Scholastic Booktalk

AQUAMARINE
by Alice Hoffman
Published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic

Claire and Hailey had no way of knowing that the creature at the bottom of the swimming pool that summer would change their lives forever.

It was August at the Capri Beach Club, and that meant it was hot and humid. It was so hot that shoes got trapped in the sticky asphalt of the parking lot. It was so humid that clothes stuck to sweaty bodies and club members gave up their memberships to spend time in their cool air conditioned houses instead of going to the beach. And this August was the last summer for the Capri Beach Club. In September it would be torn down. There were cracks in the concrete around the pool, and seagulls nested on the lounge chairs. The faded beach umbrellas had holes in them, the tennis court was full of weeds, and the cafeteria was closed and boarded up. Only Raymond, who ran the snack bar, was left — Raymond, and Claire and Hailey.

Claire and Hailey were 12 years old, best friends who has always lived next door to each other. They came to the beach club just like they had every other summer of their lives. They didn't want anything to change, although they knew everything would change.

Claire's grandparents had already sold their house, and in September, they and Claire would move to Florida, leaving Hailey behind. So Claire and Hailey ignored the calendar, quit wearing watches, and pretended that September would never come.

But all that changed after the big storm, the storm that blew the roof off the snack bar, and filled the beach club pool with a thick, soupy mixture of water, dirt, seaweed, barnacles, jellyfish, and something elseÂ?

Hailey curled her toes over the edge of the pool, gazing into the murky water at the deep end, feeling like something unbelievable was about to happen. Then suddenly, without a word to Claire, she dove in. Sixty seconds later, she burst through the surface of the water, and after just one glimpse of her face, Claire knew that she had seem something so extraordinary, so wonderful, so special, so utterly magical, that it would change their lives forever.

Booktalk by Joni R. Bodart

 

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  	Indigo by Alice Hoffman Thirteen-year-old Martha Glimmer is convinced this is the worst time of her life. When she and her two very unusual best friends run away from home, their journey takes a path as unpredictable as the sudden storm, and every bit as tumultuous. A tale of loss, fate, and the meaning of home. $5.99 Paperback Book | Grades 6-9

  
  Indigo
  Grades 6-9 $5.99
  
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  	Moondog by Alice Hoffman, Wolfe Martin and Yumi Heo Someone has left a puppy on Michael and Hazel's porch. He's cute, and seems well-behaved-of course they want to keep him! But when mysterious things start happening every time there's a full moon, the children wonder if their puppy is a little Angel after all... $16.95 Hardcover Book | Grades Pre-K-2

  
  Moondog
  Grades Pre-K-2 $16.95
  

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