Books with author Stephen Makk

The author of Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days! returns with the laugh-out-loud story of a boy who gets his wish--and wishes he could take it back . . .What happens when a commercial steps out of your TV set and into your life?The ads on TV said the basketball shoes were New! IMPROVED! Amazing! NEAT! Arnold Schlemp just had to have them. He had to. That was all there was to it. But by the end of his birthday he had a lot more to handle than fancy new shoes. He had big red blisters on his feet. He had a broken TV set in the living room. He had an obnoxious kid who had come through the TV screen from the shoe commercial--with no idea how to get home. And he had to find a way to explain it all to his parents--fast!(Want to act this out? An excerpt from this popular book is dramatized for performance in Aaron Shepard's Stories on Stage.

From the author of Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days!, hilarious satire about growing up contrarian in an all-American town:Bright lights! Dancing girls! Cheap eats! Gambling (but only if you're over 21). Sun! Fun! The world's third-largest man-made volcano! What more could a guy ask for?Plenty. Ivan Zellner and his father have just moved to Carmody, Nevada. It calls itself "The Future Entertainment Capital of the World." Ivan calls it "the toilet bowl." To him, the tacky town is an endless traffic jam full of tourists in search of cheap thrills and quick bucks. The air smells like rotten eggs. The tap water can make you sick. And the new high school, in a remodeled hotel, offers courses in performing, sports, hospitality, gambling and comedy--not, Ivan suspects, the finest preparation for college.Home? To Ivan, Carmody seems more like an alien planet. But when he meets other kids who feel the same was, a funny thing happens on the way to high school--in fact, lots of funny things in a Labor Day weekend like no other. Once more, the blisteringly funny pen of Stephen Manes has produced a totally original, totally hilarious slice of American life. It's a sure bet: Comedy High is high comedy

Is it possible? Can an ordinary human being really become a perfect person in three short days? Milo Crinkley thought so. What gave him the idea was a book that fell on his head one day at the library--a book with the impressive title Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days! The author, Dr. K. Pinkerton Silverfish, did look kind of weird, but he claimed to be the world's leading authority on perfection. Milo took the book home and followed its instructions. He liked the idea of being perfect. Perfect people never had their parents nag at them. Perfect people never had to take the blame for rotten tricks their sisters played. Perfect people never needed erasers. Perfect was obviously the perfect thing to be! Did Milo become a perfect person in just three days? More important, can you? Do you think we're going to answer all your questions here when we want you to read this hilarious book?Winner of five kid-voted statewide awards! California Young Reader Medal Charlie May Simon Award (Arkansas) Georgia Children's Book Award Nene Award (Hawaii) Sunshine State Award (Florida)

From the author of Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days! . . . What if you and your scorecard could control the biggest baseball game of the year?There's a wild, weird night of baseball in store for Nottingham Shoppers fan Jake Kratzer. The pennant is on the line, and it's do or die for his favorite team. When Jake takes his place in the stands, he's only hoping for a Shoppers win, a few good hot dogs, and maybe a Fan Appreciation Night prize to top it off.But when Jake starts marking plays on his scorecard, strange things begin to happen on the field. It seems to him that with a few strokes of his pencil, he can control the game.Or can he? Jake can't quite figure out why some of his dream plays come true, while others backfire miserably. Can Jake figure out the card's secret in time to lead the Shoppers to victory and help his favorite player make baseball history? Or will the game find a way to throw him one of its classic spitballs?Praise for An Almost Perfect Game!"A valentine to a game that was, and could be again, almost perfect. . . . Manes deftly slips readers into the stands, recreating the authentic flavor of a minor league ball game. . . . Funny incidents and one-liners sparkle throughout . . ."--Kirkus Reviews"Manes captures the experience of a family sharing its love and knowledge of baseball and makes it easy to follow the play-by-play action. Filled with baseball lore and jargon, this will appeal to young fans of the game . . ."--Booklist"These tales are hits . . . What baseball fan hasn't sat in front of the TV or in the stands, wishing for the power to change the outcome of the game?"--Associated Press"An Almost Perfect Game puts an imaginative twist on one child's love of our national pastime."--Boston Globe"An easy-to-read mix of fantasy and baseball that is sure to appeal to many sports-oriented readers."--Pittsburgh Post-Gazette"Manes wonderfully evokes minor-league baseball at its most irrepressible, and the witty, first-person narration helps to carry the story along. For enthusiasts of the sport with a taste for a little fantasy, this will be just the ticket."--School Library Journal

From the author of Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days! . . .How much chicken can one human eat? Oscar Noodleman is about to find out!Oscar owes his weird inventor cousin $49,462.37--plus tax. His cousin needs the money to avoid a horrible fate. The only way out is for Oscar to win the Bagful o' Cash prize in a coast-to-coast chicken-eating contest.Trekking across America in his cousin's amazing Picklemobile, Oscar stuffs down more than two hundred chicken meals. But an evil seer with a huge appetite, a grudge against Oscar's cousin, and a taste for fowl play is hot on the drumstick trail herself.Will Oscar sprout feathers? Will the ChickenSniffer, the RemDem and his cousin's other crazy inventions save the day? Feast on this tale and cackle at the fine-feathered fun!

