Books like A lemon and a star by E. C. Spykman

**FAR BENEATH** the surface of the earth, upon the shores of the Starless Sea, there is a labyrinthine collection of tunnels and rooms filled with stories. The entryways that lead to this sanctuary are often hidden, sometimes on forest floors, sometimes in private homes, sometimes in plain sight. But those who seek will find. Their doors have been waiting for them. Zachary Ezra Rawlins is searching for his door, though he does not know it. He follows a silent siren song, an inexplicable certainty that he is meant for another place. When he discovers a mysterious book in the stacks of his campus library, he begins to read and is entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, lost cities, and nameless acolytes. Suddenly, a turn of the page brings Zachary to a story from his own childhood, impossibly written in this book that is older than he is. A bee, a key, and a sword emblazoned on the book lead Zachary to two people who will change the course of his life: Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired painter, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances. These strangers guide Zachary through masquerade-party dances and whispered backroom stories to the headquarters of a secret society, where doorknobs hang from ribbons, and finally through a door conjured from paint to the place he has always yearned for. Amid twisting tunnels filled with books, gilded ballrooms, and wine-dark shores, Zachary falls into an intoxicating world soaked in romance and mystery. But a battle is raging over the fate of this place, and though there are those who would willingly sacrifice everything to protect it, there are just as many intent on its destruction. As Zachary, Mirabel, and Dorian venture deeper into the space and its histories and myths, searching for answer and one another, a timeless love story unspools, casting a spell of pirates, painters, lovers, liars, and ships that sail upon a Starless Sea. This description comes from the publisher.

Fourth-grader Evan Treski is people-smart. He’s good at talking with people, even grownups. His younger sister, Jessie, on the other hand, is math-smart, but not especially good with people. So when the siblings’ lemonade stand war begins, there really is no telling who will win—or even if their fight will ever end.

Ramon loses confidence in his ability to draw, but his sister gives him a new perspective on things.

Select teenagers from some of New York City's wealthiest and most socially prominent families learn a startling secret about their bloodlines.

Brother Bear likes to tease his sister, but when he's the one who is taunted at school, he understands why Sister gets so mad.

Asked by a Swiss banker to investigate a series of bank robberies committed by dogs, young detectives Max and Maddy Twist travel to Switzerland, where they discover that the man behind the robberies is none other than Professor Sardine.

Liz and her brother wind up with nine stray dogs that need homes but must be kept a secret.

Growing up in the heart of the Atlanta ghetto, siblings DeMarco and Jasmine Winslow have developed a talent for survival. By the time DeMarco was fifteen, being locked up was better than being at home. So whenever he got hungry or cold or just plain tired of living in the ghetto, he'd steal something and make sure he got caught. Jasmine, DeMarco's twin sister, hasn't had the luxury of vacationing in juvie. She's had to balance being an honor roll student with fighting off advances from her mother's boyfriend. After her mom sides with her boyfriend, Jasmine's out on the streets and running with the DIVAs, a rough group of girls.

Aninku and Pepicek find their mother sick one morning. The doctor says they need to buy her milk to make her better, but they have no money. They try to make some by singing in the town square, but a hurdy-gurdy grinder, Brundibar, chases them away. With the help of three talking animals and three hundred schoolchildren, they defeat the bully. Brundibar is based on a Czech opera for children that was performed fifty-five times by the children of Terezin, a Nazi concentration camp in 1943.

Jealous of her older brother's "Best Kid in the World" medal, SugarLoaf tries to figure out how to get one for herself.

Contains: - [If There Be Thorns](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL134891W) - [Seeds of Yesterday](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL8256742W)

Twins Jess and Josh travel back in time to the ancient Roman city of Pompeii in search of their uncle. But can they find him and escape before Mount Vesuvius erupts?