Books with author Jackie French Koller

Thirteen-year-old Danny and his family are struggling to make ends meet in New York during the Great Depression. His father leaves to search for work, and Danny and his mother do what they can to survive. With his mother pregnant and unable to help, Danny is forced to beg for food. Through it all, they retain their good humor and family pride, and in the end help arrives in a most unexpected guise. “Rich, rewarding historical fiction.”--Kirkus Reviews

Thirteen-year-old Danny and his family are struggling to make ends meet in New York during the Great Depression. His father leaves to search for work, and Danny and his mother do what they can to survive. With his mother pregnant and unable to help, Danny is forced to beg for food. Through it all, they retain their good humor and family pride, and in the end help arrives in a most unexpected guise. “Rich, rewarding historical fiction.”--Kirkus Reviews

There is no such thing as a monster, and certainly no such thing as a monster under the bed. That's what Howard's mother tells him. There is no such thing as a boy, and certainly no such thing as a boy on top of a bed. That's what Monster's mother tells him. But no matter what their mothers say, Howard and Monster remain afraid of the dark. Then one spooky night Howard and Monster come face-to-face with each other. Jackie French Koller and Betsy Lewin have created a "monster-under-the-bed" story that offers the perfect cure for fear of the dark.

Darek and Zantor work to convince everyone that dragons and humans can get along in this second book in the fantastical Dragonling chapter book series!Ever since Darek saved Zantor the dragonling, they’ve been inseparable. Darek is the only family Zantor has ever known. But now Darek is bringing Zantor home from the Valley of the Dragons, and the villagers are up in arms! He and his brother Clep are called traitors. Their best friends are turning against them. Even Darek’s father has been threatened for allowing the enemy in their midst. How can Darek prove that dragons are good neighbors to the villagers?

CAN THEY ALL SURVIVE? Princess Arenelle has done what no other girl in the history of Eldearth has done! She has completed the Quest to become the next Imperial Wizard, Keeper of the Light that protects Eldearth from Evil. Soon she will be apprenticed to the current Keeper, and her training will begin. Or will it? When Arenelle's father, King Einar, discovers that he has a long lost son, the King has a change of heart, forbidding Nell to proceed. The boy must be the Chosen One, the King decrees. It is he who should become Apprentice. Nell is in turn outraged and bewildered by this turn of events, all the more so when she discovers that her long lost brother is Owen, the very same street urchin she discovered in the Lanes and sent off to Witch Academy to pose as herself. In this continuation of The Keeper's saga, Nell defies the King and decides to pursue the Wizardry anyway, but when her brother falls into the hands of the Dark Forces and her father sets off on a dangerous rescue mission, all else is forgotten and Nell embarks on a rescue mission of her own. Can Nell unravel the puzzle of the dark, mysterious forces that seek to prevent her -- or her brother -- from becoming the next Keeper?

FACING THE GREATEST DANGER OF ALL! Princess Arenelle, just turned eleven, the age of Magic, has overcome so much in her quest to be the next Imperial Wizard. Now, as the current Wizard grows weaker and the evil Lord Graieconn grows stronger, she must summon all her reserves of intelligence and courage to outwit the vile creatures and twisted Folk who do the bidding of the Dark Lord. They rise up now, legions of them, from the caverns of Darkearth. Driving the forces of Eldearth before them, they seek to capture and extinguish the Scepter of Light, which protects Eldearth from the supreme evil -- Graieconn himself. Nell cannot stop them alone. Only by teaming with her twin brother, Owen, can Nell hope to defend the Scepter. But Owen is her archcompetitor for the title of Imperial Wizard! Can Nell and Owen put aside their differences and find a way to work together as the ultimate battle looms? Even then, can Eldearth be saved?

Dragonquest! Darek can't wait for his first Dragonquest. Then he can be just like his older brother, Clep, the hero who brought down a Great Blue, the largest and fiercest dragon of all. Darek goes to admire the kill -- and finds a dragonling peeking out of the giant dragon's pouch. Scared but curious, he feeds the hungry baby and makes an unlikely friend. But to save the helpless dragonling he must now venture into the fearsome Valley of the Dragons, risking his life to return his friend to his own fire-breathing kind!

