Books with author Janet Taylor Lisle

When three kittens are carelessly thrown off the back of a truck, none of the highway cats know what to make of them. They seem to have some sort of appeal—an energy, even—that Khalia Koo, Jolly Roger and the rest of the mangy, feral cats don’t understand. But there are bigger issues to figure out when the bulldozers start coming, threatening to demolish the cats’ homes as well as other historical landmarks. Can three little kittens be the answer to save the town? Illustrated with striking silhouettes, here is a spirited and original environmental story from Newbery Honor winner Janet Taylor Lisle about finding help—and hope—in the smallest, most unlikely of places.

When Ruben and Jeddy find a dead body in an evening suit whashed up on the shore, they are certaing it has to do with smuggling liquor. It is spring 1929, Prohibition is in full swing, and many in their community are involved. Soon the boys, along with Jeddy's strong-willed sister, Marina, are drawn in, suspected by rival bootlegging gangs of taking something cruicial off of the dead man. Then Ruben meets the daring captain of the Black Duck, the most elusive smuggling craft of them all, and it isn't long before he's keeping dangerous company. Inspired by very real accounts of the Black Duck, a legendary rum-running boat that worked the New England shores during the era, Newbery Honor winner Janet Taylor Lisle has written a colorful, original work of historical fiction. 252 pages