Books with author Katy Hall

"Chess players are losers, Louie!" That's what my dad said when he heard I was in the chess club. "They're walking targets!" Dad is right. I've seen Glen Glenn, the class bully, use my teammates as punching bags. So I keep my chess playing a secret. Only now I'm supposed to play in a huge tournament! I really want to, but if I do Glen Glenn will be on to me. But guess what? I know how I can play without anyone finding out it's me--because I have another secret...

"The Aliens are coming! The Aliens are coming on Halloween!" That's what my dad's been telling everyone in town. Why? Because he saw a spaceship. And he spoke to one of the Aliens on board. Exciting, right? Wrong. Here's why... 1. I built the spaceship. 2. My friend Gruenwald was the "Alien" dad spoke to. 3. Now the whole town is sitting on my lawn, waiting for the creatures from outer space to arrive!

A king conducts an experiment, a beggar is run out of town, a magnificent lady is majestic but arrogant, a variety of townspeople care only about themselves, and a needy family just tries to survive. What could these people possibly have in common? King Louis Thomas III hears how shallow and hypocritical many of the people in his kingdom are. Armed with this information, he decides he must immediately address the problem. Although written for 8 - 12 year olds, almost every reader will relate to the beggar being bullied and the needy family feeling discounted and neglected. The universal message of love and acceptance comes through this story as readers are whisked to a land far away, where unsuspecting townspeople finally learn the true meaning of Christmas, when an event at the king’s palace gives them the surprise of their lives. An appendix at the end of the book features brain teasers, word searches, and memory quizzes based on the story that children, as well as adults, will love.

Sarah's life has never felt more out of control. After her parents die in a car accident, she’s been sent to live with estranged relatives she barely knows and thrust into a private school for the magically talented and super rich - of which she is neither. When Sarah finds an orphaned dragon’s egg in the forest, she thinks things couldn’t possibly get more complicated…that is, until she starts falling for Alex, the handsome trans pyromancer from her potions class. Juggling magic lessons, a baby dragon and a blossoming romance keeps Sarah too busy to worry about her past. But when a series of gruesome magical murders starts happening on campus, Sarah suddenly finds herself keeping more secrets than she bargained for. When she starts to see Helen, the aunt who disappeared the night of her parents’ death, she begins to suspect that she’s the witch responsible for the deaths plaguing the school.Sarah must find the courage to face her past and uncover the truth about Helen and her parents, even if this means ruining her relationship with everyone she has come to love since moving to the city. Because if Sarah can’t catch the murderer, she and her friends just might become the next victims.

Billie's small-town life is fairly normal. Theatre club, horrible guys, a crush on the new girl, and a deathly fear of dragons ever since one destroyed the town of Bore's Grove five years ago. After slaying a dragon at the annual Dragon Day Parade, though, she becomes a town hero. The problem is, she only did it to save Theo, the girl she likes. Now, though, the town is plotting to destroy the entire flock of dragons. Billie and Theo must team up and decide if they're going to save the dragons. If they do, though, it will mean betraying the town she grew up in.