Recent Middle Grade Work |
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 click to readThe Ghostly Double Illustration Copyright © 2008 Bibha |
The Ghostly Double Adam was late. Mr. Swartz had kept him in detention an extra hour for passing a note, and it wasn’t even his note. He’d been between the twins, Zoe and Zia, doing a favor. He punched the air. Cranky old Swartz. He’d have to explain to his mom why he was late, and she’d ground him for the weekend. The seventh grade was turning out to be his worst ever school year. What he needed was a twin of his own to share the misery. Pulling his scarf across the bridge of his nose, he tugged his cap down. He was nearing the house that gave him the creeps, so he picked up his pace and tucked his chin down. As he came to the padlocked gate, he glanced through the iron bars. The thick woody stems of wisteria snaked around the four porch columns and winter weeds grew tall and spiky. He shivered. And that’s when he looked up and into a face peering down at him from a high window. |
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String Bean String Bean, String Bean he’s so lean. Leanest bean you ever seen. Jessie Bean ducked his head and walked fast. He wanted to get away from Jamal Brown and his buddies, Nick Jabowksi and Mike Chen. Every time they saw him, they sang that nickname song. Jessie hated them almost as much as he hated the way he looked. He was as tall as his fifth grade teacher, Miss Park, and he did look like a string bean, but he was tired of being kidded about it. |
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Pickles Grandpa chunked a dirt clod with his shovel. “Now smooth out the patch with the rake, then make a nice straight row. We’re ready to plant.” Mia looked up, her eyes wide. “You heard right,” he said. “This year you do the planting.” For two summers Mia had helped, but Grandpa really did the important work, like making the rows. This was her chance to show him she could do the job right. She raked the ground level, then took the hoe Grandpa handed her and made the straightest row she could. With his hand shovel, Grandpa dug a hole bigger than her fist and gave her a plant. “Pack the dirt. Plants have to feel safe, so it’ll grow strong.” By noon they stood admiring a gaggle of cucumber plants. Gaggle was Grandpa’s word for a lot of something. “How come we aren’t planting tomatoes like before?” Mia remembered those sweet, juicy summer tomatoes. “We will, but we have to get cucumbers in first because this year we’re making pickles.” He licked his lips. “I love pickles, and you will too once you taste ours.” Mia tried to put on a happy face, but pickles and she didn’t go together, not one bit. They made her lips pucker. |
Articles |
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Ask a Worm for Tea Stop! Don’t throw out that garbage. There are hungry worms waiting for dinner. The Red Wiggler is a special kind of worm. It doesn’t live in the ground, but it loves a cozy bin filled with kitchen scraps and shredded newspaper. In days it will reduce your garbage and those papers to a rich fertilizer ready to use in your garden. While the Red Wiggler chews up your banana skins and carrot peels, it also produces a dark brown juice called Worm Tea. Catch this juice, add it to your watering can, and wait for ordinary plants to become prize-winning ones. |
Novels |
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 click to readan excerpt |
Alligators Overhead Come in and meet Pete Riley before it’s too late—before he loses the battle to his control mysterious powers—before a swamp alligator or a town witch does him in. |
 click to readan excerpt |
Dragon Child If Sam, Roger, and Joey can find the treasure, they receive a reward. But they have a problem—well several actually--an old murder to solve, a modern crime to prevent, ancient Chinese dragons to dodge, and parents to face whether they succeed or not. |
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