Books with author Mary Ann Hoffman

Grace loves stories, and with a boundless imagination she acts them all out. One day, her teacher asks who would like to play the lead in the play Peter Pan. Grace eagerly raises her hand, but Raj tells her she isn't a boy, and Natalie tells her she can't because she is black. Nana sets Grace straight: she can do anything she sets her mind to! Grace's talent bursts forth, and she wins the audition hands down. Binch's radiant illustrations add to this inspiring story.

The statue of David by Michelangelo has stood in Florence for over five hundred years but until now we have known nothing about the young man it was modelled on. Now Mary Hoffman has written the life of Gabriele, the young stonecutter, son of the sculptor's wet nurse, who walks in Florence in 1501, looking like that, and is immediately plunged into adventures involving politics, spying and coping with the man woman - and men - who are attracted to him.

In the Talian town of Classe, magic and piracy come to life. Isabel, a younger twin by a matter of minutes, is transported there by her talisman-a pouch of silver mosaic tiles. Once she stravagates to Classe, she meets Flavia, a successful female merchant whose son is an outcast and a pirate. Isabel discovers that Classe is under threat of attack, but what can she do to save the city?

A young entrepreneur sets out to earn some money and discovers the value of a dollar (and of dirt)! Perfect for fans of Lemonade in Winter, The Most Magnificent Thing, and Rosie Revere, Engineer.Birdie doesn't know much about money. All she knows is that she wants a new soccer ball that costs $24.95. The fastest way to that $24.95 is going into sales, but what to sell? All her belongings? Not much of a market for those. Birdie needs something that she has in abundance and that everyone needs. So when she sees everyone in her neighborhood working on their yards, she realizes she's hit pay dirt. Literally!Soon Birdie is raking in the dough, with profits of all varieties: quarters, dimes, nickels, pennies, even dollar bills! Now she can buy that soccer ball, but does her business plan have any holes?An industrious tale about striking it rich!"A terrific treatise for early financial literacy that subtly teaches about worth determination, pricing structures, coin values, marketing techniques, and the reward of hard work, all supported by a delightful story with a round-headed protagonist in amusingly huge, face-swallowing glasses and itty-bitty pigtails."--Booklist"Our heroine has a positive outlook and doesn't let things get her down. The book demonstrates how even a young child can be a great entrepreneur. A light, fun, and ­educational tale that would work wonderfully as a two-voice read-aloud."--SLJ"Hoffmann cleverly intertwines early math skills with messages of working toward goals and problem-solving. Worth it, dirt and all."--Kirkus "Every great businessperson starts out small...Can an IPO be far behind?" - Publisher's Weekly"There's a stealthy math lesson here as Birdie counts her coins, and her can-do attitude makes for a nice message about the value of hard work, but it's just as likely that readers introduced to this funny bit of capitalism will start looking to monetize whatever they can get their hands on." - The Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books

The award-winning author of the Stravaganza series has done it again with this atmospheric adventure set in Renaissance Italy. Sixteen-year-old Silvano da Montacuto has wealth, good looks, and a new hawk-but none of these can save him when his bloody dagger is found near a dead body. For his own protection, he is sent to a Franciscan House, where he poses as a novice, or a young monk. There, he lays eyes on Chiara, a lovely novice at a nearby abbey who is also living in secret. When they fall in love, their secret identities make it impossible to reveal their feelings to one another. Murder seems to have followed Silvano, and soon several other dead bodies turn up. Who is committing the crimes? Will a young man accused of multiple murders be able to clear himself? And what about the girl he adores? Fans of Mary Hoffman's critically acclaimed Stravaganza series won't be disappointed in the romance, colorful web of intrigue, and rich, marvelous setting.

The latest installment in the critically acclaimed Stravaganza series begins with Matt, the new Stravagante. Despite having a beautiful and very smart girlfriend, Matt is insecure because he is dyslexic. He discovers that he is capable of traveling between two worlds when a leather-bound book transports him from his home in England to Talia, the parallel-world version of Italy, where he meets a fellow-Stravagante named Luciano-who is hiding from the powerful di Chimici family. Luciano has just killed the head of that family in a duel, and is in grave danger. Banding together, Matt and Luciano must resist the di Chimici family, who are on the verge of making a terrifying breakthrough into our world.

A story of persecution and poetry, love and war set in thirteenth century southern France. A troubadour, Bertran, witnesses the brutal murder of the Pope's legate, and risks his life to warn others of the war that he knows is certain to follow this act. The lands of the peaceable Cathars - deemed heretics - are now forfeit and under threat from crusaders who have been given authority by the Pope to take the Cathar domains by force. But the Pope is trying to track Bertran down and so is somebody else: Elinor, a young noblewoman in love with Bertran but facing a loveless arranged marriage, flees her family and becomes a minstrel herself. Soon both Bertran and Elinor find themselves enveloped in a rising tide of bloodshed that threatens the very fabric of their society.

Callimachus, Royal Librarian of Alexandria, is researching a new book and decides to take his young apprentice Philip on his Mediterranean journey. As Philip marvels at the most breathtaking and beautiful buildings, gardens and statues ever built - at Giza, Babylon, Olympia, Ephesus, Halicarnassus and Rhodes, he know he will remember this trip for the trdy of his life, But when they sail home to Alexandria, there is one more surprise still to come...Mary Hoffman's storytelling, based on the latest research, combines with Mark Robertson's exciting reconstructions in an inspiring introduction to the world's Ancient Wonders.