“I’m back here,” bellowed a voice that, unfortunately, belonged to my big brother, Topher, and not one of the dearly departed. I’d never actually seen a ghost in our kitchen; I’d only heard it banging around. But due to my home’s location, I figure I’m bound to run into a ghost eventually.
The Key to Extraordinary by Natalie Lloyd
They can use spit to test your DNA. They can put it through a machine and see every gene in your body, read you like a book. Which would be fine, except that my DNA holds the biggest secret of my life.
Tentacle & Wing by Sarah Porter
I had a hunch that if Mom found out I was entertaining a space phenomenon in my room, she wouldn’t approve.
The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole by Michelle Cuevas
The science-fiction section was huge, and Verne was there in strong numbers. At least ten of his works, in fact. I finger-walked over the spines.
Jack and the Geniuses: At the Bottom of the World by Bill Nye & Gregory Mone
The archivists’ work was to uncover mysterious and wondrous things, and the archivists themselves were all about discovery and preservation of lost artifacts, history, and culture from other worlds.
The Secrets of Solace by Jaleigh Johnson
The old woman followed closely behind, fumbling with her handbag until she fished out what looked like the largest key ring in the world. Hundreds of keys were attached to it, each different from the others: skeleton keys made from what looked like crystal, ancient brass keys, bright new silver ones in many sizes, and several that didn’t look like keys at all.
“Wow, that’s a lot of keys,” Daphne said.
“That’s a lot of locks,” Sabrina added as she eyed the front door. It must have had a dozen bolts of all shapes and sizes.
The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley
On the next shelf are paint bottles and stacks of paper, everything from thick watercolor paper to flimsy sheets of jewel-colored tissue paper. And lots of things I’ve collected: shells, rocks, a tiny glass elephant, a blackened old skeleton key my grandmother found in a chest but which unlocks nothing. I kept it because I like how it feels in my hand, the heart shape of the top and the jagged teeth at the bottom, and because—Not everything worth keeping has to be useful.
Rules by Cynthia Lord
“There she is!” Ale says suddenly. “Her Royal Highness,” I follow her pointing finger to the queen bee, bigger than the rest, with a cluster of other bees surrounding her like flower petals. I admit, I don’t always pay close attention when Ale goes on about her bees, but I know the queen is the boss of the whole hive.
Air by Monica Roe
Everything was so well maintained. Looking it over again, she noticed a new detail: the paths that wove through the garden didn’t meander pointlessly. They formed a shape, the outline of a butterfly, just like the door knocker she’d rapped on the estate’s front steps.
The Girl and the Witch’s Garden by Erin Bowman
Even as he made the transmission, Biddle noticed movement on the radio. He held it farther from his face and saw an enormous beetle perched on the dial, beautiful, with shimmering faceted wings and silvery legs. If it hadn’t moved, he would have taken it for a jeweled trinket.
The Lost Property Office by James R. Hannibal
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