New Releases by Greg Trine

When Jack chops down the beanstalk, instead of letting go, the giant clings to the beanstalk, looking for a soft place to land...a haystack perhaps, or a pile of old mattresses. When neither can be found, he settles for the deep end of a residential swimming pool. KERSPLASH! It''s a belly flop to beat all belly flops, launching a series of mini tsunamis, and the giant smacks the surface of the water so hard that he forgets who he is. He has no memory of Jack and his thieving ways. And the splashdown just happens to coincide with ten-year-old Sam, who lives in the house with the swimming pool and is running away from his evil uncle. What''s the boy''s plan? To escape that very night and join the circus as it leaves town. But when the boy steps outside into the night air, he witnesses the above-mentioned belly flop. He also sees the largest person he''s ever laid eyes on-the kind of person who might find gainful employment in a circus sideshow. Sam and the giant team up. They join the circus, the boy passing himself off as the tall man''s agent. But being an agent, Sam soon discovers, is the same thing as being Chief Poop Scooper for all of the circus animals. Exactly the same thing. Still, cleaning animal stalls is way better than living with his abusive uncle. All goes well at first as boy and giant adapt to their new lives. And then one day Jack shows up to watch the circus. When the giant spots him in the sideshow audience, his memory returns in all its fee-fi-fo-fumming glory. He suddenly remembers everything...Jack and his criminal behavior, the loss of his prized possessions... the goose, harp, and cold-hard cash. He also remembers the beanstalk and his mile-high plummet into Sam''s swimming pool. That night, after hours, the Giant and Sam set off to find where Jack lives and to return all the stolen goods to their rightful (and extremely tall) owner. Little do they know that Jack has some tricks up his sleeve. His house has been booby-trapped, giant-proofed, paid for by the stolen cash. Fortunately, the giant''s agent, AKA Sam, knows a thing or two about rescuing a giant...and another thing or two about getting the best of a thief.

Eleven-year-old George Mullin knows crazy when he sees it. Or at least he thinks he does. When his grandfather disappears and his grandmother tells the world that he was abducted my aliens, George is fairly certain that she has a screw loose...maybe several. But everything changes when his younger brother vanishes in the same way.

When her father dies, Goldilocks inherits his fledgling detective agency. Behind on the rent and trying to stay one step ahead of the Kid-Snatcher, who works for the local orphanage-on commission-Goldilocks takes the case of the missing grandparents. Solving the mystery could solve all of her problems...maybe.

Judy Hopps, the first rabbit in the Zootopia police, and her partner, former con artist Nick Wilde, the first fox, are on traffic duty when they are sent to investigate a robbery at a cheese warehouse.

Melvin Beederman is fresh out of bad guys to catch. Or is he? Little does he know that trouble is brewing in a dressing room at a large department store . . . Devious and sinister Valley girls Chantele and Brittany aren''t just trying on clothes. They''re hatching a totally cool plan to take over the city. Will Melvin and Candace be outsmarted by two not-so-smart girls from the Valley?

A few million miles away from Los Angeles, danger is lurking. Evil aliens with some seriously hard to pronounce names like Zzykrkv are visiting earth from their home planet, Dork—to kidnap earthlings for their science class! While busy on a snack food errand . . . uh, mission . . . Melvin Beederman, official superhero of Los Angeles, senses that something doesn''t feel quite right. Can Melvin, Candance, and friends from the Superhero Academy prevail over extraterrestrial bad guys with a spaceship powered by a Gamma drive? Holy alien invasion!

Willy Maykit is stranded on Planet Ed during a class trip to outer space. But will he be able to outwit the monsters inhabiting Ed and find his way back home?

In their second hilarious adventure, fourth grade superhero Jo Schmo and her drooling dog, Raymond, go back in time to stop the infamous and stinky outlaw Wyatt Burp.

Fourth-grade superhero Jo Schmo and her sidekick Raymond face Dr. Dastardly and Numbskull, who break out of jail and join forces with Pinkbeard''s band of time-traveling pirates in an evil revenge plot.

"I am retiring from my life as a superhero and have enclosed my cape. Use it well. Sincerely, Uncle George." Jo Schmo comes from a long line of crime fighters, but she''s just a normal fourth grade girl into boys and skateboards--until her uncle''s cape arrives on her San Francisco doorstep. Time to join the family business! Gramps shows Jo the tricks of the trade, and her dog, Raymond, becomes her slobbery sidekick. Just in time, too. Can Jo stop Dr. Dastardly and his deadly gang of dead dinos? Stay tuned for more adventures of Jo Schmo, complete with hilarious black-and-white illustrations.

Elroy''s got one thing on his mind: girls. In an effort to get to second base, he offers to tutor the hot new girl in math, forms a band with his two best friend (okay, so he gets a face full of tomato for his efforts) and joins the wrestling team. He''s a little vague on the whole bases thing, but the jocks have a club dedicated to getting there with every girl they can. And now that he''s a jock (sort of), maybe Elroy will find out for himself what it means to be a member of the Second Base Club.

When Los Angeles superhero Melvin Beederman starts receiving mysterious, threatening emails, he and Candace, his partner in uncrime, must figure out who is out to get him and then do something about it.

In the third installment of the Melvin Beederman series, someone is out to get the Grateful Fred, Melvin''s all-time favorite rock-and-roll band. 30 illustrations.

As Melvin and Candace continue their crime-fighting work as superheroes, the McNasty Brothers, the McNasty Sisters, and the school bullies all plot to get even with them.

After graduating from the superhero academy, Melvin Beederman heads for Los Angeles, where he unexpectedly teams up with Candace Brinkwater, school play actress, to nab the evil McNasty Brothers.