Showing results by author "Bruce Coville" in All Categories

The first day of seventh grade is probably the worst day of Duncan Dougal's life. He knows that things are really bad when he finds an alien's hand in a Dumpster and then gets plugged into an alien brain fryer! Can Duncan find out which of the four new teachers in his school is an alien before his brains get fried to a pulp - or before the aliens try to fry the whole planet?

A sixth grade student is convinced that an odd substitute teacher is from another planet. Will she be able to prove she's right before he completes his evil plan? Starring Lisa Bonet as Susan Simmons. Adapted for radio. A BBC co-production recorded at KCRW in Santa Monica in October 1992.

When Charlie Eggleston stumbles out of Mr. Elives' Magic Shop clutching the skull of truth, he has no idea the grisly object will force him to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. That would be trouble enough for a kid who has been a chronic liar since second grade. Stir in a pair of talking rats, the fact that the skull itself is a real chatterbox, and the appalling discovery that the truth curse is infecting his entire family, and you can see why Charlie's life is getting more complicated by the minute.

For sixth-grader Nina Tanleven, nothing is scarier than auditioning for a play at the famous old Grand Theater. But Nina changes her mind when she climbs on stage to audition - and sees a ghost sitting in the audience! Then, even stranger things happen. Scripts are ripped up, sets are knocked down, and everyone fears the ghost wants to stop the play. Everyone, of course, except Nina and her best friend Chris.

Keeping her promise to her dying father, young Fortune Plunkett is leading his acting troupe west. But fulfilling his dream of establishing a successful theater in San Francisco is an immense challenge for someone who is only 16. Since Plunkett’s Players have joined a wagon train, they have had one adventure after another. Fortune has almost died in a fire, drowned in a flood, and slid over the edge of a cliff with their wagon. Despite the danger, she has managed to find romance with a stranger whose real identity will surprise everyone in the troupe.

Sixth-grader Nina Tanleven knows that old Mrs. Watson’s spike-roofed, dark green house is haunted. She feels the ghost as soon as she walks toward the faded porch. But when Nina climbs the stairs to look for an antique wardrobe in the tower room, she has to wonder what else the spooky mansion is hiding. Soon Nina is in the company of a ghostly crying child, a long-dead artist, and a gruesome, hypnotic painting. To break the dark spell surrounding the house, she will have to join forces with these shadowy spirits.

Some kids bring home puppies or kittens. Edward has brought home a monster named Oggledy Nork. The thing is, Edward explains to his mother, Oggledy Nork isn’t really a monster. He’s just under a curse. With the help of his friends Moongobble the Magician, Urk the Toad, and Fireball the Dragon Edward sets out to break that curse.Their quest will take the little band to Flitwick City and the Society of Magicians, then on to the Forest of Night, and finally deep underground....

When the messiest kid in Minnesota is saddled with her family's obsessively tidy brownie, the sparks are sure to fly. Warning: you may not want to listen in public, since this story will have you laughing out loud!

Set in a chilling future that seems more and more possible each year, this unforgettable story asks the question, "When the government becomes too controlling, what does it really mean to be a patriot?"

Moongobble has completed his three mighty tasks. But just when Edward begins to fear that their adventures might be over, an annoying little monster called Snelly comes bounding into their lives.

It's not easy being the only kid in your class who doesn't have six arms and an extra eye in the middle of your forehead. But that's the situation Jacob faces when his dad takes him to the planet Kwarkis. The situation gets worse when Jacob makes a ghastly blunder that just may cost him the thing he loves most.

Entrusted with an ancient amulet by her eccentric Aunt Zenobia, Marilyn Sparks has no clue that she has just taken the first step on a journey that will lead her into the depths of terror. As it turns out, unlocking the secret of the amulet will mean releasing a great and terrible power. But that is the only way to put an end to a sorrow-laden curse that is thousands of years old. With her handsome neighbor Kyle at her side, Marilyn is soon pulled into an ancient world where she faces dangers, challenges, and choices beyond her imagination.

"There is a disease that can twist men’s hearts and make them mad, and the name of that disease is jealousy." So begins this engaging retelling of one of William Shakespeare’s last plays - a fascinating and unique combination of intensity and whimsy. When King Leontes unfairly accuses his wife of infidelity, he sets off a terrible chain of events. But this is not one of Shakespeare’s tragedies. It’s a romance, and one with a healthy dose of fancy and surprise.

The wind has stopped, just stopped, all across the world. As panic begins to build one boy, storm-born Hurricane Smith, is especially affected. After all, the wind has always been his friend, always had his back. Hurricane's despair only increases when his mother's breathing problem lands her in the hospital. That night, alone in their apartment, a strange man appears to him, with an even stranger message: “I am Zephron Windlord, and I need your help to rescue the wind.”