Agnes Parker...Girl in Progress
by Kathleen O'Dell

As she starts sixth grade, Agnes faces challenges with her old best friend, a wonderful new friend, a longtime bully, and herself.

Though he would rather pursue his talent as a musician 18-year-old Dinadan is forced to follow his older brother Tristram's path and become a knight.

When Darryl, a 12-year-old orphan, is adopted by a technology genius, he finds himself the star of his very own life-threatening video game.

In the year 241, 12-year-old Lina trades jobs on Assignment Day to be a messenger, to run to new places in her beloved but decaying city, perhaps even to glimpse Unknown Regions

Kidnapped when she was very young by an unscrupulous man who has forced to lie and beg to get money, a 12-year-old Mayan girl endures an abusive life, always wishing she could return to the parents she can hardly remember.

In India, a healer invites 12-year-old Anand to join him on a quest to return a magical conch to its safe and rightful home, high in the Himalayan mountains.

Introduces the life of Nellie Bly, who, as a "stunt reporter" for the New York World newspaper in the late 1800s, championed women's rights and traveled around the world faster than anyone ever had.

Read more about Nellie Bly and her unique life here!

A member of the Maasai people describes his life as he grew up in a northern Kenya village and traveled to America to attend college.

Despite the horrors of World War II, a French teenager pursues her dream of becoming an opera singer, which takes her to places where she gains information about what the Nazis are doing- information that the French Resistance needs.

Quila and her father living alone in a remote Maine lighthouse in the 1850s, find their lives profoundly changed when a baby washes ashore and they decide to keep her as part of their family.

In 1925, in a small Washington State community made up of families from different ethnic backgrounds, 12-year-old Cuss tries to stay in school as he watches those around him struggle with various financial difficulties.

When 11-year-old Gregor and his 2-year-old sister are pulled into a strange underground world, they trigger an epic battle involving people, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders while on a quest foretold by ancient prophecy.

With their mother dead and their home burned, a 13-year-old boy and his little sister set out across Virginia in search of relatives during the final days of the Civil War.

The author relates tales from his youth in a small town in northwestern Minnesota in the late 1940s and early 1950s, such as skiing behind a souped-up car and imitating daredevil Evel Knievel.

Describes the origins, applications of, and challenges to the ten amendments to the US Constitution that comprise the Bill of Rights.

In a series of poems 11-year-old Lonnie writes about his life after the death of his parents separated from his younger sister, living in a foster home, and finding his poetic voice at school.

5th grader Minn, the tallest girl in school, begins a rocky friendship with Jake, a new student who is not only very short, but is also afraid of the worms and lizards Minn likes to collect.

On a summer visit to her grandmother's cottage by the ocean, 12-year-old Martha gains perspective on the death of a classmate, on her relationship with her grandmother, on her feelings for an older boy, and on her plans to be a writer.

Only 12-year-old Colleen knows that her baby sister died just after she was born and that Colleen put another baby in her place, until the baby's father shows up and makes trouble for her and her family on the South Dakota prairie in the 1860s.

During the early days of the Civil War, the Pruitt family takes in two mysterious young ladies who have fled New Orleans to come north to Illinois.

A 12-year-old Polish American girl boards an orphan train in Chicago with fears about traveling to the West and a life of unpaid slavery.

Introduces the life of renowned modern artist Louise Bourgeois, who is know primarily for her sculptures.

Struggling with school and her feelings since her father left, Sahara gets a fresh start with a new and unique teacher who supports her writing talents and the individuality of each of her classmates.

When a 14-year-old baseball player catches mononucleosis, he discovers that keeping a journal and experimenting with poetry not only helps fill the time, it also helps him deal with life, love, and loss.

Introduces the life of the French composer Erik Satie, who spent his entire career challenging established conventions in music.

Merlinnus the magician devises a way for King Arthur to prove himself the rightful King of England - pulling a sword from a stone, but trouble arises when someone else removes the sword first.

In rural Kentucky in 1955, Serilda Collins, single mother of four lively girls, discovers that her orphaned nephew is being subjected to brutality.

The adventures of Despereaux Tilling, a small mouse of unusual talents, the princess that he loves, the servant girl who longs to be a princess, and a devious rat determined to bring them all to ruin.

A devoted nature lover and animal tracker, Sue Morse shares her knowledge and love of some of the creatures that inhabit America's woodlands.