Angry and humiliated when his sharecropper father is jailed for stealing food for his family, a young African-American boy grows in courage and understanding with the help of the devoted dog Sounder, and also by learning to read.
Twelve-year-old Jens, who adores the farm where she has lived all her life, is devastated when severe financial problems may force her family to sell out and move to the city.
An insurance check can allow the Youngers to escape their difficult life in a Chicago apartment, but their prospective white neighbors are not welcoming.
The author describes the diverse poverty around the world through a collection of interviews with impoverished people who attempt to justify or explain their present circumstances.
After her mother's death, twelve-year-old Babe begins to learn some hard truths about her mother's life--truths that shake her confidence and her sense of self-worth.
Laura, sent to the country from London to escape the cholera in 1848, tries to help the neglected children of Drouet's asylum she finds eating the pigs' food in her uncle's barn.
Twelve-year-old Blueberry's attempt to run away from her poor home in rural Minnesota with a six-year-old tagalong from the orphanage ends in frustration, but as a result, Blueberry becomes more sure of her plans for the future.
