Luka, a Ukrainian boy working in a slave labor camp, plays dead after an explosion at the factory and escapes, eventually joining a resistance group that opposes both the Nazis and the Soviets, and through the danger of the guerilla fighting he has two overriding goals–find out if his parents are still alive, and reunite with Lida, a girl who was a friend in the labor camp.
Seventeen-year-old Bobby Seed, the devoted but exhausted primary caregiver for his terminally-ill mother and difficult younger brother, finds respite in a support group and good friends, but must face his mother’s impossible choice alone.
When Gerda the blue whale was very small, her mother would sing a beautiful song telling her that if she were ever lost she should look to the stars and they would guide her. Then it’s time for the little whale to leave home. Her adventures take her from the warm waters of the equator to the freezing poles. Along the way she meets clever killer whales, playful penguins, a friendly polar bear and the ancient narwhale. Then one day, the little whale realizes she wants to find somewhere to stay forever. How will she know she’s found the right sea for her? With her mother’s song in her heart, Gerda follows the stars to a place she knows she can call home.
When ten-year-old Margarita Sandoval’s family moves to Wyoming during the Great Depression, she faces racism, homesickness, and the possibility that her grandmother’s land in New Mexico may be lost.
Sophia Garcia, thirteen, wants to excel at softball like her older sister, Ellie, and make her family proud, but when she is chosen for a different team and position than Ellie, she must learn to succeed by being herself.
Ukpik loves living in her camp in the North with her family and she especially loves thinking up names for her brand new puppy. When a captain from the south arrives to trade with Ukpik’s father, she’s excited to learn how to use forks, knives, and spoons. At first, Ukpik enjoys teaching the other children how to use these new tools. But soon, she starts to wonder if they’ll need to use the new tools all the time, and if that means that everything in camp will change. After a conversation with her grandmother, Ukpik realizes that even though she will learn many new things, her love for her family and camp will never change – and it even inspires her to find a name for her puppy!
All rabbits love books, except for Henry – he prefers games and adventures. But then he finds one very special book, and when he reads it, someone very special finds him.
Nine-year-old Sumac Lottery considers it her job to make sure none of the Lottery celebrations are forgotten, especially now at Christmas time, and in her large, gay, and multiethnic family there are a lot of occasions for celebration in the house they all call Camelottery–but when a terrible ice storm hits Toronto, one of her dads, and her favorite brother cannot make it home from India, and it becomes increasingly difficult to hang on to the holiday spirit.
As she climbs the seven stories to her own apartment, a little girl imagines what happens behind every door she passes.
One day, a brave knight sets out for the cave of a terrible dragon. Come out and meet your match, you great big beast! the knight announces. But to his dismay, he learns that the dragon has gone on vacation. How can I finish my story? the knight wails. With no dragon, my story is STUCK! Then he discovers the One-Stop Story Shop, which just might be what he needs to finish his tale but not exactly the way he had planned! A thrilling adventure through the magical world of storytelling.