Zilpha Keatley Snyder
3) The unseen
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Feeling angry and out-of-place in her large family, twelve-year-old Xandra finds a magical key to a world of ghostly, sometimes frightening, phantoms that help her see herself and her siblings more clearly.
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Ivy and Martha are not ordinary friends, Ivy is changeling with supernatural powers-or is she? Martha is incredibly unpopular. She's overweight, buck-toothed, and shy. Ivy is an outcast. Her family lives on the outskirts of town amid a field of derelict orchards. But starting in second grade, the girls form a bond that allows them to take control of their own lives. It all begins when Ivy tells Martha that she is no ordinary girl: She claims she's...
6) Fool's Gold
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For as long as he can remember, people have warned Rudy not to play in the mines . . . Fourteen-year-old Rudy Drummond lives with his mother and half sisters, Margot and Moira-"the M and M's"-in Pyramid Hill, California's legendary gold rush town. But Rudy's got a secret: He's terrified of dark, closed-in places. So when his best friend, Barney, and Tyler, the new kid in town, decide to explore the abandoned Pritchard's Hole mine, Rudy has to come...
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Fifteen-year-old James has just discovered the magnificence of nature-but can he protect it from the phoniness of the material world? When his academic-minded parents decide to forsake civilization for a wilderness summer in the Sierra Nevada mountains, James Fielding figures he'll be counting the minutes until it's over. But in the woods one day, he comes upon a magnificent deer and becomes fascinated by its majesty and beauty. Then he meets two...
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Finding a special place where you can be at peace is difficult-but holding onto it is even harder The last three years of Robin Williams's life have been very difficult. She's had to move with her large, poor family multiple times as her father seeks jobs as a migrant worker. Now, her father has a new job at the McCurdy Ranch and Robin often wanders off in order to cope with the constant change and difficulty surrounding her. Near the McCurdy Ranch...
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It's almost Halloween, and the Castle Court Kids are ready to raise some ghosts The old Anderson barn is haunted. According to sixteen-year-old Bettina Katzenbach, the ghosts of Addie Anderson and her bandit boyfriend return every Halloween. Enthralled by the sad story of the doomed, centuries-old romance, Kate Nicely and Aurora Pappas hatch a plot to see the phantom lovers for themselves. Their scheme is thwarted by the other Castle Court Kids, who...
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Summer is just a teenager, but sometimes she feels like the parent Fifteen-year-old Summer McIntyre lives with her mother, Oriole, and seven-year-old sister, Sparrow, in a trailer in Alvarro Bay City, overlooking the Pacific. Oriole is a Northern California flower child who fantasizes about being at one with nature and forgets about needing money. Even though she's only fifteen, Summer is good at being Mom. That is, until Oriole's new boyfriend upsets...
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Amy's new town holds a secret far more wondrous than she could ever imagine Taylor Springs is the place where Amy's family grew up, and it felt like her hometown even before she moved there. But there is one place that her family left out of their stories: the supposedly haunted Stone Hollow, a hidden valley with an old, deserted cottage. And though Amy is curious, she can't get a straight answer about it from anyone-well, anyone except Jason. ...
12) Below the Root
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Raamo has been chosen to rule Green-sky, but to uncover the secrets of his people, he'll have to dig deep-very deep Green-sky is an ideal place. Violence doesn't exist. Its citizens, the Kindar, glide from tree to tree and exchange happy thoughts. This is all thanks to their rulers, the Ol-zhaan. And on his thirteenth birthday, Raamo D'ok is chosen to become one of the Ol-zhaan. Raamo is surprised to be named a Chosen. He isn't a very good student-but...
13) Gib Rides Home
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All Gib ever wanted was to be adopted, but life with a family isn't quite what he thought it would be Gib was sent to an orphanage when he was six years old, and with each year, he knows it becomes less likely that he will be adopted into a loving family. As kids get older, they are more likely to be adopted onto a farm, meaning a hard life of unpaid labor. And after seeing a friend come back battered and near death, Gib is understandably worried....
14) Season of Ponies
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The first novel from three-time Newbery Honor–winning writer Zilpha Keatley Snyder's: a mystical fairytale about a girl, a magic amulet, and one unforgettable summer Life is difficult for Pamela. She usually lives with her two aunts because her father is always traveling for work. But this summer, Pamela's father has promised to take her away with him. On the day of their departure, however, he breaks his promise. Instead, he leaves Pamela an...
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Harry Houdini Marco had a difficult life when he was a normal, clumsy twelve-year-old-but growing wings made things even harder Except for his unusual name, Harry Houdini Marco is unremarkable in every way. While his namesake was the greatest illusionist of all time, Harry can't even catch a ball. He is on the verge of a long, boring summer-and he is dreading every moment of it. Then he meets a mysterious traveling salesman named Mr. Mazzeeck....
16) Secret Weapons
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The Castle Court Kids are back-and this time, they're teaming up to fight the bad guys Kate Nicely and her BFF, Aurora Pappas, haven't told anyone about their top-secret science project that's going to win first place at the Annual Interschool Science Fair. Carlos Garcia, Bucky Brockhurst, and Eddy Wong are working on one, too, if they could just agree on an idea that isn't lame. But everyone could lose to Aurora's kid brother, Carson, and Eddy's...
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Eleven-year-old Matt comes face to face with his town's haunted past Matthew Hamilton-a.k.a. the Hamster-and his family recently moved to Timber City. More of a loner than his older brother and sister, Matt gets lost when he wanders away from the town's annual July Fourth picnic into nearby Rathburn Park. He is rescued by a white mutt with shaggy hair and pointed ears. Matt follows him into a clearing, but the dog vanishes. According to legend, Rathburn...
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Abby doesn't want to be different, but she doesn't have a choice - she has magic, and it's not in her imagination. Abigail O'Malley resents having the psychic powers that set her apart from other kids. Even though her kindergarten teacher assured her that her visions were just her imagination (which Abby heard as "magic nation"), Abby knows they're very real. She just wants to be normal, like her best friend, Paige Borden, and grow up to be a lawyer...
19) The Runaways
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From three-time Newbery Medal winner Zilpha Keatley Snyder comes the story of three desperate kids who just want to run away Dani O'Donnell hates the dusty desert town of Rattler Springs and the ramshackle cabin where she lives with her widowed mother. On the eve of her thirteenth birthday, Dani hatches a plan to run away and return home to Sea Grove, California, with its palm trees and ocean breezes. But her scheme gets complicated when Stormy Arigotti,...
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Tymmon was thrown out of his kingdom, and has to make his way in the world, but unexpected help from a singing gargoyle will certainly make that easier In one night, Tymmon's life is turned upside down. His father, the beloved court jester of Austernerve, is kidnapped in a night raid. Tymmon escapes his father's fate but must find shelter in the dark, deep, and dangerous Sombrous Forest. There, he meets another kind of outcast: Troff, a fearsome-looking...