New Releases by Johanna Hurwitz

Margot''s summer campaign to vanquish her mother''s irrational fear of leaving their fifth-floor apartment receives unexpected impetus from Newton''s Law of Gravity.

The fifth-grade class election is shaping up as a close contest between class clown Lucas Cott and one time teacher''s pet Cricket Kaufman. It''s just possible that the student with the greatest leadership ability is Julio Sanchez, but Julio''s too busy running Lucas''s campaign to notice. Or is he? And how can Julio throw his hat into the ring without betraying his best friend? Johanna Hurwitz introduced Julio, Cricket, and Lucas in Class Clown and Teacher''s Pet, earning a ringing vote of confidence from Publishers Weekly: "Hurwitz masterfully demonstrates why she is one of the premier practitioners of the humorous school story genre."In Class President, she has backed these delightful characters with a winning ticket of humor and insight.

Aldo is working through the summer, trying to earn enough money to pay for the ice cream machine his sister wants for her birthday.

When he and his family move to the suburbs, Aldo has difficulty finding new friends.

Fifteen-year-old Elaine suddenly finds her life very interesting, as her family deals with the death of a cat, her little brother gets five dogs for his birthday, and she begins a promising romance.

"Once again Hurwitz exhibits her talent for creating characters who talk, act, and think just like real kids. Realistic dialogue . . . and commonplace situations that sparkle with humor combine to make this a fine choice".--School Library Journal. Illustrated. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

A year after her father has left home for good, fifth-grader DeDe helps her mother cope with the realities of life after divorce.

Happy to spend his summer vacation at home in the city, eight-year-old Jay is horrified by his parent''s plan to spend two weeks in the Vermont woods sharing a house with another family.

Thirteen-year-old Karen Sossi encounters bad luck when she ignores her schoolwork for cooking and baby-sitting.

Roddy and Derek wonder about their neighbor''s niece, who is spending the summer with her aunt.

A move to a new town, the birth of a sister, and the death of her rabbi father make 1923 a bittersweet year for eleven-year-old Carrie Levin.

Increasingly aware of the differences between her family, who are nonobservant Jews, and their Catholic neighbors, 10-year-old Gerry Flam begins to investigate her heritage.

Owing to a school project, nine-year-old Aldo decides to give up eating meat.