Max has a lot to deal with: an orthodontist who tortures her with braces, headgear, and threats of jaw surgery; family issues that include drinking, money issues, and some pretty toxic rivalry with her younger sister; and bullying at school about her teeth.  Her passion is writing, and when her op-ed piece on a lack of resource equity at school goes viral, she decides to enter a journalism contest and write about her experiences with orthodontia and bullying.  Writing helps Max find her voice, and she begins to speak up about what is bothering her at home and at school, leading to a rethink

During World War II, a social worker named Jacqueline bicycled through the streets of Paris, passing Nazi soldiers and carrying a toy duck to share with the children she visited. What the Nazis didn’t know, however, was that Jacqueline wasn’t a social worker at all, but a Jewish member of the French Resistance.

Young Plum is shocked to discover that she’s been accepted to the Guardian Academy on Lotus Island, an elite school where kids learn how to transform into Guardians, magical creatures who are sworn to protect the natural world. The Guardian masters teach Plum and her friends how to communicate with animals and how to use meditation to strengthen their minds and bodies. All the kids also learn to fight, so they can protect the defenseless if needed.

She always, always sticks to them. This means keeping her feelings locked tightly inside, despite the way they build up inside her as each school day goes on, so that she has to run to the bathroom and hide in the stall until she can calm down. So that she has to tear off her normal-person mask the second she gets home from school, and listen to her favorite pop song on repeat, trying to recharge. Selah feels like a dragon stuck in a world of humans, but she knows how to hide it.

Until the day she explodes and hits a fellow student.

Sixth grade isn't as great as Rex thought it would be. He's the only kid who hasn't had a growth spurt, and the bullies won't let him forget it. His closest friend is unreliable, at best. And there's a cute girl in his class, who may or may not like hiim back. With so much going on, everything is a blur -- including Rex's vision! So when he discovers that he needs glasses, and his family can only afford the ugliest pair in the store, any hope Rex had of fitting in goes completely out of focus.

A young girl gets to know her mom’s side of the family and hunts for hidden treasure over the course of one chaotic summer.

Thirteen-year-old twins Hope and Gordon enter a spelling bee in a last-ditch effort to save their family from financial ruin, only to find themselves in a cut-throat competition to uncover a fortune and dark secrets about the wealthy relations they’ve never known.

A heartfelt story about a boy who wants to become an astronaut, but wonders if his dreams can include his brother with special needs.

Dogtown is a shelter for stray dogs, misbehaving dogs, and discarded robot dogs, whose owners have outgrown them.

Chance, a real dog, has been in Dogtown since his owners unwittingly left him with irresponsible dog-sitters who skipped town.

Metal Head is a robot dog who dreams of being back in a real home.

And Mouse is a mouse who has the run of Dogtown, pilfering kibble, and performing clever feats to protect the dogs he loves.

Eleven-year-old Rafael Fuentes loves writing ghost stories and frightening his friends with terrifying tales he creates on the spot. Rafa has come up against enough real-life scary situations that fictional hauntings seem like no big deal, that is until he learns that his incarcerated mom is being released from jail soon, and will be coming to live with him, his sister, and their grandparents. To take his mind off his mom’s return, Rafa spends an evening crafting a scary ghost story about a vengeful ghost called The Caretaker.