Books with author Candlewick on Brilliance Audio

When American teen Kit Bridges moves to England to attend an elite equestrian boarding school, neither she nor her new home will ever be quite the same. Trying to move on from her mother's death and afraid of riding after a bad fall, plucky fourteen-year-old Kit Bridges doesn't quite know what to expect when her father takes a position at the prestigious Covington Academy. A fancy new boarding school in England where she and her dad can make a new start sounds promising. But in addition to her cool, possibly secretly royal new roommate and the boys with charming accents...well, she hadn't accounted for the strict headmistress, Lady Covington. Or the expectation that every student be a rider. Or the wild horse that she seems to have a strange and special bond with. While navigating new friendships, romances, and an alarmingly austere new environment, Kit needs to figure out whether she's ready to get back in the saddle. And at the end of the day, it's hard to tell who will be more changed by her arrival - Covington Academy or Kit herself.

From London's vilest slums to its grandest palaces, Wild Boy and Clarissa hunt a murderous prisoner in hope of proving themselves to a skeptical society. London, 1842. Wild Boy, master detective and former freak-show performer, and Clarissa, circus acrobat and troublemaker, are the secret last hope of a city beset by horror. A poisoner stalks the streets, leaving victims mad with terror - and then dead. Can the Black Terror be traced to a demon called Malphas? With their partnership threatened by rules and regulations, can Wild Boy and Clarissa uncover a cure in time to save the queen and the city?

Horse-loving American teen Kit Bridges is in it to win it when her new boarding school's House Cup competition begins. Fourteen-year-old Kit Bridges is slowly growing accustomed to her new equestrian school, the illustrious Covington Academy, and life as an American teen in England. But it's not easy finding a new normal since her mother's death, especially when it seems like her dad, Covington's riding instructor, might be starting to move on. She'd confide in her new friend, Anya, but Anya's been acting so odd lately - almost like she's hiding something. Not to mention all those confusing British boys, including one who's been sending Kit notes in secret. Kit knows she can count on the connection she's made with her favorite horse, wild, unpredictable TK, but he's just one mishap away from being sent away from Covington - and Kit - forever. With the quest for the House Cup underway, tensions among students are mounting. Who will ride to the top? And who will end up underfoot?

Twelve-year-old Ellen learns the quiet strength of family when her mother’s deep depression prompts her to ask an estranged aunt for help. Ellen’s mother has struggled with depression before, but not like this. With her father away fighting in World War II and her mother unable to care for them, Ellen’s only option is to reach out to her cold, distant aunt Pearl. Soon enough, city-dwelling Ellen and her mother are shepherded off to the countryside to Aunt Pearl’s home, a neat little cabin at the base of Snowden Mountain. Adjusting to life in a small town is no easy thing: the school has one room, one of her classmates smells of skunks, and members of the community seem to whisper about Ellen’s family. But even as she worries that depression is a family curse to which she’ll inevitably succumb, Ellen slowly begins to carve out a space for herself and her mother on Snowden Mountain in this thoughtful, heartfelt middle-grade novel from Jeri Watts.

Kit’s attempts to fit in at Covington go off course when her horse, TK, is sold. Can she find him and bring him home, or will she have to get back in the saddle - on a new horse? Life’s been difficult enough since American teen Kit Bridges moved to England with her dad to start their new life at The Covington Academy, an elite equestrian boarding school. Her roommate, Anya, turned out to be an Indian princess - a secret Anya didn’t bother to confide to Kit before fleeing Covington, seemingly for good. The boys in England are charming, but they’re too busy fighting for Kit’s attention, and she’s focused on the only one who really made Kit feel like she belonged: wild, unruly horse TK. But TK behaved so badly at the House Cup that the headmistress, Lady Covington, sold him and sent him away from the school. If Kit could only find the bill of sale, maybe she could find out where TK is, bring him back, and convince everyone to give him a second chance. Then again, second chances aren’t exactly Covington’s specialty.

