FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN WHITE AND BLACK in 1950s Tennessee. Tony Johnston draws on her own childhood memories to limn a portrait of a sensitive and compassionate boy fighting for a friendship his father forbids.David's daddy is determined that his son will grow up to be a doctor like himself. David studies the human bones, and secretly teaches them in turn to his black friend, Malcolm. In a rage, Dr. Church forbids Malcolm to ever enter their home--and threatens to kill him if he does. David tries to change his daddy's mind. but when Malcolm crosses the line, Dr. Church grabs his shotgun.

To save his family, one boy will defy the power of two armies in 15th-century China. Shen and his sister Chang are on the run. It's 1403, and the city of Nanjing is under siege. Their mother has been imprisoned, and their father, an Imperial Bodyguard, is presumed dead. Hoping to avoid detection for their connection to the former regime, Shen and Chang take refuge in a traveling acrobat troupe. Meanwhile, the new emperor has commanded the construction of an armada to explore the world the -- treasure fleet. But a violent struggle breaks out between Zheng He, the powerful leader of the fleet, and the government officials who fear him. Fleeing the growing conflict, the acrobats gain passage with the fleet. Shen soon discovers they'll be sharing their vessel with the notorious Yang Rong, a government official with the power to free their mother. Shen and Chang enter a dangerous game of double-dealing. After months at sea they manage to defy the power of both armies, and they eventually save their parents. But they also discover that their own lives have been changed forever. The China they knew no longer exists. For Shen especially, it is too late to go home. Set in a period of unparalleled Chinese exploration and rich with historical detail, Shen and the Treasure Fleet is an adventure of majestic proportions.

Always dreaming of getting out of their father's circus and living normal lives, performers Ellen and Lucy Spangle bide their time and do the work required of them, but when Ellen meets an English gentleman, her hopes for real love is renewed until a disaster strikes and she is forced back into the family business.

When her British uncle and cousin flee London during World War II and come to live in her family's farmhouse in Virginia, Margaret Ann is unhappy with having to share a room and having her life disrupted by a relative she hardly knows, but when Margaret Ann's brother goes off to the Pacific to fight, the cousins bond in ways neither ever expected.