Books published by publisher Bancroft Pr

In 1903, five truly brilliant young inventors, the children of the world's most important scientists, went about their lives and their work as they always had. But all that changed the day the men in black arrived. They arrived to take twelve-year-old Jasper Modest and his six-year-old sister, Lucy he with his remarkable creations and she with her perfect memory from their London, England home to a place across the ocean they'd never seen before. They arrived to take nine-year-old Wallace Banneker, last in a long line of Africa-descended scientists, from his chemistry, his father, and his New York home to a life he d never imagined. Twelve-year-old Noah Canto-Sagas, already missing his world-famous and beloved mother, was taken from Toronto, Canada, carrying only his clothes, his violin, and his remarkable mind. And thirteen-year-old Faye Vigyanveta, the genius daughter of India's wealthiest and most accomplished scientists, was removed by force from her life of luxury. From all across the world, they've been taken to mysterious Sole Manner Farm, and a beautiful but isolated schoolhouse in Dayton, Ohio, without a word from their parents as to why. Not even the wonderful schoolteacher they find there, Miss Brett, can explain it. She can give them love and care, but she can t give them answers. Things only get stranger from there. What is the book with no pages Jasper and Lucy find in their mother's underwear drawer, and why do the men in black want it so badly? How is it all the children have been taught the same bizarre poem and yet no other rhymes or stories their entire lives? And why haven't their parents tried to contact them? Whatever the reasons, to brash, impetuous Faye, the situation is clear: They and their parents have been kidnapped by these terrible men in black, and the only way they're going to escape and rescue their parents is by completing the invention they didn't even know they were all working on an invention that will change the world forever. But what if the men in black aren't trying to harm the children? What if they're trying to protect them? And if they're trying to protect them, from what? An amazing story about the wonders of science and the still greater wonders of friendship, The Atomic Weight of Secrets or The Mysterious Men in Black , the first book of the Young Inventors Guild trilogy, is a truly original novel. Young readers will forever treasure Eden Unger Bowditch's funny, inventive, poignant, and wonderfully fun fiction debut.

When eleven-year-old Sam Webber's father disappears without a trace, he and his mother are forced to relocate to a tough neighborhood, closer to her job. Unfamiliar with his surroundings and intimidated by the students of his new school, Sam recounts the sometimes frightening, sometimes delightful details of his life with touching, humorous sincerity. Living in a tiny apartment with a bedroom that feels like a closet and a closet that has been turned into a den, he is forced to deal with the legacy of depression that marked his father, and threatens to envelop him. The city remains a cold and unwelcoming place to Sam until he meets Greely, an elderly black janitor at his junior high. Through this unlikely friendship, Sam begins to heal, as well as confront the racism that surrounds his community, and his life. With afternoons of football in the park and greasy meals at the local Little Tavern, Sam discovers that friendship and warmth can rise in even the saddest times. Tracing a year in the life of an exceptional young boy, newcomer Jonathon Scott Fuqua leaves an impression that endures like a watermark. A masterfully written novel full of beautifully drawn, unforgettable characters, The Reappearance of Sam Webber is only the first from a top writer whose talented storytelling will touch every reader. The Reappearance of Sam Webber won the Alex Award. Co-sponsored by Booklist magazine and the American Library Association (ALA) Youth Services Division, the Alex Award is given annually to the 10 best adult books for children. The novel was also named to the New York Public Library's 2000 Books for the Teen Age list. The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) listed The Reappearance of Sam Webber as one of two novels in print, adult or YA, to deal with the issue of violence in youth. From January through April 2003, Sam Webber was part of Peoria, Illinois's "One City, One Book." School Library Journal named The Reappearance of Sam Webber one of the top five adult novels for young adults in 1999. Booklist named it to its editors' choice '99 for adult books for young adults. The novel has appeared on numerous summer reading lists.

Allow us to introduce Bianca Balducci, a normal 15-year-old girl attending a co-ed parochial school in Baltimore, Maryland. She worries about her hair, her clothes, her would-be boyfriend Doug, and solving real-life mysteries. That's right! Watch out Nancy Drew, Bianca is on the case and this case revolves around Sadie Sinclair. She is the new girl Bianca has gone out of her way to befriend, only to discover that she's more than a little odd, and hiding something really big! Did someone actually see Sadie, who's only 15, driving a car? Why did she freak out at the idea of playing the lead in the school play? And why is Sadie being stalked by a nefarious duo of grown-ups? Combining slapstick with intelligent wit, Uncovering Sadie's Secrets is a delightful, thoroughly entertaining mystery that pulls, grabs, and sticks while providing laugh-out-loud moments and smiles throughout.

Considered the best, least intimidating introduction to stock market investment by Better Investing Magazine, the National Council on Economic Education, best-selling investment author Ric Edelman, and Young Money Matters, a newsletter published by the National Association of Investors Corporation, this audiobook is a favorite of investors worldwide and especially of young people, ages 12 on up, for whom it is an ideal gift.

