When Esperanza and Mama are forced to flee the bountiful region of Aguascalientes, Mexico to a Mexican farm labor camp in California, they must adjust to a life without fancy dresses and servants. Now they must confront the challenges of hard work, acceptance by their own people, and economic difficulties brought on by the Great Depression. When Mama falls ill and a strike for better working conditions threatens to uproot their new life, Esperanza must relinquish her hold on the past and learn to embrace a future ripe with the riches of family and community.

In this Newbery Medal-winning novel, Bod is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place: he's the only living resident of a graveyard. Raised from infancy by the ghosts, werewolves, and other cemetery denizens, Bod has learned the antiquated customs and ghostly teachings of his guardians, such as the ability to Fade so mere mortals cannot see him. Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead?

Brian Robertson, sole passenger on a Cessna 406, is on his way to visit his father when the tiny bush plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness. With nothing but his clothing, a tattered windbreaker, and the hatchet his mother had given him as a present, Brian finds himself completely alone. Challenged by his fear and despair -- and plagued with the weight of a dreadful secret he's been keeping since his parent's divorce -- Brian must tame his inner demons in order to survive. 

In the Pacific there is an island that look like a big fish sunning itself in the sea. Around it, blue dolphins swim. Once, Indians also lived on the island. When they left and sailed to the east, one young girl was left behind. This is her story -- a story not only of an unusual adventure of survival, but also a tale of natural beauty and personal discovery.

For Milo, everything's a bore. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through only because he's got nothing better to do. But on the other side, things seem different. Milo visits the Island of Conclusions (you get there by jumping), learns about time from a ticking watchdog named Tock, and even embarks on a quest to rescue Rhyme and Reason.  Along the way, Milo realizes life is far from dull. In fact, it's exciting beyond his wildest dreams!

In this wonderful middle-grade novel, nine-year-old Kenny describes  his middle-class black family, the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan. When Kenny's 13-year-old brother, Byron, gets to be too much trouble, they head South to Birmingham to visit Grandma, the one person who can shape him up. And they happen to be in Birmingham when Grandma's church is blown up.

Billy has long dreamt of owning not one, but two, dogs. So when he's finally able to save up enough money for two pups to call his own -- Old Dan and Little Ann -- he's ecstatic. Soon Billy and his hounds become the finest hunting team in the valley. Stories of their great achievements spread throughout the region. But tragedy awaits these determined hunters, and Billy learns that hope can grow out of despair, and that the seeds of the future can come from the scars of the past.

In 1687, 16-year-old Kit Tyler is marked by suspicion and disapproval from the moment she arrives on the shores of colonial Connecticut. Alone and desperate, she has been forced to leave her home on the island of Barbados and join a family she has never met. Just when it seems she must give up, she finds a kindred spirit, Hannah Tupper, believed by the colonists to be a witch.  But Kit and Hannah's friendship proves more taboo than Kit could have imagined and ultimately forces Kit to choose between her heart and her duty.

National Book Award Winner Jacqueline Woodson tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Woodson's eloquent poetry reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, despite the fact that she struggled with reading as a child, ultimately creating the first sparks of the gifted writer she was to become.

Inside this book, you'll find stories of 50 extraordinary people such as: Evel Knievel, who jumped his motorcycle over 14 Greyhound buses; The Iceman, the most well-preserved human, found in the ice after 5,300 years; Sam Patch, who jumped Niagara Falls for $75; Helen Thayer, who walked to the North Pole alone; and Roy Sullivan, who was struck by lightning 7 times. Even more intriguing facts await curious readers, amateur historians, and anyone who aspires to the altogether extraordinary!

In this 1996 Newbery Honor Book, author Jim Murphy relates the story, told through the eyes of several survivors, of the catastrophe that decimated much of Chicago in 1871, forcing more than 100,000 people from their homes.  Fascinating archival photos and maps outlining the spread of fire illuminate the danger and drama of this tragic event.

On remote Codfish Island off the southern coast of New Zealand live the last 91 kakapo parrots on earth. Originally this bird numbered in the millions before humans brought predators to the islands. Now on the isolated island refuge, a team of scientists is trying to restore the kakapo population.

In Super Scratch Programming Adventure!, kids learn programming fundamentals as they make their very own playable video games. They'll create projects inspired by classic arcade games that can be programmed (and played!) in an afternoon.  This full-color comic book makes programming concepts like variables, flow control, and subroutines effortless to absorb. Super Scratch Programming Adventure! is a great first step for the budding programmer.

In August 2010, the unthinkable happened when a mine collapsed in Chile, trapping 33 miners 2,000 feet below the surface. For 69 days they lived on meager resources with increasingly poor air quality. When they were finally rescued, the world watched with rapt attention and rejoiced in the amazing spirit and determination of the miners. By tracing the psychological, physical, and environmental factors surrounding the mission, author Aronson highlights the amazing technology and helping hands that made it all possible. 

In the little colonial town of Salem Village, Massachusetts, two girls began to twitch, mumble, and contort their bodies into strange shapes. The doctor tried every remedy, but nothing cured the young Puritans. He grimly announced the dire diagnosis: the girls were bewitched!  The riveting, true story of the victims, accused witches, crooked officials, and mass hysteria that turned a mysterious illness affecting two children into a witch hunt unfolds in chilling, novelistic detail.