Banishment from his life’s calling can’t keep a comically overconfident detective down in the latest episode by New York Times bestseller Stephan Pastis. This book was never meant to exist. No one needs to know the details. Just know this: there’s a Merry, a Larry, a missing tooth, and a teachers’ strike that is crippling Timmy Failure’s academic future. Worst of all, Timmy is banned from detective work. It’s a conspiracy of buffoons. He recorded everything in his private notebook, but then the manuscript was stolen. If this book gets out, he will be grounded for life. Or maybe longer. And will Timmy’s mom really marry Doorman Dave?

ADVENTURE STORIES (CHILDREN'S / TEENAGE). Fans of Wimpy Kid and Tom Gates will love the hilarious fifth instalment from Timmy Failure, aka the world's greatest detective. The only thing you need to know about Timmy s latest memoir is that it was never meant for publication. Timmy's detective log was stolen, and if this book gets out, Timmy will be grounded for life. Or maybe even longer. Because while Timmy was meant to be focusing on schoolwork, he was continuing his detective work in a garden shed. You don't need the details. Just know this: there's a Merry, a Larry, a missing tooth and a disappearing friend. But don't tell Timmy's mother!. Ages 9+

The complete collected memoirs of Timmy Failure are contained within this boxed set. That's seven episodes of New York Times best-selling greatness. You have been warned. Meet Timmy Failure. You may know him as the founder, president, and CEO of Total Failure, Inc. -- the best detective agency in town. Perhaps even the nation. Timmy's seen a lot in his eleven years. Maybe too much. But luckily for you, the tales of his genius have been recorded by Timmy himself. All seven of his comically overconfident capers, combining hilarity and heart, are now available together in a deceptively sweet, outrageously funny collection by Stephan Pastis, making the perfect gift for Timmy fans new and old. Includes: Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made Timmy Failure: Now Look What You've Done Timmy Failure: We Meet Again Timmy Failure: Sanitized for Your Protection Timmy Failure: The Book You're Not Supposed to Have Timmy Failure: The Cat Stole My Pants Timmy Failure: It's the End When I Say It's the End

Timmy Failure is banished from practicing his detective skills in the wake of a missing tooth, a teachers' strike, and his mother's romance with a doorman, situations further complicated by the disappearance of his private notebook.

Reaching Reluctant Young Readers features 150 middle-grade books. Each profiled title has the potential to hook the reluctant reader and lure them to read the entire book. To specifically encourage elementary and middle-school-age reluctant children to read, there is first a pitch to get the reader’s attention. That is followed by a short reading passage to “set the hook” and encourage the young person to read the rest of the book on their own. Further, the book contains several hundred additional recommended titles. The books selected for this collection were chosen following the criteria of reluctant reader books created by the Quick Picks committee sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association. While these guidelines were designed for young adult books, they also work well for middle-grade books. The criteria include: clear writing (no convoluted long sentences with sophisticated vocabulary), high interest “hook” in the first few pages, well-defined characters, interesting plot, and familiar themes.

Meet "detective" Timmy Failure, star of the kids' comedy of the year. Created by "New York Times" best-selling cartoonist Stephan Pastis. Take Timmy Failure -- the clueless, comically self-confident CEO of the best detective agency in town, perhaps even the nation. Add his impressively lazy business partner, a very large polar bear named Total. Throw in the Failuremobile -- Timmy's mom's Segway -- and what you have is Total Failure, Inc., a global enterprise destined to make Timmy so rich his mother won't have to stress out about the bills anymore. Of course, Timmy's plan does not include the four-foot-tall female whose name shall not be uttered. And it doesn't include Rollo Tookus, who is so obsessed with getting into "Stanfurd" that he can't carry out a no-brainer spy mission. From the offbeat creator of" Pearls Before Swine" comes an endearingly bumbling hero in a caper whose peerless hilarity is accompanied by a whodunit twist. With perfectly paced visual humor, Stephan Pastis gets you snorting with laughter, then slyly carries the joke a beat further -- or sweetens it with an unexpected poignant moment -- making this a comics-inspired story (the first in a new series) that truly stands apart from the pack.

Want to aspire to greatness? Check out this new edition of Timmy Failure’s first adventure. He may be clueless, but the comically self-confident Timmy Failure is CEO of the best detective agency in town, perhaps even the nation.

In the series finale, Timmy Failure and his class create a hilarious film about his life — just in time for the holidays. Though I, Timmy Failure, have solved many notorious crimes and now wish to enjoy my retirement, my fans have begged me to turn my memoirs into a movie, an ode to my greatness. I am, however, beset by enemies, the worst of whom is Tom John John, the buffoonish movie director. What’s more, my father is in town, working at a bar, which is obviously just a cover for our father-son crime-fighting partnership. And my dim-witted polar bear business partner, Total, wants to be reunited with his family. I should have known it would end like this. I expected more.

“Puns, plays-on-words, and clever comedic timing will result in laugh-out-loud moments.” —School Library Journal The clueless, comically self-confident detective Timmy Failure is about to crack the biggest case of his generation: a school competition to find a stolen globe. But someone is clearly trying to game the system. Hoodwink. Con. Defraud. Timmy, with the dubious help of his lazy polar bear sidekick, Total, must avenge the shenanigans, defeat the injustice—and get an entry form in on time.

In the sixth book in Stephan Pastis’s hilarious series, Timmy is being threatened and must rely on his new partner to solve the mystery — and possibly save his life! Timmy is in Key West, Florida, ostensibly for the honeymoon of his mother and Doorman Dave — if they even got married, which Timmy doubts. Unfortunately for Timmy, crime doesn’t take a vacation. And because Total has fled to Cuba seeking political asylum, Timmy must rely on a new partner for help: Doorman Dave’s nephew Emilio. Meanwhile, a surprise newcomer shows up in Timmy’s life and, as if things couldn’t get more hectic, Timmy’s pants have been stolen by a six-toed cat.