Central Kansas Library System

When her classmates make fun of her for still liking the color pink, a little girl feels all alone, but then a friend shows her the power of her favorite color.

Seven years ago, the Ballastian sisters' parents left them in the magical Straygarden Place, a house surrounded by tall silver grass and floating trees. They left behind a warning saying never to leave the house or go into the grass. "Wait for us," the note read. "Sleep darkly." Ever since then, the house itself has taken care of Winnow, Mayhap, and Pavonine--feeding them, clothing them, even keeping them company--while the girls have waited and grown...

With insight and a light touch, best-selling, Newbery Honor-winning author Gary D. Schmidt tells two poignant, linked stories: that of a grieving girl and a boy trying to escape his violent past. Following the death of her closest friend in summer 1968, Meryl Lee Kowalski goes off to St. Elene's Preparatory Academy for Girls, where she struggles to navigate the venerable boarding school's traditions and a social structure heavily weighted toward students...

For nearly a century, Victorian London relied on "climbing boys" - orphans owned by chimney sweeps - to clean flues and protect homes from fire. The work was hard, thankless, and dangerous. Eleven-year-old Nan Sparrow is quite possibly the best climber who ever lived, and a girl. With her wits and will, she's managed to beat the deadly odds time and time again. But when Nan gets stuck in a deadly chimney fire, she fears her time has come. Instead,...

The hard-working daughter of two bakers and a perfectly nice stray dog live lonely lives in the same town, until they meet one very stormy day.

A middle-aged actor and the wife of a photographer meet while on business in Tokyo. They strike up an unusual friendship in the hotel bar that helps them both overcome boredom and loneliness.

On that night before Christmas, dear reader, you see, there was one little mouse as awake as could be.

"Daniel Misumi has just moved to a new house. It's big and old and far away from his friends and his life before. AND it's haunted... or is it? Megabat was just napping on a papaya one day when he was stuffed in a box and shipped halfway across the world. Now he's living in an old house far from home, feeling sorry for himself and accidentally scaring the people who live there. Daniel realizes it's not a ghost in his new house. It's a bat. And he...

An evergreen message about hope and unconditional love is told through the story of a bunny separated from its parent during a rainstorm and all the forest friends who come together to offer help. This lyrical book will touch children who have experienced deep loneliness or isolation, and is crafted especially for those who know the unique heartache of witnessing a family member suffer from addiction.