Avi

Alone in his apartment during Christmas vacation, eleven-year-old Eric finds himself caught in a battle between a strange exterminator and the rat he wants to kill.

From Avi, the 2003 Newbery Award-winning author of "Crispin: The Cross of Lead," comes the story of Thorston, an alchemist who works to concoct a potion that will enable him to live forever--and keep dying and rising from the dead as a result.

After Poppy's husband dies from pneumonia and she is accidentally carried away by a bat, Ereth, a porcupine, starts planning her funeral service, but Spruce--Poppy's grandson--does not believe Poppy to be dead, and goes off to search for her.

Ragweed, a young country mouse, leaves his family and travels to the big city, where he finds excitement and danger and sees cats for the first time.

Small steps lead to big adventures for a pair of unlikely friends in this "charming modern fable" by the Newbery Medal-winning author of Crispin (Booklist). Avon the snail has never had an adventure. And adventure, he has heard, is the key to a happy life. So he sets out on an exciting journey with his new pal, Edward, a thoughtful but misinformed ant. Together they meet all manner of wise, weird, and intriguing creatures-including a dragon!-and...

Early Whitcomb's family needs a miracle. Their Iowa farm has been in the family for generations, but a long drought has withered their savings and left them in debt. Meanwhile, the great Chicago and Northwestern Railroad wants their land, and if the Whitcombs can't pay their loans, the local banker, Judge Fuslin, will foreclose and sell the farm as his own.

Jonathan may be only thirteen years old, but with the Revolutionary War unfolding around him, he's more certain than ever that he wants to be a part of it-to fight for independence alongside his brother and cousin to defeat the British. But Jonathan's father, himself wounded from battle, refuses to let his son join the front lines. When Jonathan hears the tavern bell toll, calling all soldiers to arms, he rushes to enlist without telling his dad....

A mystery of uncertainties and distrust envelops young Edmund as he desperately searches for his missing mother in the murky streets of Providence, Rhode Island in 1848. His aunt, who went in search of her, is now dead. And now his sister has disappeared! How can he find them when facts are woven into fiction, when people are not who they say they are? Acclaimed author Avi has penned a novel of great intrigue, bringing alive this New England seacoast...

Children become cats and birds, a once-invisible young woman pieces herself back together, and the identity of a mysterious baseball mascot is uncovered—all within this eclectic collection from master storyteller Avi. By turns chilling, ethereal, and surreal, these thought-provoking tales are sure to engage anyone who has ever wondered what it would be like to become someone—or something—else.

Fabrizio, Magnus the Magician's new servant boy, must prove his master's innocence after he is accused of plotting to overthrow the king in this suspenseful new prequel to Midnight Magic from a Newbery Medalist.