Books with author Patti Jennings

Math is not ten-year-old Zaritza's best subject. When her teacher, Mr. Phinney, offers extra credit to whomever takes the class ferret, Bandito, home over the weekend, she jumps at the opportunity. Unfortunately, taking care of this particular animal is as boring as school itself. All it does is eat, sleep, and lick itself. So when Zaritza accidentally leaves Bandito's cage open and the ferret goes missing, she blames everyone else, including her three-year-old sister. And her excuses get bigger and bigger.But when her mom finds out that there is a ferret on the loose, Zaritza better find her class pet fast!

A family of werewolves faces the human evil of persecution in this tense and spellbinding novel from one of Scholastic Press' favorite authors.Laszlo Emberek is caught between two worlds. He has the peaceful life of a shepherd who tends his family's flock of sheep, yet he is also aware of the secret life of his parents, who can become wolves at will. Laszlo yearns for the day when he, too, will learn to change. But then the family's secret is discovered by a village girl - a girl who is the servant of the town's cruel and corrupt priest. The priest is out to condemn werewolves and burn them at the stake. As the fierce rumors about Laszlo's family begin to spread, he must choose between his worlds - and decide who the true demons are.

An accessible middle-grade novel from popular author Patrick Jennings now in paperback. 11-year-old Nickel moves with his mother into a mysterious apartment building called The Beastly Arms.11-year-old Nickel and his mother need to find a new apartment. When their search takes them to an unfamiliar part of the city, Nickel is drawn to a strange building at the end of an alley - a building called the Beastly Arms.Even though the rent in dirt cheap and the apartment is beautiful, Nickel's mom thinks the Beastly Arms is creepy. So does his best friend, Inez. Even his pet kangaroo rat, Miriam, seems worried. But Nickel, an avid photographer who has a gift for seeing what others don't, senses that the Beastly Arms houses a secret that only he can unearth...

I am a snake. No, not a rattlesnake. I just look like one. I'm a gopher snake.One day an oily, filthy, fleshy human child crossed my path. As luck would have it, he knew the difference between a gopher snake and a rattlesnake. He has imprisoned me in a terrarium. His name is Gunnar. He calls me Crusher. He thinks I'm male. I'm not.He dropped in a dead mouse and hoped I'd eat it. I buried it. He then dropped in a live one, which he called "Breakfast." I didn't lay a coil on it.Gunnar thinks I'll be his adoring pet. He's wrong.In fact, I am planning my escape. I may take Breakfast with me.Crusher will charm readers in this entertaining, clever novel about a snake in captivity and how she turns the tables on her human captor.

Hedley Hopkins has a few problems: he is the new kid at school, straight off the boat from England in the 1950s. The only friends he has made are the kids at the Loony Bin especially bald headed, long armed Victor. But if he could just fulfil a dare and dig out the hideous skull hidden in a grave in the sand dunes, he could impress the bullies at school and become their friend. But Hedley is not so sure. Weird things are happening to his body. Is he being punished for his terrible actions? And if his uptight parents ever found out what he was up to, they might blow up. Full-moon murderers, an open grave, religious conversions and sexual awakening meld sometimes poignantly, sometimes hilariously in this riveting, stunningly original account of growing up in 1950s Australia. This coming of age tale is Paul Jennings at his very best!