Here Today"In 1963, Ellie's mother, Doris Day Dingman, was crowned the Bosetti Beauty at Mr. Bosetti's supermarket, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and the Dingmans began to fall apart." So begins 11-yr-old Eleanor Roosevelt Dingman's story. Ellie, who is about to start 6th grade in the small town of Spectacle, NY, is the oldest child in her off-center family. Her father works construction jobs, while her mother, Doris, has only one dream - to become a rich and famous actress. But when that dream leads to Doris's abandonment of the family, it is Ellie who is called upon to take charge.
Belle TealTen-year-old Belle Teal Harper lives with her mother and grandmother on the wrong side of the tracks, in a small rural community during the early 1960's. They don't have much, but they have each other, and Belle Teal feels rich with love and loyalty to her family and her best friends, Clarice and Little Boss.
Although she is excited about the new school year, Belle Teal finds herself beginning to worry about other parts of her life. Her Gran's memory isn't what it used to be. Her mother seems more and more distracted by having to work two jobs to support the family. Little Boss' secret — the bruises and strap marks inflicted by his father, a mean-spirited drinker known as Big Boss — is finally pushing the boy toward losing what's left of his control. And there are two new students in her class, a shy African American boy who finds himself in the center of the town's resistance to integration, and a beautiful girl who craves popularity, seems hell-bent on making life miserable for Belle Teal, and is harboring a secret of her own.
In her most moving work to date, Ann M. Martin captures the powerful voice of a girl discovering the cost of keeping secrets, and the strength and healing power of friendship and family.
A Corner of the UniverseThe summer Hattie turns 12, her predictable small-town life is turned on end when her uncle Adam returns home for the first time in over ten years. Hattie has never met him, never known about him. He's been institutionalized; his condition involves schizophrenia and autism. Hattie, a shy girl who prefers the company of adults, takes immediately to her excitable uncle, even when the rest of the family -- her parents and grandparents -- have trouble dealing with his intense way of seeing the world.
A Dog’s LifeSquirrel and her brother Bone begin their lives in a tool shed behind someone's summerhouse. Their mother nurtures them and teaches them the many skills they will need to survive as stray dogs. But when their mother is taken from them suddenly and too soon, the puppies are forced to make their own way in the world, facing humans both gentle and brutal, busy highways, other animals, and the changing seasons. When Bone and Squirrel become separated, Squirrel must fend for herself, and in the process, makes two friends who in very different ways define her fate.
On Christmas EveEight-year-old Tess is convinced this is the year she will finally meet Santa, and experience "the Christmas magic." She also wishes with all her heart that her best friend's ill father will recover. Tess' faith in the season results in a Christmas Eve so wondrous, so sparkling, readers won't be able to help but feel transformed. Like trimming the tree and "It's a Wonderful Life"; baking cookies and "White Christmas," On Christmas Eve is sure to bring new holiday magic to readers' lives.
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