Elementary

Are they flirting or fighting? This is Joey Pigza's question when the fireworks suddenly start to explode between his long-separated mom and dad, whom he's never really had a chance to see together. The more out of control his parents get, the less in control Joey feels and the more he wants to help make things better.

Ever since his mother died and his father went to Brazil for a scientific expedition, 14-year-old Jacob Lansa has been staying with his grandfather in Poughkeepsie. He longs to join his father and help him set up a jaguar preserve in the rain forest, but he can't miss school. When his father invites him down over spring break, he jumps at the chance.

When this peculiar ad appears in the newspaper, dozens of children enroll to take a series of mysterious, mind-bending tests. (And you, dear reader, can test your wits right alongside them.) But in the end just four very special children — two boys and two girls — will succeed. Their challenge: to go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and resourceful children could complete.

The Titanic is meant to be unsinkable, but as it begins its maiden voyage, there's plenty of danger waiting for four of its young passengers. Paddy is a stowaway, escaping a deadly past. Sophie's mother is delivered to the ship by police -â¿¿ after she and Sophie have been arrested. Juliana's father is an eccentric whose riches can barely hide his madness.

While serving school detention in the soup kitchen at St. Mary's Church, Sammy finds herself the prime suspect in the theft of Father Mayhew's ivory cross. But there have been other robberies at the church recently, and as Sammy attempts to discover the real thief, all the suspects appear to be religious figures who are above suspicion.

In her most dangerous mystery to date, Sammy runs into a strange girl trying to escape from a scary looking guy at the mall. When the girl asks Sammy to watch her shopping bag and then flees, Sammy is alarmed to discover that inside the bag is a baby!

In this fifth Sammy Keyes mystery, the normally unflappable heroine encounters a corpse, an arsonist, and an irate policeman - and her first real experiences with adolescent angst.

In The Lost Hero, three demigods named Jason, Piper, and Leo made their first visit to Camp Half-Blood, where they inherited a quest:

Seven half-bloods shall answer the call,
To storm or fire the world must fall.
An oath to keep with a final breath,
And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.

Annabeth is terrified. Just when she's about to be reunited with Percy - after six months of being apart, thanks to Hera - it looks like Camp Jupiter is preparing for war. As Annabeth and her friends Jason, Piper, and Leo fly in on the Argo II, she can't blame the Roman demigods for thinking the ship is a Greek weapon.

Young Demigods,

Your Destiny Awaits!

"We want you to do it again."

These words, spoken to Brian Robeson, will change his life. Two years earlier, Brian was stranded alone in the wilderness for 54 days with nothing but a small hatchet. Yet he survived.