Author Archives: designpointaaron

AUTHOR: Bobbie Pyron

GENRE: Fiction

SUMMARY: Nate Harlow would love to be lucky, just once!

He’d like to win a prize, get picked first, call a coin toss right, even! But his best friend, Genesis Beam (aka Gen), believes in science and logic, and she doesn’t think for one second that there’s such a thing as luck, good or bad. She doesn’t care what names the other kids call them. She cares about being right, about saving the turtles of Paradise Beach, and she cares about Nate.

Then, on his birthday, at the Goofy Golf mini-golf course, Nate is struck by lightning — and survives! Suddenly baseballs are drawn to his bat — popular kids want HIM on their side. It seems the whole town of Paradise Beach thinks Nate has the magic touch.

But is there room for Gen in Nate’s lucky new world?

AUTHOR: Mac Barnett

GENRE: Mystery, Fiction

SUMMARY: Steve Brixton always wanted to be a detective… until he found out he already WAS one. It all starts here: The thrilling story of Steve Brixton’s first case. Our hero has a national treasure to recover, a criminal mastermind to unmask, and a social studies report due Monday — all while on the run from cops, thugs, and secret-agent librarians.

AUTHOR: Rosanne Parry

GENRE: Fiction

SUMMARY: For Vega and her family, salmon is life. And Vega is learning to be a salmon finder, preparing for the day when she will be her family’s matriarch. But then she and her brother Deneb are separated from their pod when a devastating earthquake and tsunami render the seascape unrecognizable. Vega must use every skill she has to lead her brother back to their family. The young orcas face a shark attack, hunger, the deep ocean, and polluted waters on their journey. Will Vega become the leader she’s destined to be?

AUTHOR: Julia L. Sauer

GENRE: Fiction

SUMMARY: Greta had always loved the fog—the soft gray mist that rolled in from the sea and drifted over the village. The fog seemed to have a secret to tell her. Then one day when Greta was walking in the woods and the mist was closing in, she saw the dark outline of a stone house against the spruce trees—a house where only an old cellar hole should have been. Then she saw a surrey come by, carrying a lady dressed in plum-colored silk. The woman beckoned for Greta to join her, and soon Greta found herself launched on an adventure that would take her back to a past that existed only through the magic of the fog.

AUTHOR: Jeanne DuPrau

GENRE: Science Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy Fiction

SUMMARY: It’s been several months since Lina and Doon escaped the dying city of Ember and, along with the rest of their people, joined the town of Sparks. Now, struggling through the harsh winter aboveground, they find an unusual book. Torn up and missing most of its pages, it alludes to a mysterious device from before the Disaster, which they believe is still in Ember. Together, Lina and Doon must go back underground to retrieve what was lost and bring light to a dark world.

AUTHOR: Mark

GENRE: Religious Text

SUMMARY: At the beginning of Mark’s Gospel account, he writes that Jesus is “the Messiah, the Son of God.” Then he designs the rest of the book to help readers understand Jesus as the messianic King by showing the amazing things Jesus said and did as well as how people responded to him. Some reject Jesus’ true identity, others doubt, and some believe he is who he says he is.

Mark shows Peter, a disciple, affirming Jesus’ identity as the Messiah. But what does it really mean for Jesus to be the messianic King? Is it all glory, peace, and power? Peter is humbled when he discovers that Jesus’ path to the throne would require suffering and that all those who follow him would suffer too.

Jesus was not the king the people were expecting. Mark’s account doesn’t shy away from the unexpected nature of Jesus’ arrival on Earth, but he also makes clear that Jesus is who he says he is: the Jewish Messiah and the son of God.

Many of the Jewish people hoped that the Messiah would come to overthrow the Romans and rule as king, but that wasn’t what Jesus did. He came to serve and to usher in God’s Kingdom on Earth. And he didn’t come in royal authority and power—he came to humbly sacrifice his life in order to save his people.

AUTHOR: Janet & Geoff Benge

GENRE: Biography

SUMMARY: Suddenly, Corrie’s ordered life was lost in the insanity of war. With bravery and compassion, her family and countless other Dutch citizens risked everything to extend God’s hand to those innocents marked for certain execution in a world gone mad.

Corrie ten Boom’s life of determination, faith, and forgiveness in the face of unimaginable brutality and hardship is a stunning testimony of the sustaining power of God (1892-1983).

AUTHOR: C.R. Fulton

GENRE: Mystery

SUMMARY: “STAMPEDE!” Isaiah yells as the herd heads straight at his and Ethan’s tent… Twelve-year-old Isaiah Rawlings wished for only one thing this summer, a camping trip outside of Kentucky. I’m so tired of camping in my backyard, he groaned. Isaiah pleads with his parents to reconsider their usual summer trip to dusty old museums and big cities. When his dad unexpectedly announces a trip to Grand Teton National Park, Isaiah is ecstatic! On the second night of camping, He wakes to a thunderous noise that grows louder and louder. The ground begins to tremble. Earthquake?! Isaiah scrambles from his tent… When Isaiah, his cousin Ethan, and sister Sadie investigate the next morning, tracks lead them back to a broken fence. As they scan the surrounding area, something seems off…Why? More than one set of tracks lead into the park. Was this stampede accidental or is there more to the story? Join The Campground Kids as they work together to solve their first mystery in Grand Teton National Park.

AUTHOR: Marianne Hering & Marshal Younger

GENRE: Historical Fiction

SUMMARY: Patrick and Beth arrive in World War II Holland in the farm country. They must smuggle a baby (by bicycle) into the capable hands of Corrie ten Boom at her home in Haarlem. Along the way they hide from Nazi soliders, meet a Russian surgeon forced into service by the Germans, and encourage two Jewish children who haven’t been outside in over three years. The children learn to appreciate the bravery and sacrifice of everyday people who helped the Jews.