Rascal is only a baby when Sterling brings him home, but soon the two are best friends, doing everything together--until the spring day when everything suddenly changes.Rascal is a heartwarming boyhood memoir that continues to find its way into the hearts of readers fifty years later. This special anniversary edition includes the book's classic illustrations restored to their original splendor, as well as a letter from the author's daughter, and material from the illustrator's personal collection."Everyone should knock off work, sit beneath the nearest tree, and enjoy Rascal from cover to cover."—Chicago Tribune

    "Fetch the whipping boy!" A young orphan named Jemmy rouses from his sleep. "Ain't I already been whipped twice today? Gaw! What's the prince done now?" It was forbidden to spank, thrash, or whack the heir to the throne. Jemmy had been plucked from the streets to serve as whipping boy to the arrogant and spiteful Prince Brat. Dreaming of running away, Jemmy finds himself trapped in Prince Brat's own dream at once brash and perilous. In this briskly told tale of high adventure, taut with suspense and rich with colorful characters, the whipping boy and Prince Brat must at last confront each other. Award-winning author Sid Fleischman again blends the broadly comic with the deeply compassionate in this memorable novel.

    Jack Schaefer, author of the classic Shane, has written a timeless story about the friendship of a wise old shepherd and a young boy set in the Mojave Desert.

    But at the revival meeting, Pete discovers that the Man is actually a savior of souls, and Pete has been waiting all his life to be saved.It's not something Pete's parents can understand. Certainly his best friend, Rufus, an avowed atheist, doesn't understand. But Pete knows he can't imagine life without the Man. So when the Man invites Pete to join him on his mission, how can Pete say no -- even if it means leaving behind everything he's ever loved?

    The fact that he beats her in classwork, sports, and almost everything else doesn't bother Beth at first. Then she realizes that Philip might be best because she's letting him beat her. Beth knows that she deserves to be Number One--and she's going to prove it! This funny, universal story of a girl learning that she matters in the world has delighted readers for over twenty years.A New York Times Outstanding BookAn ALA Notable Book Kirkus Choice Award

    But the summer of 1944 is different. World War II has called Lily's father overseas, Lily's best friend Margaret had to move with her family to a wartime factory town, and Lily is forced to live with her grandmother. But then a boy named Albert, a refugee from Hungary, comes to live in Rockaway. He has lost most of his family to the war. Soon he and Lily form a special friendship, and they have secrets to share. But they have both told lies, and Lily's lie may cost Albert his life.

    During that special half-hour of twilight--the dark-thirty--pick one of these spine-tingling tales and savor it...-A white bus driver who refuses a ride to a penniless black woman later encounters her ghost.-Phantom pictures etched on the windowpanes of a man's house proclaim his guilt in a lynching. -A retired Pullman porter hears a ghostly whistle and knows it's the last train he'll ever ride. Mesmerizing and breathtakingly original, these tales are inspired by African American history and range from the time of slavery to the civil rights era of the twentieth century. With her extraordinary gift for suspense and her sure sense of storytelling, Patricia C. McKissack has created a heart-stopping collection of lasting value, a book not quickly forgotten.

    Upon his heel was a small white spot, the symbol of speed. But on his chest was the symbol of misfortune. Although he was as swift as the desert winds, Sham's proud pedigree would be scorned all his life by cruel masters and owners.This is the classic story of Sham and his friend, the stable boy Agba. Their adventures take them from the sands of the Sahara to the royal courts of France and, finally, to the green pastures and stately homes of England. For Sham was the renowned "Godolphin Arabian" whose blood flows through the veins of almost every superior Thoroughbred. Sham's speed-like his story-has become legendary.

    In this Newbery Honor—winning story from 1984, a new family builds a relationship as a stepfather and stepson celebrate their differences and take heart in their similarities.

    Her father is recovering from being a prisoner-of-war. The small town and the varied happenings and activities of country life help them to recover from past unhappiness, and bond more closely as a family.

    There the boys listen eagerly to all of Uncle David's tales of superheroes.Then one night Uncle David tells the story, The Woodcutter, and what happens next is terrible--then wonderful.

    Join Joey and his sister Mary Alice as they spend nine unforgettable summers with the worst influence imaginable--their grandmother!

    He's best known in his hometown as the boy who made a memorable impression on Frederick Douglass. But things change when a former slave steals money from Elijah's friend, who has been saving to buy his family out of captivity in the South. Elijah embarks on a dangerous journey to America in pursuit of the thief, and he discovers firsthand the unimaginable horrors of the life his parents fled -- a life from which he'll always be free, if he can find the courage to get back home.

    Even waffles! Eleven-year-old Primrose Squarp loves this homey place, especially its owner, Kate Bowzer, who takes her under her wing, teaches her how to cook, and doesn't patronize or chastise her, even when she puts her guinea pig too close to the oven and it catches fire. Primrose can use a little extra attention. Her parents were lost at sea, and everyone but her thinks they are dead. Her Uncle Jack, who kindly takes her in, is perfectly nice, but doesn't have much time on his hands. Miss Perfidy, her paid babysitter-guardian, smells like mothballs and really doesn't like children, and her school guidance counselor, Miss Honeycut, an uppity British woman of the world, is too caught up in her own long-winded stories to be any kind of confidante. Nobody knows what exactly to think of young Primrose, and Primrose doesn't quite know what to make of her small community, either.

    Children, he said, were like starlings, and one was better off without them.But the children who lived under the bridge recognized a true friend when they met one, even if the friend seemed a trifle unwilling at the start. And it did not take Armand very long to realize that he had gotten himself ready-made family; one that he loved with all his heart, and one for whom he would have to find a better home than the bridge.Armand and the children's adventures around Paris -- complete with gypsies and a Santa Claus -- make a story which children will treasure.