For nearly two decades before Mark Twain published his finest novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, he was refining his craft and winning tremendous popularity with his short stories and sketches. This richly entertaining and comprehensive collection presents sixty-five of the very best of Mark Twain’s short pieces, from the classic frontier sketch “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” to the richly imaginative fable “Extract from Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven.” Compiled by Pulitzer Prize–winning Twain scholar and biographer, Justin Kaplan, this collection represents some of Mark Twain’s wittiest and most insightful writing.

From the author of the popular Weather Warden series. Welcome to Morganville, Texas. Just don't stay out after dark. College freshman Claire Danvers has had enough of her nightmarish dorm situation, where the popular girls never let her forget just where she ranks in the school's social scene: somewhere less than zero. When Claire heads off-campus, the imposing old house where she finds a room may not be much better. Her new roommates don't show many signs of life. But they'll have Claire's back when the town's deepest secrets come crawling out, hungry for fresh blood.

Bursting with the sharp intelligence and sly humor that's fast becoming his trademark, Westerfield's new novel is an utterly original take on an archetype of horror — the vampire.

It's 1811, and the threat of revolution haunts the upper classes of King George Ill's England. A beautiful young woman is found savagely murdered on the altar steps of an ancient church near Westminster Abbey, and the dueling pistol found at the scene and the damning testimony of a witness both point to one man — Sebastian St. Cyr.

The Smart family's lacklustre holiday in Norwich is turned upside down when a beguiling stranger called Amber appears, bringing with her love, joy, pain and upheaval. The Smarts try to make sense of their bewildering emotions as Amber tramples over family boundaries and forces them to think about their world and themselves in an entirely new way.

This is not your typical boybites-girl love story. Technically Sunshine can't get killed-because she's immortal. Well, not quite yet. Due to the worst case of mistaken identity with her dark-side-loving twin sister at a Goth club called Club Fang, Magnus, a vampire hottie, went for Sunshine's innocent neck. Now if she doesn't reverse it in time, Magnus will be her blood mate forever and she's doomed to be a blood-gulping, pasty, daylight-hating vampire. That would seriously bite. And now, after the unfortunate slaying of the vampire leader, Sunshine, her sister Rayne, and Magnus must find the one thing that can solve her problem: the Holy Grail. They wish it were a joke but it's not. It's absolutely necessary that Sunshine gets out of this in time, because somehow she scored the hottest prom date in her school, the mouth-watering Jake Wilder. So she just can't be a vampire for the prom-let alone the rest of eternity.

Abducted by two men, Neil Griffon discovers that unless he agrees to their unreasonable demands, they will destroy his father's precious horses and racing stable — and, ultimately, Neil himself. Returned to his father's stables, he must find a way to bring down these criminals. Because having to choose between his integrity and his life is no choice at all.

In this New York Times bestseller, teen spy Alex Rider faces his most disturbing challenge yet: Sir Damian Cray, the world's most famous pop star, who's actually a madman bent on destruction.

The New York Times bestselling author of Dead as a Doornail introduces a new supernatural mystery series featuring Harper Connelly, a woman who has what one might call a strange job: she finds dead people.

Phule takes off after his mysteriously errant butler, just as General Blitzkrieg decides to make a surprise visit to Zenobia. And the only thing Blitz would like better than catching Phule off guard is to catch Phule AWOL.

Working as a secret agent for Britain's most exclusive agency, 15-year-old Alex Rider is now about to face something more dangerous that he can imagine: a man who has lost everything he cared for and who has a nuclear weapon.

«Soon to be the focus of a major motion picture, the «New York Times» bestselling Alex Rider series follows the adventures of a teenage secret agent. Now is the chance to see the story visualized in a new format with bold, edgy, manga-like illustrations that bring Alex to life.»

This is a stunning new picture book from Eric Carle about Mister Seahorse and other 'male mothers', with special acetate pages that hide fish behind rocks and reeds. As he floats through the sea, Mister Seahorse meets a Mr Stickleback, Mr Tilapia, Mr Kurtus and many other fish fathers caring for their eggs and babies in the most surprising ways.

Acclaimed as the most influential work on evolution written in the last hundred years, The Blind Watchmaker offers an inspiring and accessible introduction to one of the most important scientific discoveries of all time. A brilliant and controversial book, which demonstrates that evolution by natural selection — the unconscious, automatic, blind, yet essentially non-random process discovered by Darwin — is the only answer to the biggest question of all: why do we exist?

These classic Wee Sing titles are now available in the new book-and-CD format packaged in a reusable blister pack. From school yard games to the silliest songs ever sung, these delightful titles include a 60-minute audio CD. Full color. Pkg.

This new Wee Sing musical compilation contains new songs featuring favorite nursery rhymes from Mother Goose. Nursery rhyme favorites like Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty, and Simple Simon are set to music with the tried-and-true Wee Sing formula. Wee Sing Mother Goose features one hour of musical sing-along and finger play enjoyment. And best of all, parents and educators can use the suggestions in the book to join in the fun as they develop their child's imagination. No library would be complete without this treasure!

Generations of children have been captivated by the hair-raising adventures and misadventures of Brer Rabbit. Come along as he sneaks into Mr. Man's garden, persuades Brer Wolf to be burned in a hollow log, and kicks Brer Fox's Tar Baby. Jerry Pinkney's lively and humorous illustrations are a perfect match for Julius Lester's contemporary approach, which expertly introduces a modern sense of humor to these forty-eight tales while paying homage to their roots as traditional American folklore.

An hour-long CD from the Wee Sing series that includes action songs, fun sing-alongs, silly poems, and fingerplays about animals comes packaged with a read-along paperback.