New Releases by LAUREN BARATZ-LOGSTED

Amazon Editors'' Pick Best Books of June 2017 Semifinalist: GoodReads Choice Awards 2017 Best Middle Grade and Children''s Book National Council for Social Studies/Children''s Book Council Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2018 The Planetary Society Recommended Space Books for Kids of All Ages 2017 The National Science and Engineering Council of Canada list of books for Science Literacy Week 2018 2018-2019 Keystone to Reading Elementary Book Award Intermediate Grade list 2018-19 Maine Student Book Award Reading List 2018-2019 Florida Sunshine State Young Readers Award List, Grades 3-5 It''s 1969 and the country is gearing up for what looks to be the most exciting moment in U.S. history: men landing on the moon. Ten-year-old Mamie''s class is given an assignment to write letters to the astronauts. All the girls write to Neil Armstrong ("So cute!") and all the boys write to Buzz Aldrin ("So cool!"). Only Mamie writes to Michael Collins, the astronaut who will come so close but never achieve everyone else''s dream of walking on the moon, because he is the one who must stay with the ship. After school ends, Mamie keeps writing to Michael Collins, taking comfort in telling someone about what''s going on with her family as, one by one, they leave the house thinking that someone else is taking care of her—until she is all alone except for her cat and her best friend, Buster. And as the date of the launch nears, Mamie can''t help but wonder: Does no one stay with the ship anymore? With I LOVE YOU, MICHAEL COLLINS, Lauren Baratz-Logsted has created a heartwarming story about family and being true to yourself. A Margaret Ferguson Book

A dog tries his best to keep his two co-parenting owners and their happiness afloat in this hilarious and touching sequel to Joint Custody by Lauren Baratz-Logsted and Jackie Logsted. The Man is happy. The Woman is happy. That means Gatz is happy. He''d like to forget about the trouble he made to get them back together—only slightly ashamed at his antics—and focus on the future. The Woman and New Man are about to get married, after all. But when The Woman loses her job because of some bad press about the two of them, her confidence is broken and she can''t help but feel resentful towards New Man when his own career stays intact. Gatz has to give it to him; New Man remains as patient as a saint (of course he does). The Man is doing better, too, thanks to the New Woman in his life, who just so happens to be a writer as well. But two authors in the same relationship can sometimes be one too many, and they find themselves getting quite competitive with each other. But Gatz has faith in them—The Man did learn from his mistakes, didn''t he? Gatz doesn''t know what happened to these two perfectly happy couples, but he knows one thing is for sure: not all families are alike, and happiness can be found in the unlikeliest pockets—just like treats!

A mischievous dog takes matters into his own paws when his beloved owners split up in this offbeat romantic comedy. The Man has custody Monday through Friday, The Woman has custody on the weekends. But that''s not enough for Gatz, who will do anything to bring them back together—even if it kills him. And it almost did. Of course he knows chocolate is bad for him, especially two whole pounds of it, but it’s the risk he’s willing to take to get them back together. Gatz knows that The Man and The Woman are perfect for each other—how can they not see it too? She is an editor and he’s a writer. She’s a social butterfly and he’s as introverted as a guy can get. After the misguided death-by-chocolate attempt, Gatz thinks he still has time. But when New Man—so handsome, so nice, so perfect—enters The Woman''s life, he realizes he’ll need to step up his game. And you know what they say: drastic times call for drastic doggy measures. A laugh-out-loud romance that will touch your heart and make you want a furry friend of your own.

