Books with author Saunders

Something strange is going on at Stephanie’s house. Her parents never keep secrets from her, but lately they’ve been whispering behind her back. Kate thinks the Greens are planning a surprise for Stephanie—maybe they’re getting her a swimming pool!But Stephanie’s sure her parents have bad news. In fact, she thinks her father has lost his job. Well, whatever the Greens are hiding from Stephanie, she’s going to get to the bottom of it. No one can keep a secret from the Sleepover Friends!

The Sleepover Friends can’t believe it! Handsome TV star Kevin DeSpain is in their town, filming his show. Everyone is going to the set to watch, so the girls know they must come up with an extra-special plan to attract his attention.Stephanie has lots of ideas, and the four friends eagerly try them all—from wearing matching red fan T-shirts, to sneaking onto the set disguised as pizza delivery girls, to painting a banner for him.But when Stephanie goes a little too far to meet her favorite star, her Sleepover Friends may never forgive her!

For Patti’s birthday, the Sleepover Friends are off to the city! Although Kate works out every detail of their visit (of course), nothing goes as planned. Because as the girls are boarding a bus, they get separated!Patti and Lauren are stuck with no money, and – even worse, Lauren thinks—no lunch. Meanwhile, Kate and Stephanie find that everywhere they go, people mistake Kate for the star of a local show, which gets pretty annoying after a while. And then the girls are caught in a thunderstorm!But with romance in the air, what starts out as Patti’s worst birthday may turn out to be the best!

If Americans in the future were to try to send us a message about where our culture is heading, they might simply point to the fiction of George Saunders. Living in a world that’s both indelibly original and hauntingly familiar, the characters in these stories bring to life our most absurd tendencies, and allow us to see ourselves in a shocking, uproariously funny new light. Here you find people who live and work in a simulated, theme-park cave and communicate with their loved ones via fax machine. You encounter a family happily gathered around their favorite form of entertainment, a computer-generated TV show called The Worst That Could Happen. And you hear an upbeat self-help guru sermonize about how figuring out who’s been “crapping in your oatmeal” will help raise your self-esteem. With an uncanny sense of how our culture reflects our character, Saunders mixes a dead-pan naturalism with a wicked sense of humor to reveal a picture of contemporary America that’s both feverishly strange and, through his characters’ perseverance, oddly hopeful. Named by The New Yorker one of the Twenty Best American Fiction Writers Under Forty, George Saunders has been recognized as a visionary storyteller with a hypnotic style. Critics have placed him in the tradition of Kurt Vonnegut, Mark Twain, and Thomas Pynchon – “a savage satirist with a sentimental streak,” said The New York Times. These stories bring greater wisdom and maturity to the worldview he established with his first collection, and leave little doubt that he has found a place in modern fiction all his own.

When Flora Fox's parents send their daughter off to boarding school, they have no idea that the train will take her back to 1935. On the journey Flora has a strange dream. She wakes up without her laptop or her phone, wearing a hideous uniform with ridiculous bloomers underneath. She is a new girl at St Winifred's, where the rules are mad, the food horrible, and the hairiness of the teachers unbelievable. Her 21st century manners will not be tolerated at strict St Win's - how will she ever survive and find her way back to her own time? But there is a special reason why Flora has been summoned to the past. It involves the tempestuous girl who becomes her best friend...

When Kate’s family invites the Sleepover Friends to camp-out on Spirit Lake, nothing goes the way Kate expects it to. There are mice in the cabin, spooky stories about the lake, and two dumb boys who love playing practical joke—on girls!Kate’s sure this will be their worst sleepover ever, but Patti, Lauren, and Stephanie are determined to make the best of it. After all, who wants to sit around roasting marshmallows when there are ghosts to be found?

Kate’s Birthday is coming up, and the Sleepover Friends want to make it really special. They decide to throw Kate a surprise party. What a mistake!Lauren, Stephanie, and Patti have to keep all kinds of secrets from the Birthday Girl. Pretty soon they’re almost ignoring her. Kate’s not suspicious—she’s just mad!Maybe a surprise party is more trouble than it’s worth!

For fans of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Oz and Lily’s magical chocolate-filled adventure continues in the sequel to The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop. In the wrong hands, chocolate can be very dangerous indeed. . . . Oz and Lily have a top-secret mission. Alba the witch has gotten her hands on a magical chocolate phoenix and is plotting to use it for some serious evil. With the help of an army of rats and an unreliable talking cat, the children must pursue her not only across London but through time itself. This might be their toughest adventure yet. Praise for The Curse of the Chocolate Phoenix “Saunders weaves the supernatural with the ordinary with ease. Readers who enjoyed The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop will not be disappointed.”—Booklist “Clearly, Saunders has honed her deft and breezy comic style while affectionately channeling mild echoes of Harry Potter and The Hobbit....It’s official: more magical chocolate equals even more perceptive and magical fun for all.”—Kirkus Reviews “Saunders’s imagination is out in full force. Hand this to readers who love adventure, fantasy, and Mission Impossible–type adventure.”—SLJ

The Sleepover Friends are going to be in a wedding! Patti’s Uncle Nick and their substitute teacher, Ms. Chipley, are getting married, and the girls will be junior bridesmaids. They pick out a dress and excitedly await the big day.Meanwhile, the girls come up with another matchmaking scheme—involving the mysterious owner of a 1942 Riverhurst High School ring they’ve found and Lauren’s grumpy neighbor, Mr. Winkler, also a ’42 graduate.But suddenly, Stephanie starts acting strange. She avoids her friends, and won’t tell them what’s wrong. Is there another wedding in the works—for Stephanie’s Nana?

The Sleepover Friends are ready for some wild west adventure when they go on vacation at a dude ranch in Arizona with Stephanie’s grandmother. But then Kate starts acting strange . . . like making excuses not to get involved with all the fun activities at the ranch. And she’s not the only mystery person around. What is it about fellow guest Keith Foley? He’s so unfriendly! He never smiles, either. So why is Kate always defending him?Stephanie, Patti, and Lauren can’t believe it. Does Kate have a crush on Keith?

Stephanie has had it with her baby brother and sister. All they do is sleep, cry, and eat—but for some reason everyone thinks they’re adorable. Kate knows exactly how she feels, since she has to put up with her own little sister, Melissa the Monster. But then the Sleepover Friends notice something strange is going on. Stephanie starts spending a lot of time with Melissa—styling her hair, taking her shopping for clothes, teaching her how to dance. And Kate wants to know why Stephanie is suddenly trying to be the perfect big sister—to her little sister!

Lauren’s family is moving to a new house! Her father has found a big, old, run-down place that he hopes to transform into a beautiful home. Lauren is miserable! Mover to “Nightmare Mansion" means being farther away from Patti, Stephanie, and, worst of all, Kate, who’s been her almost-next-door-neighbor all her life.But there’s no time for moping. Stephanie has gotten the Sleepover Friends involved in tracking down an orphaned princess-who looks suspiciously like Lauren’s new neighbor! Is little Maya Jones really Princess Marina of Osterburg?