New Releases by Betty Hicks

Dez is unusually neat. Her mom and dad are unusually messy. They like Cheez Whiz and swamps. Dez likes elegant food and grand pianos. How can she even be related to them? And how can Dez help her best friend, Jil, who''s adopted and who will stop at nothing in order to meet her birth mom? What is it, exactly, that makes a parent "real," anyway? Get Real is about wanting a parent who is very different from the one you have. It''s about discovering, "Who am I?"

Ellison Ellis Coffey, a lonely fifth-grader, discovers he might have the special gift of talking to bugs and decides to use his ability to win his town''s annual Woolly Worm Race. Illustrations.

DOUBLE THE TROUBLE, DOUBLE THE FUN. Is it a game, set, match for Henry? Henry wants to win the doubles tennis trophy more than anything. He knows he''d good enough, but he''s not sure his partner Rocky is. The advantage goes to new readers as they follow Henry as he helps Rocky train and, at the same time, works on his history project. Can Henry serve up an ace on and off the court?

Jazz loves being on the track team! And her dad is her biggest fan -- maybe too big a fan. He argues with the coach, yells at the ref, and screams his head off at every meet. Jazz loves her dad, but can she keep him from having a full blown track attack? The latest book in the GYM SHORTS series finishes ahead of the pack and will keep early readers cheering.

When Rocky, a talented catcher who was injured during the previous baseball season by an out-of-control runner, develops a reflex that keeps him from tagging the runner out, Rocky''s friends--and his dog Chops--help him overcome his fear.

DOES RITA HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO SWIM WITH THE SHARKS? Rita''s times aren''t good enough to swim with the Sharks—the team where all her friends compete. At first she''s determined to improve, but is Rita ready to attempt complicated flip turns? Or is there another way for Rita to join the Sharks? Early readers will eagerly dive into this latest book in the GYM SHORTS series—sure to make a splash with new readers. Swimming with Sharks is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children''s Book of the Year.

SOCCER DREAMS AND PLENTY OF ACTION this second book in the Gym Shorts series scores high with new readers. There''s nothing Goose wants more than to play goalie for his soccer team. It looks like such fun – and so easy! – on TV. But to say Goose has a little trouble focusing is a bit of an understatement. Luckily, his friend Henry agrees to train him. Just as Goose starts to improve, Henry gets grounded for slipping grades. Can Goose make it to goalie? Can he help Henry who has helped him so much already? Goof-Off Goalie is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children''s Book of the Year.

UNBEATABLE TEAM--MAYBE. UNBEATABLE READING--FOR SURE! The first novel in Betty Hick''s Gym Shorts series is a slam-dunk for newly-independent readers. Henry and his friends on Rockford Road are a basketball team unstoppable on their driveway court. But without team t-shirts or an official name can they take on The Tigers, a team that plays at the huge YWCA and has a player old enough to shave? Young readers will cheer as The Bats take on a name and stick together to beat the odds. Basketball Bats is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children''s Book of the Year.

All fans of the Ladies Professional Golf Association should include My Life: From Fairway to Airway in their libraries of important golf books. Betty''s unique and fresh perspective on the beginnings of women''s professional golf makes for fascinating reading. Her personal memories of Babe Zaharias, Patty Berg and other LPGA stars, as well as movie star Katharine Hepburn and golf course developer Marion Hollins offer intimate, never previously told details of the lives of the women in golf in the 1940''s and 1950''s. As an active tour member and a teacher of golf around the country, Betty battles discrimination against women with courage and heart. Her love of flying leads Betty into her second passion-aviation. She describes the undeniable beauty of the skies as well as its perils. As she progresses from private pilot to flight instructor, Betty tells of her humorous adventures flying solo and with unsuspecting passengers. Betty is a member of the LPGA Teaching and Club Professional Hall of Fame, the Women''s Sports Foundation International Hall of Fame and the California Golf Writers Hall of Fame. She has received the Ellen Griffin Rolex Award for golf instruction and is also a member the International Forest of Friendship Aviation Hall of Fame.

Four youngsters, ages nine to fifteen, narrate one side of the story of their newly blended family''s adjustment, interwoven with grief and loss.

Anxious to distract his "overly" strict mother, twelve-year-old Stuart and his best friend, a girl named Mack, determine to fix her up with Mack''s Uncle Joe.

Do stepbrothers and stepsisters have to hate each other? Not is this book. Meet Iz--a girl with three wacko stepbrothers, one cool dad, and an amazingly hard-to hassle step-mother. She''s part of a wild and lively household, with praying matises everywhere--not to mention snakes, crickets, crabs, a crazy parrot, road rage trips, unmade beds, a rubber slab of vomit, and one zany plot to get a dog. How can Iz leave her new and nutty family to visit her boring mom, even for a day, without missing out--big time? This hilarous romp with the Becker family also looks at love, loyalty, and guilt. Betty Hicks has written another winning novel that delivers humor, pet poop, and a refreshing new take on family ties.

Boys, basketball, barf -- the pefect middle grade novel! Nick wants to convince the coach that he''s a point guard, get rid of Dwayne-the-dork, and stop missing his mother. But that''s tough to do when he can''t keep the ball way from Carson Jones, the dork is his stepbrother, the honor code''s a joke, and he''s been splattered with something worse-smelling than ham.

Nick tries to maintain his sense of integrity as he works to succeed on the school basketball team, adjust to his new stepmother and little "dorky" stepbrother, and deal with peer pressure from his friends.

Without a doubt, the best woman golfer on the pro tour today, LPGA Hall-of-Famer Patty Sheehan has won 31 tournaments and in 1992 became the first woman to win the U.S. and British Opens in the same year. In this masterpiece of golf instruction, Sheehan offers frank advice which shows women and men how to overcome mere brawn with brain and superb technique. 50+ photos. 40+ line drawings.