Early one morning, a little scarecrow whose father warns him that he is not fierce enough to frighten a crow goes out into the cornfield alone.

A bear cub understands that because Papa's a soldier, he sometimes must go, but imagines what it'd be like to stay near by riding in Papa's backpack.

"Hoping to strike it rich, eleven-year-old Jasper and his older brother Melvin set out on a treacherous journey to Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush"--

Duncan, eleven, is very smart--with the rare ability to speak Cat--but his mother has always insisted he appear only average, and when a perfect test score draws attention to him, he not only discovers the wisdom of his mother's rules, he finds himself crossing the seas on a quest for his true identity.

"Bertie's mother Irene returns from the Middle East to discover that, in her absence, her son has been exposed to the worst of evils--television shows, ice cream parlors, and even unsanctioned art at the National Portrait Gallery. Her wrath descends on Bertie's long-suffering father, Stuart. But Stuart has found a reason to spend more time outside of the house and seems to have a new spring in his step. What does this mean for the residents of 44...

"[A] portrait of a family, and a testament to the redemptive power of storytelling. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family's history that began before he was born--a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam--and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable...

Thirteen-year-old Conor awakens one night to find a monster outside his bedroom window, but not the one from the recurring nightmare that began when his mother became ill--an ancient, wild creature that wants him to face truth and loss.

In modern-day England, where witches live alongside humans, Nathan, son of a White witch and the most powerful Black witch, must escape captivity before his seventeenth birthday and receive the gifts that will determine his future.

"Douglas Petersen may be mild-mannered, but behind his reserve lies a sense of humor that, against all odds, seduces beautiful Connie into a second date--and eventually into marriage. Now, almost three decades after their relationship first blossomed in London, they live more or less happily in the suburbs with their moody seventeen year-old son Albie. Then Connie tells him she thinks she wants a divorce. The timing couldn't be worse: hoping to encourage...

Tonight Dad wants to show his son something very special: the universe. Of course, they can't possibly embark on such a daring adventure unprepared, so they wrap up warm, gather provisions, and then off they go. It's a long walk, but eventually they get there. Along the way, they learn that sometimes the journey is more important than the destination, and sometimes the biggest lessons happen when you least expect them.