After losing her mom. Willa is grieving and having a hard time living with her dad and his new family on an island off the coast of Washington State. Her dad tries to cheer her up by taking her whale watching, something Willa's mom used to do. While all the passengers are on one side of the boat, Will encounters a humpback whale on the opposite side. Willa feels so lonely that she starts to talk to the whale--and the whale talks back! The whale, named...

For two years, twelve-year-old Hazel has coped with her Mum's accidental death by overprotecting her sister and Mama, but when Mama reconnects with her first love, roles begin to shift.

Ever since her father disappeared Shyanna's home has been a sad place, but if the twelve-year old mermaid can conquer her stage fright before the Melody Pageant, she hopes to win the contest and bring song back to her mother's life.

When sixth-grader Rosie begins to see magic, she learns that her mother's dwindling memory is tied to an age-old battle between the light of the moon and the darkness of witches.

When her mother disappears and a menacing stranger tries to claim her home, Brightwood Hall, for himself, Daisy must use her wits, courage, and help from her imaginary friends to survive.

"Fifth-grader Trina, who has never lived anywhere long enough to call home, is excited about moving into Goldenrod, an abandoned mansion, with her dad. But soon Goldenrod brings its secrets to her attention, including a forgotten doll, leaving Trina wondering what the old house wants from her"--

"Fifth-grader Claire can do a perfect triple handspring. She can do a giant pirouette on the uneven bars. What she can't do is reading. With a lot of effort, she hides her secret until an alert vice principle suggests she get evaluated for a learning disability. Now Claire has to convince her mother--who's afraid her daughter will be labeled 'stupid'--to let her get tested. And that turns out to be even harder than reading"--

Cline Alden's grandmother says that music is in the family's blood, but Cline's mother is dead-set against her daughter's dreams of becoming a country music singer; Cline is determined to find the money to attend a Young Singer-Songwriter Workshop in Lexington (not too far from her Paris, Kentucky home), so now she has a lot on her mind--she is hiding things from her mother, she is losing her beloved grandmother to Alzheimer's, and she has begun to...

"Bullied and shamed her whole life for being fat, twelve-year-old Ellie finally gains the confidence to stand up for herself, with the help of some wonderful new allies."--

In 1977 in Princeton, Dana's daughter seven-year-old Francie is struggling to keep her dyslexia a secret from her teachers and family, and even the thought of high school and college is part of the remote and unattainable future.