Jasper the cat is reluctant to take a walk with his owner and hides in a tree.

“This book is a treasure—a touching story of friendship, loss, and finding beauty in the everyday, with characters who stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page. I absolutely loved it.”—R. J. Palacio, New York Times bestselling author of Wonder Laurel Snyder, author of Orphan Island, returns with another unforgettable story of the moments in which we find out who we are, and the life-altering friendships that show us what we can be. The school year is over, and it is summer in Atlanta. The sky is blue, the sun is blazing, and the days brim with possibility. But Leah feels. . . lost. She has been this way since one terrible afternoon a year ago, when everything changed. Since that day, her parents have become distant, her friends have fallen away, and Leah’s been adrift and alone. Then she meets Jasper, a girl unlike anyone she has ever known. There’s something mysterious about Jasper, almost magical. And Jasper, Leah discovers, is also lost. Together, the two girls carve out a place for themselves, a hideaway in the overgrown spaces of Atlanta, away from their parents and their hardships, somewhere only they can find. But as the days of this magical June start to draw to a close, and the darker realities of their lives intrude once more, Leah and Jasper have to decide how real their friendship is, and whether it can be enough to save them both.

International bestselling author Fforde invites fans to return to the witty, wizardly world of the Chronicles of Kazam with the fabulous follow-up to "The Last Dragonslayer."

Jasper is thrilled when he finds his dad�s favorite childhood toy, Marcel Mouse, at his grandmother�s place. He�s so afraid to lose the family treasure that he keeps Marcel on a string around his neck. But sometimes Jasper has to take off the little plastic mouse, and that leads to all sorts of trouble. First, Marcel goes missing from under Jasper�s pillow, then he gets sent to the principal�s office and disappears again! Then one day, something TERRIBLE happens, and it seems Marcel might be lost forever ó Will Jasper ever see Marcel Mouse again?

early literacy leveled readers