Matthew knows how things work. He's pretty much an expert. For example: friends. Friendship requires both give and take, and Matthew strongly prefers taking. The solution is close acquaintances - people who think you're their friend because you nod and act interested in whatever the hell they're talking about. School? Perfectly pleasant as long as you don't pay attention. Mom? Award yourself a point for each hands on hips or "young man." Wear her down until you can get what you want. The general rule: The less anyone knows about you, the better. But even someone as clever as Matthew needs practice. That's where Michael comes in. See, Michael doesn't get it. He's the kind of kid who comes up with the answer before the teacher. He's the kind of kid who asks questions. He's the kind of kid who still has the ratty, old backpack he should have thrown in someone's dumpster years ago. Consequently he's the kind of kid who gets the crap beaten out of him on a regular basis. So one day Matthew, seemingly out of the kindness of his heart, decides to help Michael out. Turn his life around. Teach him how to make his life as great as Matthew's. Before long Matthew is helping Michael mess with his NASCAR-loving stepfather. He's spreading rumors to convince the population of Alexander High School that Michael is a serious badass. He weaves his way into the lives of Michael's estranged dad, and even Chrissy, the half sister Michael never even knew he had. But what if Michael isn't grateful for all of Matthew's hard work? What if he actually likes who he is? Why the hell would he? And for that matter, why should Matthew even care? Changing Michael is an absorbing exploration into the head of one of the most fascinating high school characters since Holden Caulfield.

"Humiliated at the Bay of Pigs, John and Robert Kennedy sought desperately to eliminate Castro. Their strategies for overthrowing the Cuban leader were so elaborate and bizarre, they could only engender paranoia. Castro openly threatened to retaliate.Pro-Castro agitator Lee Harvey Oswald learned that Robert Kennedy was personally supervising groups plotting against the Cuban leader. Filled with rage and a sense of destiny, Oswald went to the Cuban embassy in Mexico, announcing he would kill America’s president in exchange for sanctuary in Havana. Live By the Sword forces the conclusion that members of the Cuban regime accepted the troubled American’s offer. Russo shows that Oswald was indeed JFK’s lone assailant, but that after the president’s murder, a devastated Robert Kennedy and key officials launched a comprehensive coverup to hide its true causes.Gus Russo, based in Baltimore, Maryland, has reported for acclaimed ABC and PBS documentaries on JFK, and done research for authors Gerald Posner, Seymour Hersh, and Anthony Summers. Exhaustively researched, Live by the Sword ends 35 years of public mistrust and confusion over the Kennedy assassination."

In this fascinating and masterful work of research, Gus Russo finally unmasks the hidden secrets that have surrounded the Kennedy assassination for 35 years. Russo's book is packed with never-before-seen documents and photographs, and never-before-known information––the result of tireless research and exhaustive interviews with countless key players in the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations. When the Warren Commission released the statement that “Oswald acted alone with no clear motive,” it was clearly an inadequate explanation. For years, this conclusion, combined with official silence on the topic, encouraged professional doubters, or “Kennedy researchers,” to wonder if the government itself had some complicity in the crime. But these skeptics were asking the wrong question. The question never asked was not WHO killed JFK, but WHY he was killed. And the answer to this question is the reason for over thirty years of government coverups.In Live by the Sword, Gus Russo attacks this very question. Guiding the reader through the labyrinth of information and intrigue, he explores the assassination in context, explaining the atmosphere of the times as well as the actions that led, inexorably, to the defining moment of this generation. This background prepares you for the stunning realization that is the core of this book: The Kennedys' relentless pursuit of Castro and Cuba backfired in tragedy on that terrible day in November 1963.An acclaimed investigative reporter and longtime student of the Kennedy presidency, author GUS RUSSO was one of the lead reporters on Frontline’s landmark 1993 documentary, “Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald?” Most recently, he served as chief investigative reporter for ABC’s “Dangerous World: The Kennedy Years,” hosted by Peter Jennings. He has assisted authors Gerald Posner, Seymour Hersh, and Anthony Summers with their books on Kennedy-related subjects, and has served as consultant to numerous network television specials, books, and magazine articles. For more than 20 years (and with no preconceived conclusions), Russo has sought to compile a credible account of President Kennedy’s assassination and the foreign policy errors that set the stage for it. Using first-time, on-the-record interviews, newly discovered photographs, and recently declassified U.S. government documents, he has crafted the definitive chronicle of a critical episode in American history.

