Books published by publisher Cadwallader and Stern

From the author of Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days!, a hilarious story of high-tech revenge . . . The biggest problem in Oscar J. Noodleman's life is Norval Molarsky, the bully who lives upstairs. The biggest surprise in his life is the test model of a video camera that his mom's inventor cousin, the Dr. Peter J. Prechtwinkle, has just sent him.When Oscar discovers that the camera can transmit to every TV set in the neighborhood, he concocts the perfect plan to get back at Norval. But that turns out to be just the beginning of an adventure that Oscar didn't bargain for--one that involves his rich friend Donald, an octopus, a lot of red Jello, and a giant squid that doesn't take lightly to being insulted. Tune in and see what happens!

From the author of Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days!, the hilarious saga of a summer at the world's worst weight-loss camp: Sam Zimmer's parents might as well have sent him to prison for the summer. Camp Thin-na-Yet is all about losing weight, and it's even worse than he'd imagined. Between "active rest," "swim 'n' trim," "slimnastics," and cabin brawls, there's hardly a minute to relax. The portion-controlled meals taste worse than the foil they come wrapped in, the low-cal bug juice is so repulsive even bugs won't go near it, and there are no second helpings of anything but water. The skinny counselors confiscate hidden candy hoards and keep their own food under lock and key. And the big treat at the Saturday night dance is unlimited celery sticks.Is there any way out? Sam can't seem to find one. Then he meets fellow sufferer Belinda Moss and helps her stage an ill-fated raid on one of the counselors' cabins. Belinda and Sam soon agree there's only one good way to deal with the penitentiary called Camp Thin-na-Yet: escape. But that's not as easy as it sounds.

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

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 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!

From the bestselling author of Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days! and the Academy-award-winning creator of Rolie Polie Olie comes the big tall tale about a pint-size hero:Meet Rhode Island Red, an egg-sized human who's the greatest hero the smallest state of the Union has ever known. You say you've never heard of him? That's because the Paul Bunyans and Pecos Bills had something Rhode Island Red didn't: biographers.Now Stephen Manes fixes that once and for all with his hilarious tale about a Small Bunyan who proves you don't have to be big to be a hero. Raised in a henhouse by the chickens he calls family, Red speaks their language with only a trace of human accent, he can cock-a-doodle-doo as loud as a thirty-foot rooster, and he just happens to have the most powerful nose in the history of human existence.High adventure? You bet. Red rescues a scrawny flock of fowl, hornswoggles a crafty pack of foxes, and ventures to the big city with his faithful rooster companion, Big Tom--and that's just the beginning. At long last you get to read all about Red's legendary exploits--and the only grade-A jumbo biography of the biggest little hero who ever lived!

From the author of Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days!, here's the monstrously hilarious tale of a battle between brother and sister:Everybody thinks Irving's little sister is adorable. Everybody but Irving. To him, Claire is nothing but a little monster. He even calls her "Monstra."So Irving decides to teach her a lesson. With the help of a miraculous potion called "Monster-Ade," he'll turn himself into a monster--a real one--just long enough to scare Claire silly.But things don't quite work out the way he'd planned. And his parents begin to wonder: Just how do you handle a genuine monster in the family?