Showing results by publisher "Blackstone Publishing" in Growing Up & Facts of Life

Grey has improved a ton with the help of his friends, and he's closing in on the top tier of players. But then his closest friend announces that he's been asked to join a new squad on the top tier and leaves them in hopes of making the top five with his new squad. Grey is devastated, and his team struggles. He falls back several ranks and begins to wonder if it's even possible to escape the game this season. Some players have been there for many seasons...some aren't even trying to leave because they like it so much. Maybe he should just accept it as his life.

Grey never expected his best friend, Finn, to end up trapped in Battle Royale as well, but now they both have to fight to get out. And there are only a few more weeks to do it. If Ben and Tristan hadn't left Grey's squad, he would have been a lot closer to the top five. But with the help of his new squad members, Grey is determined to climb back to the top. It won't be easy when Grey's old squad mates use his own tactics against him. He must use his creativity to find new ways to lead his squad back to the top 20.

Swept off course by a raging storm, a Swiss pastor, his wife, and their four sons are shipwrecked on an uncharted tropical island. As they struggle to survive in the wilderness, the Robinsons discover their own amazing ingenuity and courage, each of the sons utilizing his own unique nature as...

Twelve-year-old Tahlia Wilkins is ready to start off her perfect summer when her dreamy crush invited her to his birthday pool party. But the Red Goddess of Panties, a.k.a. her first period, arrives 24 hours before the pool party and completely messes up all her plans. To make matters worse, her mom is out of town, and there’s no way she’s going to ask her awkward dad for help! Thalia was always afraid growing up would be tough, but this is just not fair.

Something has gone wrong in Danny and Calvin’s fourth-grade classroom - out of the blue, Mrs. Cakel has transformed from a rampant rule-enforcer to a quiet excuse-accepter. Has she been replaced with an alien? Has she undergone a top-secret personality makeover? Danny and Calvin decide there’s only one way to find out what’s really going on - spy. But spying soon leads to a greater mystery filled with dog chasing, jelly-injected donuts, prune butter-included experiments, riddle mania, and more!

Twelve-year-old Lark Heron-Finch is steeling herself to spend the summer on Swallowtail Island off the shores of Lake Erie. It’s the first time that she and her sister will have seen the old house since their mom passed away. And while her stepfather and his boys are okay, the island’s always been full of happy memories—and now everything is different. When Nadine, a close family friend, tells Lark about a tragic boat accident that happened off the coast many years before, Lark's enthralled with the story.

 Celina is having a terrible night, one full of jealousy for the new kitten, Minù; feelings of abandonment and sadness; misadventures at the hands of the beach attendant; and dark dreams. But she will be happily found by Mati, her child, once the sun rises. 

In 1607, a year after the Virginia Company was granted a charter to establish a settlement in North America, 104 men set sail on a voyage to a new land. Among the brave adventurers who make the journey is a young boy named Samuel Collier, the page of famed Captain John Smith. Disease, famine, and continuing attacks by neighboring Algonquin Native Americans take a tremendous toll on the settlers. Samuel is one of the few to survive the harsh realities of the New World during the first few years of Jamestown. 

Third-grader Aven Green has been solving mysteries for a really long time—a whole month! She has solved many important cases like The Mystery of the Cranky Mom, The Mystery of the Missing Ice Cream, and The Mystery of the Smelly Feet. Her record is nearly 100 percent, with only The Mystery of the Cereal in My Underpants remaining unsolved to this day. Aven asks all the right questions, wields her detective kit carefully, and follows up on every clue. Then her teacher’s lunch bag, with her lunch still in it, is taken, and Aven’s great-grandma’s beloved dog goes missing.

Before they became the world-famous Kids of Widney High, they first had to survive junior high! This rock band, composed entirely of members with developmental disabilities, loves to put on a show, but boy can they can get into fights, trouble, and sticky situations. Join their friend and honorary assistant manager Robbie as he introduces the band members and shows us how they’re just like everyone else.  

