Books published by publisher Blobfish Books

Sixteen-year-old Aleah Matthews is living a wild and reckless life, consumed with getting revenge on her ex-boyfriend for leaving her alone and pregnant last year. Her nights out with various guys leave her little time for anything else, including talking with her overworked mother and taking care of her baby boy. Although Aleah presents herself as confident and self-assured, on the inside she is brokenhearted and lost.Steve Jenkins is a pastor and the leader of a youth group called New Life. He feels fulfilled in his mission to make a positive impact in teenagers’ lives, and in his role as a single father to his son, Ben. But he also feels as if his next-door neighbor is trying too hard to butt her way into his life. When Aleah receives the news she’s been dreading, she heads down a desperate road of hopelessness and despair. A spark of hope arises when she ends up at a New Life meeting, and feels accepted for the first time in years. Even though she knows her feelings of joy and contentment are just temporary, and that her pretend life as a normal teenager will collapse the moment the other kids learn the truth about her, Aleah can’t help coming back week after week, talking to and learning from Pastor Steve. Maybe, just maybe, he holds the key to a whole new life for both Aleah and her mother.

Kim Carras is generally a positive person. She’s bouncy, sparkly, and loves having good times with her family and friends. And it looks like April is going to be full of fun, what with soccer tryouts, her brother earning his driver’s license, and her Boston BFF finally getting to meet her Nashua BFFs. But while her sister Daisie is busy being a princess and her friend Allisen is dealing with all sorts of surprising events and revelations (Book 32, “Springtime Surprises” in 8TH GRADE WITH MY AWESOME ADVENTURES, MY VARIOUS VISITORS, & ME), Kim is starting to feel frustrated by her boyfriend, Stivre. She wants to break up with him… but how can she do that without hurting his feelings? Will it still be possible for them to be friends if they break up? And what’s the deal between him and that girl Madalee Lish?Word Count: 10,948Excerpts from Kim's Notebook about...Her elations:This weekend is turning out to be the Weekend of Great Things Happening. I called Lexa’s cell last night using my cell, and she didn’t answer (probably because she didn’t recognize the number). So I emailed her and told her about my new phone and gave her my number, and today she called me.“Hey, Kimmie Kim!”“Lexa Lee, what’s up?”“Mmm… nothing… except this boring trip my parents are dragging me on to some town in New Hampshire. It’s called Nashua. They say a girl named Kim Carras lives there.”I shrieked so loudly I’m surprised my window didn’t shatter. “NO WAY!!!!!!!” I screamed. “You’re so kidding, Lexa!”“I am so not kidding,” she told me. “I’m coming up there next Friday and sleeping over into Saturday. My folks have already talked to your folks and it’s all set. And they said I can even visit your school on Friday if you want me to!” Oh my gosh, of course I want her to! She’ll get to meet Allisen and Shevea, and they’ll get to meet her, and…aaaaaaaaaaa! It’ll be so exciting! How am I going to wait six whole days until Friday?!?!?!?!? Her frustrations:So just about everything in my life is perfect right now, except…Stivre. Ugh. He’s becoming such a pain in the you-know-where. He came up to me this morning before first period and gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. Ew. I get that we’re bf/gf and all that, but that does not mean he needs to hug me or kiss me every time he sees me. Especially kiss me. Kisses should be for special occasions only, and seeing your significant other in the middle of a crowded school hallway is definitely not a special occasion. And her conversations:When I got home, I flopped on the couch and couldn’t move. Mom came in and asked, “Are you okay, honey?”“I’m fine,” I said in a flat voice. “Are you sure? This isn’t normal Kim behavior.”She was so right. Normal Kim behavior is bouncing around and smiling and singing and constantly talking, not flopping on the couch like a slug. “Okay, I’m not fine,” I said, sitting up. “Can I tell you about it?”“Of course.” Mom sat down next to me and looked right into my eyes, right into my soul. “So, what’s going on?”

Fifteen-year-olds Mariana and Elyse Kaywood may look identical, but they have nothing at all in common—until they both find themselves falling for the same boy during a vacation at the beach. While exuberant Mariana is trying desperately not to let her biggest secret become known, clinically depressed Elyse is striving to create a life for herself, even if that means latching onto happiness in a way that feels like playing with fire. As the summer progresses, both Mariana and Elyse need to decide what’s important… and how much they’re willing to risk to obtain it.

