Stephanie's relationship with her best friend, Rachel, changes during her first year in junior high as she tries to conceal a family problem and meets a new girl from California.

As author Jessica and artist Daphne collaborate on a picture book for a seventh-grade English class contest, Jessica becomes aware of conditions in Daphne's home life that seem to threaten her health and safety.

"Matilda is a sweet, exceptional young girl, but her parents think she's just a nuisance. She expects school to be different, but there she has to face Miss Trunchbull, a kid-hating terror of a headmistress. When Matilda is attacked by the Trunchbull, she suddenly discovers she has a remarkable power with which to fight back. It will take superhuman genius to give Miss Trunchbull what she deserves, and Matilda may be just the one to do it!"--Jacket...

A young girl from a dysfunctional family creates for herself an alternative world which nearly results in her death but which ultimately leads her to reality.

A father's return home following World War I creates problems for his family, especially for twelve-year-old Clothilde, who struggles to accept his horrible disfigurement and opposes her mother's plan to sell Clothilde's land, a peninsula off the coast of Maine, to help pay the family's expenses.

The family routine is upset during Ramona's year in second grade when her father unexpectedly loses his job.

A twelve-year-old boy named Moose moves to Alcatraz Island in 1935 when guards' families were housed there, and has to contend with his extraordinary new environment in addition to life with his autistic sister.

A younger sister has a difficult time adjusting to life after her older sister has a mental breakdown.

A sad and silent nine-year-old boy finds his voice when he moves next to a family that rescues dogs.

The remaining members of the Chapman family try to cope with the disappearance of fourteen-year-old Michael.