"Eleven-year-old Cyrus knows he is not cut out to be a football hero or fireman like his adopted father, but it takes a skittish stray dog to teach him that he, too, can be brave"--Title verso page.

As Crispin tries to fulfill Bear's dream of moving to Iceland, he must leave Troth behind at a convent that needs a healer but, after falling in with thieves posing as musicians, he makes a new friend, Owen, and together they continue the arduous journey.

Samuel and his younger brother, Joshua, are free black boys living in an orphanage during the Civil War, but when Samuel takes the blame for his brother's prank, he is sent South, given a new name, and sold into slavery--and somehow he must survive both captivity and the war, to find his way back to his brother.

A talented young runner, Santino, lives in Palermo, Sicily - a beautiful region of Italy that's dominated by the Mafia. With Santino's first communion approaching, his father and grandfather carry out a theft to pay for the party - but they steal from the wrong people. A young, cocky, Mafioso summons them to a meeting, and they bring the boy. As Santino wanders off into the old abandoned neighborhood, he hears shots and runs back to see two armed...