Even Trevor himself begins to doubt when his "pay it forward" plan seems to founder on a combination of bad luck and the worst of human nature.In the end, Pay It Forward is the story of seemingly ordinary people made extraordinary by the simple faith of a child. In the tradition of the successful and inspirational television show Touched by an Angel, and the phenomenally successful novel and film Forrest Gump, Pay It Forward is a work of charm, wit, and remarkable inspiration, a story of hope for today and for many tomorrows to come.

    Not only are the campers forced to wear bizarre uniforms, eat gross food, and do chores all day, but the members of the family that runs the camp fight constantly--with each other. Are the campers in danger? Or--in spite of sibling wars--do they need to stick together to solve the mystery humming under the surface of Camp Happy Harmony?

    In her ghettoized world where poverty, racism, and danger are daily struggles, Tasha uses her savvy and humor to uncover the good hidden around her. The name she gives her daughter, Imani, is a sign of her determination and fundamental trust despite the odds against her: Imani means faith. Surrounding Tasha and Imani is a cast of memorable characters: Peanut, the boy Tasha likes, Eboni, her best friend, Miss Odetta, the neighborhood gossip, and Tasha's mother, Earlene, who's dating a new boyfriend. Tasha's voice speaks directly to both the special pain of poverty and the universal, unconquerable spirit of youth. Authentic in every detail, this is an unforgettable story. As Seventeen declared, "Porter's candid narrative will have you hooked from the opening sentence."

    She is friendless, outcast, because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. As time passes, she becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops talking altogether. Only her art class offers any solace, and it is through her work on an art project that she is finally able to face what really happened at that terrible party: she was raped by an upperclassman, a guy who still attends Merryweather and is still a threat to her. Her healing process has just begun when she has another violent encounter with him. But this time Melinda fights back, refuses to be silent, and thereby achieves a measure of vindication. In Laurie Halse Anderson's powerful novel, an utterly believable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for oneself.Speak was a 1999 National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature.

    On Saturdays, she visits Grandma and Grandpa, who come from a European-American background, and on Sundays -- los domingos -- she visits Abuelito y Abuelita, who are Mexican-American. While the two sets of grandparents are different in many ways, they also have a great deal in common -- in particular, their love for their granddaughter. While we follow our narrator to the circus and the pier, share stories from her grandparents' pasts, and celebrate her birthday, the depth and joy of both cultures are conveyed in Spanish and English. This affirmation of both heritages will speak to all children who want to know more about their own families and ethnic backgrounds.

    In The Ocean Within, Elizabeth knows she is adopted and feels she cannot trust the welcome offered by her new family, the Sheridans. As she and her new siblings and cousins head to the beach for a vacation at Grandma's house, Elizabeth is secretly thrilled at the chance to finally see the ocean. On the other hand, she feels the Sheridans are just too much - too prone to hugging, too loud, too enthusiastic. And there are so many of them!Beautifully re-creating the dynamics of a large family and revealing the heart of a young girl, The Ocean Within tracks the storm brewing within the usually sunny Sheridan summer home, as Elizabeth and the matriarch she calls the "Iron Woman" test wills - one resisting with all her strength the love and structure offered by the other.

    Perfect for fans of Katie Flynn and Annie Groves.For Kathy O’Malley, life has not been easy with her husband, Barry, out of work and with two children to feed. Then when war breaks out in 1939, many of the local men enlist, including Barry, leaving the women to cope as best they can.The years that follow are full of hardship: rationing, nightly air raids and endless shifts working at the local munitions factory all take their toll on Kathy who longs to feel the strong arms of her husband around her once more.When she meets Doug, a handsome American GI, she is drawn immediately drawn to him but determined to honour her marriage vows. But after she receives a telegram informing that her husband is missing, presumed dead, she makes a decision that will have consequences, not just for herself, but for the lives of all those she loves too…

    . ." The market is full of wonderful things, but Saruni is saving his precious coins for a red and blue bicycle. How happy he will be when he can help his mother carry heavy loads to market on his very own bicycle--and how disappointed he is to discover that he hasn't saved nearly enough! Determination and generosity are at the heart of this satisfying tale, set in Tanzania and illustrated with glowing watercolors that capture the warmth of Saruni's family and the excitement of market day.

    When a series of disasters destroys his crops, he is forced to sell some of his cherished animals to survive until the next planting. He passionately hopes he will be able to buy back his four-legged friends after the next harvest. The illustrations are richly detailed and filled with life and emotion. Children will delight in discovering the tiny details hidden in the illustrations and finding Squeakers the Mouse in each one. This is a story of hardship and loss, but it highlights growth, joy, friendship, and forgiveness.

