THE FAT GIRL

"I had created her. She is my handiwork."

Jeff, a confused, very handsome high-school boy takes a ceramic class, and meets a fat, unhappy girl named Ellen. Although his intentions in the beginning are really kind and generous, his increasing power over her changes him into a dangerous tyrant. This is a modern re-telling of the Pygmalion/Galatea story.

"… a moving story with depth and insight.”
-Bulletin for the Center of Childrens’ Books

“… gripping.”
-Publishers Weekly

Awards:
•American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults: Bay Area Book Reviewers Award Nominee

VERONICA GANZ

Every new kid in school learns the hard way. No one messes with bully, Veronica Ganz. She’s bigger than everyone else, and meaner too. So when shrimpy Peter Wedemeyer starts acting up, Veronica knows she has to show him who’s boss.

“A rah-rah-rah, sisbom-bah, for Veronica Ganz And for her creator, Marilyn Sachs.”
      -- Publishers’ weekly

“… with laughter from deep down.”
      -- Kirkus

Awards:
       • ALA Notable.

First Impressions      

Roaring Book Press

Jacket copyright (C) 2006 BTD nyc

First Impressions, funny and literary, is for fans of Jane Austen and also for those who never read her work. Marilyn puts a new spin on the "magic" of reading in this lively tale of romance, masterpieces-and fish eyes.

"... light hearted contemporary story about the joy and stress of family, friendship, reading and love."
      -- Booklist

"...sweetly contemporary and much fun to read."
      -- Kirkus

"Good fun for old fans of Sachs ... and potential new ones too."
      -- Horn Book

Lost in America               Reviews

Roaring Book Press

Jacket copyright (C) 2005 BTD nyc

A young French girl comes to America in 1947, after the Second World War. Her parents and sister have been killed at Auschwitz concentration camp. She must learn to make it in America among relatives who are unfriendly, and a language that bewilders her. Funny and poignant, the reader follows her as she moves along step by step towards becoming an American.

A Pocket Full of Seeds

Nicole Nieman, a French Jew, during the second World War, must learn to cope after her parents and sister are captured by the Nazis, and sent to a concentration camp. A harrowing account of life for a child in hiding during the Holocaust.

-- An ALA Notable Book

-- A New York Times Outstanding Children’s Book of the Year

AMY MOVES IN

The first in a series of highly praised books about a poor Jewish family living in the Bronx in the 1940’s. Amy moves into a new neighborhood, and learns to choose the right kind of friends, and the consequences of lying.

“… true to its time and true to the unchanging conditions of childhood.”
      -- Kirkus

LAURA’S LUCK

In the second of three books about a poor family living in the Bronx in the 1940’s, Laura, the older sister, has to cope with the pleasures and pains of going off to camp.

“Her story should be in the hands of every girl who is being shipped off to camp against her better judgment.”
      --Kirkus

AMY AND LAURA

In the final book in a series about a poor family living in the Bronx in the 1940’s, two sisters come to grips with their own envy, resentment and love for each other.

“A story that is as realistic as it is readable.”
      -- Horn Book

THE BEARS’ HOUSE

Puffin

The children in Miss Thompson’s 4th grade class knew Fran Ellen Smith as a smelly, “thumb sucker.” The only thing that makes life bearable was the bears’ house, a dolls house the children could play with when they finished their work. It was Fran Ellen’s refuge from her own fatherless home, where the children tried to manage without help from their mentally-ill mother.

“… funny, touching story an essential purchase for any library.”
      --School Library Journal:

Awards:
• National book Award Nominee
• A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
• A New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year
• Austrian Children’s Book Prize.