Welcome to the world of Allisen Zepetto! 6th Grade With My Crazy Classmates, My Super Smart Sister, & Me is a collection of 12 consecutive short stories, detailing the months of Allisen’s sixth-grade year through entries in her top-secret diary. See Allisen’s summaries of each month below! Book 1: School StartsI’m starting sixth grade at a brand-new school. And guess who’s in my class? My eight-year-old sister! Book 2: Me, A Babysitter?Guess what! We get to go to New York for a week! But—what’s that? I have to BABYSIT my brother and sister?Book 3: Moving TimeOh nooooooo! My best friend is moving away! And on top of that, Mirisen’s friends have started teasing her. Can ANYTHING go right around here?Book 4: The Holidays ApproachIt’s almost Christmas, but my yucky big brother is messing up everything. I usually love Christmastime…but how can we have a nice family holiday if we have to deal with HIM?Book 5: Why Me?Boo hoo hoo hoo! I broke my arm while sledding, and now I have to wait for more than a MONTH before I can play in the snow again! What am I going to do?Book 6: Love, Love, LoveValentine’s Day is coming up, and my entire class is looking forward to the school dance. But I can’t focus on that right now—I’m too busy trying to get that annoying Jack Bersner to leave me alone! Book 7: Pupsurprise! We just got a PUPPY! She’s cute and energetic and a lot of fun. Only—she’s been causing a lot of trouble. And now we don’t even know if we can keep her.Book 8: Going to CarolinaWell, I thought the visit to my cousin Carolina’s house would be fun. But it seems that Carolina has turned into an entirely different person, and would rather hang out with her snobby new friend than with my siblings and me. Where’s the Easter spirit?Book 9: Showtime StarSixth grade is putting on a play! I’m super excited…except for the fact that nobody seems to be able to remember their lines. Will the show somehow be a success, or will it go down in history as the Worst Play Ever?Book 10: It’s Your ChoiceLife is full of choices. Like whether you want to get your ears pierced, and what you’re going to give your mom for her birthday. What you’re going to name your new gerbil, and whether or not you want to go to camp. Sometimes it’s an easy choice, and sometimes it’s a hard choice. But whatever it is, a choice is a choice, and you have to make it. I have a lot of those.Book 11: Camp Nature WoodsHooray! I’m going to camp! Camp Nature Woods has a lot of fun things to do—but I wasn’t counting on horrible cabin-mates, too little sleep, and getting homesick.Book 12: Do You See How I See?My vision has been getting blurrier and blurrier, and I’m starting to have a lot of headaches. Could they be symptoms of some terrible disease?...Come on, you know you're dying to read more. Allisen's waiting for you!

Allisen's family is going on vacation in an RV for an entire month! From the St. Louis arch, to the Pacific Ocean, to the beautiful Grand Canyon, it's bound to be an exciting journey--only made more exciting by creepy gas stations and unexpected sights. Between catching up with long-distance friends and setting foot in states where no Zepetto has ever ventured before, Allisen is sure to have a summer she'll never forget!(This is "Book 47" in the Allisen's Notebooks series. It takes place between 9TH GRADE WITH MY EXPANDING EXPERIENCES, MY ROLLERCOASTER RELATIONSHIPS, & ME and 10TH GRADE WITH MY INTERESTING INTERACTIONS, MY TERRIFIC TRAVELS, & ME.)

