It's the week she gets to spend with Grams at the lake house, canoeing, baking cookies, and glazing pots in Grams's potting shed. Grams has a way of making Lucy feel centered, like one of the pots on her kick wheel—perfect, steady, and completely at peace. But this summer, Grams doesn't seem to be exactly the person she once was. And as the week turns into a roller coaster of surprises—some good, some awful—Lucy can't help but wonder: Will things ever be centered again?

    It's dangerous -- some say traitorous -- to own a German dog after Germany attacked Russia, so Mikhail must keep Zasha a secret to keep her alive.But Mikhail's rival, Katia, is determined to find the dog she is sure he's hiding. At the same time, a soldier named Dimitri is breeding a new Russian dog at a nearby farm. So many dogs were lost in combat, to starvation, and in the slaughter of German dogs that the country is in dire need of every kind of dog.

    Nadine and Sara. It’s only ever been the two of them. Two halves of the same person. Best friends forever—until they aren’t.Everything has changed this year. Nadine has suddenly skipped a grade and gone to high school without Sara. No matter how hard she fights to save their friendship, Sara can feel it slipping away.But change can happen from the inside, too. The forever-friend days of running through sprinklers and slurping up ice cream cones may be over. Yet in their place, Sara just might discover something new and wonderful: herself.

    "Maybe that's one of the reasons people get dogs, to kind of close up the empty places inside them."Eleven-year-old William never needed a friend more than now. After his parents' separation, his father's new engagement, and his grandfather's dying without any warning—adopting big, beautiful Riley is the first thing in a long time that has made him feel better. That is, until Riley innocently chases a horse.Local law states that any animal that chases livestock must be put to sleep. Suddenly William stands to lose another thing close to him. Together with his friend Grace, William begins a campaign to reverse the county commissioners' decision. But with a community divided on the issue, and the bully Ellis Porter trying to stop them at every turn, will they be able to save Riley's life?Celebrated author Eve Bunting shows William's determined struggle to fight for what he believes in. The Summer of Riley is an inspiring novel about learning to accept life's changes, the healing power of friendship, and the unending desire to protect those we love.

    Their mother left home and may—or may not—be coming back. Their father is a drummer in a band and comes home long after the girls go to sleep—if he comes home at all. Too often, ten-year-old Sara and twelve-year-old Anna are left to fend for themselves. Then one night, three loud knocks at the door change everything: their father is in jail and social services has come to take the girls away. Rather than risk being split up, Sara and Anna decide their only option is to run away.But the girls don’t get very far, and when the authorities catch up with them, Sara and Anna are forced back into the foster care system. Along the way, the girls encounter good people who want to help them but they also meet people who have no patience for mistakes or accidents. As Anna begins to act out or withdraw completely, Sara knows that it’s up to her to take care of her older sister. But what if she can’t anymore? What if she finds a forever home that may not include Anna? Will Sara keep the promise she made to her mother to stay with her sister or will she find the courage to do what’s best for herself?Inspired by true events, this heartrending and hopeful novel of survival, friendship, and sisterhood, tells the tale of two sisters who must find the strength to face anything that life may throw their way.

    For Missy, blueberry picking quickly becomes about more than just money—it's the perfect distraction from the fact that her two best friends have gone off to summer camp without her and her dad is getting remarried. Why can't everything go back to the way it used to be? Back to normal? Soon, though, Missy discovers that the summer is full of secrets: the secrets to making her family feel whole again; the secrets to keeping her two best friends from changing and leaving her behind; the secrets of a local farm's blood feud; and most importantly, the secrets of blueberries.Author Sara Nickerson infuses warmth and humor into this tender coming-of-age story about finding something special within yourself and a place to call your own, in even the most tumultuous of times.

    Now a major motion picture form Warner Brothers, starring Kevin Bacon, Diane Lane, Luke Wilson, Frankie Muniz, and "Eddie" from the TV show Frasier (as Skip), and produced by Mark Johnson (Rain Man).In 1943 in a sleepy town on the banks of the Yazoo River, a boy fell in love with a puppy with a lively gait and an intellingent way of listening.  The two grew up together having the most wonderful adventures.  A classic story of a boy, a dog, and small-town America, My Dog Skip belongs on the same shelf as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Russell Baker's Growing Up.  It will enchant readers of all ages for years to come.

    She's been moved to New York, enrolled in a special school, given the best violin teachers, and told when to practice and for how long. But no one ever told Tess what to do if she failed. . . .

