New Releases by Kathryn Lasky

The first three books in the stirring new Wolves of the Beyond series by Kathryn Lasky, bestselling author of Guardians of Ga''Hoole. In the harsh wilderness beyond the owl world of Ga''Hoole, a wolf mother hides in fear. Her newborn pup, otherwise healthy, has a twisted paw. The mother knows the rigid rules of her kind. The pack cannot have weakness. Her pup must be abdandoned on an icy riverbank - condemned to die.But alone in the forest, the pup, Faolan, does the unthinkable. He survives. These three books tell Faolan''s story - the story of a courageous wolf pup who rises up to change forever the wolves of the Beyond.

Newbery Honor author Kathryn Lasky''s A JOURNEY TO THE NEW WORLD is now back in print with a gorgeous new package!Twelve-year-old Remember Patience Whipple ("Mem" for short) has just arrived in the New World with her parents after a grueling 65-day journey on the MAYFLOWER. Mem has an irrepressible spirit, and leaps headfirst into life in her new home. Despite harsh conditions, Mem is fearless. She helps to care for the sick and wants more than anything to meet and befriend a Native American.

Coretta Scott King Award winner and Newbery Honor author Patricia McKissack''s inspiring A PICTURE OF FREEDOM is now back in print with a gorgeous new cover!It''s 1859 and Clotee, a twelve-year-old slave, has the most wonderful, terrible secret. She knows that if she shares it with the wrong person, she will face unimaginable consequences. What is her secret? While doing her job of fanning her master''s son during his daily lessons, Clotee has taught herself to read and write. However, she soon learns that the tutor, Ely Harms, has a secret of his own.In a time when literacy is one of the most valuable skills to have, Clotee is determined to use her secret to save herself, and her family.

A wolf''s eye view of the legends of Ga''Hoole in this stirring third installment of the Wolves of Beyond series by bestselling author Kathryn Lasky.Born with a twisted paw, Faolan was abandoned as a wolf pup and left to die. But not only did he survive and make it back to the wolf clan, he proved himself to be one of the most worthy wolves of all. But just as Faolan is about to take his place as one of the revered Wolves of the Watch, a fellow watch wolf goes missing. Faolan is sent to track her down and makes a horrifying discovery - she has been kidnapped by bears. A war is coming between the wolves and the bears, and only Faolan can stop it.

Acclaimed author Kathryn Lasky explores the nature of friendship in three delightful short stories for beginning readers. Creative, impulsive Poodle and loyal, dependable Hound are very different. On her own, Poodle likes to go get her hair done at the salon and have tea at a fancy restaurant. On his own, Hound likes to read the newspaper and do math and draw complicated plans. Together, the dynamic duo stargazes, plants a garden, and proves that opposites can not only attract but complement and help each other. A perfect story for fans of unlikely friendships and cooperative projects, warmly illustrated by Mitch Vane.

Abandoned by his pack, a baby wolf with a mysterious mark on his deformed paw survives and embarks on a journey that will change the world of the wolves of the Beyond.

Kicked out of home after home, the Deadlies have finally found the perfect place--the Rare Books room at the Boston Library. But their peace is threatened when a thief starts targeting the library. Can the Deadlies spin a web big enough to catch a crook? Illustrations.

Faolan, exiled as a pup, must somehow find a way to claim his position as leader and unite the wolf pack in a fight against a looming danger.

The second installment in bestselling author Kathryn Lasky''s staggering WOLVES OF THE BEYOND series, a spinoff of the legendary Guardians of Ga''Hoole books.The wolf pup Faolan was born with a twisted paw, a slight defect that caused his wolf clan to abandon him in the forest to die. But Faolan, with the help of the grizzly bear who raised him as her own, survived.Now he''s made it back to his clan as a gnaw wolf, the lowest ranking pack member. And the hardships are just beginning. Another gnaw wolf, Heep, is jealous of Faolan and sets him up for failure. As if these humiliations are not enough, Faolon is framed for the murder of a wolf pup. Faolan must catch the culprit in time and prove he deserves to be a full member of the clan.

