All the fruits gather together and enjoy a rhyming party, but poor Orange feels left out because he does not rhyme with anything--until Apple invents a new word.

When teen July Fielding discovers everyone in her hometown disappeared, her only chance to unravel the mystery is a series of objects, each a reminder of the people she loved most.

With insight and a light touch, best-selling, Newbery Honor-winning author Gary D. Schmidt tells two poignant, linked stories: that of a grieving girl and a boy trying to escape his violent past. Following the death of her closest friend in summer 1968, Meryl Lee Kowalski goes off to St. Elene's Preparatory Academy for Girls, where she struggles to navigate the venerable boarding school's traditions and a social structure heavily weighted toward students...

A boy, a dog, and an old man are lonely before the boy plans a rally, the dog looks for a boy, and all the townspeople run to the old man's aid when lightning strikes his home and something miraculous happens.

When Jess, a girl who is allergic to the sun, sneaks out of her house, she discovers a magical garden made out of ice.

A young bear cub, who is alone in the world, and Old Bear, who is grumpy and tired of living alone, meet and discover what they have been missing.

Old Dave ignores strange noises he hears in the lonely old cottage he inherited from his uncle, except the voice telling him there are ghastly ghosts in the coal shed.

Whale's beautiful song calms a wriggly octopus, cheers a sad urchin, and much more but cannot cure his loneliness without the help of his friends.

"A girl from a faraway place begins her first day at school. She doesn't speak the language and she looks different. She just doesn't fit in. But one day, she makes an unexpected friend a squirrel! Then a rabbit joins them. Soon the girl's fuzzy woodland friends are followed by human ones and school becomes more fun!"--