Veteran women''s fiction writer Lauren Baratz-Logsted presents the moving story of a family disrupted by fame, perfect for fans of Elin Hilderbrand and Nancy Thayer. Ever wonder what it must be like to be the younger sibling of someone so popular, princes and presidents are excited to meet him? Mona knows. Or thinks she does. Mona is married to Jack, younger brother to Denny Springer, lead singer for The Greatest Rock-and-Roll Band in the World. Jack happens to sing too, of course, not that anyone in the world notices very much. After Denny attends the family Easter dinner in London for the first time in decades, Mona invites Denny to join her and her family for the summer at a rental house in coastal Connecticut. She tells Denny it''ll be a chance for him to finally bond with Jack, from whom Denny has been estranged for twenty years. Denny initially laughs at the idea...but then shows up on their doorstep. As the summer progresses, though, questions arise: Did Denny really have a change of heart and a sudden commitment to family? Or is he hiding something? More importantly, why did Mona invite him in the first place? Most importantly of all, how well do we ever really know anybody? "Lauren Baratz-Logsted writes genuine characters, killer comedic timing and romantic blunders that are truly something special." —RT Book Reviews

1920, England And the three teenage Clarke sisters thought what they''d wear to dinner was their biggest problem... Lady Kate, the entitled eldest. Lady Grace, lost in the middle and wishing she were braver. Lady Lizzy, so endlessly sunny, it''s easy to underestimate her. Then there''s Will Harvey, the proud, to-die-for—and possibly die with!—stable boy; Daniel Murray, the resourceful second footman with a secret; Raymond Allen, the unfortunate-looking young duke; and Fanny Rogers, the unsinkable kitchen maid. Upstairs! Downstairs! Toss in some farmers and villagers! None of them ever expected to work together for any reason. But none of them had ever seen anything like this.

The Adventures of Sherlock Bones turns snooping on its floppy ear when one day, Dr. Jane Catson, a surgeon injured in the Cat Wars has an afternoon nap interrupted by a most unusual occurrence. On the front lawn of her home, rather loud footsteps disturb her peace as Sherlock Bones, a Great Dane in a deerstalker claiming to be the greatest detective in the world arrives. After a quick critical examination of the intrusive dog whose enormous body blocks the entire sun from view, Catson has her doubts. But that''s not all. The monstrously-sized creature makes an even more astonishing claim. He has come to live with her! Before Catson can collect her thoughts into an intelligent rebuttal, Sherlock Bones has made himself quite at home, inventing things like a jetpack for her Castilian housekeeper-cook, a turtle named Mr. Javier and placing his gigantic food and water dishes next to hers. But there''s no time for protest. The great detective and Dr. Catson have caught themselves their first case: A suspiciously dead human in a nearby abandoned building. Can Sherlock Bones and Dr. Catson crack the case before the killer strikes again? Or will their differences get in the way of solving Case File No. 1? One thing''s for sure, that would be a doggone shame.

After being introduced to Sherlock Bones, the Greatest Detective in the World, in Case File #1: Doggone, Dr. Jane Catson - surgeon and veteran of the Cat Wars - is back to share an all-new mystery adventure with readers. Despite all of Jane''s resistance, Bones is now living with her and her housekeeper/chef, the turtle with a jetpack, Mr. Javier. This time out, the mismatched duo''s investigations lead them to a case involving murder, of course, and - wait for it! - Utah. If there''s one thing readers can be certain of it''s that in this world, the animals are always smarter than the humans. Also, did we mention...Utah?

In an explosion of his own making, Lucius blew his arms off. Now he has hooks. He chose hooks because they were cheaper. He chose hooks because he wouldn’t outgrow them so quickly. He chose hooks so that everyone would know he was different, so he would scare even himself. Then he meets Aurora. The hooks don’t scare her. They don’t keep her away. In fact, they don’t make any difference at all to her. But to Lucius, they mean everything. They remind him of the beast he is inside. Perhaps Aurora is his Beauty, destined to set his soul free from its suffering. Or maybe she’s just a girl who needs love just like he does.