Guardians of Ga''Hoole is a classic hero mythology about the fight between good and evil. This series is filled with adventure, suspense, and heart. When Soren, a young owlet, mysteriously falls from his nest one evening, he''s plucked up and taken to the sinister St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls. Once there, he must use his wits and bravery to escape his captors.The first three books in the Ga''Hoole series follow Soren, Gylfie, Twilight, and Digger, four orphaned owls that must fight their way through many dangers to take refuge with a group of brave owls thought only to be a legend - the Guardians of Ga''Hoole!

From bestselling author Katherine Lasky comes the first book in WOLVES OF THE BEYOND, a stunning new spinoff from her legendary owl series, Guardians of Ga''hoole.A wolf mother has given birth, but the warm bundle snuffling next to her brings only anguish. The pup, otherwise healthy, has a twisted leg, and the mother knows what the harsh code of the pack demands. Her pup will be taken from her and abandoned on a desolate hill. The pack cannot have weakness - the wolf mother knows that her pup is condemned to die.But alone in the wilderness, the pup, Faolan, does not perish. This his story - a story of survival, of courage, and of love triumphant. This is Faolan''s story, the wolf pup who rose up to change forevever the Wolves of the Beyond.

The second companion book to the New York Times bestselling series, the LOST TALES reveals never-before-told stories of the Great Tree!Guided by the Knower, Otulissa has studied long in the libraries of the Others; she has probed the ancient lore of the strange and powerful dire wolves of the Beyond. And at the Great Ga''Hoole tree itself she has uncovered secret histories of Guardians she thought she knew well! Attention Dear Reader! Great mysteries will be revealed to the attuned mind in these last Lost Tales of the Great Tree!

The fantastic prequel trilogy to the bestselling series GUARDIANS OF GA''HOOLE begins!It is a time of Legends and a time of chaos. Warlords vie for power and marauding outlaws roam the land. Good King Hrath and his queen, Siv, noble Spotted Owls struggle to keep peace in their kingdom. Grank, noble Spotted Owl, friend and supporter of King Hrath, has exiled himself to Beyond the Beyond, where he has developed his firesight and learns how to work with embers, fire and how to forge metals. He is the First Collier. Deep in a volcano in the farthest reaches of Beyond the Beyond, he discovers a magical Ember but fears its awful powers will be misused and hides it again. (continued)

To prove his goodness, young Nyroc will renounce his name, his mother, and his inheritance to seek the holiest of relics from The Beyond the Beyond.Nyroc has exiled himself from the Pure Ones. He flies alone, feared and despised by those who know him as Kludd''s son, hunted by those whose despotism he has rejected, and haunted by ghostly creatures conjured by Nyra to lure him back to the Pure Ones. He yearns for a place he only half believes in -- the great tree -- and an uncle -- the near-mythic Soren -- who might be a true father to him. Yet he cannot approach the tree while the rumor of evil clings to him. To prove his worth, Nyroc will fly to The Beyond the Beyond seeking the legendary Relic and bring it, a talisman of his own

After the time of the legends, the tale of the Guardians returns to the present in which Soren, the hero of Books 1-6, must train a new king. Old friends, new adventures!Coryn, Soren, and the Band preside over a new Golden Age of the Great Tree under the subtle influence of the Ember. All seems well, but beneath the prosperity of peace Coryn is tortured by the suspicion that his evil mother, Nyra, is a hagsfiend and that his own blood carries the haggish taint. He wanders afar searching for the truth from hagsfiends themselves - putting the Great Tree in danger. Soren & the Band follow their new king to strange parts to guard him from the consequences of his obsession.

The third book in the GUARDIANS OF GA''HOOLE series, a classic hero mythology, chronicles Soren''s quest for his missing mentor, Ezylryb, and battle against his evil brother, Kludd.Now that Soren has been reunited with his sister, Eglantine, he must face his next challenge: making sense of the mysterious disappearance of his mentor, Ezylryb. When Soren discovers that Ezylryb is in danger, he and his friends Gylfie, Twilight, and Digger devise a plan to save the beloved teacher.In this process, Soren must fight a ferocious foe who wears a terrifying metal beak, sharpened for battle. It''s not until the confrontation is over that Soren discovers the true identity of his opponent. The metal beaked warrior is Soren''s evil brother, Kludd.