Ever wonder what things are like from the perspective of Allisen’s little brother? Harrisson Zepetto spills all in the fifth Allisen’s Notebooks Super Special. While Allisen is enjoying the neighborhood Olympics (Book 36, “The Summer Games”, in 8TH GRADE WITH MY AWESOME ADVENTURES, MY VARIOUS VISITORS, & ME), and meeting a mysterious new classmate (Book 37, “New Kid At School”, in 9TH GRADE WITH MY EXPANDING EXPERIENCES, MY ROLLERCOASTER RELATIONSHIPS, & ME), Harrisson’s emotions are swinging between pride in his athletic ability and utter terror at the impending prospect of getting his own room. When his excitement over starting fourth grade is dampened by a run-in with a bully, Harrisson needs to make some quick decisions about how he’s going to stand up for himself and the kids around him. Is he brave enough to face everything coming his way? SAMPLE (463 words out of 6,904):The beginning of the school day was really good, until we got to lunch time. Lunch time is when Sam and I saw a kid our age take a container of milk off of a tray belonging to a first-grader. The first grader and all of the first grader’s friends started yelling at him to give it back, but he just held it up above his head and danced around with it. “That’s not okay,” said Sam. I agreed. We both went over and I said, “Hey, give him back his milk!” The boy with the milk turned around and I recognized him. He was that mean bully from the playground, who had dumped his sister off the swing! He recognized me too. “You!” he exclaimed. “You got me grounded for a week! You’re going to pay for that!” A lunch monitor heard and came over. “What’s the problem?” she asked. “He stole that kid’s milk and won’t give it back,” Sam said quickly. “And he’s yelling at my friend for no reason.”The lunch monitor made the bully give the milk back. And then, right before Sam and I went back to our seats, the bully glared at us with the meanest face I’d ever seen and said, “Oh yeah, kid, you’re gonna pay.”……..Reasons I do not want my own room:1.It will be scary. Sometimes I have nightmares and Miri comes up and cuddles with me because she hears me making scared noises in my sleep. Also, sometimes I hear a weird noise in the middle of the night, but I know it’s just Mirisen moving around on the bed below me. If we each have our own room, I’ll probably start to think the scary noises are monsters or burglars or something.2.We won’t be able to have talk time anymore. Since my bedtime is only ½ hour before Miri’s, I usually stay awake until she comes in and then we talk until we get too tired or until someone tells us to go to sleep. Now I won’t have anyone to talk to.3.It doesn’t even make sense for us each to have our own room. We have a BUNK BED! What are we going to do, chop it in half? We’ll probably just get rid of it and buy two regular beds. That would stink. I like my top bunk.4.Pete’s old room, the room that’s supposed to be mine, is tiny. The room Mirisen and I share is big. It’s not fair that Mirisen gets to keep the big bedroom and I get a tiny one. 5.The gerbils are going to stay with Miri because they mostly belong to her, but they also partly belong to me so it’s not fair!

Alanna is about to start seventh grade at a brand-new school, but she isn’t worried. She’ll be with Daniel—her best friend and next-door neighbor since the day she was born. Maybe this will be the year that she and Daniel start dating.At school, however, Daniel starts making new friends, joining after-school clubs, and having less and less time to spend with Alanna. And Alanna and Daniel’s one mutual friend, Madalaine, seems a little too interested in Daniel.All Alanna wants is for things to go back to how they used to be. But is it possible that some changes can be for the better?

Nine-year-old Adele doesn't want to move away from her homeland of Germany to the new, unfamiliar land of Russia. But as her family makes the move and her life changes drastically, she wonders: is it better to have something good and lose it, and miss it the rest of your life? Or is it better to have never known it, so you don’t miss it when you lose it? Time Period: 1800sWord Count: 3,400 Style: first-person, diary formatThis e-book was previously published under the name "New Land, New Life."

Jack Bersner went from being the most annoying person in Allisen’s sixth-grade class to being one of her good friends. Now seventh grade is coming to a close, and while Allisen is busy settling in to her new neighborhood (Book 22, “New To Get Used To”, in 7TH GRADE WITH MY FABULOUS FRIENDS, MY NEW NEIGHBORS, & ME), Jack is finishing up his baseball season without the position he wants and standing by as his superstar siblings achieve their academic dreams. Throughout the month of June, Jack wonders: Will his parents ever be as proud of him as they are of his brother and sister? Can his team still make it to playoffs with his friend Stivre as the pitcher? And is it even remotely possible that the girl he secretly has a crush on feels the same way about him? Word Count: 6,256A little bit of what Jack has to say on certain topics…School: “In elementary school, on the last day, you play games and chat with your friends. In middle and high school, you get tests. That stinks.”Sports: “Guys can get kind of weird about their sports sometimes. I mean, I like all sports, so I don’t see what the big issue is. My favorite sports are baseball and basketball, but I wouldn’t object if someone invited me to join, say, a soccer team or something.” Family: “I wonder if my parents ever look at me and wonder, ‘How’d we end up with this dumb kid in between the two smart ones?’” Allisen: “It’s kind of funny that Allisen and I are friends now. We weren’t when we first met. I mean, I was always trying to be friends with her, but I was pretty bad at it.”Stivre: “During practice today, he threw this really wild pitch that nearly knocked someone’s tooth out. See what I mean? Told you I’m better.”Romance: “I’ve never kissed anyone before. I mean, you know, like that. I wonder what it would be like to kiss the girl I like. I wonder if I’ll ever get to find out.”

