family life

As the "lump in the middle" between her "perfect" older sister and cute younger sister, Kelsey feels out of place in her family until she meets Gabe whose affection gives her the confidence she needs at home.

Twelve-year-old Ellen's loathing for her new baby brother Barry, who has cerebral palsy, gradually changes to a fierce, obsessive love, and she must find a proper balance for her life.

As she begins fifth grade, Molly feels left behind by her older sisters and brother and neglected by her former best friends.

Eleven-year-old Dan, whose artist parents have kept him moving around all his life, fears he will lose the friends he has made at his new school, until the class sleepover coincides with a bad winter storm.

A teenager in a large family that lives in a trailer yearns for love, approval, an escape from endless chores, and a chance to make something of herself. When a good and decent man, seven years her senior, falls in love with her, she realizes marriage to him could solve her problems.

After her father dies, Seely and her family move to the city where her mother feels life will be easier, but life in the city presents a new set of problems that the family has not encountered before.

When Jules comes to see her after his return from the war, Ella finds it difficult to have some time alone with him.

When his father moves away to find work and his mother becomes ill, Danny struggles to help his family during the Great Depression.

In Pittsburgh in 1933, sixth-grader Mike Costa notices a connection between several strange occurrences, but the only way he can find out the truth about what's happening is to be nice to the class bully. Includes historical facts.

In the early 1960s, Kitty is one of only two white children in her class on Warm Springs Reservation, Oregon, where her father is a government forester, and although past injustices and pain are still very much alive there, she eventually finds friendships and opportunities to make a difference.