Olinski chosen her sixth-grade Academic Bowl team? She had a number of answers. But were any of them true? How had she really chosen Noah and Nadia and Ethan and Julian? And why did they make such a good team? It was a surprise to a lot of people when Mrs. Olinski's team won the sixth-grade Academic Bowl contest at Epiphany Middle School. It was an even bigger surprise when they beat the seventh grade and the eighth grade, too. And when they went on to even greater victories, everyone began to ask: How did it happen?It happened at least partly because Noah had been the best man (quite by accident) at the wedding of Ethan's grandmother and Nadia's grandfather. It happened because Nadia discovered that she could not let a lot of baby turtles die. It happened when Ethan could not let Julian face disaster alone. And it happened because Julian valued something important in himself and saw in the other three something he also valued.Mrs. Olinski, returning to teaching after having been injured in an automobile accident, found that her Academic Bowl team became her answer to finding confidence and success. What she did not know, at least at first, was that her team knew more than she did the answer to why they had been chosen.This is a tale about a team, a class, a school, a series of contests and, set in the midst of this, four jewel-like short stories -- one for each of the team members -- that ask questions and demonstrate surprising answers.

    Sudermann essay contest so that he can win fifty dollars and get his picture in the local newspaper. His cousin and rival, Jack, feels exactly the same way. But how can Andy be inventive and imaginative in an essay contest on conservation?Bugs and beetles, that's how. Leave it to Andy to think of people eating insects as a way of conserving their food budgets. Before long he's preparing toasted beetles in brownies, mealworm-filled egg salad sandwiches, and batter-fried earthworms for his friends and family. They don't know what they're in for, and neither does Andy. Will he win the contest and lose his friends and family?

    Each captures the moment when someone's life changes -- when an animal causes a human being to see things in a different way, and, perhaps, changes his life.

     It's 1865 in the conquered South and things are not as they were before the war. Thirteen-year-old Abby Joyner still lives on the plantation where she was raised but she and her grandparents are free now and continue on for a small salary. One thing is the same as it has always been, though -- Abby does not know what became of her mother. Why won't anyone tell her? Abby is determined to find the truth behind her disappearance. But answers are few and she is about to discover that, like freedom, the truth is harder to come by than she could have imagined.

    Ramon is holding a pearl. Not just any pearl, but the most fabulous gem he or anyone else has ever seen. But neither sixteen-year-old Ramon nor his father foresees the trouble that such a pearl can bring. It will be young Ramon who must stop the monster he has unleashed.

    Philip's varsity basketball -- a team that's poised to make all-city. There is only one slot to fill on the roster, and the team chooses hot-shot transfer student Noah Travers for its second string. But Noah's ambitions are bigger -- he wants, and expects, to play starting center.When starting-center Luke mysteriously faints before a game, and Theo suddenly quits the team, everyone suspects Noah is at the root of the trouble -- everyone except Corey. Corey can't believe anyone would be malicious enough to drug one player and force another off the team.But as each player is sabotaged and the trust among the teammates disintegrates, Corey can no longer ignore the obvious. The all-city championship is too important, and he must find out the truth before he becomes the next target.

    A whole world of discovery awaits her aboard the Dolphin Dreamer.But an unexpected passenger threatens to spoil the trip of a lifetime. And when a sudden storm puts Jody's life in danger, who can she turn to for help?

    In a covered wagon containing all their possessions, they make their way across the drought-stricken Midwest to the lush green valleys of southern Missouri. The journey is long and not always easy, but at the end is the promise of a new home and a new life for the Wilders.Little House on Rocky Ridge is the first book in The Rose Years, an ongoing series about another spirited girl from America's most beloved pioneer family.

    It's July 4, 1946. World War II has ended, and life is getting back to normal. But for Norm, the pressing question now is whether he will ever be able to play baseball again, or be an artist. It's up to Norm to find the strength to get beyond this roadblock and move on with his life.Set against the quickening pace of life after wartime constraints, this inspiring novel is about an optimist who overcomes his misfortune with discipline and humor--and fulfills his dreams in ways no one could have expected.

    She dreams of being a star on the silver screen, but her performance this year is on the stage at school. She has to share the spotlight with her cousin Ana, though, and Rebecca fears the audience will laugh instead of applaud. Will Ana hurt or help the performance? Then, being included in a special plan fills Rebecca with joy. But what act of kindness teaches her the true meaning of the holiday season?

    Someone in her family is shooting crows again. To Mandy's father and older brothers, crows are pests that have to be kept away from the farm's valuable strawberry crop. Even her younger brother, Drummer, can't wait until he's old enough to learn to shoot. So when Mandy finds the helpless baby crow in the woods, she feeds and tames her in secret.

    In a partnership with We Need Diverse Books, industry giants Kwame Alexander, Soman Chainani, Matt de la Peña, Tim Federle, Grace Lin, Meg Medina, Walter Dean Myers, Tim Tingle, and Jacqueline Woodson join newcomer Kelly J. Baptist in a story collection that is as humorous as it is heartfelt. This impressive group of authors has earned among them every major award in children’s publishing and popularity as New York Times bestsellers. From these distinguished authors come ten distinct and vibrant stories.

    Please send a catalog.Designer Flo Waters responds:"I'd be delighted...but please understand that all of my fountains are custom-made."Soon the fountain project takes on a life of its own, one chronicled in letters, postcards, memos, transcripts, and official documents. The school board president is up in arms. So is Dee Eel, of the water-supply company. A scandal is brewing, and Mr. Sam N.'s fifth grade class is turning up a host of hilarious secrets buried deep beneath the fountain.

    Will Maggie really go on printing her whole life?

    A small boy imagines what it would be like to have his own rainbow to play with.