self-confidence

Sixteen-year-old Risa's disappointment over an unprecedented event is devastating, but the evil and destruction that follows the king's death show her that the god and goddess have special need of her talents and those of her new, lower-class friends.

While on a trip to London, Callie buys a pair of genuine Prada pumps that magically transport her to the early nineteenth-century, where Callie meets Emily, who helps her adapt to her new surroundings and win the heart of the handsome Duke of Harksbury, who may be Callie's ticket back to the future.

When Johanna shows up at the beginning of summer to house-sit next door to Finn, he has no idea of the profound effect she will have on his life by the time summer vacation is over.

Ping, an orphaned slave during China's Han Dynasty, hides out in the mountains of Tai Shan struggling to raise Kai, the baby purple dragon that has been left in her care, but their capture by Imperial guards forces Ping to return to the Garden of the Purple Dragon where new friends--and enemies--await.

Free throw specialist Cornell "Dunk" Duncan joins the YMCA summer basketball league all-star team, but after losing his confidence in an important game the seventh-grader makes some decisions about becoming an all-around player.

With the support of his teammates behind him, Billy tries to find the courage to stand up to his over-bearing, sports-obssessed father and reach his full potential as a hockey player.

Five urban middle school students, their teacher, and other community members relate how a school project to build the world's largest tetrahedron affects the lives of everyone involved.

After Molly, a shy mouse, finally lets her sisters persuade her to go to a party with them, she surprises herself by having a wonderful time.

Ten-year-old Zelly Fried considers going along with her grandfather's crazy plan to convince her parents to buy her a dog which involves a "practice dog" named OJ.

Eleven-year-old Calli, the third child in a family of busy high-achievers, likes to take her time and observe rather than rush around, and when she meets an awkward, insecure second-grader named Noah and is paired with him in the Peer Helper Program, she finds satisfaction and strength in working with him.