Pivotal Kids books

The Awakening

by Kelley Armstrong

(The darkest Powers.  Book 2)

Genetically altered at birth by a sinister group of scientists, Chloe is an aberration - a powerful necromancer who can see ghosts and even raise the dead, often with terrifying consequences. Now Chloe is running for her life with three other supernatural teenagers - a charming sorcerer, a troubled werewolf and a temperamental young witch.

… Watch a video trailer of The Awakening and

Read the first 10 chapters ….

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After meeting a bevy of baby animals — including a clever monkey, a hairy warthog, and a dusty lion cub — the baby in this story discovers the most precious creature of all…itself, of course!

With an exuberant rhyming text by bestselling author Mem Fox and adorable cut-paper illustrations by Caldecott-Honor recipient Steve Jenkins, this book is an irresistible celebration of the joyful connection between parent and child.

1. —Take a guided tour of the private writing space of author Mem Fox.

3. —Listen to the author, Mem Fox reading the book aloud

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Army Reservist Ryan Smithson was only 19 when he went to Iraq as an engineer, and the experience haunted him for years. Smithson ended up writing a college essay about one of his first missions there, which not only impressed his professor—but also led to Smithson’s first book, Ghosts of War: My Tour of Duty. (HarperTeen, 2008). more » » »

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Schools and libraries routinely prepare summer reading lists. Many kids, however, greet these lists with as much enthusiasm as they would a plate of brussel sprouts, as they view literary classics and…more » » »

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Author Kate DiCamillo’s first book, the Newbery Honor-winning Because of Winn-Dixie, is heading to Broadway as a musical. A creative team is not yet in place, but the show will feature a live dog playing the role of Winn-Dixie, trained by Bill Berloni (who trained the dog Sandy, for the musical Annie). “The opportunity to surround Kate’s story with top Broadway artists lends itself to creating an exciting new Broadway musical,” producer Gerarld Goehring said. more » » »

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Award-winning author/illustrator Shaun Tan was already a star in his native Australia before he first gained nationwide attention in the U.S. with his brilliant wordless graphic novel, The Arrival (2007). Tan follows up with 15 extraordinary illustrated stories in Tales from Outer Suburbia (2009, both Scholastic/Arthur A. Levine Bks.).

Were you surprised that The Arrival was such a hit in this country?
I was surprised that people reacted so positively to it because I was expecting it would be a disadvantage, in some ways, with a wordless book. I always worry that my work will seem obscure and that people will not know where to shelve it. But I’ve learned that the key to illustrated books is to let the reader do the work. more » » »

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Little Brother, the futuristic tale of teen-techno-revolution in a dystopian San Francisco by journalist/blogger Cory Doctorow, has done well since its release last May by Tor Teen. It received excellent reviews, has sold 90,000 copies to date, was nominated for a Hugo Award, and movie rights were recently optioned to producer Don Murphy. Now Little Brother has been adapted for the stage by Chicago’s Griffin Theatre Company. more » » »

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The internet is full of great comics created specifically for children, but young readers don’t have any way to find them. After all, there is no children’s room on the internet. But Brian Leung is hoping to solve that problem with Kidjutsu, a site that collects kid-friendly webcomics and displays them using an easy-to-use online comics viewer.
more » » »

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Simon & Schuster’s children’s division has launched Pulse It, a social network site where teens can read and react to S&S titles. The site is aimed at 14- to 18-year-olds and will let teens do things they can do on such places as Facebook—like create personal profiles and befriend other members—as well as read and react to S&S titles. more » » »

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Symphony Space’s Thalia Kids’ Book Club, now in its third season, will launch the first-ever Thalia Kids’ Book Club Camp this August. In addition to meeting with authors, young readers and writers will have the opportunity to take part in writing workshops, create writing portfolios and discuss books with their peers. Featured authors include Brian Selznick, Katherine Marsh and Michael Winerip. Additional information is available at the Symphony Space Web site.

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