Growing Fish

A collection of short stories from The Big Garage on Clear Shot chronicles the offbeat lives of the colorful inhabitants of The End of the Road, a small town in Alaska.

Deep in the water, Mr. Fish swims about with his fish face stuck in a permanent pout. Can his pals cheer him up? Will his pout ever end? Is there something he can learn from an unexpected friend?

Rusty-James wants to be just like his big brother, the Motorcycle Boy. He wants to be the toughest streetfighter on this side of the city, to keep his cool when things get dangerous, and to laugh when gang members challenge him to fight. Rusty-James isn't book-smart; he depends on his fists more often than his brains. So far, the Motorcycle Boy has bailed him out when his fists have gotten him into trouble.

When 12-year-old Zinnia Manning's older brother, Gabriel, is diagnosed with a mental illness, the family's world is turned upside down. Mom and Dad want Zinny; her 16-year-old sister, Scarlett; and her eight-year-old brother, Aiden, to keep Gabriel's condition "private" - and to Zinny, that sounds the same as "secret". Which means she can't talk about it to her two best friends, who don't understand why Zinny keeps pushing them away, turning everything into a joke.

Deborah Diesen's 5-Minute Pout-Pout Fish Stories is a treasury of 12 short stories starring the New York Times best-selling Mr. Fish and all his friends, perfect for bedtime or on the go!

After her best friend dies in a drowning accident, Suzy is convinced that the true cause of the tragedy was a rare jellyfish sting. Retreating into a silent world of imagination, she crafts a plan to prove her theory - even if it means traveling the globe alone. Suzy's achingly heartfelt journey explores life, death, the astonishing wonder of the universe...and the potential for love and hope right next door.

Mr. Fish is nervously awaiting his first day of school, and he frets about not knowing how to write his name, how to draw shapes, and how to do math - until he's reassured that school is the perfect place to learn how to master all of these new skills.

Mr. Fish wants to help his friend Ms. Clam when she loses her pearl, but though he's fast as a sailfish, as smart as dolphin, and as strong as a shark, Mr. Fish has a secret: He's scared of the dark!

Growing up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, was all fourteen-year-old Presley Walton knew. In fact, the teen had never ventured far beyond the city limits. Her world revolved around chilling in her bedroom, using her cell phone, and being on social media. Presley was getting ready to enjoy a typical summer, but her parents had other plans. Before she knew it, Presley was on a smelly, old bus heading to the middle of nowhere. Nowhere, otherwise known as Camp Golden Arrow, would be her home sweet home for two weeks.

Odder spends her days off the coast of central California, practicing her underwater acrobatics and spinning the quirky stories for which she’s known. She’s a fearless daredevil, curious to a fault. But when Odder comes face-to-face with a hungry great white shark, her life takes a dramatic turn, one that will challenge everything she believes about herself—and about the humans who hope to save her.

Hardy's name means "brave," but this little puffer fish is scared of everything. When a shark comes close, Hardy knows he cannot puff up, or he will be eaten for sure. How can Hardy learn to be brave?

Peter and his best friend, Tommy, have a goal for their last summer before middle school: finish their Discovery Journal, a catalog of the wildlife around their Florida town. When they spot a manatee in a canal, Peter knows they’ve found something special—and when the manatee is injured by a boat, something to protect! As Peter joins the fight to save Florida manatees, he also finds himself taking care of his ailing grandfather and facing an unwelcome surprise that jeopardizes his friendship with Tommy.

For Vega and her family, salmon is life. And Vega is learning to be a salmon finder, preparing for the day when she will be her family’s matriarch. But then she and her brother Deneb are separated from their pod when a devastating earthquake and tsunami render the seascape unrecognizable. Vega must use every skill she has to lead her brother back to their family. The young orcas face a shark attack, hunger, the deep ocean, and polluted waters on their journey. Will Vega become the leader she’s destined to be?

When their whale-watching trip goes horribly wrong, Skylar, Gabby, and Miles find themselves on an inflatable raft in the middle of the ocean. With no food, a small amount of water, and only a small first-aid kit to help them, they must spend three treacherous days on the waves, hoping desperately for help to arrive.

From fixing the class computer to repairing old radios, 12-year-old Iris is a tech genius. But she's the only deaf person in her school, so people often treat her like she's not very smart. If you've ever felt like no one was listening to you, then you know how hard that can be. When she learns about Blue 55, a real whale who is unable to speak to other whales, Iris understands how he must feel. Then she has an idea: She should invent a way to "sing" to him! But he's 3,000 miles away. How will she play her song for him?

The colorful cast of characters in End of the Road, Alaska, congregate around the coffeepot at the Big Garage to share wit and wisdom.

My story starts the day that my parents told me we must leave our adopted home forever. Because of the soldiers and the drought we barely had enough to eat and we could no longer stay to help the people in our village.

The Avery Diary: The Lice Outbreak! Hilarious Book for Kids 9-12 When a lice outbreak takes over Avery’s school, things go from bad to downright hilarious. With chaos in the cafeteria, dramatic “lice patrols,” and a queen bee spreading rumors (and maybe bugs), Avery finds herself in the middle of it all. Will she blow the whistle on the mean girl’s not-so-secret scratching? Or can she save the day with her brilliant plan for Anti-Itch Week? From DIY lice detectives (featuring colanders and mayonnaise) to school dances where “scratching moves” steal the show, Avery’s journey is...

It's time for Halloween, and Mr. Fish is nervous about visiting a haunted house with his friends - but he just may be surprised that it's not all so scary!

Ally es una maestra en el arte del engaño. Cada vez que llega a un nuevo colegio, esconde su incapacidad de leer creando inteligentes pero extrañas distracciones a su alrededor. Tiene miedo de pedir ayuda. Y, además, ¿es que alguien puede curar la estupidez? Pero su nuevo profesor ha visto el brillo y la creatividad oculta tras su aire problemático. Con su ayuda, Ally aprenderá que la dislexia no es algo de lo que avergonzarse, mientras se abre ante ella un mundo lleno de posibilidades.