From the bestselling author of Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days!Why are thousands of wild-eyed tourists running through the streets of Gerbil, Pennsylvania, twirling miniature lariats? Why are swarms of desperate gerbils desperately scampering out of their way? Why does the town's fate now depend on two kids named Elton Wazoo and McBeth McBeth? And how does this all involve Rory Rallickson's Rhinoceros Ranch?It all began when the sleepy town of Gerbil decided to put itself on the map. The amazing First National Drive-Thru Museum of American Sightseeing and Clean Rest Rooms let anyone experience an entire vacation in ten minutes--without even leaving the car!But some citizens insisted that wasn't enough. The town needed something even more spectacular to lure more tourists and more dollars. That's when the mayor announced The Great Gerbil Roundup.People flooded into Gerbil from every direction. Then the worst fears of gerbils and Gerbilites became reality--for a Fourth of July the town, and you, will never forget. As for the rhinoceros ranch--well, read this book and find out!

Pippa is a typical teenager, if you don't consider her inability to operate a cell phone. But then a-typical things start to happen. First her mother dies in a mysterious fire, then a fire seems to come after her. After the ground tries to eat her friend, she runs right into the arms of the most beautiful boy she has ever seen, Pan ... Then things get really strange.When Pan opens a whole new world up to Pippa, she finds herself attending fairy weddings, running with satyrs, and battling a mad centaur. She also learns there are many secrets being kept, some about her and her family, and worse, they are kept from her. But, all she really wants is to find her way back into Pan's embrace. About the author: J.M. Stephen is an author and educator with a penchant for mythologies of all kinds. She loves the woods, secluded places, reading Virginia Woolf and being out in nature. She has taught writing, literature and publishing at The Gotham Writer's Workshop and The New School. Her articles and short stories have appeared in numerous publications. She lives in New York City with her family.

Who are the Obnoxious Jerks?A: The weirdest band of total misfits ever seen at any known high school in the free world.B: Amateur comedians whose routines include kazoos, used chewing gum, and gooey lemon meringue pies.C: Members of a club whose Official Ice Cream Flavor is Nuts to You.D: A disorganized organization whose exploits are required reading for anybody with a sense of humor.All of the above--and more . . . There are jerks in every high school. The Obnoxious Jerks are found only at Ullman Griswold Memorial High (or, as they prefer to call it, UGH). They specialize in pranks (better known as "jerk-outs") designed to show how ridiculous some school rules can be. Which means the detention hall sometimes becomes the Jerks' unofficial meeting room.Then something happens to shake up Jerkdom: A girl known as "Iceberg" Freeze asks to join the all-male club-that's-not-a-club. It's not long before she finds herself at the center of the greatest jerk-out ever--one that involves picket signs, mass demonstrations, and guys wearing skirts.What's acceptable behavior? What's worth fighting for? The Obnoxious Jerks twist, bend, and break the rules to find out. And in the process learn a lot about questioning not only the outside world, but also themselves.

A virtuoso performance from a literary talent who crafts a vividly drawn history of an imaginary country. In this stylistic tour de force, Stephen Marche creates the entire culture of a place called Sanjania—its national symbols, political movements, folk heroes, a group of writers dubbed "fictioneers," a national airline called Sanjair, and a rich literary history. This richly detailed story takes you to an island nation whose English-speaking citizens draw upon the English, American, Australian, and Canadian literary traditions. Marche has compiled this brilliant anthology, guiding the reader from the rough-and-tumble pamphlets of 1870s Sanjania to the extraordinary longing of the writings of the Sanjanian Diaspora. These works develop into a Rashomon-like story, introducing us to illustrious Sanjanian figures such as the repentant prostitute Pigeon Blackhat and the magically talented couple Caesar and Endurance. The result is a vibrant evocation of a country—from the birth pangs of its first settlers and their hardy vernacular to its revolutionary years and all the way to the present.

Pippa is a typical teenager, if you don’t consider her inability to operate a cell phone. But then a-typical things start to happen. First her mother dies in a mysterious fire, then a fire seems to come after her. After the ground tries to eat her friend, she runs right into the arms of the most beautiful boy she has ever seen, Pan ... Then things get really strange.When Pan opens a whole new world up to Pippa, she finds herself attending fairy weddings, running with satyrs, and battling a mad centaur. She also learns there are many secrets being kept, some about her and her family, and worse, they are kept from her. But, all she really wants is to find her way back into Pan’s embrace.About the author:J.M. Stephen is an author and educator with a penchant for mythologies of all kinds. She loves the woods, secluded places, reading Virginia Woolf and being out in nature. She has taught writing, literature and publishing at The Gotham Writer’s Workshop and The New School. Her articles and short stories have appeared in numerous publications. She lives in New York City with her family. Reviews:... a compelling read that draws readers in, works its magic with strong characters and a story filled with surprises ... It deserves a place in any teen fantasy collection – D. Donovan, Senior reviewer, Midwest Book Reviewa magical adventure that weaves a delightful twist on fairies, the lady of the lake, and Pan. — Elizabeth Konkel, Manhattan Book Review

From the author of Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days! and the Pulitzer prize-winning illustrator of Uncle Pirate:The giant video game that appears one day in Pete's Pizza Palace is the strangest one Oscar Noodleman has ever seen. It looks more like a rocket ship than a game. There's not a word of English on it anywhere; everything from the control panel to the coin slot is labeled in some strange language that seems to use squiggles instead of letters. And when he and Pete finally figure out how to get it working, they discover the loudest game they've ever heard.But as the screen pops out to wrap around Oscar's head and he gets deeper into the game, he discovers levels and challenges unlike any he's ever seen. He begins to wonder if this isn't just a game, but a real rocket from outer space. Some colorful bugs run down the screen and into the coin slot. And that's when things start getting downright weird . . .