Allisen’s super-smart little sister gets a chance to talk in this e-short! Mirisen Zepetto has a lot to say about her family, her friends, and what it’s like to be a 10-year-old seventh grader. While Allisen is dealing with a strange-acting friend and an even stranger Valentine’s Day card (Book 18, “Happy Hearts” in SEVENTH GRADE WITH MY FABULOUS FRIENDS, MY NEW NEIGHBORS, AND ME), Mirisen is juggling some problems of her own. Will the kids at her friends’ school ever stop being so annoying to her? Will she ever be able to convince her parents to let her have her own room, rather than sharing with her messy younger brother? Will she be able to choose between Steven and Domacie, without regretting her decision afterwards? SAMPLE:(510 words out of 8,267) “So,” said Steven once we’d all stopped laughing so much. “Mirisen, there’s a dance on February 16th. Do you want to go to it with me?”I hesitated slightly, then responded, “Um…let me get back to you on that.”Steven looked crestfallen. Hastily, I patted him on the back. “It’s not that I don’t want to go with you! I do! Just…Domacie Cooce already invited me to one at his school, on the same day at the same time.”I saw my friends exchange glances. They knew about Domacie. In fact, there was a time last year when they used to tease me about him, saying we were in love with each other. I was very upset with them for a while, before I let them know how much that bothered me and they stopped doing it. Now that they’ve met Domacie (at the dance last February, and at my birthday party in November), they make other comments about him.“You still hang out with that kid?” Michael asked incredulously. “Wouldn’t it be kind of, ah, boring to go to a dance with him?” Cameron questioned. “Since all he ever talks about is himself?”“I thought you didn’t like him anymore,” said Emily. “It’s complicated,” I sighed. Do I like Domacie? I don’t know. He can be very nice. He can also be very un-nice. (I know un-nice is not a word.) For example, at my birthday party in November, he gave me two very nice gifts (a $30 gift certificate to the Lindt store and a beautiful necklace), but he also was a little bit rude about the fact that Steven’s family sometimes has to eat at the soup kitchen. We’ve had some good times together, such as the time at our crazy school when we wrote a book called How to Annoy Your Classmates and then used our own tips on our other classmates. We’ve also had some not-so-good times, like when he got mad at me last summer for going to the end-of-school dance with Steven rather than with him. That’s another reason I feel like I should go to this one with Domacie—because I picked Steven last time, and I’d want to be fair. “He’s rude,” Michael said bluntly. “And plus, I thought you hated his school. Why would you want to spend any more time there?”I shrugged miserably. “I feel bad for him, that’s all. He already bought a five-hundred dollar tux. It’ll just be a waste of money if I don’t go.”“Did he ask you to the dance before or after he bought the tux?” asked Emily.“Well…before, but—”“If he bought a tux before he asked you to the dance, he must have wanted it anyway,” reasoned Steven.“Or he thought for sure I’d say yes,” I mumbled. “But that’s like bribery!” protested Cameron. “Mirisen, come on, don’t let him be the boss of you. You can make your own choices.”I know I can make my own choices. That’s the hard part sometimes—having to make the choice.

