Bøker av Karen Stegman-Bourgeois

Meet frat boy and liar Harrison Bloom. Sure, he's a narcissist, but he loves his family. Of course, he's spoiled, but he works hard. Naturally, he feels terrible about choosing a career path his father dislikes, but he makes up for it by dating women Dad would approve of. Hold on... he does what He can't get a break. His brand-spanking new, one-day-old Mustang convertible is stolen and wrecked before he can purchase insurance. All he can afford is a Craig's list find, which happens to be a hearse. When he discovers that his new car is haunted, the spirits inside need a little help with their unfinished business before they can ... move on. Each apparition has a different life lesson that Harrison unwittingly learns, but the stubborn Harrison does it his way until he finally works up the courage to... but I digress. Felix, the first ghost, was a chef in life who invented a meatball to die for. Oops. The second ghost, Frederick, turns out to be Madoff 2.0 and a handful, and Kate helps him turn his thirty-year-old body into an art piece that Michelangelo would be proud of. She teaches him that you shouldn't judge someone by how they look. Hmm. Harrison's father is a federal judge who put away a mobster. To kill Judge Bloom isn't in his repertoire, and when he breaks out of prison, his wants to get even by killing one of the judge's offspring - that's Harrison! Harrison's life keeps getting messier as his unemployment, love life, dishonesty, bad cliches, and bad decisions take the reigns. He helps countless souls before he meets Lucy, the wisest one of all. She helps Harrison in ways that can't be forgotten, including fixing his love life. When Lucy's daughter, Mia, gets involved, the lies that ensured his long-term unemployment disappear, and his life seems to get on track again. But he has the clingy, crazy, lying Nikki to worry about. He can't shake her because his family loves the nurse. She's sweet and demure around them. Does Harrison see a reflection of himself in her? And then there's still the assassin...

Emmaline is the youngest in her family, with four older brothers who ignore her. Her mom and dad work hard at their blue-collar jobs, so it's dinner time and family time when they get home. Then they relax. Sadly, Emmaline is the last to discuss her day at the dinner table. Her family doesn't pay attention when she tells them about her bully and what the kids at school did to support her. They don't listen when she explains about her new friends and getting lost coming home from Hannah's house. They ignore her when she describes the war that broke out in music class, complete with flying chairs and a few casualties. When she is diagnosed with ADHD, she only has a few months to get her grades up, or she will be destined to repeat fifth grade. Though Emmaline is usually an optimist, she'll miss her friends and playing a new instrument, which only sixth graders get to do. The genius in the wheelchair in the apartment below helps her discover her superpower. But is it enough to solve her most serious problem?

Puzzle Competitions! That is Bella's life. At age three, she shows her precociousness to Mama and family friend, Alice. Like the young Bobby Fisher, Bella becomes famous, but home life is holding her back. Single mother Roxanne loves Bella but doesn't know anything about parenting. She leaves Bella alone in the hot and humid trailer while she frequents the local bar. Mama forgets her birthday EVERY SINGLE YEAR and brings home one of many boyfriends who, like a cockroach, only comes around when something is enticing - in this case, it's money. Carl seems like a good father figure at first, but he contrives a way to get Bella's winnings for himself to "invest" it. When Bella grows older and realizes what Carl is doing, she doesn't want to compete anymore but takes further steps to ensure her happiness - she wants to live permanently with Alice. The universe can be cruel, though, and with a family tragedy coupled with legal ramifications, Bella is forced into a life she doesn't want. She has an idea to fix it. With the help of her therapist, Bella knows what has to be done. She is faced with solving the biggest puzzle of her life. *** Explore the life of Bella Rose and her journey into puzzle competitions. Discover that her strength isn't in puzzles but in her character.

Rapunzel is stuck in her tower with only her Rap music, books, and a spinning wheel. She learns as much as she can about science and engineering until, one day, she figures out how to escape the soul-stealing place and uses the spinning wheel to her advantage. Thank goodness she has long hair, or her idea wouldn't work. With the help of her intelligent crow friend, Cawley, she traverses the forest using her knowledge of bears, mushrooms, and pollination, among other things. She even rescues a prince from a cave after a rockslide blocks him inside and uses her hair to make the world's first "hairbarrow." The witch can smell her shampoo, though, and is sure to capture Rapunzel! Follow Rapping Rapunzel on her journey of discovery and find out what really happened to her. This Steampunk tale mixes the old with the new, featuring STEM concepts and Rap music. A glossary of fun facts at the end explains what Rapunzel knows now. With questions for children to answer, the glossary can also be used to assess comprehension.