Most Popular Books by Susan Beth Pfeffer

There’s nothing wrong with lying—until the truth comes out For her sixteenth birthday, Evvie Sebastian got her own room—a room she doesn’t have to share with her three sisters. There’s only one problem: It’s a dump, just like the rest of the family’s new house. Evvie has hardly moved in when her dad, Nicky, asks her to spend the summer at the seaside with her great-aunt Grace, who’s had a bad fall and needs cheering up—and who is snobbish, ill tempered, and very, very rich. Evvie reluctantly agrees. When she arrives at Eastgate, she finds Aunt Grace just as fierce as she remembered, but she has to admit that the place has some redeeming qualities. Like the handsome and charming Schyler Hughes . . . and Sam Steinmetz, who works in the town bookstore and makes smart jokes about the local culture of conformity. But it’s not all romantic sailing trips and walks on the beach. Evvie soon finds that some people like to tell old stories and share old secrets a little too much—and some of those secrets may hit closer to home than Evvie expected.

Playing the role of a happy pageant winner is not exactly the acting career Kit had in mind Kit Carson keeps trying to tell people that she didn’t do anything. All she did was put on a bathing suit in front of the judges, and suddenly she’s a beauty contest winner. It’s true that the money will come in handy—new dresses and college educations don’t grow on trees when your mom is a nurse and your dad doesn’t always remember to help out—but all Kit really wants is to try out her dream of being an actress. Not a famous one, just successful enough to have a career in a modest theater and make a living doing what she loves. But now that Kit’s a beauty queen, people seem to expect a lot from her. Above all, they seem to think she should gratefully accept the limited roles she’s being offered, which are mostly those of beautiful, not-too-independent, all-American girls. Between pageant ambitions and romantic interests, Kit gets the sense that there could be plenty of opportunities in her future—as long as she’s willing to play the part.

Sometimes you just have to pack a suitcase and walk out the door Marly knows her older sister, Kit, is tall, beautiful, and outspoken—everything Marly isn’t. But does everyone have to remind her of it all the time? Since her parents’ divorce, her mom hasn’t had a single nice thing to say—and even if she did, she’s always working. So Marly packs her bags and catches the bus to stay with her dad. She knows he’ll want her, and hopefully his new wife will too. Ed and Sally are surprised to find Marly on their doorstep but excited to take her in and become a family. They cook together and laugh together, and no one ever shouts at anyone else, a big difference from Marly’s life with her mom. Marly has kept quiet up until now, which has given her a reputation for being well behaved. But once she starts getting used to being treated like an actual person, she begins talking about what’s important to her. She may not be able to stop—and she may not want to.

Tracy’s favorite TV star is coming to town, and she will do anything to meet him face to face The two people Tracy loves most are Rabbit O’Shea, a smooth-talking bad boy, and Ross Perlman, an innocent young man with a golden voice. She could never choose between them, and she’ll never have to, because Rabbit is a TV character, and Ross is the actor who plays him. When Ross announces a concert in Tracy’s hometown, she pledges to do whatever it takes to meet the real-life Rabbit—a decision that could cost her everything she holds dear. She and her best friend, Andrea, make a pact that they will meet Ross together or not at all. But when one of them gets the chance to meet him alone, it threatens to tear their friendship apart. Suddenly, Tracy finds herself longing for the days when Ross Perlman was just another poster on her wall.

Twelve-year-old April has trouble making friends at her new middle school, until her father''s friendship with a missing rock star catapults her into the news and suddenly makes her popular.

Leigh trades in her acting career to play a starring role in her own life Most people don’t get to retire at age sixteen, but that’s what Leigh is planning to do when she moves to Long Island to live with her mom and her new stepfather. Leigh has been acting all her life, most recently on a successful TV show, and she can’t wait to be the kind of normal high school student she’s only ever played on screen. For advice on playing the role of a normal teenager, Leigh turns to her new stepbrother, Peter. Peter has hemophilia, a medical condition that has kept him out of school for a while—but missing out on high school life has given him a good eye for what normal looks like. Together, they figure two outsiders can create one socially successful high school student. They might even be right. Peter is smart, wryly funny, and a good friend when he’s not being a bad invalid. And Leigh knows she can do it—after all, acting is what she’s good at. But the thing about acting is that at the end of the day you get to go back to being yourself, a luxury Leigh starts to think she might not have appreciated enough when she had it.

“The right thing never just happens; you have to make it happen.” Morgan knows her parents left her in boarding school so they could travel the world, which is why hardly anything changes when they’re killed in an accident during her freshman year at Fairfield. But every orphan needs a guardian, and Morgan’s is her uncle Tom, a famous and somewhat eccentric author. Tom’s New York City apartment has plenty of space for Morgan, and her room is the nicest one she’s ever seen, but her uncle, uncomfortable suddenly raising a fourteen-year-old girl, seems distant and preoccupied. Alone in an unfamiliar world, Morgan imagines what her school roommate, the popular and sarcastic Trinck, would think of everything. Would she approve of Morgan’s newly discovered love of reading or the friends she makes in New York? Slowly, Morgan makes a place for herself that is all her own and reflects on the person she is becoming—whether Trinck would like it or not.