"Lauren Baratz-Logsted has mastered the real life fairy tale in her explosive and hilarious FALLING FOR PRINCE CHARLES. It''s all here, lovelorn Daisy Silverman flush with cash and high hopes, Prince Charles who can''t resist her, and London in all its splendor. Curl up and get ready to laugh long into the foggy night." —Adriana Trigiani, New York Times bestselling author of THE SHOEMAKER''S WIFE "Daisy''s madcap adventure is more comedy than romance, and her most unusual and unlikely relationship with Prince Charles will appeal to reads looking for lots of giggles." —Publishers Weekly

What would happen if your parents went missing? Gone! Poof! The Huit sisters, octuplets to be exact, experience just this. Mommy was supposed to bring hot chocolate, and Daddy more wood for the fire. But they’re gone! What are the young girls to do? The Sisters Eight are determined to find out what happened to their parents. Maybe the notes that keep appearing mysteriously behind a loose brick in the fireplace have something to do with it. It’s a good old-fashioned mystery, with missing parents, nosy neighbors, talking refrigerators, foul-smelling fruitcake (is there any other kind?), and even a little magic. Eight little girls, eight cats, and one big mystery—let the fun begin! Jump right into this series, one book for each sister, and discover which secret power lies within the sisters! Annie’s the oldest, and thus her power appears first. Unravel the mystery with the Sisters Eight starter pack. This starter pack contains three books: Annie’s Adventures, Durinda’s Dangers, and Georgia’s Greatness.

Enjoy Red Girl, Blue Boy and the other standalone titles in Bloomsbury''s contemporary If Only romance line centered around an impossible problem: you always want what you can''t have! Sixteen-year-old Katie and Drew really shouldn''t get along. After all, her father is the Republican nominee for President of the United States while his mother is at the top of the Democratic ticket. But when Katie and Drew are thrown together in a joint interview on a morning talk show, they can''t ignore the chemistry between them. With an entire nation tuned into and taking sides in your parents'' fight, and the knowledge that--ultimately--someone has to lose, how can you fall in love with the one person you''re supposed to hate? This title in the If Only line is a frank and funny romance that shows how sparks fly when opposites attract.

“A warm, wise and witty tale [that] lovingly evokes the lives of four ordinary women who become each other’s surrogate families.” —Elizabeth Letts Some families you are born into. Some you choose. And some choose you. Four women have little in common other than where they live and the joyous complications of having sisters. Cindy waits for her own life to begin as she sees her sister going in and out of hospitals. Lise has made the boldest move of her life, even as her sister spends every day putting herself at risk to improve the lives of others. Diana is an ocean apart from her sister, but worries that her marriage is the relationship separated by the most distance. Sylvia has lost her twin sister to breast cancer, a disease that runs in the family, and fears that she will die without having ever really lived. When Diana places an ad in the local newsletter, Cindy, Lise, and Sylvia show up thinking they are joining a book club, but what they discover is something far deeper and more profound than any of them ever imagined. With wit, charm, and pathos, this mesmerizing tale of sisters, both born and built, enthralls on every page.

An RT BOOK REVIEWS Top Pick: "[S]urprisingly refreshing, and will have readers experiencing many belly laughs." What happens after Happily Ever After? That''s what Johnny Smith is about to find out. Having wooed-and won!-the girl of his dreams in The Bro-Magnet, he is ready to take on married life. Finally, Johnny will be the groom. But right off the bat, during the honeymoon, things start to go wrong. And it only gets worse when the newlyweds return home to their new house in Connecticut. Different taste in pets, interior design, friends. Too much togetherness. Jealousy. Nothing is easy, given that neither Johnny nor his wife has ever even had a roommate since college. Can this couple, still so in love, share a home without driving each other crazy?

"Hilarious and original." -PUBLISHERS WEEKLY A KIRKUS starred review. Jane Taylor is a slightly sociopathic Londoner who wants marriage and a baby in the worst way, and she''s willing to go to over-the-top lengths to achieve her dream. When Jane thinks she''s pregnant she tells everyone. When it turns out to be a false alarm, she assumes she''ll just get pregnant, no one the wiser. But when that doesn''t happen, well, of course she does what no one in her right mind would do: Jane decides to fake an entire pregnancy!

