Kitsy Boo hated his name.
"Kitsyyyyyyyyyyy," his owner, Marguerite, would call. "Boooooooooooooo!"
Every time the shaky old voice called for him, the other neighborhood animals would laugh.
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Phineas wished, for the two-thousand-three-hundred-and-twenty-third time, that he had a different name. His father was in the army, and the family moved fairly often. No, unfairly often. There was ... [+]
Bronagh's mother watched her toying with her food.
"Sit up straight, Bronnie," she chided, "and finish your dinner. Your father's ready to read you a story."
"I don't want to."
"Well, if you'd
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Vicky was a Viking,
one as brave as brave could be.
On land she was a legend,
but she didn't like the sea.
Boats made Vicky queasy
and the waves made her feel yuck.
She'd rather not go
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Sarah bounced as the SUV hit another rough patch on the dirt road into Silver City.
"Just look at this place!" her dad exclaimed, taking photos of one rundown building after another.
"You wanted
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Theofina's class had won a contest. The contest was for a special trip. They were going to go back to the time of the dinosaurs!
Theo was happy, excited, and worried. She wanted to be brave, but
...
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There are mountains hidden downstairs
in my grandpa's country house
with craggy granite boulders
no bigger than a mouse.
Little trees of twigs and moss
hug miniature ravines,
where
...
[+]
SNORRRRR!
Jason sat up in his space bunk. What was that noise? It wasn't the wind. He'd heard and felt lots of Planet Purple Plum wind in the front yard that afternoon while Mia and he were
...
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Abby heard the car pull up. A flush of triumph rose in her chest. Bella was home from school! Now the gloating could begin!
Being twins, the sisters spent most of their time trying to out-do each
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Bobby didn't talk much in class. When he did speak, the other children often made fun of him because he stammered. His words just wouldn't come out right. They twisted around his tongue like slimy ... [+]
Nelson Packrat was a pack rat who lived in a small cave. One day his mother looked around the tunnels of their nest and thought it was time for a spring cleaning.
"Nelson, I can barely get into
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[+]
The creepy old house smells like three-month-old kitty litter and rotting dumpster food.
The night is cold, and the air in the run-down house even colder. Rachel takes another step down the hall
...
[+]
The adventurous little mole, whose name was Oscar, lived in a mole-hole at the bottom of the sea with his unadventurous mother and father and his timid little sister who was scared of ... [+]
Rocco always knew he was a little different.
While other dinosaurs ran wild through the forest, Rocco spent his time in the kitchen wearing an apron and doing baking experiments.
Rocco was
...
[+]
Lake Tahoe, July 1st, 2018
Hello Benjamin,
I'm Erin. You don't know me, but I know a little bit about you. I found your library card in my bedroom in this cabin. Here's what I know about
...
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Queen Riddles was a fun-loving monarch who liked riddles and jokes. She had spent most of her life working out answers to riddles, so there were few who could trick her. All it took was a little ... [+]
There was a hippo in the kitchen. No one knew how it got there, or when, but there was undeniably an enormous, sloppy, disheveled hippo in the kitchen.
"And," I said, examining the lunch my mothe
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Sometimes I can't sleep. That's because of the bear under the bed.
One night, the bear was breathing hard.
When he breathed in, the bed lifted up off the floor.
When he breathed out, the
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