Seventeen-year-old Rachel is a typical, fun-loving American teenager—a senior in high school with college aspirations and a crush on the football player down the street. At the top of her list are schoolwork and grades, composing poetry, and developing deep relationships with close friends. But when Zaide, her 87-year old Orthodox Jewish grandfather dies, a world of unasked questions burns inside her. How did her grandfather recover from a childhood lost in the Holocaust? What did it mean when he taught her magical Jewish tales about prophecy, traditionally understood to have ended thousands of years ago? What did her grandfather mean when he wrote, in a childhood prayerbook, that Rachel should “grow into her gifts”? Though Rachel’s house is located within the Baltimore Orthodox Jewish community of Pikesville, she has few to whom she can address her questions. Her mother, Alissa, grew up Orthodox, but is no longer devoted to her Jewish faith. Her father, an academic busily finishing a book, isn’t observant at all. And her older sister is at college, obsessively seeking a career as a dancer. During the high holidays, Rachel finds herself inexplicably drawn to a mysterious stranger, Yonatan, who reminds her of Zaide and offers the answers she needs. As Rachel secretly attends Sabbath services at the synagogue and receives instruction, Yonatan reveals that Jewish prophecy has been a secret tradition passed through generations—and Rachel is called to become a Jewish prophetess. Uncontrolled visions and holy teachings lead Rachel down a path she never expected, as she becomes part of a secret community of Jewish prophets scattered around the world. She will meet extraordinary teachers, face overwhelming challenges, discover mystical Jewish wisdom, and learn to use her powers to help others, as she grows into the woman she never dreamed she could be.Exploring modern adolescent anxieties and ancient mystical teachings, The Prophetess tells a hopeful story of growing up emotionally and spiritually. Appropriate for teenage girls, those who were once teenage girls, and all spiritual seekers, it is a story of faith and sacrifice, promises kept through generations, and how, through the support of others, we can fulfill dreams we never imagined.

The year is 2021 and the money is still green. The fully privatized city of Tulsa, OK, is home to Sara Paige Christie, a teenage girl with her heart set on a film career in L.A. and her camera trained on the graffiti-covered walls of the city’s outskirts. In pursuit of a documentary subject that might propel her from college hopeful to film school admittee at USC, Sara has focused her ambitions upon a singularly ubiquitous tag―WH2RR??From the facades of storefronts to the walls of public restrooms, the tag is appearing nearly everywhere. Its stark all-capital letters and demanding question marks have captured Sara’s imagination, even as the private security personnel of Free Force Tulsa (FFT) scramble to eliminate the marks with power washers, gray-overs, and full censorship, stripping even photographs of the tags from the locally accessible Internet.Sara has no doubt that there is meaning hidden in plain sight, and she sets off on a mission to find the person behind the mysterious tags while balancing an already full life: her final exams, her wild best friend, a physical fitness test that threatens her GPA, and a family that seems almost oblivious to what’s happening just down the street from their suburban home.With the exception, perhaps, of her father.A retired Marine turned FFT investigator, Sara’s dad has been on the trail of the graffiti artist for his own professional reasons. And if he knows what’s going on, he’s not telling Sara.And they're not the only ones on the hunt…Tensions are rising in town and beyond. Between the machinations of the city’s home-grown megachurch, Chosen Hill, and the movements of a growing camp of homeless citizens parked just beyond Tulsa’s comfort and security, life in Tulsa is about to become very interesting, and Sara just might be in the right place to catch it all on film…… but only if she survives.

Ali Parker, a high school senior, is in love for the first time in her seventeen-year life. Her Mr. Perfect boyfriend, Matt Ryan, is a talented artist who hopes to attend Pratt Institute in New York, and Ali plans to major in journalism at a prestigious college. Both Ali and Matt are outstanding students. Their future possibilities seem endless.Then the inconceivable happens—Ali becomes pregnant. Suddenly, her entire world shifts. Everything she was sure of changes. What should she do about this baby . . . about Matt . . . about her life? Ali is faced with the dilemma of responsibility and choice. She’s supported by a fun, loyal best friend, Monica, but Ali knows that now, nothing will ever be the same again. She’s abruptly and unwillingly forced into the world of adulthood as she faces the crisis of being a pregnant, unwed teenager. As she considers her various options, Ali reveals her internal struggles honestly. As she wrestles with difficult decisions, not liking any of her choices, she learns about the tender balance of relationships while dealing with a shocked boyfriend, overbearing but loving parents, quirky teachers, and gossiping classmates. When tragedy strikes, Ali is also reminded that, while the unintentional life of a baby started so quickly within her, life can end all too quickly and unexpectedly as well.Ali’s detailed narrative is so personal and endearing, it creates a vicarious experience for any reader. This compelling, inspiring, and enlightening story engages the heart as it shows the struggles of life, the selflessness of real love, and the endurance of hope.Author Karen Hart has worked as a communications specialist and a public relations specialist for various companies throughout the U.S. She has years of experience as a creative and technical writer and editor. Butterflies in May is her first novel. She currently resides in Santa Rosa, CA, with her husband, Gary, and two sons.

Imagine a modern-day retelling of Mark Twain’s classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, with a teenage girl and a very pregnant young Mexican as the main characters. That’s the gist of Matthew Olshan’s brilliant literary debut, Finn: A Novel. The book’s narrator is Chloe Wilder, a quiet girl, part tomboy, part survivor. Rescued from a murderous life with her mother, Chloe lives with her grandparents in the cocoon of a quiet, middle-class neighborhood. For the first time in her life, things are steady, safe―and stifling. Enter Silvia Morales, the grandparents' maid. Silvia is an illegal immigrant, but that’s not her only secret: She’s also pregnant, a transgression that gets her kicked out of the house. Not long after, Chloe is torn from her quiet life too, and forced to live on the run. While Finn is about Chloe and Silvia’s comic mishaps―and their brushes with real danger―on the road, it’s also a dark portrait of modern America, where smug suburbanites live minutes away from the wilderness of inner cities, and once-mighty rivers meander under superhighways.