Allisen Zepetto is now a teenager, and has a lot going on with her family, in her neighborhood, and with her friends. See Allisen’s summaries of each month below! (Note: this is the third volume in the Allisen’s Notebooks series. The twelve chapters are listed as ‘books’ 25-36. ‘Books’ 1-12 can be found in the first volume: 6th Grade With My Crazy Classmates, My Super Smart Sister, & Me. ‘Books’ 13-24 can be found in the second volume: 7th Grade With My Fabulous Friends, My New Neighbors, & Me.)Book 25: Teases, Tricks, and…Danger? My neighbors Brian and Molli have always been rivals… but what will happen when they take their rivalry too far? Book 26: What Is A Family? My friend Nalcie gets to stay at my house for two whole weeks! Which is fun… except when it isn’t. Will Nalcie and I manage to keep our friendship, or will spending too much time together pull us apart? Book 27: The Pilgrims’ Voyage Ever wanted to experience a different time period? Mirisen, Harrisson, Carolina and I get to. We’re taking a one-week adventure on the Mayflower! Book 28: Snow Will Fall It isn’t even winter yet, and the snow is already flying. The upsides: sledding, snow days, and cozy family fun. The downsides: being stranded at home with no heat. Book 29: It’s Good to Bee Smart Guess what I get to be in. A S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G B-E-E! Each round I win will bring me one step closer to the BIG spelling bee that’s on TV every May. I’d better P-R-A-C-T-I-C-E! Book 30: Position of Power Jack’s running for class president! But he has a lot of competition. Smart Joseph San Drana, mean Vee Maytag, class clown Tomas Pensky, and Little Miss Perfect Ariyah Young are all up against him. And sometimes power—or even the thought of power—can go to people’s heads. Book 31: All Of My Heart My Sunday school teacher gave us an assignment this month: to do some sort of service project that directly benefits others. My friends and I have a great idea in mind—but will it work out? And what should I do about my new pen pal, who’s very different from what I expected? Book 32: Springtime Surprises It’s April, and suddenly, surprises are popping up all over the place! A call from my aunt and an announcement from a friend almost make it hard for me to focus on the mystery: what’s going on with Pete? Book 33: What Friends Are For Final exams are coming up, and everyone’s starting to go a little crazy. But one of my classmates is taking things a little too far…and one of my best friends is involved. Book 34: An Extended Visit My cousin Carolina gets to stay with us for possibly the whole summer! My siblings and I are super excited. So why isn’t Carolina? Book 35: Lights! Camera! CUT! Mirisen, Harrisson, Carolina and I are making a MOVIE! A real live movie, with a video camera and everything. But it’s a lot of work, and there are a lot of things about movie making that we don’t know… Book 36: The Summer Games Guess what’s happening this summer. The Olympics! And not just the ones on TV. Our neighborhood is hosting our own Olympics, with hurdling, diving, soccer, and more! Will I win any medals? How will clumsy Mirisen do in the events? And will Brian and Molli be able to put aside their ongoing rivalry in order to judge fairly?

Shevea Lusani is shy, reserved, and desperately afraid of being put on the spot. She’s thrilled to finally have two very good friends, Kim Carras and Allisen Zepetto. But while Allisen is busy adjusting to having her friend Nalcie living with her (Book 26, “What is a Family?” in 8TH GRADE WITH MY AWESOME ADVENTURES, MY VARIOUS VISITORS, & ME), Shevea’s life is turned upside-down by a startling revelation about relatives she never knew existed. Will these relatives threaten the calm life Shevea has always known? Will she be able to provide a home for the cat that keeps coming to her door? What is she going to do about that terrifying English project, and will she ever get up the courage to invite her friends over to her house?Word Count: 10,270Excerpts:“We’ve been friends for almost a year now, and neither Allisen nor Kim has ever been over to my house. I’ve been to both of their houses before…Our house is tiny. It has one bedroom, which Jesse and I share. My mom sleeps on the couch in our miniscule living room.”“My entire life I have wanted a pet—something fluffy and cuddly and fun to have. Allisen has a dog, three cats, and two gerbils. Kim has two rabbits. I wish I had a dog or a cat or a gerbil or a rabbit, or a guinea pig or a hamster or a ferret or a chinchilla, or even a tiny little gray mouse that could curl up in my hand. I love animals, but we’ve never had a pet because we’ve never had the money. Still…if that cat does keep coming around…Mommy wouldn’t be able to say no, would she?”“Mommy stiffened, and I knew why. Richard Lusani was my dad. ‘Yes…’ Mommy said hesitantly. ‘He was my husband, a long time ago. We’re divorced now. I haven’t seen him or heard from him in eight years.’The other woman’s facial expression grew into something like shock. ‘He was your husband? Tall guy, dark hair, forty-one years old now? Richard Mason Lusani?’Mommy nodded, still looking wary. ‘Why? ...How do you know him?’Oh, my goodness. You will never, ever, ever believe this, ever. I still barely believe it myself.”“I don’t think I can do this. The topic of our report can be anything we want, basically, which at least means that I don’t have to stand up and talk about something I don’t know anything about, or some embarrassing topic like, I don’t know, the history of underwear or something. Still, though. I hate talking! Well, I don’t hate talking, but I hate talking in front of people.”