Austin is tired of standing at the curb and watching the parade pass her by. Literally.

Almost-15-year-old Austin Gray is tired of standing at the curb and watching the parade pass her by. Literally. She decides this is the year she'll ride on the hood of a shiny pickup truck in the annual parade, waving to the crowd and finally showing the town bully that she's got what it takes to be the Sweetheart of Prosper County. But far from simply being a beauty contest, becoming Sweetheart involves participation in the Future Farmers of America (FFA), raising an animal, and hunting or fishing. Austin will do almost anything to become Sweetheart, and has the support of her oldest friend, Maribel, her new FFA friends (including the reigning Sweetheart, and a quiet, cute cowboy), an evangelical Elvis impersonator, a mysterious Cajun outcast, and a rooster named Charles Dickens. If only her momma would stop overprotecting her, and start letting Austin live her own life. But Austin can't move on until Momma moves on, too—and lets the grief of losing Austin's daddy several years before out into the open. Here is a bighearted story that will leave readers agreeing with Austin that sometimes, it's not what you ride, it's how you roll.

Now includes a subscription to CWIM online (the children’s publishing area of writersmarket.com). The 2011 CWIM offers more than 650 listings for book publishers, magazines, agents, art reps and more. It’s completely updated and is the most trusted source for children’s publishing information. CWIM also contains exclusive interviews with and articles by well-respected and award-winning authors, illustrators, and publishing professionals as well as nuts-and-bolts how-to information. Readers will learn what to do, how to do it, and get loads of information and inspiration.

Paisley Tillery is the drummer for a country rock band. If they can make it to the stage at the Texapalooza music fest, then Paisley will be closer to her dream of a career in music and a ticket out of her small Texas town. Drumming and music are what Paisley has always wanted. Until the band gets a new lead singer, the boy from Paradise, Texas. With Paradise in her life, what Paisley wants, and what she needs, complicate her dreams coming true.

Michael Anthony, 20-year reading workshop practitioner at the secondary level, and Joan Kaywell, acclaimed author and advocate for young adult literature in learning, present Between the Lines, a creative paradigm shift for the English Language Arts workshop classroom. In contrast to the traditional sustained silent reading and individual conferencing model, an impractical commitment for most teachers, BtL invites collaborative engagement and active inquiry among students as well as on-demand writing and integrated YA literature, all designed to support existing middle and secondary level ELA classroom curriculum instruction and national academic learning standards while empowering English educators toward improved student literacy achievement and the creation of lifelong readers. The classroom activities, with student-friendly names like Book Chat Check and Pop Goes the Question, promote animated discussions in social learning contexts and produce writings supported by textual evidence from student selected texts. Clear step by step directions for facilitation and authentic models of resulting student writing are shared along with a standards-based lesson plan suitable for grades 6-12. Ongoing teacher/student journal conversations validate independent reader thought processes and provoke differentiated learning experiences. The book includes Common Core State Standards-based strategies for responding to students meaningfully and for inviting extensions beyond the book, motivating increasingly complex and connective writings. Sample dialogue journal entries are shared along with insightful commentary and practical analysis. Everything needed for implementing Between the Lines is contained within these pages, including a user friendly appendix filled with fully reproduceable classroom workshop materials, tips for reducing the teacher reading and writing loads, and suggestions for building an enviable classroom library stocked with award-winning adolescent literature.

Death of an Addict

The most trusted guide to the world of children's publishing! If you write or illustrate for young readers with the hope of getting published, the 2014 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market is the trusted resource you need. Now in its 26th edition, CWIM is the definitive publishing guide for anyone who seeks to write or illustrate for kids and young adults. Inside you'll find more than 650 listings for children's book markets (publishers, agents, magazines, and more)--including a point of contact, how to properly submit your work, and what categories each market accepts. You'll also find: • Interviews with some of today's hottest authors and illustrators, including author R.L. Stine (the Goosebumps series), author Marie Lu (Legend), author Beth Revis (Across the Universe), and illustrator Debbie Ridpath (I'm Bored, written by Michael Ian Black). • The ever-popular "First Books" article, where debut writers and illustrators explain what they did right and how you can follow in their footsteps to success. • In-depth articles on picture books, query letters, novel voice, author platform, the status of indie-publishing, literary agents, and more. Includes "New Agent Spotlights"--profiles on literary reps actively seeking new writers of children's books right now. "I buy a copy of Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market every single year. It's the definitive, must-have resource for children's publishing." --Jesse Klausmeier, author of the picture book Open This Little Book "Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market is a great resource for artists and writers who are ready to share their talent with the world." --Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries

Schweizer, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, discusses the state of government and the depths of its political corruption.

Because of the rise of the urban farming movement, people in cities are seeing the potential for business opportunity and fun in raising their own chickens for their eggs. This highly informational guide provides all of the tips and tricks needed to choose a suitable chicken breed, acquire your own chickens, raise them in a happy and healthy environment, and collect and sell their eggs for profit. This volume promotes environmentally friendly and organic business development for people of all ages.

For fans of Hatchet and Island of the Blue Dolphins comes Theodore Taylor’s classic bestseller and Lewis Carroll Shelf Award winner, The Cay. Phillip is excited when the Germans invade the small island of Curaçao. War has always been a game to him, and he’s eager to glimpse it firsthand–until the freighter he and his mother are traveling to the United States on is torpedoed. When Phillip comes to, he is on a small raft in the middle of the sea. Besides Stew Cat, his only companion is an old West Indian, Timothy. Phillip remembers his mother’s warning about black people: “They are different, and they live differently.” But by the time the castaways arrive on a small island, Phillip’s head injury has made him blind and dependent on Timothy. “Mr. Taylor has provided an exciting story…The idea that all humanity would benefit from this special form of color blindness permeates the whole book…The result is a story with a high ethical purpose but no sermon.”—New York Times Book Review “A taut tightly compressed story of endurance and revelation…At once barbed and tender, tense and fragile—as Timothy would say, ‘outrageous good.’”—Kirkus Reviews * “Fully realized setting…artful, unobtrusive use of dialect…the representation of a hauntingly deep love, the poignancy of which is rarely achieved in children’s literature.”—School Library Journal, Starred “Starkly dramatic, believable and compelling.”—Saturday Review “A tense and moving experience in reading.”—Publishers Weekly “Eloquently underscores the intrinsic brotherhood of man.”—Booklist "This is one of the best survival stories since Robinson Crusoe."—The Washington Star · A New York Times Best Book of the Year · A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year · A Horn Book Honor Book · An American Library Association Notable Book · A Publishers Weekly Children’s Book to Remember · A Child Study Association’s Pick of Children’s Books of the Year · Jane Addams Book Award · Lewis Carroll Shelf Award · Commonwealth Club of California: Literature Award · Southern California Council on Literature for Children and Young People Award · Woodward School Annual Book Award · Friends of the Library Award, University of California at Irvine