Calvin Waffle doesn't believe in bad ideas. Danny knows his friend Calvin has crazy ideas, so he's not surprised when Calvin suggests they start a Rent-a-Pet business. After all, Calvin's Aunt Ruth wants the boys to watch her dog while she's away, and what better way to get the miniature Collie off their hands than loaning him to a kid in the neighborhood for a few days? But in order to rent a pet, you need a renter. Which Calvin and Danny don't have. Can the two drum up some business before it's too late? Or will their plan go to the dogs?

Third-grader Aven Green is a real professional musician! She just needs to choose what instrument to play. When she decides to try the piano, Aven is disappointed when she can’t master Mozart in one whole day. To pick up Aven’s beat, her parents take her for a four-hour drive to see someone just like her play the guitar. With new inspiration and a special gift from her great-grandma, Aven is ready to take on the school talent show. Will she be ready in time? Or will she blow her big chance?

No one predicted the dragon apocalypse. The dragons came suddenly and decimated the world as we knew it, including New York City. Now, three years later, Noah, his hardcore survivalist father, and a ragtag group of survivors are barely scraping by in this new reality. Kids scavenge not only for materials in abandoned homes but also for leftover books at the library. Adults spend their time establishing a make-shift society and defending their shelter… with any means available. At least for the few months the dragons are hibernating, until it’s no longer safe aboveground.

The wonder of the natural world surrounds us - from the Amazon rain forest to the snowy peaks of Mount Everest to the green spaces in big cities. And as the threat of climate change grows, it’s more important than ever to show appreciation for our planet by taking action. The first audiobook in a middle-grade series for young environmental activists and nature lovers, The Wild World Handbook offers a road map for change and an invitation to explore the outdoors, alongside surprising facts and hands-on activities.

Third-grader Aven Green is an expert soccer player. She even has her own top secret moves! But when her friend Sujata joins the team, Aven has a hard time learning to help the new player shine. When the time comes to choose a new team captain, will Aven learn to share the spotlight and understand what it means to be a team player?

One year after being diagnosed with hearing loss, Rayne’s hearing keeps getting worse, even with aids. It’s a struggle to maintain friendships and keep up in school, surfing is now a wipeout, and she can’t understand her favorite singer’s lyrics. But worst of all, Rayne’s parents are pushing for her to get cochlear implants, a surgery Rayne’s not convinced is worth the risks and challenges. Rayne begs her parents to consider other options, but they’re not budging. 

Listeners have come to expect chatty, direct narratives that develop distinct characters and place those individuals squarely in the context of both their times and their disciplines, and this account of the noted physicist’s life delivers the goods. From her childhood in an oppressed Poland, the daughter of two highly educated individuals, Curie emerges as a driven woman, determined to excel for both her parents’ and her country’s sake - this drive informing everything that followed.

Homing pigeon Homer and his parrot friend Lulu learn something is afoul when they witness four-legged criminals stealing valuables from both the animal and human communities. Lulu and Homer track down the bandits, but need human help to stop them for good. Can they lead their human keepers to the culprits’ hideout and stop the thieves? Award-winning author-illustrator Henry Cole offers a fun, action-packed middle grade mystery that will keep listeners guessing if the crime-solving pigeon will get his guy

Amni wakes up one morning to find the sky taken over by a huge brown cloud. Even as she and her friends start to discover more, their city of Mumbai starts reeling from the changes the cloud brings to the weather. Bhura Cloudus (as the media calls it) causes scalding rain to fall, makes birds flee the city, and suffocates every living thing. As chaos continues to build and the climate changes brought by Bhura become disastrous, there are several questions on everyone’s mind: What will the powerful politician, Mota Bhai, do now?

Swallowtail Island is hosting the Swallowtales Writer’s Conference. Lark’s ecstatic to be chosen as a “page” for her favorite author, Ann E. Keyhart. But they say you should never meet your idols. When Keyhart arrives with her personal assistant in tow, she is nothing but a terror. And within a few hours, the assistant is dead! But the explanation isn’t sitting well. Not when lots of people had reasons to want to be rid of Keyhart, and especially not after it’s revealed the assistant recently completed a hot new novel and the file’s vanished from her computer.