Sam, Lucy, and Antonio have a new substitute teacher, who happens to be the great-great-grandson of Orson Eerie, the evil scientist whose spirit possesses and infects their elementary school--and the friends are afraid he may be trying to bring Orson back to life.

"April and Mae are best friends (and so are their pets). When they decide to help the new animal shelter with their own talents, Mae raises money to buy cat food with a lemonade stand and April writes a letter to the newspaper to encourage adoption"--

Eleven-year-old (nearly twelve) Celi Rivera, who is a mix of Black-Puerto Rican-Mexican Indian is uncomfortable about her approaching period, and the changes that are happening to her body; she is horrified that her mother wants to hold a traditional public moon ceremony to celebrate the occasion--until she finds out that her best friend Magda is contemplating an even more profound change of life.

"Peter and his best friend, Tommy, have a goal for their last summer before middle school: finish their Discovery Journal, a catalog of the wildlife around their Florida town. When they spot a manatee in a canal, Peter knows they've found something special--and when the manatee is injured by a boat, something to protect! As Peter joins the fight to save Florida manatees, he also finds himself taking care of his ailing grandfather and facing an unwelcome...

When a struggling student teacher assigns a group project, seven-year-old Just Grace gets so involved in working with Grace W. and Grace F. that she fails to understand why she and her best friend, Mimi, are drifting apart.

Obayda's family is in need of some good fortune. Her father lost one of his legs in a bomb explosion, forcing the family to move from their home city of Kabul to a small village, where life is very different and Obayda's father almost never leaves his room. One day, Obayda's aunt has an idea to bring the family luck -- dress Obayda, the youngest of her sisters, as a boy, a bacha posh. Now Obayda is Obayd. Life in this in-between place is confusing,...

"Lou has enough confusion in front of her this summer. She'll be working in her family's ice-cream shack with her newly ex-boyfriend--whose kisses never made her feel desire, only discomfort--and her former best friend King, who is back in their Canadian prairie town after disappearing three years ago without a word. But when she gets a letter from her biological father--a man she hoped would stay behind bars for the rest of his life--Lou immediately...

The latest monsters threatening Stermont Elementary are shadowy shapeshifters that attach themselves to people, eat their shadows, and block out all light--but before he can think of a way to deal with them, Alexander has to deal with a startling revelation from his friend Nikki.

Best, best, best friends Amy and Allie do absolutely everything together. But a new girl has moved to their neighborhood, and she has only one extra ticket for the most exciting concert ever. Which friend will get to go? Allie or Amy?

When she becomes part of the in-crowd, Shannon begins to question whether she wants to remain there, in a story about popularity, first boyfriends, and finding a path in life.