The first novel of Faulkner's Snopes trilogy, telling of the arrival of the Snopes family in Frenchman's Bend, Mississippi in the aftermath of the Civil War, and of the shady Flem Snopes's swift rise to power in the small town.
As Jess Kirkman and his father wait in the front room while his grandmother lay dying in the back bedroom, he remembers the stories of women his grandmother and mother passed down to him as a young man.
When no one pays attention to him at home or at school, Sam feels himself shrinking away to nothing, but a little advice from a small friend and some affection from his family soon restore him to his normal height.
Charlie, a sixth-grader with a compulsion to tell lies, acquires a mysterious skull that forces its owner to tell only the truth, causing some awkward moments before he understands its power.
When some of his gerbils escape and he gets in trouble for not paying attention in class, fourth-grader Andy Russell worries about asking if a friend can move in with his family--especially when he learns that his mother is going to have another baby.
The royal family ventures into the woods to free mean-tempered Queen Carrion from the Bear Witch's spell, but they must first determine which of two identical bears is the queen and which is the witch.
