Lore Deoradaan wants to be happy when she grows up. But navigating her parents' mercurial moods, moving to a new town just two weeks before her high school graduation, and dealing with her beloved grandma's declining health all make that dream seemingly impossible. Will her new job be the first step toward happiness, or will it be yet another disappointment?--

Seventh grader Freya June Sun has always believed in the Chinese superstitions spoon-fed to her since birth-but ever since her dad's death a year ago, she's become obsessed, believing that her father is sending her messages through signs from the beyond. Like how, on her way to an orchestra concert where she's dreading her viola solo, a pair of lucky red birds appear, a sure indication that Dad wants Freya to stick with the instrument and make him...

Relating the cycle of requests a mouse is likely to make after you give him a cookie takes the reader through a young child's day.

"Summer camp just became a whole lot more interesting when five curious kids accept a mysterious project: work together as a team to uncover a series of strange clues, reveal a secret path -- and follow its twists and turns to a legendary treasure! Kyle is a new kid in town who likes to draw. Vic is a cool cheerleader who's secretly a math whiz. Quiet Beth is a history buff, while goofball Harry likes performing magic tricks, with the help of his...