Patrick Jennings – författare

I am a snake.

No, not a rattlesnake. I just look like one. I''m a gopher snake.

One day an oily, filthy, fleshy human child crossed my path. As luck would have it, he knew the difference between a gopher snake and a rattlesnake. He has imprisoned me in a terrarium. His name is Gunnar. He calls me Crusher. He thinks I''m male. I''m not.

He dropped in a dead mouse and hoped I''d eat it. I buried it. He then dropped in a live one, which he called "Breakfast." I didn''t lay a coil on it.

Gunnar thinks I''ll be his adoring pet. He''s wrong.

In fact, I am planning my escape. I may take Breakfast with me.

Crusher will charm readers in this entertaining, clever novel about a snake in captivity and how she turns the tables on her human captor.

Rufus has been dreaming of getting a dog. His best friend has one. His worst friend has one. But his dad has a few objections: They whine. They gnaw. They bark. They scratch. They beg. They drool. Rufus pays no attention when his mom offers her think-outside-the-box suggestion, because she can''t be serious. She can''t be. She can be. And she actually comes home with a guinea pig. And if Rufus''s dad thinks dogs are a problem, he won''t know what hit him when he meets the Guinea Pig That Thinks She''s a Dog. She barks. She bites. She''ll eat your homework.

Readers will find this charming, funny, easy-to-read middle-grade novel from the beloved Patrick Jennings an absolute hoot! When the new kid joins his class, Woodrow agrees with his schoolmates—Toulouse is really weird. He''s short—kindergarten short—dresses in a suit like a grandpa, has huge eyes, and barely says a word. But Woodrow isn''t exactly Mr. Popularity. The frequent target of the class bully himself, he figures that maybe all Toulouse needs is a chance. And when the two are put together in gym to play volleyball, they make quite the team. Toulouse can serve, set, and spike like a pro. He really knows how to fly around the court. But when the attention and teasing switch back to Woodrow, he learns that the new kid is great at something else: being a friend. Full of heart and laughs, Odd, Weird, and Little is another winner from the author of the Guinea Dog series.

Readers who loved Guinea Dog have been sitting, begging, and rolling over for a sequel. The beloved Patrick Jennings returns with the follow up to his award-winning and state list hogging title! When his classmates learn about Fido, the guinea pig that acts like a dog, they all want a piece of Rufus, her owner. But Rufus hates the attention, the demands, the "celebrity." So he decides to make Fido learn how to be an actual guinea pig. But when she goes missing, he feels terrible. Was she lost, "dognapped," or did she run away, because he no longer liked her just the way she was? Offering the same offbeat humor and pacing of the first Guinea Dog, this novel will prove to be a reader''s best friend.

Rufus''s first Christmas with Fido, the guinea pig that acts like a dog, is not what he expected. Shredded wrapping paper, opened presents, a toppled Christmas tree are only some of the ingredients, but the main one is humor.

No one could love camping more than Rufus.

He and his best friend, Murphy, and their families and pets, including Fido, Rufus''s famous guinea pig that acts like a dog, are planning to camp by a beautiful lake and relax and have fun. Then his mom announces that, without telling him, she has invited two kids who drive him totally crazy. Lurena brags that she is an expert on all things guinea pig. Dmitri wants Fido for his own pet—and Murphy for his best friend. This vacation is turning into a bust!

Yet help is not far away. Another camper, Pedro, might prove to be an ally against Dmitri and his plots.

Even better, a shirt drive from the campsite, a mysterious pet shop appears out of nowhere: Petopia.

Pick up the latest installment of this award-winning, hilariously funny middle-grade series!