Books with author J. J. Carlson

Summer Baseball Car Baseball Sock Ball Wall Ball The Time Tower: can you get older faster? The speed of light: can it be measured? A carp, washed up in the riberbank: what's inside? Larry, Witt, and Rafferty have a whole summer to play all the different kinds of baseball, to build structures in the backyard, to find out what makes the world tick. "We've got to keep busy," says Witt. I want to know everything. Not just part." Larry doesn't want to know what keeps him heading for Witt's backyard, rich with weeds and rotting appliances, whenever he's not at baseball practice. All he knows is that there's no one he'd rather be with than these two friends, that the chaos of Witt's universe offers refuge from his own orderly home and an entrance into a world of change, growth, and unpredictability. THE HOTEL EDEN author Ron Carlson's first novel for young readers is a heady immersion in the first moments of adolescence, when nothing is as it ever was before.

Since the age of five, Olin had aspired to only one goal; to get his father back into his life. At seventeen, with no success, he was willing to do almost anything to make that happen. There was nothing that could make him feel differently… or so he thought. When he was plunged into a situation where the energy of the elements was his to command, the world as he knew it was turned upside down. The gifts that ran through Olin’s blood would make him question his goal and rethink his path, all in an effort to choose well. Those same gifts would result in him being christened Spirit Warrior. But was he worthy?

How can a 15-year-old magician expect to rescue his family and king when no one else is willing to? Aldric and the war unicorn Neighbor must find and rejoin the remnant of the Farhner army, but to reach them, they need to travel through enemy territory with their only companions a band of thieves.The Farhner general is more interested in self-preservation than in saving the king and other Farhnerians. He commands Rick to work on the Bottoms' wall where the other outcasts live. Aldric is not the only one frustrated with the general’s inaction to rescue. Desertion is out of the question, yet so is doing nothing to save their king and country.Are thieves and a handful of magicians enough to hide and heal a healing unicorn? And what about the ghosts King Segan told Rick to bring? Worst yet, Rick must confront his nemesis, the witch Alyse. Is there any hope for Farhner?

Can a troubled boy and an earthbound spirit together find freedom?"It's not a punishment." His mother looked into Ethan's face, her eyes pleading for understanding. "Four Horses is a wonderful man. Three months with your grandfather will give you time to think things through."Ethan turned back to his father. "B-b-but I don't even know your father. You said he's a superstitious old fool."Mr. Hunter ignored Ethan's words. "You are leaving on Tuesday." He picked up his fork, signaling the end of the discussion...After getting into trouble with the law, fourteen-year-old Ethan Hunter is sent to live with his Native American grandfather. In the small, remote village of Long Pond, he learns a new way of life, adopts a new set of values, and finds that to free himself from his past, he must free another.

Going Bovine meets Trainspotting in this gritty portrait of at-risk teens gaming the prescription drug trial system. Meet Audie: Professional lab rat. Guinea pig. Serial human test subject. For Audie and her friends, “volunteering” for pharmaceutical drug trials means a quick fix and easy cash. Sure, there’s the occasional nasty side effect, but Audie’s got things under control. If Monday’s pill causes a rash, Tuesday’s ointment usually clears it right up. Wednesday’s injection soothes the sting from Tuesday’s “cure,” and Thursday’s procedure makes her forget all about Wednesday’s headache. By the time Friday rolls around, there’s plenty of cash in hand and perhaps even a slot in a government-funded psilocybin study, because WEEKEND! But the best fix of all is her boyfriend, Dylan, whose terminal illness just makes them even more compatible. He’s turning eighteen soon, so Audie is saving up to make it an unforgettable birthday. That means more drug trials than ever before, but Dylan is worth it. No pain, no gain, Audie tells herself as the pills wear away at her body and mind. No pain, no gain, she repeats as her grip on reality starts to slide. . . . Raw and irreverent, Placebo Junkies will captivate readers until the very end, when author J. C. Carleson leans in for a final twist of the knife.

Aldric and his arch-enemy Thram have less than a month to discover if other unicorns exist before the unicorn war wish is needed to protect their country from the magician Alyse and the Spikonians. They travel further than any of their countrymen, to mythical City Brandt, where they hear of a dragon who might have the answers they seek. But knowledge of the dragon’s last location comes at a price: find the lost Brandt princess, or even news of her or forfeit their lives.Aldric, Thram, and the unicorn Neighbor find the dragon, but can they get the information they need from her—both about other unicorns and the missing princess?