Illinois Authors

Holiday House, New York : ©2010.

When someone takes a pet goldfish, then other items from Ms. Herschel's classroom, each time leaving a clue in the form of a poem, student Edgar Allan competes with a classmate to be first to solve the mystery.

Holiday House 2021

Join Albert and a group of ragtag aliens as they dribble, cross, and score across the galaxy in this soccer-themed story of unlikely friendships. The day that aliens abducted 13-year-old Albert Kinney was the day he was hoping to make the school soccer team.But that's the way life works sometimes, especially for Albert. Astonishingly the Zeenods, don't want to harm Albert, they want him to play soccer. And so, Albert jumps at the chance to join the Zeenods. Yet just as he is introduced to the specifics of their game and all their high-tech gear, he faces a series of direct threats to his life. Does someone have a mysterious vendetta against Albert? Or does their first opponent, the ruthless team from Planet Tev, want to guarantee that they win? Action-packed, yet filled with humor and heart, Game On! is the first book in a series that features thrilling play-by-play soccer scenes and an intergalactic plot with far-reaching consequences for the Zeenods--and Earth.

When their thieving parents steal a rich and famous dog, twins Jillian and Billy, who have grown tired of being crooks, must find a way to get Poochie Smoochie back to her owner. Includes activities.

Tired of being pressured to help commit crimes and yearning for a more normal life, twins Jillian and Billy band together to do good deeds while their parents kidnap a monkey from the zoo, hoping to teach it to steal. Includes activities.

Unlike their thieving parents, ten-year-old twins Billy and Jillian Crook like to do good deeds, including rescuing a baby skunk. Features activities.

Egmont USA, New York : ©2012.

Tripp, who plays guitar only for himself, and Lyla, a cellist whose talent has already made her famous but not happy, form an unlikely friendship when they are forced to share a practice room at their high school.

Egmont USA, New York : 2009.

Coming from a poor, single-parent family, seventh-grader Trevor must rely on his intelligence, artistic ability, quick wit, and soccer prowess to win friends at his new Washington, D.C. school, but popular and rich Xander seems determined to cause him trouble.

Lucy avoids her school's new Uke Club to help neighbor Scarlet create a Poetry Club, although Scarlet keeps telling her to do things that seem wrong.--

A notebook that is passed from student to student around a classroom becomes a repository for wild rumors, heartfelt confessions, and creative writing and helps the students cope when their teacher has medical emergency and they must cope with a rigid substitute as they worry about their beloved teacher and her family.

Reycraft Books 2022

Cat has a passion for painting. When she sees an advertisement to join an art club, she jumps at the chance to find painting partners―other cats like her. However when she arrives at the club, it is filled with barking dogs. What will panicked Cat do to turn this into a purr-fect place to paint?

When Ms. Wurtz leaves a blank book in the Writer's Corner with a note encouraging those who find it to talk to each other in its pages, the students' entries spark a classroom-wide battle.

G.P. Putnam's Sons New York, NY : ©2008.

When her older sisters tease her into believing that she is actually a chicken, Henrietta runs off to a farm to be among her own kind.

Holiday House New York : ©2005.

When her father begins a long-distance romance with a Washington, D.C. zookeeper, twelve-year-old Frankie sends fabricated email letters to the zookeeper in an attempt to end the relationship.

Holiday House New York : ©2006.

Three more hilarious, gross-out stories featuring Orville and Wilbur Riot.

Holiday House New York : ©2004.

Contains three stories in which brothers and best friends Wilbur and Orville Riot catch a thief, overthrow a king, and find a treasure, and includes rules to some of their made-up games.

Holiday House New York : ©2007.

Orville and Wilber Riot rescue a damsel in distress, are mad scientists, and defeat a bully through Operation Armpit.

Holiday House New York : ©2009.

Story shows that guts, brains, and a little slobber are all you need to have a ripsnorgling good time.

Holiday House New York : 2000.

Lerner Chanse, a new student at Cleveland Park Middle School, finds a worm that magically makes things disappear, and she hopes it will help her fit in, or get revenge, at her hated school.

Holiday House 2022

Albert and the Zeenods are back in this second book in the thrilling Star Striker series about unlikely friendships and interstellar soccer. Albert and his Zeenod teammates might not be the best soccer players in the universe but there's nothing Albert would rather do--and no one he'd rather play with. Plus at least they made it to the second round of the big interplanetary tournament. When their coach is wrongly arrested by an intergalatic police force, Albert and the Zeenods must work to clear their coach's name and stay in the tournament. But Albert can't keep his head in the game, putting the whole team's win in jeopardy. Can Albert come through for his friends and find justice for their coach? Action-packed, yet filled with humor and heart, Star Striker is the second book in a series that combines a sports friendship story with an exploration of social justice and the importance of compassion for others.