When a Swiss couple and their four sons are shipwrecked on an isolated island, they adapt to their "New Switzerland" using many imaginative methods of farming and animal taming.

In this tongue-in-cheek take on classic themes in children's literature, the four Willoughby children set about to become "deserving orphans" after their neglectful parents embark on a treacherous around-the-world adventure, leaving them in the care of an odious nanny.

The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.

Eight-year-old Ben takes a fortune cookie literally, and believing he has only one day left to live, tries to do everything he has always wanted to before nightfall.

With the help of her family, a resourceful Mexican American girl realizes her dream of having a space of her own to read and to think.

Grandpa Boo-Dad not only believes that Bobo has seen a pink-skinned boy with orange fur on his head hiding under the bed, he knows exactly how a little monster can scare off such a horrible creature.

On a summer visit to her grandmother's cottage by the ocean, twelve-year-old Martha gains perspective on the death of a classmate, on her relationship with her grandmother, on her feelings for an older boy, and on her plans to be a writer.

As children help a Native American grandmother make fry bread, delves into the history, social ways, foodways, and politics of America's 573 recognized Indian tribes.

Grandpa Boo-Dad not only believes that Bobo has seen a pink-skinned boy with orange fur on his head hiding under the bed, he knows exactly how a little monster can scare off such a horrible creature. What does this monster have under his bed? Bobo is a young monster who's afraid to sleep in his own bed. He is sure there is a boy hiding beneath it - a boy with "pink skin and orange fur on his head where his horns should be." Bobo's older brother thinks...

"There are a few things you should know about Harriet Wermer: She just finished third grade. She has a perfect cat named Matzo Ball. She doesn't always tell the truth. She is very happy to be spending summer vacation away from home and her mom and dad and all the wonderful things she had been planning all year. Okay, maybe that last one isn't entirely the truth. Of course, there's nothing Harriet doesn't like about Marble Island, the small island...