Pines and Plains Libraries

Remember middle school? Many parents would rather not. It's often a rough ride, filled with insecurity, peer pressure, awkwardness, and world-rocking change. This book provides practical, hands-on advice for helping your child through this minefield-with information about what he or she is really going through, but isn't likely to share.Best-selling learning-styles expert Cynthia Tobias and veteran teacher Sue Acuña reveal what they've found by listening...

In the early 1950's, an eleven-year-old boy in Colombo boards a ship bound for England, At mealtimes he is seated at the "cat's table" - - as far from the Captain's Table as can be -- with a ragtag group of "insignificant" adults and two other boys, Cassius and Ramadhin. As the ship makes its way across the Indian Ocean, through the Seuz Canal, into the Mediterranean, the boys tumble from one adventure to another, bursting all over the place like...

By sixth greade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it's safe to go, like the local grocery store, and they know who to avoid. Like the crazy guy on the corner. But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a kid ont he street for what seems like no good reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda's mom keeps hidden for emergencies is stolen....

Advice for young girls on understanding and improving family relationships.

Set on an island off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965, tells the story of two twelve-year-olds who fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness. As various authorities try to hunt them down, a violent storm is brewing off-shore, and the peaceful island community is turned upside down in more ways than anyone can handle.

From remembering their own life experience or to watching their own children grow, most people recognize that the preteen years, ages nine to thirteen, can be one of the most awkward times in life-a period of tremendous physical and emotional change. At this age, youngsters are eager to leave the "kid" stage, yet are uncertain about what adolescence will bring; they'd rather listen to peers over parents, and hear all too often to "wait until you're...

"This astonishing, devastating debut novel, riven through with mystery and magic, tells the story of a lonely girl living in a small African town and her struggle to free herself from her mercurial, charming mother. Ayosa is a wandering spirit- joyous, exuberant, filled to the brim with longing. Her only companions in her grandmother's crumbling house are as lonely as Ayosa herself: the ghostly Fatumas, whose eyes are the size of bay windows, who...

"You've had a couple babysitting jobs, and guess what? You love it! But it's time for your next stepa babysitting business. With helpful tips and practical advice, discover everything you'll need to know for becoming a young entrepreneur!"--Amazon.com.

"Newly divorced Dana Stellgarten has always been unfailingly nice--even to telemarketers--but now her temper is wearing thin. Money is tight, her kids are reeling from their dad's departure, and her Goth teenage niece has just landed on her doorstep. As she enters the slipstream of post-divorce romance and is befriended by the town queen bee, Dana finds that the tension between being true to yourself and being liked doesn't end in middle school...and...