Thornford Regis has never been lovelier. But inside the empty village hall, the huge Japanese drum that's featured in the festivities has been viciously sliced open--and curled up inside is the bludgeoned body of Sybella Parry, the beautiful 19-year-old daughter of the choir director.

If you give a mouse a brownie, he's going to ask for some ice cream to go with it. When you give him the ice cream, he'll probably ask you for a spoon. He'll start drumming on the table. Drumming will get him so excited he ll want to start a band. . . .

After a lifetime of fighting creatures of black magic, twelve-year-old Serwa Boateng has just learned a devastating secret: she herself is half vampire! Now not only is she dealing with vampire puberty, she's on the run from the organization of Slayers she trained her whole life to join. Serwa's only ally is her aunt Boahinmaa, an obayifo who urges Serwa to embrace her vampire side. Boahinmaa and her underlings are on the hunt for the Midnight Drum,...

All the animals, except the lazy Monkey, work to make a drum for the King of the Jungle, but Anansi makes certain that Monkey ends up with the hardest job of all.

Leah Burke is an anomaly in her friend group: the only child of a young, single mom; her life is decidedly less privileged. She loves to draw but is too self-conscious to show it. And even though her mom knows she's bisexual, she hasn't mustered the courage to tell her friends-- not even her openly gay BFF, Simon. When her rock-solid friend group starts to fracture in unexpected ways, it's hard for Leah to strike the right note. And with prom and...

Betty the Yeti uses a kick drum to keep the beat at the school's winter concert.

"'Rrrrh!' means 'Let's be friends' in tiger talk, but the other animals don't understand him and run away! Maybe the gentle 'rum-pum-pum' of the drum can help him find a friend"--

"Tough, smart, and struggling to stay afloat, August Snow is the embodiment of Detroit. The son of an African American father and a Mexican mother, August grew up in Detroit's Mexicantown and joined the Detroit police only to be drummed out of the force by a conspiracy of corrupt cops and politicians. But August fought back; he took on the city and got himself a $12 million wrongful dismissal settlement that left him low on friends. He has just returned...

Sophia, Shakira, and Emma are ecstatic to learn their dance group is going to be in the Thanksgiving Day Parade, but when their special drum goes missing, they race to find it before the parade starts.

"Eleven-year-old April Jackson loves playing the drums, almost as much as she loves her best friend, Zee, a violin prodigy. They both dream of becoming professional musicians one day. When Zee starts attending a new school that will nurture his talent, April decides it's time for her to pursue her dreams, too, and finally take drum lessons. She knows she isn't very good to start, but with Zee's support, she also knows someday she can be just as good...