Ben is away at school when his father mysteriously falls ill in the spring of 1855. With no adults to help, he and his brother and sister must take over the family farm in Oregon Territory's rugged Willamette Valley. Despite his siblings' doubts, Ben is determined to build the barn his Father had planned, in hope of waking him from his silent, frozen state. But will it be enough?

Jonah, thirteen, and Katherine, eleven, travel through time to 1918 Russia just as Alexei, Anastasia, and the rest of Tsar Nicholas II's family is about to be executed. Author's note includes facts about the Romanov's and the mystery surrounding their deaths.

If you ask Delphinia Baker, she'd tell you she has all the family she needs. Sure, her mom passed away when she was young, her dad is often away on deployment, and she's never had anyone she can call her people, but she has always had Gramma--and for Del, that's enough. All this changes, though, when Gramma falls ill and Del is sent to stay with her great-grandmother. Del has never heard of Nana Rose, and she has no interest in staying on an unbearably...

The story begins with a young orphan running for his life. Lucky for him he runs into Samir, a portly huckster whose silver tongue saves the boy. Samir names him Monkey, and claims him as his new servant. But Monkey, a strict and devout soul, is horrified to discover that his new master is a liar whose dealings have angered every village he's ever passed through. The villagers have hired a collection of murderers, including a Viking berserker, a...

Winner of Newbery Award, 1995. After her mother leaves home suddenly, thirteen-year-old Sal and her grandparents take a car trip retracing her mother's route. Along the way, Sal recounts the story of her friend Phoebe, whose mother also left.

Laura and her family move to Minnesota where they live in a dugout until a new house is built and face misfortunes caused by flood, blizzard, and grasshoppers.

Greg Heffley tells about his summer vacation and his attempts to steer clear of trouble when he returns to middle school and tries to keep his older brother Rodrick from telling everyone about Greg's most humiliating experience of the summer.

When a ghost shows up at the threshold to Ferris's grandmother Charisse's room, Ferris worries that she's there to take Charisse to the Great Beyond. But Charisse says that the ghost has something else in mind--something unpredictable, a task that's impractical and illuminating. But how can Ferris focus on completing an assignment for a ghost when her little sister is terrorizing the town, her uncle keeps sending her to spy on her aunt, and the house...