Katherine Paterson

A teenage girl overcomes jealousy and resentment for her pretty, talented and popular twin sister and learns to value her own uniqueness.

Jesse Aarons is in the 5th grade and has trained all summer to become the fastest runner in school. He becomes upset when new classmate Leslie Burke outruns him and everyone else. Despite this and some other striking differences, the two become fast friends. Together, they create Terabithia where they rule as king and queen and is a land filled with monsters, trolls, ogres, and giants. This friendship helps Jesse cope with a tragedy that makes him...

Nearly thirty stories, poems, and non-fiction pieces by such notable authors as Natalie Babbitt, Marilyn Sachs, and Jane Yolen illustrated by the likes of Steven Kellogg and Susan Jeffers, demonstrate some of the environmental problems now plaguing our planet, e.g. overpopulation, tampering with nature, litter, pollution, and waste disposal.

Gilly Hopkins has seen more than her share of foster homes and has outwitted every family she has lived with. In an effort to escape her new foster mother Maime Trotter's endless loving care, Gilly concocts a plan that she believes will bring her mother running to her rescue. But when the ploy blows up in Gilly's face it threatens to ruin the only chance she's ever had to be part of a real family.

Strega Nona: "Never go near my cooking pot, " warns old witch Strega Nona. But does Big Anthony listen? No! Joseph had a little overcoat: Joseph loves his little overcoat, but it's getting old and worn. What can he do with it now? Stone soup: When three soldiers come to town, all the townsfolk hide their food. If the soldiers can't find any food, what will they eat? Stone soup, of course!

Feeling deprived all her life of schooling, friends, mother and even of her name by her twin sister, Louise finally begins to fight back.