Books published by publisher Outskirts Press, Inc.

Bite into a juicy story where the only limit is your imagination! Oh yes my friend, watermelons do grow on trees...way up high on top of the hill... that lumpy, bumpy, purple hillin Schnobbleville!Welcome to Schnobbleville, the adorable little town with a funny name and a silly secret: it’s the only place on Earth where you can pick a ripe, juicy watermelon—right from a tree! Come along with Marty, the cheese-loving mouse, grab a pair of magical binoculars, and prepare to be amazed with the sweet sights—and tastes—of this enchanted land. It’s a friendly place where the people still say “excuse me, may I, thank you, and please.” But whatever you do, don’t sneeze too hard or you might shake loose a whole crop of lip-smacking watermelons! Bursting with glorious, full-color illustrations and full of enchanting rhymes, Do Watermelons Grow On Trees? urges kids to explore their limitless and precious imaginations. The message is simple: anything is possible with just a little vision. Children are also encouraged to explore their own stories by drawing what they see around them. After all, if watermelons can grow on trees, what else is possible? Engaging and entertaining story for preschool-age through third grade but this book will delight people of all ages!

My Nana was an Outrageously Mischievous kid. In the 1940s and ’50s, children were allowed to run free, play outside, and use their imaginations—without parents constantly hovering over them and fearing for their safety. In her own small town in North Carolina—with very little traffic, and neighbors who actually knew each other—Nana was no exception to the free-range kid phenomenon. But as an outrageously mischievous child that was left to her own devices, she sure got into some amazing and hilarious adventures. It was a glorious time to be a child! Both of Nana’s parents worked, so she and her brother were often unsupervised. They wreaked havoc most of the time, thus living an exciting childhood. Nana’s stories—told to her great-grandchildren—are all true. She relates how her family and neighbors survived in spite of her and is quick to let her great-grandchildren know what not to do. As she says, if she had lived as a child today, she’d probably be locked up in a juvenile home!

Sergeant Davida Uri is the only volunteer willing to locate a missing group of people simply called the Survivors by the lethargic group of World Leaders that run Shamayim, a city designed to shelter civilians that have already been rescued. As Sergeant Uri journeys through this new wasteland, she runs into a reluctant and hostile academy, a group of beings known as the “Caretakers,” who have taken on the task of restoring the Earth, as well as a being Uri simply refers to as the Shadow, when she is unable to make out its features throughout most of her journey.

Meet Paolo Piccione, one of the famous pigeons of St. Mark’s Square! Venice is a magnificent city, especially if you’re a pigeon. Not only do the people of Venice feed the birds, but tourists lay birdy banquets at their feet! However, Paolo, oh little Paolo, he yearns to be more than just a pigeon… This beautifully illustrated, lyrical story tells the tale of Paolo, a prince among pigeons who wants to be human, and the grand adventure that leads him to realize it is silly to long to be something he is not.

A feisty teen and her radical multicultural friends are fed up with life's challenges: School ClosingsRacismBroken Friendships/RelationshipsBullyingLosing Loved OnesParents Losing Their JobsUnwanted Sexual Advances and much more!Through this novel's usage of humor, realistic school scenes, youth dialogue, and heart-wrenching events, youth are shown that the only way to survive and overcome adversity is to find their inner strength and to lean on faith, rather than lose control.Young Adult themes in Never Predictablez: Transition, School Adjustments, Family Issues, Conflict-Resolution, Self-Esteem, Academic Excellence, Peer Pressure, and Choices and Consequences.Recommended for 11-17 year olds.

With a keen sense for detail, award-winning author Diane Dettmann skillfully draws readers into an engaging story about an unexpected friendship that develops between Yasu Sakamoto and Martha Annala, a university professor. When they first meet on a train headed to Minneapolis, Yasu is afraid to trust Martha with any information about her past and lies about her identity to protect herself and her family. Alone and with no place to go, Yasu eventually tells Martha about leaving her home in Glenville and the three years she was imprisoned in the internment camp. Martha feels Yasu's pain and opens her heart and home to her. As the war intensifies anti-Japanese attitudes escalate in America and the hostility runs rampant. Martha's decision to befriend Yasu ultimately creates hardships and challenges in her own life. Relationships with university colleagues become strained, but Martha remains committed to her friendship with Yasu. Negative looks and anti-Japanese comments surround Yasu wherever she goes. She wishes everything would go back to the way it was before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. She deeply misses her parents, her brother, Haro, and their loving German shepherd and longs to return to her home in Glenville, California. Eventually Yasu realizes she can't repair her broken dreams and her only option is to build new ones and keep moving forward. With courage, the support of others and perseverance she finds a new path in life. Yasu's Quest: A Tale of Triumph is an informative and inspirational historical novel. A captivating and timeless story about overcoming hardships in life, surviving difficulties and the strength of the human spirit to persevere under the most adverse conditions. An engaging read for all ages relevant even today. "With the help of a mentor strong enough to stand with her against rabid anti-Japanese sentiments, Yasu perseveres to overcome and extricate herself from the terrible grip of fate." --Beth L. Virtanen, Ph.D. President, Finnish North-American Literature Association

Every coin holds its own storyGustav Junker considered himself a good man, a good soldier and a good Nazi. His current assignment for the Fatherland is to drive a Sonder Wagen, one of the vehicles used as mobile gas chambers. However, he is having trouble justifying his actions and he wonders if he’s doing the right thing. Sgt. Brewmeister, his co-driver, has no such doubts. When they meet Herta Luftl, a young Polish woman scarred by the war, their lives change forever.