The eleventh title in this best-selling series brings Hoole to kingship and the legends to fulfilment signaling a return to the adventures of Coryn, Soren and the Band.In this final book of the Legends trilogy Hoole reclaims the thrown of his father and goes on to wage a war against the forces of chaos, greed and oppression led by the powerful warlord-tyrants. Grank, the first collier, uses his skills with fire and metals to forge weapons for battle. With great trepidation Hoole uses the power of the Ember in the final, decisive battle and wins. At the dawn of a new ear of peace, Hoole searches for the ideal place to establish not a kingdom but an order of free owls and finds the Great Tree. (continued)

In the fifth book in this series, the war between an evil group led by Soren''s brother, Kludd, and the owls of the Great Ga''Hoole Tree rages on.In the midst of war, Eglantine unwittingly becomes a spy for Kludd, leader of the Pure Ones (a group of evil owls). She is brainwashed by an owl sent by the Pure Ones to infiltrate the Great Ga''Hoole Tree. Her odd behavior eventually attracts attention, and Soren and his friends vow to find out what''s wrong with Eglantine. They ultimately learn what happened and help her reverse the effects of the brainwashing. Kludd continues to battle against the Guardians of Ga''Hoole for control of their tree. In the end, Kludd and his forces are defeated. But his conflict with Soren is not yet over.

The Grand Battle begins with the search for allies in the Northern Kindoms and ends in The Burning that will change all Owldom forever.Soren and his band are sent to the mysterious Northern Kingdoms to gather allies and learn the art of war in preparation for the coming cataclysmic battle against the sinister Pure Ones. Meanwhile, in the Southern Kingdoms, St. Aggies has fallen to the Pure Ones and they are using its resources to plan a final invasion of The Great Ga''Hoole Tree. With the future of all Owldom in the balance, the parliament of Ga''Hoole must decide whether or not to join forces with the brutal Skench and Sporn and the scattered remnants of St. Aggies who remain faithful to them. A great battle is on the

A war breaks out in the owl kingdom when an evil group tries to take control of the Great Ga''Hoole Tree. Soren and the other Ga''Hoolian owls must fight to protect their tree and restore peace.Soren''s beloved mentor, Ezylryb, is finally back at the Great Ga''Hoole Tree. But all is not well. There''s a war between good and evil in the owl kingdom. On one side is a group led by Soren''s fearsome brother, Kludd, who wears a terrifying metal mask to cover his battle-scarred face. On the other side are the owls of the Great Ga''Hoole Tree, who must fight to protect their legendary tree from Kludd''s attacks.Soren, his friends, and the other owls at the Great Ga''Hoole Tree enter into fierce combat against Kludd''s forces. They win a major battle, but warfare will continue in Book #5.

Ga''Hoole is victorious, but far from the great tree, in the bitter ashes of defeat under a full moon, Nyroc is born. And he will be bred to monstrous evil.Kludd is dead. Nyra, his mate, is determined that her hatchling, Nyroc, will fulfill his father''s destiny: the vicious oppression of all the owl kingdoms. But Nyroc is a poor student of evil. A light grows in his heart, fed by scraps of forbidden legend and strange news of a place where goodness and nobility reign. He must summon all his courage to defy his destiny -- and the embodiment of evil that is his mother.

A classic hero mythology about the fight between good and evil, Guardians of Ga''Hoole is filled with adventure, suspense, and heart. Soren is born in the forest of Tyto, a tranquil kingdom where the Barn Owls dwell. But evil lurks in the owl world, evil that threatens to shatter Tyto''s peace and change the course of Soren''s life forever.Soren is captured and taken to a dark and forbidding canyon. It''s called an orphanage, but Soren believes it''s something far worse. He and his friend Gylfie know that the only way out is up. To escape, they will need to do something they have never done before -- fly.And so begins a magical journey. Along the way, Soren and Gylfie meet Twilight and Digger. The four owls band together to seek the truth and protect the owl world from unimaginable danger.

