Showing results for "the-art-of-growing-up" in Humourous Fiction

Like a car alarm, bagpipe music, or a doorbell ringing in the middle of the night, hearing this all-new audio edition of The Bad Beginning will only upset you. This unique multi-voice recording brings the first book in Lemony Snicket's alarming A Series of Unfortunate Events to such terrible life that no one should really have to experience it.

If you have not read anything about the Baudelaire orphans, then before you read even one more sentence, you should know this: Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are kindhearted and quick-witted, but their lives, I am sorry to say, are filled with bad luck and misery. All of the stories about these three children are unhappy and wretched, and this one may be the worst of them all.

Since we first met Nikki Maxwell, she's been doing everything she can to keep everyone at school from learning the truth - that she's there on scholarship in exchange for her dad working as the school's exterminator. The last thing Nikki needs is having her friends and - worst case scenario - her crush, Brandon, associating her with the humongous roach on top of her dad's van!

Ramona Quimby is thrilled to be starting kindergarten. She likes a little boy named Davy so much she wants to kiss him, and she loves Susan's beautiful curls so much she wants to pull them to see them boing. Her teacher even promises her a present just for sitting still! So how does Ramona get in trouble? Well, anyone who knows Ramona knows that she is never a pest on purpose.

Charlie Bumpers has his heart set on playing the role of the evil Sorcerer in the fourth grade play. He's even got the laugh down pat: Mwa-ha-ha-ha! But his dreams of villainous stardom go up in smoke when he finds out that Mrs. Burke has cast him as the Nice Gnome! Determined to rectify this terrible injustice, Charlie concocts one plan after another, but nothing seems to work. To make matters worse, his dad has assigned chores to all the kids in the family and Charlie's job is walking Ginger, the diggiest, sniffiest, and poopiest dog in the universe.

All over the country, a strange phenomenon is happening. Some teenagers who die aren't staying dead. They are coming back to life, but they are no longer the same - they stutter, and their reactions to everything are slower. Termed "living impaired" or "differently biotic," they are doing their best to fit into a society that doesn't want them. Fitting in is hard enough when you don't have the look or attitude, but when almost everyone else is alive and you're not, it's close to impossible.

Drawing feels like magic to Peanut Jones. But art can't fix her problems. Her dad has gone missing, and she's stuck in a boring new school. Until the day she finds a unique pencil turbo-charged with special powers. Suddenly she's pulled into a world packed with more colour, creativity, excitement and danger than she could ever have imagined. And maybe, just maybe, she might find out what happened to her dad.

Anne has spent most of her 13 years dreaming of the day she and her best friend Penelope will finally leave Saint Lupin's Institute for Perpetually Wicked and Hideously Unattractive Children. When the big day arrives, a series of very curious happenings lead to Anne being charged with an epic quest. Anne, Penelope, and new questing partner Hiro have only days to travel to strange new locales, solve myriad riddles, and triumph over monstrous foes - or face the horrible consequences.

Twelve-year-old Alice Mayfair has a secret. She's not human. But who - or what - is she? While Alice goes in search of her past, her best friend, Millie Maximus, a tiny Bigfoot with a big voice, prepares for her future. Together, they plan to sneak off to New York City, where Millie hopes to audition for The Next Stage, the TV show she's sure will rocket her to stardom and free her from the suffocating expectations of her tribe.

Charlie, Tommy, and Hector have high hopes for their soccer team this season until they find out that their new coach isn't all that interested in the fantabulous plays the three friends have worked out together.

Alice Mayfair, 12 years old, slips through the world unseen and unnoticed. Ignored by her family and shipped off to her eighth boarding school, Alice would like a friend. And when she rescues Millie Maximus from drowning in a lake one day, she finds one. But Millie is a Bigfoot, part of a clan who dwells deep in the woods. Most Bigfoots believe that people - NoFurs, as they call them - are dangerous, yet Millie is fascinated with the NoFur world. She is convinced that humans will appreciate all the things about her that her Bigfoot tribe does not.

Charlie is looking forward to the big Thanksgiving gathering at his house this year, but he's having trouble being a polite host to his super-annoying little cousin, Chip. Chip makes everything hard for Charlie; he gets him in trouble, ruins his things, and generally makes a nuisance of himself. On top of that, for homework, Mrs. Burke has assigned Charlie the task of writing what a family is to him. How will Charlie be able to see past his turkey of a cousin to understand the real meaning of family?

Charlie and Tommy have big plans for Halloween. They hope to get out of taking their little sisters around and go trick-or-treating in Alex's upscale neighborhood instead. There they'll get tons more candy, they'll be on their own, and afterwards they'll get to attend the sleepover at Alex's house. But when Charlie finds out that the entertainment at the party is to consist of the Scariest Horror Movies Ever, he is struck by panic.

Being a vegan vampire with no social graces hasn't exactly made Maddy popular with other 11-year-olds. But the day she befriends Dakota Underhill changes everything, even if Dakota only promises to be her friend for...well, for that day. Because when the leader of the Knavehearts - the most vicious of the Old World vampires - comes to town, Maddy realizes she's going to need help. She's not strong enough to face the villain alone, and there's something special about Dakota that might make her the perfect person to team up with....

When old-world dangers threaten a race of fruit bat hybrids, where can they run to? New York City, of course! And that's where we meet the Livingstone kids - Lexie, Hudson, and Maddy - trying to blend their "vampireness" with the regular people of the city. Unfortunately, their vampire traits keep complicating things. Lexie's super speed, amazing strength, and poetry-quoting habit embarrass her in front of classmates - and her secret crush. Hudson can fly and is determined to save the planet, but he doesn't quite fit in.

Phoebe Avery has always been a lucky girl. Popular, smart, and beautiful, Phoebe has it all. She's even planning the hottest party ever with her four best friends to celebrate their middle school graduation. With the perfect green dress picked out at Neiman Marcus and half her class clamoring for invites, plus a new guy to crush on, Phoebe could not be in a better mood...until it looks like the party might be over before it can even start.

Falcon Quinn survived the first term at the Academy for Monsters along with his monstrous friends Max, Pearl, Mortia, and the rest. He has finally discovered his monster nature and is working hard to embrace it. But what does it mean to be an Angel, exactly?

Shira Gordon is painfully shy. She rarely speaks and blushes at everything. And yet, when she’s alone in her room, she’ll sing and dance, dreaming she were different. So when her best friend forces her to audition for their school’s production of The Music Man, she’s mostly hoping the play will get canceled…but a tiny part of her hopes she’ll get in. And she does. As a member of the barbershop quartet. Playing a dude with a mustache is not exactly her dream role, but Shira is surprised by how much she loves rehearsing with her quirky new friends.

Flora Violeta LeFevre, aka Flora "la Fresca" (so called because she tells it like it is, occasionally to her parents' chagrin) can always count on her best friend Clara Ocampo Londra to turn anything-from a day at the skate park to dreaded Saturday Spanish school ­into an exciting adventure. But amidst Flora's personal nightmare that is her sister Maylin's never-ending dress try-ons and dance practices for her upcoming quinceañera, news breaks that Clara's moving, and Flora doesn't know how she'll survive without her.

Trixie loves art and hates bullies—and so decides to become an Art Avenger, righting wrongs at her school through art. She uses Picasso, Pollock and Ofili to teach bullies a lesson, get out of lessons and help those in need, like an arty Robin Hood. With fact files of hilarious and irreverent details about real artists, Trixie Pickle is perfect for fans of Konnie Huq, Sam Copeland and Liz Pichon.