A wild coming of age romance interesting enough for a reality show! This shocking tale of a young girl seduced by a married man twice her age is a true story. It happened more than 40 years ago and although the times have changed, the story has re-ignited the salacious gossip that gripped a small town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in the 1970s. Does forbidden love triumph or fail? This quick, beach read lets you find out!

Memoirs of an Orphan Child"A child 's unvarnished truth...stunning...heartbreaking...wrenching." The more I try to forget, the more the memories haunt me. Imagine that you are six years old. You have lost your father, mother, and siblings within the last year because of war. Imagine making a trip across a jungle infested with landmines. Imagine chasing snakes for food. Imagine a childhood spent taking beatings from soldiers and not being able to fight back. I was barely five years old in April 1975 when my family in Cambodia were forced by the Communist Khmer Rouge to leave our home. In our jungle encampment, among hundreds of other frightened evacuees, my younger brother became ill and died. After our next relocation, the soldiers took my father to build a canal to water the rice fields. He never returned. My older sister was forced to live in a girl's work camp, far away. After I recovered from a deadly illness, my mother died from an illness, in front of me. I was now alone. There was no one. I was six years old. Left to my own wits, I caught and ate flying termites, grasshoppers, crickets, fish, and snakes, anything edible. I was always hungry. Like a starving puppy, I stole leftover bones and sucked the juice out of them. Then, confined in various encampments with thousands of prisoners who were forced to build canals, I also was forced to help with the backbreaking labor in the water-laden rice fields. I kept running away, back to the forest. After three years and eight months under the brutal Khmer Rouge, the horrors of my life experience were not over, and surviving without any relatives was just the beginning. It was nine harsh years until I emigrated to America. My rebellious spirit kept me alive. "This is the breathtaking story of an orphan who survived the Khmer Rouge regime. Marin was condemned to a nightmare that few can imagine--growing up with the murderer of his family. Torn between love and hate, this is an incredible story about survival and forgiveness." --Youk Chhang, Director of The Documentation Center of Cambodia

A boy finds himself in trouble, but gets help from an unexpected source.A troubled young man growing up in Baltimore in the late 1970’s finds himself in deep trouble. He is abandoned by his friends and is on the verge of going to jail when he receives help from the last person he expects would try to help him. He learns that he owes a great deal to those he once despised, and in doing so broadens his world and himself.

Sean McElwee was successfully fully included in elementary school with all of the supports, accommodations and modifications he needed to succeed. This book introduced him to all of the first grade classes, and facilitated his acceptance. Sean McElwee was successfully fully included in elementary school with all of the supports, accommodations and modifications he needed to succeed. This book introduced him to all of the first grade classes, and facilitated his acceptance. A great book for introducing Down syndrome to peers, siblings and children who have Down syndrome by pointing out that they are just like Sean. Many photos and short sentences make this a children’s book that will be read over and over again. At the end there is a letter to parents of typical children who may have a child with Down syndrome included in their child’s classroom, explaining how to talk to their children and even encouraging them to invite the child with Down syndrome for a play date or to a birthday party. He was included in all aspects of his school, learned to read, excelled in math, performed in talent shows and most of all made many friends. Sean continued his education and graduated from high school at 17 years old. You can read about his education experiences in Who’s The Slow Learner? A Chronicle of Inclusion and Exclusion.

When Serial Killers Terrorize a California Beach Community, One Woman Stands in Their WayEmily Stone doesn’t have a badge. But that hasn’t stopped her from tracking down some of the West’s most dangerous child-killers. Armed with a digital SLR camera, laptop computer and her trusty Beretta, Stone uses her innate gift for detective work to identify the perps ― and then anonymously e-mail the evidence to the cops.Now, the hunt for two brazen serial killers on the loose right in her own coastal California town threatens to expose Stone’s identity ― unraveling her carefully constructed cover and jeopardizing her life’s work. But when she gets too close to the action, this razor-sharp hunter becomes the hunted. Cooperating with the handsome local police detective could be the only hope for stopping the rampage directed at unsuspecting young women ― and saving herself. Can they piece together the clues in time?Compulsion mixes CSI-style investigation with a ripped-from-the-headlines plot and a dose of romance for a keeps-you-guessing, fast-paced and savvy thriller, right up until the shocking finale.