Projects

Twelve-year-old Asha Baxter has a system: keep quiet, keep her homework hidden, and keep herself small enough that nobody in her grandmother's overcrowded house notices what's slipping. Between watching her toddler brother, dodging her cousin Sherita's sharpest moods, and inventing daydream cooking-show interviews to escape the pressure, Asha is doing everything she can to hold her family's fragile, hopeful plan together — save enough to get their own place again. But when a teacher's note comes home warning that Asha may need to be moved to special education, the careful invisibility she's built starts to crack, and she has to face the parts of her life she's been hiding, including the ones inside her own head. TO BE INVISIBLE is a tender, funny, and clear-eyed early MG novel (13,600 words) about a girl caught between generosity and exhaustion — the kind of quiet caretaking kids do that adults rarely see. Turner writes Asha's inner life with real specificity: the shame of hand-me-downs, the sting of a cousin's cruelty, the stigma around a "specials" classroom that Asha has to unlearn from the inside. The multigenerational household — a hardworking mother, a no-nonsense grandmother with a secret of her own, cousins who are equal parts rivals and lifeline — gives the story its warmth and its stakes in equal measure. Fans of Renée Watson's Ryan Hart books and Nic Stone's Clean Getaway will find a similar blend of humor and hard truths here, in a voice built for readers who are themselves juggling more than they let on.

A fearless, mischief-prone garden creature named Nell desperately wants a friend, but her well-meaning chaos nearly costs her the unlikely fish companion she finally finds.

A kid eyeing their first pet gets a hilariously exaggerated rundown of every animal's worst qualities—only to discover that the 'perfect pet' might not exist at all.

When a jealous Scarf deliberately loses its new sibling Hat to the wind, it must confront guilt and loneliness before finding the courage to make things right.

What if one of the most famous stolen paintings in history told her own story? Golden: Gustav Klimt's Woman in Gold lets her do exactly that, turning a U.S. Supreme Court case into a magical tale of glittering pre-war Vienna, wartime theft by the Nazis, and the painting’s incredible journey home.

Ten-year-old kitchen servant Alice Mulholland must master an impossibly elegant steamed treacle pudding in three weeks or lose her home—and her destiny—to a grand Yorkshire dinner party that could make or break her future.

Every heist needs a brilliant plan — and The Puzzle Bandit and the Magic Clam by animator Ben Llewellyn is a book with just such a plan. Equal parts puzzle game and illustrated story, it's a new kind of reading experience for kids ages 9–12 who are ready to think sideways. The setup: Count Hobart runs a luxury spa where a magical clam purifies the overindulged bodies of wealthy guests — then dumps the toxic runoff straight into the Fernican River. Enter the reader, a rookie bandit recruited by the irrepressible Picky Wombat. The reader's mission is to steal the magical clam right out from under Hobart's nose, navigating six elaborately illustrated environments — a poacher's hut, a waterfront depot, a royal spa full of sloosh pools, and a six-story tower guarded by barbarians, a relaxed bather, and at least one very alert cat. Each level presents players with a detailed cut-away illustration and a set of actions to sequence in the correct order before they can advance to the next puzzle. These puzzles reward close observation — a moon symbol on a key, a wrench visible through a window, a chart on a boss's wall — and the logic escalates satisfyingly from puzzle to puzzle. A dishwasher who casually drops crucial lore. A cryptic note from a hermit named Sappy. The last page features a coded letter from King Pingus that sends readers to a real URL with the promise of more adventure. The book earns its "ages 9+" badge: the early puzzles are accessible, and by Hobart's Tower, readers will be genuinely working for it. Llewellyn's illustration style is warm, densely detailed, and full of humor and personality. The heist set-up gives the book a Robin Hood energy where readers are stealing from the obscenely wealthy to stop ecological destruction, and get the satisfaction of redirecting the toxic waste to Hobart's private bathtub on their way out. The Puzzle Bandit and the Magic Clam would appeal to fans of the Murdle Jr. series, Escape This Book!, or Sleuth & Solve by Ana Gallo and Victor Escandell It's a book for the kid who loves sudoku and logic puzzles and is looking for their next challenge — one that will stimulate their imaginations as well as their logic skills. Ben Llewellyn is an architect-turned-animator whose client list includes Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime, Marvel, and Nissan. His passion lies in creating fantastical worlds for others to step into. Drawing on his experience creating award-winning television projects and immersive architecture, Ben creates complex, engaging environments that instill a sense of wonder in both children and adults. He lives in Oregon with his wife and two cats. When he isn’t drawing, he’s usually out enjoying his time by the river (and thinking about his next drawing).