In winning a medal she is no longer there to receive, a tight-lipped little Polish girl teaches her classmates a lesson.

When a burning cross set by the Klan causes panic and fear in 1932 Bumblebee, North Carolina, fifth-grader Stella must face prejudice and find the strength to demand change in her segregated town.

"Sophie Mouse must convince her classmates—and herself—that a new student is nothing to fear. Even if he is a snake!...[S]pringtime has arrived at Silverlake Forest! The animals are coming out of their homes, buds are blooming on the trees, and the air smells of honeysuckles and tree bark. Sophie Mouse can’t wait to go back to school after the long winter break. Even better, there’s a new student in class—Sophie loves meeting new animals!...

"Lulu loves her family, but people are always asking WHAT ARE YOU? Lulu hates that question. Her brother inspires her to come up with a power phrase so she can easily express who she is, not what she is."--inside jacket.

"How did dragons get their fire? It all began once upon a magical kingdom, where a fearsome dragon stalked the land. The dragon was mean and scary and evil, or so the stories said. One day, two brave children set out to stop him for good. But when they finally met the monster, he wasn't quite what they expected. Find out how two kids' determination to save their village led to a friendship that will warm the hearts of dragon lovers everywhere."...

This book "tells the tale of Bigpaw, the biggest bear in Bear Country! Will Brother and Sister be able to convince their neighbors that he’s just a very large and friendly bear? This humorous holiday tale is a story about acceptance and making new friends!" --publisher's website

"When I first met my stepmother, I was a little suspicious. All stepmothers are supposed to be wicked! Evil! Downright B-A-D BAD! Or at least, that’s what the stories say. So I thought I knew just what to expect from mine. But my stepmother didn’t seem to be any of those things. She helped me paint my room. She left me notes in my lunchbox. She baked my favorite lemon squares. Is it possible I might have been wrong about stepmothers?" --book...

"Truffle, a small dog, was born and raised on a farm, where he was put in charge of keeping the rats out of the barn, and the badgers out of the fields. Truffle enjoyed his work, and he took pride in doing it well. The only difficulty he had was with cats. Nothing irritated Truffle more than the sight of a cat sleeping on the job while the mice ate their fill in the corncrib. Truffle would howl loudly, waking the cat, which then would dash off with...

Relocating to Leningrad in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster, neighbors Valentina and Oksana, who have been taught to hate each other because of religious differences, uncover painful family secrets while learning what it means to trust another person.