Ever since Charlotte Mielswetzski and her cousin, Zee, saved the world, life has been rather ordinary. Ordinary, that is, if you call being ultramegagrounded (in Charlotte's case) or treated as if you might fall to pieces (in Zee's case) ordinary. Either way, heroes deserve better. Of course, no one knows Charlotte and Zee are heroes. It's not like they can simply announce that Greek myths are real or proclaim they have returned from the Underworld, where they rescued all of mankind from Philonecron, a deranged demigod with delusions of grandeur. Instead, they are forced to keep this terrible knowledge to themselves, and are stuck in a state of extraordinary ordinariness. But things aren't quite as ordinary as they seem. For Philonecron is the grandson of Poseidon, and you don't mess with the progeny of the second most powerful god in the universe. And Philonecron himself isn't so happy about having all of his delicious plans thwarted by mortal children. He wants revenge, and with his grandfather to help him, he is going to get what he wants. For Charlotte and Zee, their not-so-ordinary lives are about to be disrupted once again. This time it's not the world they must save - it's themselves.

From the award-winning author of The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy comes an unforgettable and deeply personal story of the ghosts that surround us--and the ones we carry inside. The house seemed to sit apart from the others on Katydid Street, silent and alone, like it didn't fit among them. For Violet Hart--whose family is about to move into the house on Katydid Street--very little felt like it fit anymore. Like their old home, suddenly too small since her mother remarried and the new baby arrived. Or Violet's group of friends, which, since they started middle school, isn't enough for Violet's best friend, Paige. Everything seemed to be changing at once. But sometimes, Violet tells herself, change is okay. That is, until Violet sees her new room. The attic bedroom in their new house is shadowy, creaky, and wrapped in old yellow wallpaper covered with a faded tangle of twisting vines and sickly flowers. And then, after moving in, Violet falls ill--and does not get better. As days turn into weeks without any improvement, her family growing more confused and her friends wondering if she's really sick at all, she finds herself spending more time alone in the room with the yellow wallpaper, the shadows moving in the corners, wrapping themselves around her at night. And soon, Violet starts to suspect that she might not be alone in the room at all.

From the highly praised author of Spilling Clarence, a luminous novel about the joy of family and the perils of loving.

The Woodrow family is going to the circus to celebrate Greta's seventh birthday. When five-year-old brother James eagerly volunteers to join the magic act, his parents watch with pride as he climbs onto the stage alongside the clown. The trick is spectacular and applause rings through the crowd as James disappears -- vanishing before their very eyes.

The trouble is, James really did disappear . . . into thin air.

In the aftermath of James's disappearance, with the police investigation providing no clues, the laws of the universe come into question. His mother becomes lost in her dreams and his father becomes obsessed with the clown, while his big sister Greta sets out to figure out what happened.

A novel peppered with dreams, premonitions, and possible realities, The Disapparation of James is a work of enormous sensitivity, tenderness, and wit.

The winner of numerous awards and recipient of four starred reviews, Anne Ursu's Breadcrumbs is a stunning and heartbreaking story of growing up, wrapped in a modern-day fairy tale.

Once upon a time, Hazel and Jack were best friends. But that was before he stopped talking to her and disappeared into a forest with a mysterious woman made of ice. Now it's up to Hazel to go in after him. Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen," Breadcrumbs is a stunningly original fairy tale of modern-day America, a dazzling ode to the power of fantasy, and a heartbreaking meditation on how growing up is as much a choice as it is something that happens to us.

In Breadcrumbs, Anne Ursu tells, in her one-of-a-kind voice, a story that brings together fifty years of children's literature in a tale as modern as it is timeless. Hazel's journey to come to terms with her evolving friendship with Jack will deeply resonate with young readers.

Supports the Common Core State Standards

Prolific and Talented Young Writer--Thisis Anne's second novel in two years, and she's well into her third. Similar Themes of Loss and Vulnerability and Joy--Anne continues to mine the rich territory of family bonds and how they are broken and mended. The Woodrow family is going to the circus. It's Greta's seventh birthday, and this is the main event. Greta has always been smart, chatty, and vivacious. Her 5-year-old brother James, though is a different story. Shy and a little removed, James is deeply loved by his sister and his parents, Hannah and Justin. Hannah has always been a little worried about James, though, and she's calling in the specialists. Buck back to the circus. Hannah and Justin couldn't be more surprised when shy little James sticks his arm straight in the air, an eager volunteer for the magic act. His parents glow with pride and relief as they watch their son climb the stage and come quite alive alongside the clown performing the magic tricks. The trick is spectacular and applause rings throughout the auditorium when James goes poof at the end, seeming to disappear before their very eyes. The trouble is, he really did disappear. Justin and Hannah find this out when they go backstage to retrieve their son after the performance and find out that their sun is utterly gone. The clown doesn't know how he did it, but he really did make little James go poof. The police arrive, and James quickly becomes the face on the milk carton. Devastated, Justin and Hannah learn that when you lose your child, the laws of the universe come into question. Secretly, sheepishly, Justin and Hannah admit that they really do believe that James has not been kidnapped, but that he did indeeddisappear into thin air. In the aftermath of James's disappearance, his mother becomes lost in dreams, his father becomes obsessed with the clown who performed the trick, while his big sister, Greta, sets about to figure out what happened to her brother using the only tools she has. Meanwhile the police officer assigned to the house begins to find the rules of his own previously reliable world altered. A novel peppered with dreams, premonitions, and possible realities, The Disapparation of James explores the perils of loving and the meaning of loss, and the beauty and uncertainty inherent in familial bonds. It is a work of enormous sensitivity, tenderness, and with from the highly praised author of Spilling Clarence.