    Eventually Julie must leave the wilderness and return to her people, but the bond she has forged with her wolf family is one that is never broken. She is -- now and forever -- Julie of the Wolves.

    A journal written in Christy's voice that follows her through moving to California, a year abroad, and back again to her relationship with Todd as they prepare for the college years.

    For children, anger can be very upsetting. Parents, teachers, and children can talk about it. People do lots of different things when they get angry. In this Caldecott Honor book, kids will see what Sophie does when she gets angry. What do you do?

    But the reality of dance is tough, and Stephanie's parents fear that she doesn't realize how few opportunities there are for black ballerinas. Then, the remarkable Miss Winnie and her handsome and talented nephew, Vance, show up in ballet class one day. Miss Winnie, a glamorous retired ballerina, takes Stephanie on as a pupil and gives her the encouragement she needs. And Stephanie begins to discover a different kind of love . . . and a different understanding of what's important.

    

    In their case, a dangerous gang's disapproval of their interracial relationship puts the two in mortal peril.

    Their ultimate goal: the Olympics. As each girl struggles with life's challenges and rejoices with each triumph, the encouragement of the other Girls Only club members and their faith in God give the girls the moral support needed to push their limits and learn important lessons. Dreams on Ice When Livvy's family moves across the country and away from her amazing ice-skating coach, Livvy is sure her Olympic dreams are shattered. Only the Best Jenna lives and breathes gymnastics, but now she must decide: compete in the all-important meet at the Olympic Training Center or go with her parents to meet her adopted brother. A Perfect Match Heather wants to end her couples' ice-dancing career to skate solo, but when she doesn't get her family's support, she wonders if she's really going for what she wants or if she's just being selfish. Reach for the Stars Manda is focused on her ski competition, but when her mom needs help, Manda has to put her dream of winning the Dressel Hills Downhill Classic on ice.

    Feeling a kinship with the lonely animal, Jas convinces her new foster mom, who rescues and rehabilitates abused horses on her Virginia farm, to buy him. Slowly, the horse Jas names Shadow begins to blossom and even to thrive. But when Jas uncovers a startling clue to Shadow's true identity, she becomes entangled in a mystery which could have serious consequences for the two of them.  Both the heartwarming story of a young girl's love for her horse and an intriguing mystery, this inspiring middle-grade novel will appeal to horse lovers and mystery fans alike.

    When she confronts Ginger, she reveals a secret that will change Ginger's life. And when the woman's confrontations become threatening, Ginger is forced into a crisis of loyalty and honor—a crisis from which her family might never recover.

    But that's before he understands what the Statue of Liberty means to Grandma.

    Now, his abductor is releasing him to return home. When Jeff finds his family, he feels shell-shocked and unable to tell anyone what happened. He can't believe any of his family or friends will understand what he has been through.

    A tribal ranger, he lives among people far different from any he has known. Balanced precariously between isolation and community, he is drawn to both the fastness of a remote river canyon and the Apaches who have come to be the only family he has.Nashoba’s world is peopled by, among others, a bright young man who sells vision quests to romantic tourists, a determined elder whose power makes her a force to be reckoned with on the reservation, a resident anthropologist more "native" than the natives, a corrupt tribal chairman, a former Hollywood extra who shouts at reservation women the scraps of Italian he learned from other "Indian" actors, and the ranger’s estranged wife. Confusion and violence follow their encounter with a right-wing militia group training secretly on tribal land. The contrast between these Rambo types and the various Native American characters typifies the sardonic humor running throughout this novel of contemporary Indian identity.

    The eloquence and humanity of the British soldier shine through, and the work stands as a moving tribute to a lost and noble generation. Yet war is a time of contradictions, and alongside the image of the "noble Tommy" we are presented with forthright critisisms of the British command and, more disturbingly, a taste of the blood-lust that was awakened in these unlikely warriors.

    For one thing, he has to pass math so his parents will let him play baseball in the spring. And there's his locker, right between Godzilla Girl and Julia Patterson, who keeps slipping him love notes...and Freemont, who seems to have changed into someone Mic hardly recognizes as his best friend. The weirdest thing on Bixby Court, though, has got to be Mic's deaf-blind older sister, Stephanie, clomping around the house, touching everybody and everything. Mic hardly remembers when they used to have long fingerspelled conversations in the middle of the night, when they would play flashlight tag until Stephanie's gulp-laughs gave them away.Then Vern Chortle, aka "Nerd Boy," moves to Bixby Court. With his 382-pair sock collection, laminated maps, and beeping watch, he's the last person Mic wants as his shadow.Almost against his will, however, Mic finds himself spending more and more time at Vern's house. And as Mic lets himself admit to liking Vern, he also gradually realizes that Stephanie understands him in a way no one else can...and, surprisingly, might even be able to help put him back on the ball field again -- just like normal.

