Cindy Lombardo

Gr 8 Up—When popular but resolutely unremarkable seventh-grader Phoebe Rothschild befriends the strange and secretive new girl, Mallory Tolliver, little does she know that over the next four years Mallory will become first her best friend, then her betrayer, and ultimately her rescuer in a battle of wills and spirits that pits Phoebe's life against the survival of the faerie world as a result of an agreement made generations ago by Phoebe's ancestor and the Faerie Queen—both gambling their futures to gratify their desires...

Gr 7 Up—Unlucky 13 sets the stage for this collection (Dutton, 2010) of spine-tingling, hair-raising, and heart-stopping short stories written by assorted young adult authors...

Gr 6 Up—Kathe Mazur enchants listeners with her skillful narration of some of the lesser-known writings by Anne Frank, author of the now world-famous diary in which she recorded her thoughts, fears, and joys while in hiding from the Nazis during the Second World War...

Gr 5—8—Nate Brodie, 13, gets far more than he bargained for when the purchase of a long-coveted Tom Brady autographed football qualifies him to enter a contest for the chance to win a million dollars by making a once-in-a-lifetime throw in front of a national audience at a New England Patriots game...

Gr 5 Up—Louisa May Alcott's charming, although now somewhat dated, companion piece to the perennially popular Little Women highlights the life of the wildest of the March sisters, Jo, now married to "her professor," and presiding as the harried but happy mistress over the Plumfield Estate School—home to a small group of needy boys, relatives, and sons whose mischievous antics and emotional upheavals provide ample opportunities for Alcott to share her personal philosophy about learning and life...