Though little Reina has promised not to swim in the waves during her first trip to the ocean, it becomes intolerable for her to keep that promise as her cousins frolic in the water--and then she finds a solution to her problem.
When eleven-year-old Bobbie Lynn's father is reported missing in action in Vietnam, she and her thirteen-year-old brother must learn to cope with their own despair, as well as their mother's breakdown.
Pavel saves the life of the enormous dog he finds half-frozen in the snow, but since only the tsar himself keeps wolfhounds, Pavel fears he will be punished for stealing.
When a large family moves into the house near where he and his father live in the woods, Perry's friendship with the oldest girl helps him come to terms with his sister's death and his parents' divorce.
In 1925, in a small Washington State community made up of families from different ethnic backgrounds, twelve-year-old Cuss tries to stay in school as he watches those around him struggle with various financial difficulties.
When Trina's father falls into a severe depression after losing his job and her mother becomes pregnant at forty-eight, Trina faces a difficult summer even with the help of her good friend Miranda.
Always remembering how the monkeys in her Costa Rican valley disappeared when all the trees were cut down, Marta grows up, plants more trees, and sees the monkeys come back.
As he listens to Old Father's stories each day, a little boy asks if his friend has ever been young, but only after he has grown old himself, does he understand Old Father's answer.