    At least that's what thirteen-year-old Glory thinks. But then the carnival comes to town, and she meets Marvalene. Glory thinks that Marvalene has the most exciting life of anyone she's ever met. But Marvalene is tired of the carnival and longs to live with her family in a house without wheels. Both girls wish their lives were different, and both need a friend. But when Glory and Marvalene uncover a secret from the past, their friendship may be doomed.

    All of Gould's foibles -- his lusts and obsessions, fears and anxieties -- are conveyed with such candor and lack of pretension that we can't help but be seduced into recognizing a little bit of Could in us or perhaps a lot of us in Gould. For Gould is indeed an Everyman for the end of the millennium, a good man trying to live an honest life without compromise and without losing his mind.

    When his Labrador retriever survives a bear-mauling on Christmas Eve, Matt is convinced that her recovery is a miracle sent by his mother from heaven.

    Then his grandfather tells him how he solved that same problem years before: He and his schoolmates started a six-man football league. If Cap wants to do the same thing, Grandpa will be happy to help. He'll even coach the team if the league gets off the ground. It does, and soon Cap and his friends are learning the rules of six-man football. Cap is in competition for the starting quarterback spot with Jimmy Cash, but that's not a problem. What is a problem is that Grandpa and Jimmy's grandfather have reignited an old football feud. When their rivalry starts to affect the team, Cap wonders if the team will survive. For a complete list of all of Matt Christopher's titles, please turn to the last pages of this book.

    A reluctant participant in the Gonzalez family reunion, Daniel has some pleasant surprises and discovers the meaning of family."

    Told in a succession of short and powerful poems, it takes us deep into the cyclone of the narrator’s emotions: despair, anger, guilt, resentment, and ultimately, acceptance.

    But Tere's mother has different ideas for her only daughter. She wants her to be part of La Sociedad, "high society," and go to a fancy private school. At first Tere doesn't want to leave her school friends to follow her mother's dream. She knows her parents can't afford the luxuries the rich girls take for granted. But when Tere gets into trouble and has a fight with Ana, she quickly changes her mind. Now she finds herself caught between two worlds.

    It's a relief for Meg to get home to her family and friends in Mayfield Crossing where no one thinks much about skin color. But these are the Sixties, and down South civil rights workers are encountering hatred and even violence. When Lucky, the brother of Meg's friend Dillon, comes home from the Navy and decides to go South to fight racism, the world beyond Mayfield becomes tragically real to Meg and her friends.

    Unfortunately for Freddie, older, stronger, better-looking Dondi usually comes out on top in every contest. Except in one area: snowboarding. Here, Freddie is clearly king of the halfpipe. So when Dondi finally pushes Freddie too far, Freddie cooks up a snowboard showdown to make Dondi look foolish and himself the star. But will Dondi take the bait, or will he somehow turn the tables on his brother yet again?

    But what sets Belle Haven apart is its especially strong sense of community, which is both strengthened and tested by the uncontrollable mine fire that burns below the town.  Sometimes it breaks through the earth's surface to swallow somebody's garden or a garbage can, even a beloved pet, or to threaten a house.        Those Who Favor Fire is the love story of Rachel Hearn, who has lived in Belle Haven all her life, and the man everyone calls Just Joe, who has arrived only recently--and the story of their love for the town that has brought them together. But as the fire intensi-fies, endangering Belle Haven and its people, it also threatens what Joe and Rachel have found together. Though some reluctantly consider relocating, Rachel refuses to leave the only place she's ever called home, the place that holds her richest memories. But Joe knows the danger of becoming too firmly rooted in a place. Ultimately, Rachel and Joe must decide whether to abandon their beloved town.        In her wonderful debut novel, Lauren Wolk has created a town every bit as real as the Mitford of Jan Karon's novels and populated it with characters as quirky, lively, and endearing as Fannie Flagg's.From the Hardcover edition.

    Now her class is going to dance around the Maypole at the school's May parade, and Stella wants her tulip costume to be special, even if she won't look like the other girls at school. Sometimes being different can be exciting. This touching story that celebrates diversity is based on author Pat Mora's mother's childhood and is brought to life by Elizabeth Sayles's evocative paintings.Illustrated by Elizabeth Sayles.