The assignment: pick a single object to save in an emergency. Each student has an answer. For one, it's a photograph. For another, it's his trading cards - no, his whole bookcase. Wait! Is that even allowed? Students talk, argue, stand by their choices, and change their minds as they discover unexpected facets of one another and of themselves. With insight and humor, Linda Sue Park captures the voices of an inclusive classroom in verse inspired by...

"Reha feels torn between two worlds: school, where she's the only Indian American student, and home, with her family's traditions and holidays. But Reha's parents don't understand why she's conflicted--they only notice when Reha doesn't meet their strict expectations. Reha feels disconnected from her mother, or Amma, although their names are linked--Reha means "star" and Punam means "moon"--but they are a universe apart. Then Reha finds out that her...

Twelve-year-old Abbey's world is turned upside-down by both personal and national events of September 11, 2001, as well as their aftermath, but finds greater strength through art, friendship, and family.

"Sixth grader Betsy is the one who informs her best friend, Lizard, that thousands of the world's languages are currently threatened by extinction; Betsy's mother is a linguistics professor working frantically to study dying languages before they are lost forever. But it is Lizard who, gripped by the magnitude of this loss, challenges Betsy, "What if, instead of WRITING about dying languages, like your mom, you and I SAVED one instead?" As the girls...