Clayton feels most alive when he's with his grandfather, Cool Papa Byrd, and the band of Bluesmen -- he can't wait to join them, just as soon as he has a blues song of his own. But then the unthinkable happens. Cool Papa Byrd dies, and Clayton's mother forbids Clayton from playing the blues. And Clayton knows that's no way to live. Armed with his grandfather's brown porkpie hat and his harmonica, he runs away from home in search of the Bluesmen, hoping...

"For Ruby Pepperdine, the center of everything is on the rooftop of Pepperdine Motors, stargazing from the circle of her grandmother Gigi's hug. That's how everything is supposed to be--until it goes spinning out of control. Now Ruby's best friend, Lucy, is mad at her. Her new friendship with Nero is pretty bumpy too. Worst of all, Ruby regrets what happened with Gigi. How Ruby didn't listen. And now it's too late to make things right. But Ruby has...

In World War II-era England, Michael learns about his black British Army soldier grandfather, a World War I officer who risked his life to save wounded men but who did not receive special commendations because of his race.

Most people in Willow Hill think Darya is the prickliest of the Blok sisters. What they don't realize is that on the inside, Darya is soft and gooey from feeling everything, all the time. When Darya turns thirteen, the goo gets stickier -- and as Darya's Wishing Day approaches, all she wants is to forget the silly tradition ever existed. Except... she can't. Ten years ago, a wish made by Darya's mother splintered their family into pieces. Last year,...

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. As Sal entertains her grandparents with Phoebe's outrageous story, her own story begins to unfold, the story of a thirteen-year-old girl whose only wish is to be reunited with her missing mother. Here the author weaves together two tales,...

When Skye's cousin Hiroshi and his family move to Virginia from Japan, the cultural differences lead to misunderstandings and both children are unhappy at the changes in their lives--will flying the dragon kite finally bring them together?

"Aran has never truly fit in with his selkie clan. He was born in his human form, without a pelt to transform him into a sleek, strong seal. Each day he waits, left behind while his selkie family explores the deep ocean. What if his pelt never comes?"--

"Frank Fernandez's family never stays in one place for long. His parents renovate unusual buildings and turn them into homes, which means the family moves--a lot. This makes it hard for bookish Frank to make friends. So when his parents announce they're moving to Spectacle Key, Florida, to live in a lighthouse--this time for good!--Frank is thrilled. But Spectacle Key isn't the perfect forever home they'd imagined. The lighthouse is falling apart....

Traveling to the southern tip of India, Sejal, Mommy, and Pati find their way to Kanyakumari, where three oceans meet, and delight in making it to the end of the earth together.

Pretending to have a much more glamorous family life, eleven-year-old Isabella worries that her new friends at a prestigious private school will discover that she is a "big fibbing, faking phony."