Allie West finds it challenging to make new friends and stay true to old ones as she navigates fifth grade at a school run by her mother.

For as long as he can remember, Malcolm has never felt like he was good enough. Not for his parents, who have always seemed at odds with each other, with Malcolm caught in between. And especially not for his dad, whose competitive drive and love for sports Malcolm has never shared. That is, until Malcolm discovers miniature golf, the one sport he actually enjoys. Maybe it's the way in which every hole is a puzzle to be solved. Or the whimsy of the...

Forging a deep, complex relationship with the sister who cares for her when their dysfunctional mother and absent father cannot, Gem organizes a short trip to avoid their father when he returns unexpectedly.

"Amelia Bedelia and her friends at school explore different jobs and careers and think about what they want to be when they grow up! Amelia Bedelia is especially curious about her own father's line of work. If he spends the day pitching to a client, does that mean he plays a lot of baseball?"--

"At the front of a middle school classroom in Oklahoma, a boy named Khosrou (whom everyone calls "Daniel") stands, trying to tell a story. His story. But no one believes a word he says. To them he is a dark-skinned, hairy-armed boy with a big butt whose lunch smells funny; who makes things up and talks about poop too much. But Khosrou's stories, stretching back years, and decades, and centuries, are beautiful, and terrifying, from the moment his...

Hazel knows a lot about the world. That's because when she's not hanging with her best friend, taking care of her dog, or helping care for the goats on her family's farm, she loves reading through dusty encyclopedias. But even Hazel doesn't have answers for the questions awaiting her as she enters eighth grade. What if no one at her new school gets her, and she doesn't make any friends? What's going to happen to one of her moms, who's pregnant again...

Amelia Jones always dreamed of attending the Mystwick School of Musicraft, where the world's most promising musicians learn to create magic. So when Amelia botches her audition, she thinks her dream has met an abrupt and humiliating end - until the school agrees to give her a trial period. Amelia is determined to prove herself, vowing to do whatever it takes to become the perfect musician. Even if it means pretending to be someone she isn't. Meanwhile,...

The McNeil family has always been professional hoaxers -- tricking bystanders into believing they're seeing legendary creatures like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster. Unlike the rest of his family, twelve-year-old Grayson hates hoaxing and wants nothing to do with the business -- even when the McNeils land a huge job and must pull off four sea monster hoaxes in a week. But when things go disastrously wrong and Dad and Gramps go missing, Grayson and...

"When Marvin Johnson's twin brother, Tyler, is shot and killed by a police officer, Marvin must fight injustice to learn the true meaning of freedom"--

No-nonsense Captain Swashby is used to the sea meeting all of his needs and when, after his retirement, new neighbors disturb his solitary life, the sea helps in just the right way.