    Feeling abandoned and alone, Anna turns to her closest companion, her explorer journal filled with drawn maps of her earlier neighborhoods and all the places that she has called home.Anna is determined to become part of a real family, and with the help of a scrawny new friend named Eb, an unconventional biology teacher in cowboy boots, a homeless Vietnam vet, and a motley crew of kids from the neighborhood, Anna discovers a sense of belonging...and her own place in the world.With warmth and humor, award-winning author Adrian Fogelin follows up her critically acclaimed novel Crossing Jordan with the story of a young girl's trials and triumphs as she tries to find a home.

    . . Two years ago, police officer Andrea Brady fell madly in love with a black-muzzled, slightly rumpled German shepherd who showed up at her house one misty autumn day. Now, with the brave and intuitive Justice as her expert K-9 drug sniffer, she's found an unbeatable partner. Then the unthinkable happens. A savage attack leaves a teenager dead and Andie trapped in every cop's worst nightmare. Placed on administrative leave, she's pursued by media and investigated by a deputy sheriff whose handling of the high-profile case could earn him a coveted promotion.Haunted by self-doubt, Andie is in danger of losing everything--her career, her freedom, and the critically injured dog who's her soul mate. But as she finds kind allies in her Puget Sound island community, the road back becomes a journey of healing for both Andie and her canine companion. And Andie learns important lessons about justice--and about Justice--as she struggles to find the courage to forgive herself and reclaim the gift of her life . . .

    Tawny gave promise of being a great racing greyhound, but he found his freedom in the heat and danger of the desert. His speed and courage helped him in a terrible struggle for survival. He could cope with the most feared of desert dwellers, including a killer pack of wild dogs. But then a deadly rattlesnake laid him low -- and he needed help. He needed a great partner. Where would he find one?

    This series is sure to win the hearts of readers who are wild about animals!The clinic is swamped with sick and abused puppies. Maggie suspects they've come from an illegal puppy mill, and she's determined to find it and shut it down. But Gran has too many other things to worry about -- like Maggie's grades and a new houseguest, Zoe. Can Maggie find the puppy mill on her own?

    . . with the help of one not-so-little dogRocky's husband Bob was just forty-two when she discovered him lying cold and lifeless on the bathroom floor . . . and Rocky's world changed forever. Quitting her job, chopping off all her hair, she leaves Massachusetts—reinventing her past and taking a job as Animal Control Warden on Peak's Island, a tiny speck off the coast of Maine and a million miles away from everything she's lost. She leaves her career as a psychologist behind, only to find friendship with a woman whose brain misfires in the most wonderful way and a young girl who is trying to disappear. Rocky, a quirky and fallible character, discovers the healing process to be agonizingly slow.But then she meets Lloyd.A large black Labrador retriever, Lloyd enters Rocky's world with a primitive arrow sticking out of his shoulder. And so begins a remarkable friendship between a wounded woman and a wounded, lovable beast. As the unraveling mystery of Lloyd's accident and missing owner leads Rocky to an archery instructor who draws her in even as she finds every reason to mistrust him, she discovers the life-altering revelation that grief can be transformed . . . and joy does exist in unexpected places.

    Now there’s just the cramped place he shares with his alcoholic grandpa, a new school, and the dreaded routine of school. But that’s before Travis meets Mr. McQueen, who doesn’t take "pass" for an answer—a rare teacher whose savvy persistence has Travis slowly unlocking a book on the natural world. And it’s before Travis is noticed by Velveeta, a girl whose wry banter and colorful scarves belie some hard secrets of her own. With sympathy, humor, and disarming honesty, Pat Schmatz brings to life a cast of utterly believable characters—and captures the moments of trust and connection that make all the difference.

    But every day it gets harder to operate her no-kill shelter. Sam is already at her breaking point when she learns of an unidentified, dangerous virus spreading through their neighborhood. The medical community can only determine that animals are the carriers. Amid growing panic and a demand for immediate answers, suspicion abruptly falls on dogs as the source. Soon the governor is calling in the National Guard to enforce a quarantine -- no dog may leave the area.Samantha knows from her own painful history that, despite the lack of real evidence against the dogs, a quarantine may only be the beginning. As questions about the source of the virus mount and clash with the pressure for a politically expedient resolution, Sam is forced to make life-altering choices. She finds allies in a motley crew of New Yorkers -- a local priest, a troubled teen, a smart-mouthed former psychologist, and a cop desperate to do the right thing -- all looking for sanctuary from their own personal demons. But the person Sam needs the most to unravel the mystery of the virus and save the dogs is the last one she'd ever want to call on -- because contacting him will mean confronting the traumatic past she has fought so hard to escape.