Synopsis: Snowboard Showdown Out-of-control competition leads to disaster When Freddie Ruiz and his brother, Dondi, compete, it's like two mutts wrestling over the same bone-neither one is willing to give an inch. Unfortunately for Freddie, older, stronger, better-looking Dondi usually comes out on top in every contest. Except in one area: snowboarding. Here, Freddie is clearly king of the halfpipe. So when Dondi finally pushes Freddie too far, Freddie…

Synopsis: The seventh-grade class at Rio Grande Middle School in Albuquerque is a unique group. Coming from schools all over the city, the students are facing new challenges and wondering how they'll fit in. When they are asked to raise money for the school, the kids decide to write and sell a book. They will all contribute something about their heritage that is personal and important. Filled with stories, traditions, and recipes, the book is a big…

Synopsis: Abdullah was a young and not very prosperous carpet dealer. His father, who had been disappointed in him, had left him only enough money to open a modest booth in the Bazaar. When he was not selling carpets, Abdullah spent his time daydreaming. In his dreams he was not the son of his father, but the long-lost son of a prince. There was also a princess who had been betrothed to him at birth. He was content with his life and his daydreams until,…

Synopsis: Letting Go The four Tillerman children finally have a home at their grandmother's rundown farm on the Maryland shore. It's what Dicey has dreamed of for her three younger siblings, but after watching over the others for so long, it's hard to let go. Who is Dicey, if she's no longer the caretaker for her family? Dicey finds herself in new friends, in a growing relationship with her grandmother, and in the satisfaction of refinishing the old…

Synopsis: In 1942 Warsaw, World War II is raging, and people live in fear from day to day. Ruth, Bronia, and Edek have to fend for themselves when both of their parents are taken by the Nazis. Can they survive? A gripping story based on true accounts.

Synopsis: Out of the fog billowing from the regions of the Netherworld steps a gigantic, ominous figure dressed in black. A white, skeleton face peers from the long, hooded cloak draping his massive frame, and in one hand, he clutches a wood-handled scythe with a razor-sharp blade. It's . . . the Angel of Death, the American Championship Wrestling Heavyweight Champion! But one of the most popular wrestlers on Monday Night Mayhem is also Mark Baron, Jesse…

Synopsis: When his best friend drowns while they are both swimming in a treacherous river that they had promised never to go near, Joel is devastated and terrified at having to tell both sets of parents the terrible consequences of their disobedience.

Synopsis: A quiz book to test your knowledge in science

Synopsis: In order to save her baby sister, fourteen-year-old Chu Ju leaves her rural home in modern China and earns food and shelter by working on a sampan, tending silk worms, and planting rice seedlings, while wondering if she will ever see her family again. One girl too many ... When a girl is born to Chu Ju's family, it is quickly determined that the baby must be sent away. After all, the law states that a family may have only two children, and…

Synopsis: Age 8-9. Roy Tucker, the young rookie in The Kid from Tomkinsville, is back in the Dodger lineup at last, joining his teammates Razzle Nugent, Fat Stuff, and old Dave Leonard. Plagued by injuries and falling down with exhaustion, the Dodgers must summon every ounce of their skill if they are to come from behind and win their final match against Cleveland.

Synopsis: After following her father from their home in England to the plains of Minnesota, Mary must summon the strength to face the challenges and heartbreaking losses that she and her family encounter. "Land of the Buffalo Bones" is the diary of Mary Rodgers, known as Polly. Promising religious freedom and fertile land, Polly's father, Reverend Rodgers, moves their Baptist community from England to the Minnesota prairie. After a treacherous journey…

Synopsis: When Rachel's illegitimate baby brother is kidnapped by a travelling band of revivalists in 1940, she sets out with her grandfather, a hired hand, and an eccentric neighbor in a desperate attempt to steal him back.

Synopsis: "Two of the things Benjamin Hunter received for his twelfth birthday took him completely by surprise: A room and a letter. The room was from his parents. The letter was from his uncle."Ben was just two years old when he and his uncle, Ian, were last together, so Ben didn't remember him. And no one in Ben's family ever talked about the man. Thenthe letter arrived, changing Ben's life, and changing his family in unexpected ways. And there was the…

Synopsis: A friendship transcends distance and timeOllie is a great whistler, while Lucrezia can’t whistle at all. Ollie has traveled the world, but Lucrezia is afraid of the dark and hates goodbyes. Yet, despite their differences, Ollie and Lucrezia have been best friends forever. When Ollie is eight, he moves from Rome to Milan, and Lucrezia feels as though her world has ended. But their friendship blooms, against the backdrop of beloved family and…

Synopsis: Having a big brother is hard enough for Alex. Andrew teases Alex, makes him do all the cleaning and takes his bicycle whenever he feels like it. Now, to make room for their new little sister, Alex and Andrew have to share a bedroom. Will things be better, or worse!?

Synopsis: The year is 1939 and Frostfree, Florida, has not seen rain in months. If the orange groves don't get some moisture soon, many families, including Pidge's, could lose their farms. But if there's one thing this town has plenty of, it's hope. Right now their hope rests in a sixty-seven-year-old Rainmaker from Mississippi who claims she can coax rain from the sky. Pidge has hopes of her own, too: hope that her brother, Little Jack, will stay out of…

Synopsis: Meryl's mother was a great bard--a storyteller and musician who sang of life and the world around her. Meryl, already an orphan, wants fo follow in her mother's footsteps. Highly spirited and curious, she has broken a sacred rule and has been suspended from her studies. Undaunted, Meryl decides to achieve her goal another way--she undertakes a quest in search of the mythical Avalon. Her great adventure leads her to find her own true voice…

Synopsis: Paolo calls Rufus "a Mack truck with no one driving." Rufus is the O'Neil family dog, and he shows up one morning with part of a twenty-dollar bill in his teeth.Paolo, age twelve, figures that there must be more where that bill came from, and since his cousin Billy needs to repair a bent wheel on his bike, there's a reason for looking. He, Georgie, and Billy end up in the monsignor's garden behind the Cathedral of San Joaquin, but it's not…

Synopsis: HONOR, serving as your brother's keeper, getting back on the right path after having swayed -- these are just a few of the values that Beaver embodies as he tries to create a decent life for himself and his brother following his mother's death and his own stint in prison. Younger brother Cande, a teenager who has been left to fend for himself, has been abused by his father while big brother Beaver served time in the state penitentiary. When…