In the heart of Brooklyn, New York, there is an alley that is the most beautiful place to live in the whole wide world. Or so Connie Ives believes. The alley is the perfect location to sharpen Connie's swinging skills, hold practices for the Alley Conservatory of Music, and convict a burglar by trial. From the bestselling author of Ginger Pye comes the story of a little girl whose eyes are always open to the beauty of the world that surrounds her.

From the author of the New York Times Notable Book, The Translator: a novel of the “rich and complex world of a Sudanese patriarch in the 1950s” (Sarah Blake, author of The Postmistress). Lyrics Alley is the evocative story of an affluent Sudanese family shaken by the shifting powers in their country and the near-tragedy that threatens the legacy they’ve built for decades. In 1950s Sudan, the powerful Abuzeid dynasty has amassed a fortune through their trading firm. With Mahmoud Bey at its helm, they can do no wrong. But when Mahmoud’s son, Nur, the brilliant, handsome heir to the business empire, suffers a debilitating accident, the family stands divided in the face of an uncertain future. As British rule nears its end, the country is torn between modernizing influences and the call of traditions past—a conflict reflected in the growing tensions between Mahmoud’s two wives: the younger, Nabilah, longs to return to Egypt and escape “backward-looking” Sudan; while Waheeba lives traditionally behind veils and closed doors. It’s not until Nur asserts himself outside the cultural limits of his parents that his own spirit and the frayed bonds of his family begin to mend. Moving from Sudanese alleys to cosmopolitan Cairo and a decimated postcolonial Britain, this sweeping tale of desire, loss, despair, and reconciliation is one of the most accomplished portraits ever written about Sudanese society at the time of independence. “Highly recommended for readers who enjoy family sagas set against a political backdrop, such as Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half a Yellow Sun.” —Library Journal, starred review

This story relates the painful and embarrassing aftermath of name-calling and bullying from the perspective of the bully. J. J. Jax has been tormenting an overweight boy named Patrick, calling him Pig-Pen and Porky, to the point that Patrick is now afraid to go to school. Learning of his son's behavior, J. J.'s father lectures him to stop bullying Patrick. When that approach fails, Mr. Jax tries another tack and shares an experience he had as a youthful bully and the consequences he recently faced as a result of his actions. Touched by his father's words, J.J. reaches out to Patrick in a school arm-wrestling contest and experiences the "alley oops" moment of empowerment and self-esteem that comes from doing the right thing. Snappy dialogue highlights the harmful, lasting effects of bullying and the importance of finding common ground toward conflict resolution. Believable contemporary illustrations bring the story to life with expressive body language.

Fourteen-year-old Ben Summers has started seeing things. When he moves into a new apartment with his dad and brother, Ben meets a neighbor who keeps disappearing.

Soon to be a major motion picture from Academy Award–winning director Guillermo del Toro and starring Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, and Toni Collette. Nightmare Alley begins with an extraordinary description of a carnival-show geek—alcoholic and abject and the object of the voyeuristic crowd’s gleeful disgust and derision—going about his work at a county fair. Young Stan Carlisle is working as a carny, and he wonders how a man could fall so low. There’s no way in hell, he vows, that anything like that will ever happen to him. And since Stan is clever and ambitious and not without a useful streak of ruthlessness, soon enough he’s going places. Onstage he plays the mentalist with a cute assistant (before long his harried wife), then he graduates to full-blown spiritualist, catering to the needs of the rich and gullible in their well-upholstered homes. It looks like the world is Stan’s for the taking. At least for now.

"A serious, well-behaved young black cat, who leads a daring double life defeating vile villains." When Miss Kitty sneaks out to go hunting in her beautiful boots, she gets herself into all sorts of scrapes, but on this particular night she meets the foxiest hunter of them all - Mr. Tod! This utterly entertaining tale is filled with mistaken identities, devious villains and even an appearance from Peter Rabbit. Told with Beatrix Potter's trademark dry humour and wry observations, this brilliant tale is sure to become as popular as her original classics and is illustrated by the best-loved Quentin Blake.

Forgotten today, established Black communities once existed in the alleyways of Washington, D.C., even in neighborhoods as familiar as Capitol Hill and Foggy Bottom. James Borchert's study delves into the lives and folkways of the largely alley dwellers and how their communities changed from before the Civil War, to the late 1890s era when almost 20,000 people lived in alley houses, to the effects of reform and gentrification in the mid-twentieth century.

Winner of the 2022 Mildred L. Batchelder Award A July/August 2021 Kids' Indie Next Pick A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection From renowned Japanese children's author Sachiko Kashiwaba, Temple Alley Summer is a fantastical and mysterious adventure featuring the living dead, a magical pearl, and a suspiciously nosy black cat named Kiriko. Kazu knows something odd is going on when he sees a girl in a white kimono sneak out of his house in the middle of the night--was he dreaming? Did he see a ghost? Things get even stranger when he shows up to school the next day to see the very same figure sitting in his classroom. No one else thinks it's weird, and, even though Kazu doesn't remember ever seeing her before, they all seem convinced that the ghost-girl Akari has been their friend for years! When Kazu's summer project to learn about Kimyo Temple draws the meddling attention of his mysterious neighbor Ms. Minakami and his secretive new classmate Akari, Kazu soon learns that not everything is as it seems in his hometown. Kazu discovers that Kimyo Temple is linked to a long forgotten legend about bringing the dead to life, which could explain Akari's sudden appearance--is she a zombie or a ghost? Kazu and Akari join forces to find and protect the source of the temple's power. An unfinished story in a magazine from Akari's youth might just hold the key to keeping Akari in the world of the living, and it's up to them to find the story's ending and solve the mystery as the adults around them conspire to stop them from finding the truth.

The year is 1614. Recently orphaned Lizzy Tinker has lived half of her twelve years in Holland, but she does not feel at home there. Lizzy belongs to a small congregation of religious refugees who have fled England in order to worship as they choose. The Dutch people enjoy a free and easy lifestyle that Master William Brewster constantly admonishes his austere English Pilgrims to resist. Many find this difficult, including Lizzy. Although the Brewsters took her in when her father died, she doesn't feel at home with them either. Her undisciplined tongue always seems to get her in trouble. What is more, Lizzy has a talent for cooking, and she loves making sinfully delicious Dutch cookies and cakes. Her kitchen craft has landed her a job cooking for a Dutch family whose precocious eight-year-old son has a stubborn nature, artistic talent, and nose for trouble even greater than Lizzy's own. Heaven help her now! With meticulous research and great imagination, Jamie Gilson has created an authentic, entertaining story that brings to life seventeenth- century Holland and the unique culture that fostered both the Mayflower Pilgrims and master painters such as Rembrandt.