drama. The grim man-hunt is described, as the author reveals the community fervor that boils up in reaction to the horror of the crime, and the great police work, which includes the interminable investigation and interrogation of hundreds of suspects and painstaking attention to every clue. Covering three years of careful work, A Little Girl is Missing is dramatic reportage.