"'Eleven is not too young for war,' Ike said to Barfoot, who swished his tail agreeably, then lumbered to the yard table and stuck his nose in an unattended pie." When a steamboat arrives heralding the news that Iowa has been called up to represent the Union of the United States of America, Ike is beside himself with excitement. For months, the promise of war has enveloped small-town Keokuk like a grand game that everyone's in on - everyone but Ike, his swaybacked pony, and his best friend and checkers partner, Albirdie. Left behind with Mother and the aunts and girl cousins while the Button men march forth toward glory, Ike's fate is sealed. Unless he can call on the ingenuity of his fabled (some say cursed) ancestor - the adventuresome Uncle Palmer - seek passage to Missouri disguised as a drummer boy, and meet up with the Iowa First, that is. But some opportunities are meant to be missed. And some arrive when you least expect them.

Everyone’s given up. Dad keeps burning pizzas, and he doesn’t smile anymore. Sally wears only black now and has a terrible secret. Conor plays the drums all night and keeps the neighbors awake. And the dog, Sparkler, hasn’t been walked in months. And that’s not even counting how terrible things are at school. But Mimi isn’t one to give up. John Newman has crafted a novel both touching and comic - a portrait of loss, compassion, and the power that comes from sticking together.

A lyrical coming-of-age story about a boy, a girl, and a horse and how a chance encounter can lead to a life of intrigue and learning, a life beyond imagining. When Thomas Rose first spots the girl hidden by the roadside, she looks as drab as a lark, with only her red kerchief giving her away. But French Hélène, who goes by "Ling," is no ordinary bird. Tiny Ling enchants Thomas with her wild spirit and tales of a circus where she danced atop her beloved horse, Belladonna. But the horse has been sold, and Ling must fetch her back. Now Thomas’s life as a clever but unschooled wheelwright’s son is about to change. Their search leads to painter George Stubbs, who euthanizes ailing animals in order to study their anatomy. Stubbs draws eerie horses that stride as if they could move out of the paper world into the real one - but he assures his young friends that their horse is safe at a nearby estate. As Ling and Thomas devise a risky plan to recover Belladonna, Stubbs hires Thomas as an apprentice, teaching him to read and write as well. In this fascinating story, Mary Finn incorporates a real 18th century artist into a beautifully imagined tale of adventure and young romance.

In the second fantasy set in Eerie-on-Sea, Herbert and Violet team up to solve the mystery of the Gargantis - an ancient creature of the deep with the power to create life-threatening storms. There's a storm brewing over Eerie-on-Sea, and the fisherfolk say a monster is the cause. Someone has woken the ancient Gargantis, who sleeps in the watery caves beneath this spooky seaside town where legends have a habit of coming to life. It seems the Gargantis is looking for something: a treasure stolen from her underwater lair. And it just might be in the Lost-and-Foundery at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, in the care of one Herbert Lemon, Lost-and-Founder. With the help of the daring Violet Parma, ever-reliable Herbie will do his best to figure out what the Gargantis wants and who stole her treasure in the first place. In a town full of suspicious, secretive characters, it could be anyone!

Lauren Myracle brings her signature frank, funny, and insightful writing to this novel of a teenage boy’s coming-of-age. Paul Walden is not an alpha lobster, the king lobster who intimidates the other male lobsters, gets all the lady lobsters, and wins at life. At least not according to anyone in his freshman seminar. But Paul has found a funny, faithful friend in Roby Smalls and, just maybe, caught the interest of smart, beautiful Natalia Guitierrez. Life as a sharply dressed beta lobster seems just fine, but in the tricky currents of high school, its pretty easy to get pulled too deep. With perfect frankness, Lauren Myracle explores the point of view of a middle-class white kid as he navigates friendship, love, loss, addiction, and recovery. It's life at its most ordinary and most unforgettable.

When a publicity stunt goes terribly wrong, twelve-year-old Darleen Darling, star of the silent film era, must defeat villains both on screen and off in this edge-of-your-seat adventure. Lights! Camera! Kidnapping? It's 1914, and Darleen Darling's film adventures collide with reality when a fake kidnapping set up by her studio becomes all too real. Suddenly Darleen finds herself in the hands of dastardly criminals who have just nabbed Miss Victorine Berryman, the poor-little-rich-girl heiress of one of America's largest fortunes. Soon real life starts to seem like a bona fide adventure serial, complete with dramatic escapes, murderous plots, and a runaway air balloon. Will Darleen and Victorine be able to engineer their own happily-ever-after, or will the villains be victorious?