Varian Johnson

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About Varian Johnson
Varian Johnson's books for young readers include THE PARKER INHERITANCE, which was named a 2019 Coretta Scott King Honor Book and a 2018 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor Book; THE GREAT GREENE HEIST, which was named a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2014 among other accolades; and TWINS, his first middle-grade graphic novel.
Varian was born in Florence, South Carolina, and attended the University of Oklahoma, where he received a BS in Civil Engineering. He later received an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and is honored to now serve as a member of the faculty. Varian lives outside of Austin, TX with his family.
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Books By Varian Johnson
Twins: A Graphic Novel (Twins #1)
06/10/2020
$9.49
Coretta Scott King Honor author Varian Johnson teams up with rising cartoonist Shannon Wright for a delightful middle-grade graphic novel!Maureen and Francine Carter are twins and best friends. They participate in the same clubs, enjoy the same foods, and are partners on all their school projects. But just before the girls start sixth grade, Francine becomes Fran -- a girl who wants to join the chorus, run for class president, and dress in fashionable outfits that set her apart from Maureen. A girl who seems happy to share only two classes with her sister!Maureen and Francine are growing apart and there's nothing Maureen can do to stop it. Are sisters really forever? Or will middle school change things for good?
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$12.93
The Heroes of Erdas are wanted fugitives. Conor, Abeke, Meilin, and Rollan have saved their world from countless threats. They are guardians from across the globe, united by their legendary spirit animals under one banner. But now the young heroes are running for their lives, framed for a crime they didn't commit.
Branded as traitors, the four must uncover the plot against them, all while unraveling the mysteries of a set of powerful relics tied to an ancient secret.
Their search brings Conor home to Trunswick, where there will be no hero's welcome. They find the city transformed: the castle burned to ground and the townsfolk poor and desperate. With a handsome reward offered for their capture, who can the heroes trust?
Branded as traitors, the four must uncover the plot against them, all while unraveling the mysteries of a set of powerful relics tied to an ancient secret.
Their search brings Conor home to Trunswick, where there will be no hero's welcome. They find the city transformed: the castle burned to ground and the townsfolk poor and desperate. With a handsome reward offered for their capture, who can the heroes trust?
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$10.44
A new threat faces the world of Erdas in this continuation of the New York Times bestselling series.
Split between two worlds, Conor, Abeke, Meilin, and Rollan are four young heroes who are racing to stop an ancient evil. Even the spirit animal bond, the sacred link between humans and animals, is on the brink of destruction.
The friends face an enemy with the power to enslave others to its will-and to steal spirit animals away from their rightful partners. With their own allies falling to this darkness, the four must look to their bonds to light the way forward.
But one of those lights is about to go out. Briggan, Uraza, Jhi, and Essix. Before their journey is over, one of these legends will be lost.
Split between two worlds, Conor, Abeke, Meilin, and Rollan are four young heroes who are racing to stop an ancient evil. Even the spirit animal bond, the sacred link between humans and animals, is on the brink of destruction.
The friends face an enemy with the power to enslave others to its will-and to steal spirit animals away from their rightful partners. With their own allies falling to this darkness, the four must look to their bonds to light the way forward.
But one of those lights is about to go out. Briggan, Uraza, Jhi, and Essix. Before their journey is over, one of these legends will be lost.
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Mister Miracle: The Great Escape (2022)
25/01/2022
$15.85
Scott Free wants nothing more than to leave Apokolips for planet Earth, and he knows exactly how to do it. But his plan never involved falling in love with the head of the Female Furies, Big Barda-the one person tasked with ensuring he never escapes. From Varian Johnson, the author of the Coretta Scott King Author Honor book The Parker Inheritance, and Afrofuturist artist Daniel Isles (a.k.a. DirtyRobot) comes the story of an escape plan that will take a miracle to pull off. Luckily for Scott, everyone calls him Mister Miracle! Okay, no one calls him that…yet.
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Paperback
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The Parker Inheritance
27/03/2018
$12.94
A Coretta Scott King Author Honor and Boston Globe / Horn Book Honor winner!"Powerful.... Johnson writes about the long shadows of the past with such ambition that any reader with a taste for mystery will appreciate the puzzle Candice and Brandon must solve." -- The New York Times Book ReviewWhen Candice finds a letter in an old attic in Lambert, South Carolina, she isn't sure she should read it. It's addressed to her grandmother, who left the town in shame. But the letter describes a young woman. An injustice that happened decades ago. A mystery enfolding its writer. And the fortune that awaits the person who solves the puzzle.So with the help of Brandon, the quiet boy across the street, she begins to decipher the clues. The challenge will lead them deep into Lambert's history, full of ugly deeds, forgotten heroes, and one great love; and deeper into their own families, with their own unspoken secrets. Can they find the fortune and fulfill the letter's promise before the answers slip into the past yet again?
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What Were the Negro Leagues? (What Was?)
24/12/2019
$6.99
This baseball league that was made up of African American players and run by African American owners ushered in the biggest change in the history of baseball.
In America during the early twentieth century, no part was safe from segregation, not even the country's national pastime, baseball. Despite their exodus from the Major Leagues because of the color of their skin, African American men still found a way to participate in the sport they loved. Author Varian Johnson shines a spotlight on the players, coaches, owners, and teams that dominated the Negro Leagues during the 1930s and 40s. Readers will learn about how phenomenal players like Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and of course, Jackie Robinson greatly changed the sport of baseball.
