First Second: 182 books

In volume 3 of James Kochalka's off-kilter science fiction series for young readers, the eponymous hapless space adventurer is joined by three horribly annoying little kids. Everything is terrible, and nothing is okay. Well, that's not entirely true. There's a really great mustache. And a valiant...

One Day a Dot explores the age-old question: Where did we come from? Where did everything come from? Starting with one tiny dot and continuing through the Big Bang to the rise of human societies, the story of our universe is told in simple and vivid terms. But the biggest question of all cannot...

There's a rule at Mike's Place: never, ever talk politics or religion. At this blues bar on the Tel Aviv beachfront, an international cast of characters mingles with the locals, and everyone is welcome to grab a beer and forget the conflict outside. At least, that's the story Jack and Joshua want...

In The City on the Other Side, a young girl stumbles into a pitched war between two fairy kingdoms, and the fate of San Francisco itself hangs in the balance! Sheltered within her high-society world, Isabel plays the part of a perfectly proper little girl—she’s quiet, well-behaved, and...

The Games are already underway when Richard Aldana arrives in town. This mysterious stranger seems to have more in common with our world than the world where the Games are held. He smokes cigarettes and wears a leather jacket while everyone else in this medieval realm is casting spells and weaving...

Marianne Velba won't stop until she finds out why Richard Aldana had left the Valley of Kings. She and her son Adrian track the champion fighter into another universe and arrive in Paxtown, an illustrious modern megalopolis, where something sinister lurks behind the glitz and glam. In order...

Marianne and Adrian have distinguished themselves as a fighting duo in Paxtown, a shimmering metropolis a universe away from the Valley of the Kings. Team Velba, Richard, and Cristo Canyon all duke it out in the ring against friend and foe alike. Meanwhile, desperation is on the rise in the...

A villain that had lurked in the shadows comes to the light. A fallen friend resurrected as a monstrous new enemy. An old flame in danger of suffering a fate worse than death. Richard Aldana has faced many challenges inside and outside the boxing ring, but when Marianne and Adrian are captured by...

A Junior Library Guild Selection 2017 Amazon Top Twenty Children’s Book of the Year 2017 Amazon Best Book of the month December 2017 Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2017 Texas Maverick Graphic Novel 2017 Northern California Indie Bookseller Association Long-List Title Priyanka Das has...

Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Fox? No one, it seems. The fox dreams of being the terror of the barnyard. But no one is intimidated by him, least of all the hens—when he picks a fight with one, he always ends up on the losing end. Even the wolf, the most fearsome beast of the forest, can’t...

The Stratford Zoo looks like a normal zoo... until the gates shut at night. That's when the animals come out of their cages to stage elaborate performances of Shakespeare's greatest works. They might not be the most accomplished thespians, but they've got what counts: heart. Also fangs, feathers,...

In this charming and accessible picture book, Ian Lendler and Xanthe Bouma offer a heart-warming account of the childhood of the Buddha. A spoiled young prince, Siddhartha got everything he ever asked for, until he asked for what couldn’t be given­—happiness. Join Little Sid as...

Claudette is back AGAIN, and she’s ready to kick major monster butt! She’s fought giants, clobbered dragons, and now Claudette faces her biggest challenge yet… herself! Well, that and a gang of vile monsters. It all begins when Claudette’s town hosts the annual Warrior Games. After...

How does Uncle Bob do it? Owen couldn't figure it out. Buffalo Bob's Rootin' Tootin' Animal Circus is famous for its jump-roping giraffe, tangoing lion, and knife-throwing elephant. But they have to be fakes, right? Owen is determined to get to the bottom of this mystery. When he visits the...