Chapter One with HPL

The tale is told as if it’s happening once upon a dream: the lovely maiden meets her handsome prince in the woods. The story has been told many times and in many ways. But always the maiden finds out that she is a princess—a princess who has been cursed by a dark fairy to prick her finger on a spindle and fall into an eternal sleep. Though her three good fairies try to protect her, the princess succumbs to the curse. But the power of good endures, as her true love defeats the fire-breathing dragon and awakens the princess with true love’s first kiss. The two live happily ever after.

And yet this is only half the story. So what of the dark fairy, Maleficent? Why does she curse the innocent princess? What led to her becoming so filled with malice, anger, and hatred? Many tales have tried to explain her motives. Here is one account, pulled down from the many passed down through the ages. It is a tale of love and betrayal, of magic and reveries. It is a tale of the Mistress of All Evil.

This title is intended for tweens and is suitable for most audiences. Recorded with permission of Disney Press. Click here to see this title in the Houston Public Library catalog.

As the partition of India nears in 1947 bringing violence even to Jalandhar, Tariq, a Muslim, finds himself caught between his forbidden interest in Anupreet, a Sikh girl, and Margaret, a British girl whose affection for him might help with his dream of studying at Oxford.

This title is intended for teens, however, it may contain language or themes that some readers may find offensive. Recorded with permission of Simon & Schuster.

Click here to see this title in the Houston Public Library catalog.

Melody isn't like her fellow students. She can't walk, talk, or write - all because she has cerebral palsy. What her classmates, teachers, and doctors don't know is that Melody is BRILLIANT; she can remember every detail of everything she's learned or experienced. In fact, she's the smartest kid in her school and she's determined to let everyone know...somehow.

This title is intended for tweens and is suitable for most audiences. Recorded with permission of Atheneum, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Click here to see this title in the Houston Public Library catalog.

As the heirs to opposing sides in a warring city, Kate Harker and Augustus Flynn should never have met. A Romeo and Juliet-esque fantasy about the difference between good and evil and the blurry gray area in between.

This title is intended for teens, however, it may contain language or themes that some readers may find offensive. Recorded with permission of HarperCollins. Click here to see this title in the Houston Public Library catalog.

Told from separate viewpoints, as Finn, Emma, and Chess Greystone and Natalie Mayhew, ages eight to thirteen, continue their quest to rescue their mothers they must return to the alternate dimension where truth is illegal.

This title is intended for tweens and is suitable for most audiences. Recorded with permission of HarperCollins. Click here to see this title in the Houston Public Library catalog.

The Amazing Maurice runs the perfect Pied Piper scam. This streetwise alley cat knows the value of cold, hard cash and can talk his way into and out of anything. But when Maurice and his cohorts decide to con the town of Bad Blinitz, it will take more than fast talking to survive the danger that awaits. For this is a town where food is scarce and rats are hated, where cellars are lined with deadly traps, and where a terrifying evil lurks beneath the hunger-stricken streets....

This title is intended for teens, however, it may contain language or themes that some readers may find offensive. Recorded with permission of HarperCollins. Click here to see this title in the Houston Public Library catalog.

Rahul Kapoor is heading into seventh grade and the start of middle school is making him feel increasingly anxious. His grandfather Bhai, gives him some well-meaning advice: Find one thing you're really good at. And become the BEST at it. Those four little words sear themselves into Rahul's brain. But what if he discovers he isn't the best at anything? This title is intended for tweens and is suitable for most audiences. Recorded with permission of HarperCollins. Click here to see this title in the Houston Public Library catalog.

In the early 1990s, when gay teenager Cameron Post rebels against her conservative Montana ranch town and her family decides she needs to change her ways, she is sent to a gay conversion therapy center. This title is intended for teens, however, it may contain language or themes that some readers may find offensive. Recorded with permission of HarperCollins. Click here to see this title in the Houston Public Library catalog.

Fifth-grade best friends Kenzie "Kenzilla" and Shelly "Bombshell" dream of becoming roller derby superstars one day, but when a junior league forms and they must recruit teammates, will their friendship survive? This title is intended for tweens and is suitable for most audiences. Recorded with permission of Amulet Books, an imprint of ABRAMS. Click here to see this title in the Houston Public Library catalog.

Two years younger than his classmates at a prestigious boarding school, fourteen-year-old Ryan Dean West grapples with living in the dorm for troublemakers, falling for his female best friend who thinks of him as just a kid, and playing wing on the Varsity rugby team with some of his frightening new dorm-mates. This title is intended for teens, however, it may contain language or themes that some readers may find offensive. Recorded with permission of Simon & Schuster. Click here to see this title in the Houston Public Library catalog.