The children of Room Ten (except Ralph Buyer, who’s absent again) at Carver Elementary School are standing ..

SCHOOL WAS OVER AND THE SUMMER MORNING stretched ahead like a soft, sweet piece of bubble gum. It was still ..

“Look at all the stuff there is to do,” Mia Robinson said, stepping out of the boys’ ..

Mitsi Kashino packed her sketch pad, her binder, and her worry in her book bag. Dash sniffed the straps ..

LIKE COOL, SWEET MILK ON A BOWL OF CRUNCHY cereal, the Thursday morning breeze splashed the crisp, dry leaves ..

ZIGGY AWAKENED TO A BRIGHT SPRING SATURDAY morning. The sunshine sparkled through his open bedroom window, ..

The Earth on Turtle’s Back  Before this Earth existed, there was only water. It stretched ..

There is something strange going on. Something in the air. Deja feels it as soon as she enters Room Ten at Carver ..

ON A CONTINENT OF MANY SONGS, in a country shaped like the arm of a tall guitarrista, the rain drummed ..

Nine o’clock this morning: I strapped on the Lady Tin-Yin’s violin case and glared at my father, ..

One more rainy season and our roof will be gone, says Ama.My mother is standing on a log ladder, inspecting ..

A Grand Negro Spectacle You’d think that after flying six-odd hours from New York to Oakland, ..

Martina Josefina Catalina Cucaracha was a beautiful cockroach. She lived in a cozy street lamp in Old Havana ..

CHAPTER ONE CHASE AMBROSE I remember falling. At least I think I do. Or maybe that’s just because ..

They flew to New York in steamy June, left their seventeen suitcases and Liyana’s violin stored ..

CHAPTER ONEMyths, my abuela used to say, are truths long for gotten by the world. Which is probably ..

Today is the Ritual of Purity. The thought nervously circles in my head as I hurry toward the barn, gathering ..

1: The Right BookWATCH ME ZIGZAG after school, every single afternoon, between the bus stop and Horizon ..

It’s my birthday, it’s my birthday, it’s my birthday..” Deja makes a chant out of “It’s ..

Nikki walks backwards, tilting her head way up to look directly at the sky.“Don’t let me bump ..

Something not so good happens the first Monday after Deja gets her puppy, Ms. Precious Penelope. She wants ..