Wendy L Brandes

Last season Mercy Anderson was one of the best dancers on her school's dance team when they almost made it to the state championship, but a sudden growth spurt has made her awkward and unsure of her moves--a personal coach would help bring her back to competition level, but can she earn enough money dog walking to pay for the training?

Twelve-year-old Tanisha Carter's favorite extreme obstacle course challenge is coming to town; her classmate Derek agrees to be her partner, and his cousin Janet agrees to train them at her gym, and while getting in shape is a little hard for easy going Derek, but the real problem the pair face is when Tanisha discovers she is afraid of heights.

Pilar Ramirez loves to skate on ice, and normally she does not keep being born without part of her right foot a secret, but when her best friend convinces her to try out for the local hockey team Pilar decides not to mention her condition--but hockey presents her with some problems that plain skating did not, and Pilar needs to learn that being part of a team means being open with your teammates, so that they understand all your strengths and weaknesses....

Worried sick about his baby brother's operation, twelve-year-old Dominic does not really feel much like playing soccer, so he just messes around on the field during practice--but when his grandfather teaches him some moves he starts to take an interest, and sets out to win the trust of his coach and teammates.

Talented striker Jax Cooper has been Most Valuable Player for the Screaming Hawks for four years in a row, but when he joins a traveling league he finds out that he still has a lot to learn about teamwork.

"Takes readers on a self-guided tour of the mythical war between the Olympian and Titan gods with each choice affecting the outcome of the story"--

Twelve-year-old Jasmine Lopez loves exploring the coral reefs around Fiji where her marine biologist parents are stationed, and though young, she is already a certified scuba diver, a fact that her ten-year-old brother Arjun seems to resent; in fact he seems to believe he already knows everything about diving, and certainly does not want help from his older sister--until his overconfidence and defiance leads them both into a confrontation with a reef...

This You Choose adventure is told from three different perspectives--White Snow is a secret agent in Good Prince's army, looking for a computer with secret codes for a bomb; Mrs. White desperately searches for her runaway daughter Snow; and Charming, towed by his seven loyal sleddogs, goes to rescue his friend and mentor Meteorologist Snow-White, who is trapped in a raging blizzard in the Arctic--the reader chooses which plot to pursue.

When the Nearly Fearless Monkey Pirates land on an island in search of treasure, they find themselves surrounded by monkey pirate ghosts who are determined to protect it--and only Mr. Pickles, the youngest of Captain Banana Beard's crew, can save them from being dropped into a volcano.

Nita Dara is one of ten eighth graders who has already won a scholarship to attend the Alaska Young Explorers program and learn explorer skills in an Alaskan wilderness camp; but the program is also a competition and the winner will get 5000 dollars--money that Nita's family could really use--but on the final challenge she is paired with the super-competitive Sohail Aman, and the challenge turns deadly when they find themselves lost in the fog while...