A fake pregnancy, a real baby, and a madcap adventure: This follow-up to The Thin Pink Line is “even better than the first book” (Booklist). London editor Jane Taylor pretended to be pregnant for months. Now she has rescued an actual abandoned baby—which would have come in handy for keeping up her charade, except that the infant is black and Jane is white. Finally giving up her ruse, Jane comes clean to the people in her life—but she wants to keep this precious little one. To do that, she’ll have to battle Social Services and take on anyone who tries to get in her way, with some help from her ex-boyfriend Tolkien. But as she tries to reassure others—and herself—that she would make a fit mother, it’s clear that she’ll always be crazy Jane . . . This is a delightfully comic and touching tale from an author with a “deft touch and sure eye for character” (Elizabeth Letts, New York Times–bestselling author of The Perfect Horse).

Has the world’s nicest dude bro found happiness at last? Poor Johnny Smith. At age thirty-three, the house painter has been a best man a whopping eight times, when all he’s ever really wanted is to be a groom. But despite being everyone’s favorite dude, Johnny has yet to find The One. Or even anyone. So when he meets high-powered District Attorney Helen Troy, and falls for her hard, he follows the advice of family and friends. Since Helen seems to hate sports, Johnny pretends he does too. No more Jets. No more Mets. At least not in public. He redecorates his condo. He gets a cat. He takes up watching soap operas. Anything he thinks will earn him Helen, Johnny is willing to do. There’s just one hitch: If he does finally win her heart, who will he be? “There are so many memorable moments in this book that I could spend page after page quoting them.” —USA Today

Modern-day teen Emily March turns to Louisa May Alcott''s famous book for a school assignment and finds herself mysteriously transported to the world of "Little Women," where she undergoes surprising changes.

All I remember is the sensation of things slipping away from me.... In one night Angel Hansen''s life changes forever: She has sex for the first time. Not that she remembers the act itself -- not the pain or the pleasure. But she is left with something that will never let her forget it: an unplanned pregnancy. Angel must make a choice. Abortion? Adoption? Keep it? None of these choices are easy and none of them are perfect. But there is one thing Angel is sure of. Whatever choice she makes, it must be the right one for her. Braced with that knowledge, Angel faces the toughest decision of her life.

I need to change my life. On the surface, it doesn’t look too bad. Great body, check. Pretty face, check. Job, check. Chicken pox. Check. Stuck in her Danbury, Connecticut, condo in self-imposed exile until she’s contagion-free, Scarlett Jane Stein keeps circling around to a passing comment her friend Pam made: how everything (read: men) comes to Scarlett just because she’s attractive. Is it true? All her life she’s thought that she was fun to be around, that people liked her. Was it only because she was pretty (say it—because she’s got incredible breasts)? Or is Pam, tired of playing second fiddle, now playing her? All Scarlett knows is that she’s never found the man she believes is out there, her One True Love. So maybe Scarlett needs to change things up. So it’s goodbye, Scarlett and hello, dowdier, schlumpier Lettie Shaw. And with her new look, new name, new home and new job, is there a chance that Lettie-née-Scarlett will find someone who loves her for who she is inside? Or has Scarlett’s little change of face turned into the biggest mistake of her life?

Broken, smashed and stomped in the mud That''s how Charlotte Bell''s heart ended up the last time she let her emotions heat up on a nanny assignment. So taking a new position in frigid Iceland, working for Ambassador Edgar Rawlings, might be just what Charlotte needs in order to heal up—and chill out. This time, she''s determined to be intrepid and courageous. She''s even read all fifty-six original Nancy Drew books in preparation. Unfortunately, she''s neglected to find out anything about Iceland or to look into the background of her oddly compelling employer. When Charlotte stumbles onto the trail of a mystery that only she can solve, she''ll need every shred of Nancy''s wisdom to keep her life—and her heart—safe!