Amy encourages the attentions of Robert, a well-to-do classmate, but when he surprises her with an expensive gift, she must face her true feelings.

Exuberant Jo March never sits still. Whether she''s racing against boys or scribbling and acting in her latest play, Jo is always active and creative. So when Aunt March asks her to befriend Pauline Wheeler, Jo can''t believe that the girl spends every day cooped up in her bedroom. True, Pauline is blind and utterly dependent on her governess, but her fear of life exhausts Jo''s patience. The two girls simply have nothing in common--until they''re caught in a snow squall that changes their lives.

After her father moves away, Laurie sends her love by mail The scariest thing Laurie has ever seen is a half-empty house, which she discovered the day her dad moved away. The divorce was a long time coming, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. To stay in touch with her father, Laurie’s mom forces her to write him a letter each week, keeping him updated on everything from quizzes and tests to parties and boys. At first, the letters are a chore, a painful reminder that Dad isn’t around anymore, but with every stamp she licks, Laurie finds herself growing up just a little bit more. This remarkable novel, told entirely through Laurie’s letters to her father, is a powerful story of divorce and renewal that proves it’s not impossible to love someone from afar.

When she refuses to let her friend''s death be called an accident, eleven-year-old Emily, an orphan, encounters the ingrained prejudices of the "best" families in town

The four March sisters each star in their own Christmas story. Will Meg, Jo, Beth, or Amy receive the heirloom brooch they each covet?

Each of the March sisters tries to spend her tenth birthday in her own special way, and learns that growing up sometimes means putting others first.

Although initially afraid that she''ll lose her best friend unless they prepare for their bat mitzvahs together, Becky undergoes a change in her thinking that puts much more than her friendship in jeopardy.

Willa seems to have a perfect life as a member of a loving blended family until the estranged father she barely remembers murders his wife and children, then heads toward Willa and her mother.

In a heavily illustrated, scrapbook format, readers will learn about the real-life people behind the beloved book characters they''ve come to know. From Christopher Robin and Peter Rabbit to Peter Pan''s Lost Boys and Alice in Wonderland, award-winning author Susan Beth Pfeffer explores the real lives of the real people who inspired the creation of literature''s greatest characters. There are even a few surprises about Mother Goose!

In 1913 when she is sent to the Austen Home for Orphaned Girls, eleven-year-old Emily copes with her difficult circumstances with the help of the town librarian and the hope of finding her younger sister.

In these four ghostly tales, the March sisters must beware of the spirits of the dead.

Reesa is petrified at the thought of facing an audience of 500 to read her prize-winning essay.

Amy March wants to be a great artist. She''s got the talent; now all she needs is a way to afford art lessons. Her solution: befriend her rich and snobby classmate, Jenny Snow, who''ll then invite Amy to sit in on her private art instructions. But Jenny can''t be bothered with Amy''s friendly overtures--until Diana Hughes, a new and extremely wealthy girl, chooses Amy as her friend. Now, Amy thinks Jenny will like her too. But the price of art lessons may be higher than Amy ever imagined....

Meredith, dreading an encounter with her cousin who always hits her and steps on her toes, fantasizes some imaginative disasters that might prevent their visit.

When ten-year-old Meg receives an invitation to a friend''s picnic but Jo does not, Meg must decide whether to decline in loyalty to her sister or to follow her heart and attend.

Laurie must choose between her average suburban life and one of fashion and glamour.

Taryn realizes that the whispering she hears between her parents is really fighting, and she is worried that they may get a divorce. Her worry carries over to school, where she is accused of playing a nasty prank on one of her teachers. Her two closest friends have a perfect alibi, so they too wonder--did she do it? To prove her innocence, Taryn must investigate. She finds herself lying to cover up her parents'' problems, while trying to uncover what actually happened. Can Taryn clear her name as well as make things better at home?

Beth March receives a mysterious, but welcome, gift of new sheet music for the piano.

Amy recieves an expensive gift from a boy.

When twelve-year-old Darcy''s cousin April moves into the upstairs apartment and they become inseparable, Darcy has trouble with her former best friends and her schoolwork.

Told with understanding and humor and an evocation of real despair that will strike a chord of recognition in grade-school readers.--@BCCB^

Relates ten-year-old Beth''s exciting trip to pre-Civil War New York City with Marmee and Father.

Beth tries to help an impoverished Irish immigrant boy and his family by stealing a silver bowl from her great aunt and giving it to the O''Neills to sell.

In 1923, Alicia Martinez is thrilled to be cast in an epic film being produced in Hollywood by her best friend¿s father, but then mysterious events occur that threaten the completion of the movie as well as her safety. Includes black and white photographs and an author profile.

Sara Kate is disappointed that her super powers aren''t more heroic, until she uses her x-ray vision to make the school bully leave her alone.

Katie really wants to be the star of her third-grade class, but the noisy, mean atmosphere of her class makes it hard to decide how to use the three wishes given to her by an old magic lamp.

A group of high school students are suspended from school for publishing an underground newspaper that the principal finds objectionable.

Relates Betsy''s humorous efforts to keep a surprise birthday party for her twin sister a secret.

Through journal entries sixteen-year-old Miranda describes her family''s struggle to survive after a meteor hits the moon, causing worldwide tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.