In America during the early twentieth century, no part was safe from segregation, not even the country's national pastime, baseball. Despite their exodus from the Major Leagues because of the color of their skin, African American men still found a way to participate in the sport they loved. Author Varian Johnson shines a spotlight on the players, coaches, owners, and teams that dominated the Negro Leagues during the 1930s and 40s. Readers will learn about how phenomenal players like Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and of course, Jackie Robinson greatly changed the sport of baseball.
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$10.48
Gabby has never been so busy! In this third novel featuring American Girl's 2017 Girl of the Year, Gabby is already juggling homework, school leadership activities, dance classes, and rehearsals for a spoken word competition when she's offered an exciting dance opportunity. It's too good to pass up, but soon, Gabby finds there aren't enough hours in the day to do it all, let alone be a good friend to her BFF, Teagen. And she can't help but notice that more and more, she wishes she were working on her poetry instead of doing pliés and grand jetés. Gabby's changed a lot this past year. By the time the competition rolls around, she begins to wonder--have her dreams changed, too?
Other Formats::
Paperback
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To Catch a Cheat: A Jackson Greene Novel
26/01/2016
$17.76
When a video frames Jackson Greene and his friends for a crime they didn't commit, Gang Greene battles the blackmailers in this sequel to the acclaimed The Great Greene Heist.
Jackson Greene is riding high. He is officially retired from conning, so Principal Kelsey is (mostly) off his back. His friends have great new projects of their own. And he's been hanging out a lot with Gaby de la Cruz, so he thinks maybe, just maybe, they'll soon have their first kiss.
Then Jackson receives a link to a faked security video that seems to show him and the rest of Gang Greene flooding the school gym. The jerks behind the video threaten to pass it to the principal -- unless Jackson steals an advance copy of the school's toughest exam.
So Gang Greene reunites for their biggest job yet. To get the test adn clear their names, they'll have to outrun the school's security cameras, outwit a nosy member of the Honor Board, and outmaneuver the blackmailers while setting a trap for them in turn. And as they execute another exciting caper full of twists and turns, they'll prove that sometimes it takes a thief to catch a cheat.
Jackson Greene is riding high. He is officially retired from conning, so Principal Kelsey is (mostly) off his back. His friends have great new projects of their own. And he's been hanging out a lot with Gaby de la Cruz, so he thinks maybe, just maybe, they'll soon have their first kiss.
Then Jackson receives a link to a faked security video that seems to show him and the rest of Gang Greene flooding the school gym. The jerks behind the video threaten to pass it to the principal -- unless Jackson steals an advance copy of the school's toughest exam.
So Gang Greene reunites for their biggest job yet. To get the test adn clear their names, they'll have to outrun the school's security cameras, outwit a nosy member of the Honor Board, and outmaneuver the blackmailers while setting a trap for them in turn. And as they execute another exciting caper full of twists and turns, they'll prove that sometimes it takes a thief to catch a cheat.
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The Great Greene Heist (Jackson Greene)
27/05/2014
$7.33
Saving the school -- one con at a time.
"A political heist page-turner set in middle school? Is that even possible? Varian Johnson shows us how it's done." - Gordon Korman, author of SWINDLE
"Do yourself a favor and start reading immediately." - Rebecca Stead, author of WHEN YOU REACH ME
Jackson Greene swears he's given up scheming. Then school bully Keith Sinclair announces he's running for Student Council president, against Jackson's former friend Gaby de la Cruz. Gaby wants Jackson to stay out of it -- but he knows Keith has "connections" to the principal, which could win him the presidency no matter the vote count.
So Jackson assembles a crack team: Hashemi Larijani, tech genius. Victor Cho, bankroll. Megan Feldman, science goddess. Charlie de la Cruz, reporter. Together they devise a plan that will take down Keith, win Gaby's respect, and make sure the election is done right. If they can pull it off, it will be remembered as the school's greatest con ever -- one worthy of the name THE GREAT GREENE HEIST.
*"The lively (and racially diverse) cast of characters and the intricate plot will make this a story to read again for the sheer fun of it all"- Horn Book, starred review
"A political heist page-turner set in middle school? Is that even possible? Varian Johnson shows us how it's done." - Gordon Korman, author of SWINDLE
"Do yourself a favor and start reading immediately." - Rebecca Stead, author of WHEN YOU REACH ME
Jackson Greene swears he's given up scheming. Then school bully Keith Sinclair announces he's running for Student Council president, against Jackson's former friend Gaby de la Cruz. Gaby wants Jackson to stay out of it -- but he knows Keith has "connections" to the principal, which could win him the presidency no matter the vote count.
So Jackson assembles a crack team: Hashemi Larijani, tech genius. Victor Cho, bankroll. Megan Feldman, science goddess. Charlie de la Cruz, reporter. Together they devise a plan that will take down Keith, win Gaby's respect, and make sure the election is done right. If they can pull it off, it will be remembered as the school's greatest con ever -- one worthy of the name THE GREAT GREENE HEIST.
*"The lively (and racially diverse) cast of characters and the intricate plot will make this a story to read again for the sheer fun of it all"- Horn Book, starred review
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