For herein Fortune shows herself to be more kind Than is her custom. That''s Shakespeare. In case you''re wondering. If you were Delilah "Baby" Sampson, you’d already know that. Delilah got hooked on the Bard back in college. Then she briefly got hooked on Singapore Sling cocktails. And then she got tossed out of school. Yes, when Delilah discovers something she likes, she really sticks with it. These days, her addictions include sudoku, lime diet cola and now…Jimmy Choos. Oh, Baby’s gotta have those shoes! But on her window-washer salary, $700 for one pair is a stretch. Which leads us to her latest obsession…gambling. With an impromptu posse, including an elderly movie star, two Brazilian lesbians and Hillary Clinton (no, not that one!), Delilah hits the casinos and discovers that she’s a natural-born high-roller. Every win puts her closer to those beloved Choos. And as the “21s” keep dropping, so do the men…right at her feet. But for a girl who never knows when to fold ’em, gambling and casino guys are not healthy habits. She could end up losing her shirt, her head…and a whole lot more.

The Eights are off to rescue Mommy and Daddy from inside a snow-globe-shaped Christmas ornament, in the exciting final volume of the Sisters 8 series.

With the arrival of August, Zinnia, the youngest of the Huit octuplets, eagerly anticipates getting her power and gift, both of which hold big surprises that are revealed to the sisters on their eighth birthday.

When Rebecca demonstrates superhuman strength she brings unwanted publicity to the Huit octuplets, but much greater danger is in store when she acquires the power to shoot fire from her fingertips.

In Victorian London, thirteen-year-old Lucy''s comfortable world with her loving parents begins slowly to unravel the day that a bedraggled woman who looks exactly like her mother appears at their door.

When Will and Bet were four, tragic circumstances brought them to the same house, to be raised by a wealthy gentleman as brother and sister. Now sixteen, they’ve both enjoyed a privileged upbringing thus far. But not all is well in their household. Because she’s a girl, Bet’s world is contained within the walls of their grand home, her education limited to the rudiments of reading, writing, arithmetic, and sewing. Will’s world is much larger. He is allowed—forced, in his case—to go to school. Neither is happy. So Bet comes up with a plan and persuades Will to give it a try: They’ll switch places. She’ll go to school as Will. Will can live as he chooses. But once Bet gets to school, she soon realizes living as a boy is going to be much more difficult than she imagined.

Questions! Questions! Questions! The Sisters Eight have so many questions and so few answers! Luckily, one more month means one more Eight will discover her power and her gift, which means they''re one step closer to discovering what happened to Mommy and Daddy on New Year''s Eve. Marcia’s month is about to begin. You remember Marcia, right? The sensible one? The one who would never do anything . . . crazy?

During the month of June, Petal, one of the eight Huit octuplets, gets her power, which she uses to great advantage when Crazy Aunt Serena tries to kidnap Rebecca and throw her off the Eiffel Tower while the rest of the family attends a wedding.

In this humorous series, eight sisters must fend for themselves when their parents strangely vanish. But now they must handle another taxing mystery. Jackie’s turn! Book four in this exciting series! April has finally arrived. How lucky of Jackie to have such a lovely month to tell her story. It starts off with fun and laughter on April Fool’s Day, and then all the beautiful flowers start to bloom and then . . . Wait a minute. April fifteenth. That’s not a fun day. That’s the day every working person dreads—Tax Day! Of course, the Eights have never had to worry about taxes. Their parents always took care of everything. But as we all know, their parents are gone (or dead). Who will take care of the taxes now? Luckily, Pete the Mechanic is on their side. He’ll help them face down the tax man. But what’s really interesting is what the girls will discover while taking care of their parents’ taxes . . .

As the Huit octuplets prepare for a St. Patrick''s Day parade, Georgia discovers her powers and uncovers the substitute teacher''s secret.