New Releases by Laurel Croza

Award-winning creators Laurel Croza and Matt James have come together once again to tell the story of what happens when a bullying seagull and a rock meet on the beach. When a seagull mistakes a small rock for food, it angrily spits it out. “What do you think you are?” the seagull demands. “I am a rock,” the rock responds. But the seagull refuses to accept this, insisting that the rock is more like a pebble, or a stone. It predicts that the rock will be thrown into the water and sink, and even if it manages to be washed ashore, the same thing will happen again and again, until the rock is worn down to a mere speck. After all, the rock has no shine, color, crystals or speckles ... In short, it is nothing special. But a child enjoying a day at the beach sees the rock differently, and their creation in the sand affirms what the rock has known about itself all along. A quirky, vibrant and very memorable picture book about staying true to yourself. Key Text Features dialogue;illustrations Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2 Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.4 Ask and answer questions about unknown words in a text.

From Boston Globe–Horn Book Award winner Laurel Croza comes a mesmerizing collection of short stories about the whirlpool of adolescence. Charity takes small steps to escape her controlling father. Jasmine endures the rumors about her at school, even though no one really knows what happened last summer. The Oh! So Perfect Hair Dolly wishes for just the right child to take her home from the store. Nicola has a run-in with a classmate on her first day at a new school in the big city — or is the classmate a wolf in disguise? A squirrel ruminates on the nature of life and death. Dani fights for her dream, in spite of her father’s insistence that her older brother should be the one to play hockey. Mike finds the kind of family he has longed for in his coworkers at the restaurant where he works. In these seven stories by Laurel Croza (author of the award-winning picture books I Know Here and From There to Here), five teenagers, a doll and a squirrel break out of the expectations placed upon them. Featuring beautiful black-and-white illustrations by Kelsey Garrity-Riley. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.6 Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.

A little girl and her family have just moved across the country by train. Their new neighborhood in the city of Toronto is very different from their home in the Saskatchewan bush, and at first everything about “there” seems better than “here.” The little girl’s dad has just finished building a dam across the Saskatchewan River, and his new project is to build a highway through Toronto. In Saskatchewan, he would come home for lunch every day, but now he doesn’t come until supper. The family used to love to look at the stars, and the northern lights dancing in the night sky. But in the city, all they can see is the glare from the streetlights. All the kids used to run and play together, but now older brother Doug has his own friends. Then one day there is a knock on the door. It is Anne, who lives kitty-corner and is also eight, going on nine, and suddenly living in Toronto takes on a whole new light. Laurel Croza and Matt James have beautifully captured the voice and intense feelings of a young child who, in the midst of upheaval, finds hope in her new surroundings.

Winner of the 2011 Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award, the 2010 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the 2011 Ezra Jack Keats and New York Public Library New Writer Award, and a finalist for the Governor General''s Award for Children''s Illustration The little girl in this story lives with her family in a trailer in northeastern Saskatchewan, where her father is building a dam. She knows everything about the place she lives -- her road, her school, the forest where she plays hide-and-seek and where the wolf howls at night, the hill where she goes tobogganing in winter . . . But the dam is nearly finished and when summer comes the family is moving to Toronto -- a place marked by a big red star on the map at school. Have people in Toronto seen what I''ve seen? the little girl asks. And with her teacher''s help she finds a way to keep everything she loves about home. This simple, beautifully written story, complemented by Matt James''s vibrant, imaginative illustrations, will resonate deeply with anyone who has had to leave their home for a new place. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.7 Use illustrations and details in a story to describe its characters, setting, or events.