Gail Shalan

All science classrooms discuss animals that hibernate during winter months, but few know about animals that estivate, a prolonged sleep during hot or dry periods. Learn about the reasons estivating animals become dormant, whether it's because warm weather threatens food supply or to avoid increased body temperatures. From the ladybug to the salamander, from the lungfish to the desert hedgehog, twelve estivating animals and their habits, both when...

"Alex has all but given up on her dreams of becoming a published author when she receives the opportunity to attend an exclusive, month-long writing retreat at the estate of feminist horror writer Roza Vallo. Even the knowledge that Wren, her former best friend and current rival, is attending doesn't dampen her excitement. Then Roza drops a bombshell: participants must all complete an entire novel from scratch during the next month, and the author...

Raised in a conservative and emotionally volatile Palestinian family in Brooklyn, Yara thought she would finally feel free when she married a charming entrepreneur who took her to the suburbs. She's gotten to follow her dreams, completing an undergraduate degree in Art and landing a good job at the local college. As a traditional wife, she also raises their two school-aged daughters, takes care of the house, and has dinner ready when her husband gets...

Told in two voices, eleven-year-olds Mimi, who is visiting her wealthy grandparents in Karachi, Pakistan, for the first time and Sakina, daughter of the grandparents' cook, form an unexpected friendship.-- Provided by Publisher.

Colin and Nevaeh find vintage letters that lead to interlocking mysteries from the 1970s and '80s, and they learn about "women's lib," the ERA, and other social issues from that time in history-and the way echoes from that era affect Colin and Nevaeh themselves. When Colin finds a shoebox full of letters hidden in a stranger's attic, he knows he's supposed to throw them away. That's his summer job, getting rid of junk. But Colin wants to rescue the...

Perfect for fans of Hatchet and the I Survived series, this harrowing middle grade debut novel-in-verse from a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet tells the story of a young girl who wakes up one day to find herself utterly alone in her small Colorado town. When twelve-year-old Maddie hatches a scheme for a secret sleepover with her two best friends, she ends up waking up to a nightmare. She's alone--left behind in a town that has been mysteriously evacuated...

Twelve-year-old Autumn, the beastkeeper at Inglenook School for Magicians, befriends Cai Morrigan the young magician prophesied to destroy the dragon suspected of devouring Autumn's twin brother, and together they uncover the dark truth that lies at the heart of Inglenook School.

"Isabel Beane is a shy girl who lives in a home full of havoc and hubbub and hullabaloo. With five siblings, there is always too much too much-ness. At school, there’s a new girl who is immediately popular, but she’s also not very nice to one person-Isabel. Isabel has never felt more invisible. She begins to get bombarded by fears, like being abandoned by her classmates and taking the upcoming Extremely Important standardized test. Her fears feel...

"Near a small college campus, a student is found strangled in an abandoned barn on the outskirts of town. She's been posed to look like a painting of Ophelia from Shakespeare's Hamlet, the scene taunting the police with a message they don't understand. Detective Ian Carter is known as a straitlaced cop, but seeing the girl's body leaves him shaken and uncertain of where to turn, until a chance meeting with a charmingly awkward literature professor...

"When Sarah Taylor arrives at the exclusive St. Ambrose School, she's carrying more baggage than just what fits in her suitcase. She knows she's not like the other girls--if the shabby, all-black, non-designer clothes don't give that away, the bottle of lithium hidden in her desk drawer sure does. St. Ambrose's queen bee, Greta Stanhope, picks Sarah as a target from day one-the most popular, powerful, horrible girl at school is relentless in making...