When dogs go missing, one boy will find out why. And the answer is out of this world. Nothing gets past Logan. When he observes that the neighborhood’s dogs are mysteriously vanishing, he suspects nothing less than a full-scale alien dognapping invasion. The adults don’t believe him, of course, so he enlists his friends to investigate and soon they make a shocking discovery. Now man’s best friend needs help. Fast. Suddenly, Logan and his team are on a mission unlike anything known to man. A hilarious, heartwarming tale of hound-saving heroics, Invasion of the Dognappers will be gobbled up by middle-grade readers. Ages 8-12

Stumblin' In... My name is Nikki Lawry. I'm not much of a joiner—more of a dog person, but that suits me just fine. I have my reasons. All I dream about these days is my own animal rescue center, and I’m saving every penny I earn to purchase the land I need—one dog walking gig after another. That's why I live in a tiny house in my mom's backyard, hooked up with a garden hose and an extension cord. Fancy. Like I said‚ minding my own business, saving every penny. When my favorite customer, Miss K, told me about the abused black Lab chained up next door, we immediately plan a midnight rescue. Just when it seems we might pull off our clandestine mission, it’s discovered there was a death in the neighborhood. When? Why, exactly when I was skulking around with my trusty bolt cutters, of course. I'm no detective, but even I can guess who the #1 Suspect is.

Chicken Soup for the Soul Kids imparts good values through heartwarming and humourous stories to help kids put their best foot forward. Sophie loves to play with Mia's dollhouse, and most of all she loves the tiny dog named Emma who lives in the dollhouse. But every day, Sophie has to put Emma back. One day, she doesn't. The dog is so tiny, and Mia doesn't even like the dollhouse. Nobody will know if Sophie keeps it - so she tucks Emma into her pocket. But back at home, Emma's smile doesn't seem so friendly. She looks out of place, and Sophie knows why. After worrying and asking for advice from the Sunshine Squad, Sophie decides to do the right thing and learns that telling the truth feels good, even better than getting a new toy!

Kat and Emily have grown up without their mother for almost as long as they can remember. And now Dad is with Cassy and they all muddle along together well enough - even though they are living in a cramped caravan while their new house is being renovated. Then Cassy and Dad tell them that Cassy is pregnant, and everything seems to shift. Emily feels a new urge to find her own mother. How could she have left them the way she did? Never writing to them? Not communicating with them? And as Emily begins her search, not knowing what she will find, she is at the same time embarking on a new relationship of her own, that of her romance with Seb . . . An evocative and finely drawn novel about family relationships, in particular that of mother and daughter, and the shifting emotions of a teenager trying to make sense of her family and her world.

Homeless Pip, a Border terrier, thought miracles do happen when Annie and Bill collected him from the dog rescue home hed been in after his beloved human friends that hed lived with all his life were killed. Life was good for Pip until he was abducted from the garden of his new friends house. Taken to a puppy breeding kennel hundreds of kilometers away from home, he met Daisy, an older Border terrier who had been badly mistreated by being forced to breed many litters of puppies. The two of them eventually escaped miraculously even though the journey was fraught with danger, making their way back to Pips home and happiness again.

John Funge introduces a new approach to creating autonomous characters. Cognitive modeling provides computer-animated characters with logic, reasoning, and planning skills. Individual chapters in the book provide concrete examples of advanced character animation, automated cinematography, and a real-time computer game. Source code, animations, imag

The story of Thai Lu, one of many victims of Human Trafficking around the world and including the United States ...

Rascal is an enormous German Shepherd dog. Despite being intimidating to look at, Rascal is actually a scaredy-cat and rather cowardly. He has also outgrown his kennel, and now his three friends, Misty, Bertie and One-Eyed Rose use it as their den. All this changes on the day it rains and rains and rains! Poor Rascal is soaked, so to stop him from catching a cold, his companions decide to find him a new home. One-Eyed Rose takes the gang to the other side of town, where she knows of a ‘kennel shop’. Unfortunately the yard, which actually sells sheds and summerhouses, is closed. The friends decide to return the next day, but Rose has already wriggled her way inside through a hole cut in the fence. Also inside are two men busily loading some of the wooden shacks onto a lorry parked outside, using a forklift truck. Unaware that the men are robbers, the dogs are spotted. One-Eyed Rose is lifted into the air on the forklift, which crashes and breaks the summerhouses! The friends are chased away, three of them back outside and cowardly Rascal deeper into the compound. Realising he is missing, the gang go back to rescue him, but the alarm is triggered as they try to escape once more! Have the friends got themselves into deep trouble yet again, and will Rascal ever have a kennel to call his own? In the Doghouse! is a hilarious tale that will appeal to children aged 7-9.

When someone steals an old boot, Jack doesn't care. Then someone steals his squeaker bone. And his blanket. And Red's ball. Now Jack does care. Who is the thief of Doggeroo? How will Jack solve the case of the Dog Den Mystery?

It's no mystery that fun and exciting programs bring teens into the library. Theater programs provide a venue for teens to express themselves creatively, encourage their participation in library programming, and offer them the opportunity for lively interaction with peers and adults. In Library Programs for Teens: Mystery Theater, Karen Siwak provides readers with complete instructions for creating a successful mystery theater program. With this guide, Siwak solves the ever puzzling programming issues of timing, setting clues, props, costumes, decorations, and food. In addition to providing a basic formula for such programs, Siwak presents nine original teen-tested scripts—from the intriguing "Medieval Murder" to the hijinks of "Case of the Looney Librarian"—that will appeal to a wide variety of audiences. Reproducible graphics, flyers, bookmarks, invitations, nametags, book tie-ins, and player worksheets are included with each script. Programming is no longer perplexing with this heavily-illustrated collection of original mystery theater scripts for teens. Public and school librarians will find this volume a valuable tool for educational and entertaining programming and also for simply planning a fun party.