The latest soaring installment of Kathryn Lasky''s NYT bestselling Ga''Hoole seriesGrank raises the hatchling deep in a forest far from owls that would kill the royal chick named Hoole to end the kingly line. His mother comes to visit, in disguise, and departs again. Not even the chick must know his mother''s identity. It would give him away as Hrath''s heir. Sent by an evil warlord, a hagsfiend attempts to lure young Hoole away when he first learns to fly. Grank realizes that the same evil forces that killed Hrath are after Hoole, and know where he is. To keep him safe, Grank brings him to Beyond the Beyond, a strange land of fiery volcanoes in a barren, icy landscape.(more)

The final book in Lasky''s best-selling animal series.The strange, maniacal blue owl known as the Striga has been rousted from the Great Ga''Hoole Tree. Nyra, leader of the vicious Pure Ones, is either dead or laying low in some distant land,leaving the tree finally at peace. As if fed by an invisible spring, learning and the lively arts flourish at the great tree and spread throughout the owl kingdoms.But unbeknowst to the Guardians, in a long-empty cave deep in the Northern Kingdoms two ruthless villains join forces to conjure an ancient evil, an evil that will do their bidding and wreak havoc on the world.

The adventure continues! In a land no owl knew existed, Soren, Coryn, and the Guardians find danger, knowledge, and new allies.Coryn and the Band have returned to the Great Ga''Hoole Tree and restored order. With the Ember safely hidden away, the tree shakes off its gaudy golden glow and recovers its natural majesty. Meanwhile, deep in the Palace of Mists, Bess finds an ancient map fragment that reveals that there are not 5 owl kingdoms -- as has been thought since time immemorial -- but 6. Coryn and the chaw of chaws set off to find this unknown land. In a landscape of perpetual winter, they discover a monastery of serene, learned owls, the likes of which no one has ever seen before.

The second book in the GUARDIANS OF GA''HOOLE series continues this classic hero mythology about the battle between good and evil. This book chronicles Soren''s quest for nobility.In the second book in the GUARDIANS OF GA''HOOLE series, Soren, Gylfie, Twilight, and Digger travel to the Great Ga''Hoole Tree, a mythical place where an order of owls rises each night to perform noble deeds. Soren and his group are seeking help to fight the evil they discovered in the owl world (in GUARDIANS #1). After a harrowing journey, they arrive at the Great Ga''Hoole Tree and learn they will need to stay to receive training from the Ga''Hoolian elders. During his time at the Great Ga''Hoole Tree, Soren finds (and then loses) a great mentor and he is reunited with his beloved sister.

Before she was Maid Marian, she was Matty. . . . Matty has been raised to dance well, embroider exquisitely, and marry nobly. But when Matty''s mother is murdered before her very eyes and her father, a nobleman, is reduced to poverty, Matty''s life changes. As the daughter of Nottingham''s most famous falconer, she finds a new destiny in the hawks her father keeps. She begins to understand their thoughts and even speak their language. The beautiful merlin Marigold becomes Matty''s closest winged companion and her fiercest ally. It is a treacherous time in England. The sheriff of Nottingham is rising to power, and a true king has been kidnapped. Determined to fight, Matty''s friend Fynn becomes Robin Hood. As Maid Marian, Matty joins Fynn and his Merry Men, famously robbing from the rich to give to the poor. You thought that you knew the legend, but this is the untold story. Bestselling author Kathryn Lasky soars to magnificent new heights here, giving us a bold tale of bravery and romance.

Thirteen-year-old Gabriella Schramm?s favorite pastime is reading. With Adolf Hitler slowly but unstoppably rising to power, Gaby turns to her books for comfort while the world around her changes dramatically: The streets become filled with soldiers, Gaby?s sister?s boyfriend raises his arm in a heil Hitler salute, and the Schramms? family friend Albert Einstein flees the country. When Gaby?s beloved books come under attack, she fears she may have to leave behind the fiction?and the life?she has always cherished.

Guardians of Ga''Hoole is a classic hero mythology about the fight between good and evil. This series is filled with adventure, suspense and heart. When Soren, a young owlet, mysteriously falls from his nest one evening, he''s plucked up and taken to the sinister St Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls. Once there, he must use his wits and bravery to escape his captors. The first three books in the Ga''Hoole series follow Soren, Gylfie, Twilight and Digger, four orphaned owls that must fight their way through many dangers to take refuge with a group of brave owls thought only to be a legend-the Guardians of Ga''Hoole!

The artist Georgia O''Keeffe spends the day transforming the materials, colors, and landscape of her desert home into paintings. Includes biographical notes.