Second-grader Lola has a wonderful family, a great teacher, and the best friend ever, Josh, and they all help her feel better after she is teased and forbidden to play team sports at recess for having accidentally hurt classmate Juan during a soccer game.

Nancy is devastated, which is even worse than heart-broken, when her fancy Christmas tree topper breaks, threatening to ruin Christmas.

"Sophie's parents run a secret shop where dreams are bought and sold. When Sophie dreams, her dreams become real, so she is forbidden to have any. Sinister events are set in motion when she is accidentally seen by one of her parents' customers, and it's up to Sophie to save her family"--

Rollo the troll is tired of chores, but after spending time on the tundra with various animal families, from owls to moose, he realizes that he wants to be home for Christmas even if that means behaving himself.

In the summer of 1851, with encouragement and ideas provided by his family, an inventor builds a working submarine and takes his family for a ride. Includes notes about Lodner Phillips, the real inventor on whom the story is based.

"Mexican-American Stef Soto is hoping to break free from her overprotective parents and embarrassing reputation from her family's taco truck business, but she soon learns that family, friendship, and the taco truck are important and wonderful parts of her life"--

It's Karen's birthday! She can't wait for all those presents. Karen is even going to have two parties--one at Daddy's house and one at Mommy's. But what Karen really wants for her birthday is one big party and to celebrate the special day with her whole family together. Will Karen's birthday wish come true?

"Beverly Tapinski has run away from home plenty of times, but that was when she was just a kid. By now, she figures, it's not running away. It's leaving. Determined to make it on her own, Beverly finds a job and a place to live and tries to forget about her dog, Buddy, now buried underneath the orange trees back home; her friend Raymie, whom she left without a word; and her mom, Rhonda, who has never cared about anyone but herself. Beverly doesn't...

When Rafe Khatchadorian enters middle school, he teams up with his best friend, "Leo the Silent," to create a game to make school more fun by trying to break every rule in the school's code of conduct.

Fourteen-year-old Brystal Evergreen risks everything by opposing her kingdom's repression of women, but Madame Weatherberry, seeing her potential, invites her to a school where she hopes to change the world's perception of magic.