Fourteen-year-olds Raphael and Gardo team up with a younger boy, Rat, to figure out the mysteries surrounding a bag Raphael finds during their daily life of sorting through trash in a third-world country's dump.

"Once upon a time there was a ship that sailed beside the sun with very important people on board. The spirit of reinvention and the importance we place on things is beautifully expressed in José Sanabria's visually evocative story. A steamship makes a journey across time from luxury and exclusivity, industry and abandonment, to stewardship and inclusion as we see the evolving functions of the ship and the changing faces of the people who cherish...

From age six through her high school valedictory speech, believing she and her mother are wizards helps young Echo cope with poverty, hunger, her mother's drug abuse, and much more.

"When Dan and his parents can no longer pay their mortgage, they end up homeless and living in a local tent city. It's a bad situation, and it only gets worse when the leader of the tent city is brutally beaten. Who is trying to shut down the tent city, and why?"--

Despite their own poverty since Daddy died, Mama tells nine-year-old James Otis they need to help Sarah, whose family lost everything in a fire.

Ian Gray isn't supposed to have a dog, but a lot of things that shouldn't happen end up happening anyway. And Gather, Ian's adopted pup, is good company now that Ian has to quit the basketball team, find a job, and take care of his mom as she tries to overcome her opioid addiction. Despite the obstacles thrown their way, Ian is determined to keep his family afloat no matter what it takes. And for a little while, things are looking up: Ian makes friends,...

"Two balls of clay have a great time shaping themselves into various animals and objects until their sculptor comes back and discovers the mess they've made of her work"--

Life hasn't been great for Jeff Hicks. After years at his beloved St. Catherine's, he's forced to spend eighth grade in the public middle school, which he hates. He's no longer speaking to his former best friend, Tom Bender, because of "that burned girl" Jessica Feeney. But worst of all, his family is changing, and it's not for the better. When his mom comes home announcing that she's lost her job, Jeff begins to worry about things far beyond his...

"Two intertwining stories of Bogotá. One, a family of five children, left to live on their own. The other, a girl in an orphanage who will do anything to befriend the mysterious Immortal Boy"--

"There was once a big mountain with two villages on either side. The people on one side were rich and worked only to get richer. The people on the other side of the mountain were poor but had a wealth of stories and laughter. One day, a poor young boy decides to seek a new story and this leads him to the rich people's marketplace. He would love one of the ripe pieces of fruit, but what can a poor boy trade? Find out if it is possible to bottle and...