Nick and Katie didn’t sign up to go on an adventure. They didn’t ask to be nearly killed by a jaguar, or hunt for ingredients under a volcano. They most certainly did not ask to be sacrificed by some crazy high priest at the top of a Mayan temple. But that is just what they got when they volunteered to help pack up boxes in […]
Growing up, making choices, being responsible for yourself and the choices we all make might seem everyday to some, but for 12-year-old Sandy, it is a new and liberating experience. Sandy has grown up under the influence of her widower, rugby-coach father and her athletic older sister Roxie. When her father and sister go to England for a rugby tournament, they leave Sandy in the […]
A new year has come to North Oak, and with it a new life for Alexandra Anderson. For the first time in her life, she feels wanted and needed. She has a warm bed, food to eat, and she no longer has to run from the law. But she misses Ashley. Terribly. Will Alex be able to open her heart to others when she’s still […]
This is tale of a caterpillar named Westly who is destined to be a Monarch butterfly and the next king of the butterfly kingdom. But sometimes things don’t turn out the way we plan. When Westly emerges from his cocoon he is nothing like he expected. As a spider he must rediscover who he is. Adopted by the “dirt eaters,” Westly is determined to make […]
Dre has waited twelve summers to become a man, but during his ceremony the chief banishes his uncle, heavily pregnant mother, and even Dre himself. Thrust into the desert, he struggles to protect himself and his mother from his drug-addicted uncle—and certain death in the barren land. With only a golden eagle to guide him, Dre struggles to find a source of food and water […]
12-year-old Elena Barrios’ father has AIDS, a new disease in 1991 with a 100% fatality rate. Rather than face certain ridicule and ostracism, Elena tells her friends anything but the truth, fabricating stories about her father being a writer and researcher. But the reality is that Elena resents her father’s illness and can’t face the fact that he is dying. When she is befriended by […]
With the rise of the Berlin Wall, twelve-year-old Gerta finds her family suddenly divided. She, her mother, and her brother Fritz live on the eastern side, controlled by the Soviets. Her father and middle brother, who had gone west in search of work, cannot return home. Gerta knows it is dangerous to watch the wall, to think forbidden thoughts of freedom, yet she can’t help […]
Veronica rules the school. David’s starting a revolution. It’s class president election time, and no one is surprised when Veronica Pritchard-Pratt is the only name on the list. She’s the most popular girl in school, a social giant who rules the campaign every single year. David, for one, is sick of the tyranny—which he says. Out loud. When Veronica hears about this, she issues a […]
Grown-ups said us kids could help our country win. Eat more corn. Give up sugar. Buy Thrift stamps. Collect prune pits. After a whole year doing this sissy stuff, we still hadn’t won. I wasn’t old enough to enlist, but this summer I’d do something dangerous. Something tough and brave. —George Callahan Twelve-year-old George’s family won’t take him seriously. He’s ready to fight like a […]
Survival Strategy #50: If You Can, Be Brave It’s easy to be brave when your eight-year-old sister, Billie, looks up to you as her protector. Twelve-year-old Liberty feels it’s her job to look after Billie once they are sent to live with their father, whom they haven’t seen since they were very young. Dad is unpredictable on his best days, but when he abandons the […]