Chubby and I stood staring at the stove door, watching the flare of the burning letter. Someday had suddenly become starkly, terribly real. This town we loved, everything we knew, the very roads we walked on, would soon rest beneath the waters of a giant reservoir, like some scene in a dime-store waterglobe. What would become of us, of me and Chubby, and Mama and Gran? And what about all our friends and neighbors? Who would we be without Enfield to bind us together? "Koller excels in making Celie fully human and three dimensional. The town of Enfield becomes a character like any other in the story, triggering emotion and tears." VOYA

A Courageous Choice In the magical world of Eldearth, Witches and Wizards live side by side with Humans, Weefolk, though elusive, are abundant, and Dragons and Unicorns still walk the land. But the present Imperial Wizard, Keeper of the Light that protects Eldearth, is aging and ill. If a new apprentice is not found soon, Eldearth may succumb to the evil powers of the dark Lord Graieconn. There is a long tradition in Eldearth that the keeper must be a Wizard, and only boys can be Wizards, but so far, all the boys who have attempted the difficult quest to become Apprentice Keeper have failed. Time is running out. Princess Arenelle, a promising young Witch, has just reached eleven, the age of Magic, and wishes to undertake the quest. Her father, King Einar, forbids it, fearing for her safety and claiming that her heart is too soft. Against the King's wishes, Nell sets out into the unknown with her pet demidragon, Minna. Aided by Folk she meets along the way and an albino Dragon that she rescues from near death, Nell battles the fearsome forces of nature, Evil, and ignorance that are amassed against her. It will require all of her strength, cunning, and courage to defeat them. Does Nell have what it takes to become the next Apprentice Keeper?

She sleeps. She eats. She scratches. She is training humans to become better pets. She is Mothball, a wombat with attitude. Awarda??winning author Jackie French's love of wombats comes alive in this cheeky observation of Mothball's life, while Bruce Whatley's captivating illustrations of Mothball's antics shows just how entertaining and endearing wombats are to humans. The bestselling daily routine of Mothball the wombat is now in durable board book format for the youngest reader to enjoy.

Celie Wheeler had known all her life that "someday" her town of Enfield, MA, along with Greenwich, Prescott, Dana, and parts of several other towns in the Swift River Valley would be flooded to create a great reservoir to slake the thirst of the growing city of Boston. She just never thought "someday" would actually come. Now construction of the Quabbin is well under way, eviction notices are being served, and Celie must watch as her town is slowly dismantled and her friends and neighbors are scattered to the winds. Set during the Great Depression, SOMEDAY is told through the eyes of three generations of Wheeler women; fourteen-year-old Celie, her restless, widowed mother, and her stubborn, yankee grandmother.Reviews: From VOYA:"Koller excels at making Celie fully human and three dimensional. The town of Enfield becomes a character like any other in the story, triggering emotion and tears." From Publishers WeeklyFourteen-year-old Celie Wheeler has much to think about: her plans to be a writer; her changing relationship with her best friend, a boy; and the imminent loss of her home, which has been in her family since the 1700s. Set in the Depression, this coming-of-age story unfolds against the backdrop of the actual last days of the four towns in Massachusetts's Swift River Valley, which in 1939 was flooded to create a reservoir for Boston. Amid the demolitions and the deliberately set fires that punctuate her days, Celie juggles her own despair with her concern for her aged grandmother and widowed mother, even as she experiences the thrill of her first romantic feelings for the young man sent by the Metropolitan District Water Supply Commission to finish emptying the town. With complex, finely drawn characters and fluid language that rings true for the period and place, the story is satisfying emotionally as well as intellectually. Koller's (the Dragonlings series) afterword explores environmental and social issues raised by the episode. Adolescent readers, experiencing their own transitions toward adulthood, will respond to the literal submersion of the heroine's past and to her eventual embrace of the future. Ages 10-up.Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From BooklistGr. 5-8. This heartbreaking account of a town flooded to create a reservoir, based on real events in 1930s' Massachusetts, is told through the voice of 14-year-old Celie Wheeler. Celie has lived in Enfield her whole life, and although she's known for years that "someday" would come when they would have to move, it's a shock when the official notice arrives. Gran staunchly refuses to leave, and Celie and Mama disagree about where to go. At the same time, Celie is torn between affection for her best friend Chubby and her infatuation with a handsome representative from the water commission. Celie's fear of the unknown, frustration with Gran, confusion about her feelings for Chubby, love for her town and family, and surprise upon learning that her mother has ambitions beyond Enfield all ring true. The sad scenes of the town's dismantling are truly harrowing, and Celie and Chubby's final parting is bittersweet, as Celie realizes that "someday" can refer to a beginning as well as an ending. Diane Foote Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.