Merci embarks on a seventh grade year shaped by high teacher expectations, a crush on a school-store co-worker, and a bossy classmate's plan for the annual Heart Ball.

When Ruby's grandmother, Miss Eula goes to visit a new grandchild in Hawaii, nine-year-old Ruby is sure that she will have a lonely and boring summer in Halleluia, Mississippi. After all, what other granddaughter-grandmother duo would drive the getaway car for chickens rescued from the slaughterhouse, or paint a whole house shellshock pink? Instead, Ruby makes a new friend, saves the school play, writes plenty of letters to her favorite (and only)...

Each of five children lucky enough to discover an entry ticket into Mr. Willy Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory takes advantage of the situation in his own way.

Throughout his day, a young boy thinks of his father who is working in the coal mine that is located underneath the ocean. "A young boy wakes up to the sound of the sea, visits his grandfather's grave after lunch and comes home to a simple family dinner, but all the while his mind strays to his father digging for coal deep down under the sea."--

"When Louisiana Elefante's granny wakes her up in the middle of the night to tell her that the day of reckoning has arrived and they have to leave home immediately, Louisiana isn't overly worried. After all, Granny has many middle-of-the-night ideas. But this time, things are different. This time, Granny intends for them never to return. Separated from her best friends, Raymie and Beverly, Louisiana struggles to oppose the winds of fate (and Granny)...

Convinced that Mud is responsible for the disappearance of the school hamster that was his responsibility for the weekend, Junior Blossom is determined that the dog should be tried for his "crime."

When Aref, a third-grader who lives in Muscat, Oman, refuses to pack his suitcase and prepare to move to Michigan, his mother asks for help from his grandfather, his Siddi, who takes Aref around the country, storing up memories he can carry with him to a new home.

No-nonsense Captain Swashby is used to the sea meeting all of his needs and when, after his retirement, new neighbors disturb his solitary life, the sea helps in just the right way.

Merci Suárez begins the sixth grade and knows things will change, but she did not count on her grandfather acting strangely, not fitting in at her private school, and dealing with Edna Santos' jealousy

"Micah Tuttle loves living at the magical Circus Mirandus, but when a dangerous enemy from the past threatens his new home, every magician will have to be ready to fight--including Micah"--