Parents’ Choice Recommended From Newbery Award–winning author Patricia MacLachlan comes a lyrical coming-of-age story about finding your own voice while learning to understand the people you love the most.Sylvie Bloom wants to find something new and exciting this summer—at least more exciting than the cows, goats, and chickens on her family’s farm that she’s become accustomed to. Luckily, Sylvie’s teacher Mrs. Ludolf has the perfect idea. Sylvie can take over her husband Sheriff Ludolf’s column in the newspaper for the summer, reporting on all the important events that happen in their small Wyoming town. Sylvie is thrilled to have a new challenge, but she’s not sure she’ll actually see anything amazing. At least nothing like the things her mother saw when she traveled the world as a famous opera singer. Sylvie can’t figure out why her mother would give up singing in front of thousands of people. Have she and her brother Nate been holding her mother back? And when her mother’s old duet partner James Grayson writes that he’s coming to perform nearby, will she be tempted to return to the stage, without them?

Jack Drozd thinks he’s an ordinary boy—but how come he and his friends get involved in crazy adventures? Could it be because they love mystery and suspense, the excitement of chasing ideas and are filled with a desire to figure things out? But their adventures don't require travel to remote or dangerous places, or transformation into creatures with magical powers. All they have to do is... think like engineers. In each of these stories the kids encounter a problem, such as garbage in the middle of a pristine pond, a snowball fight or a flood that might damage their school. They don’t need to be special geniuses to solve these difficulties, just willing to think. This process, however, isn't purely mental, it also engages all their emotions, anger, happiness, sadness, ecstasy, amazement and more. And even better, these stories also invite the reader to think about the method, find flaws in the presented solution or find a better answer.

Dewey Fairchild isn't just good with parents, he's great with them. He's so good at handling parents that he's built a thriving business out of it. He even has a secretary, Clara―a great alibi and an even better baker. Dewey settles the most troublesome of cases, from an overprotective mom who won't let her child go to class on her own, to a dad who can't stop picking his nose any chance he gets! Dewey has no problem handling other people's parents, but when he overhears his parents talking one day, he faces a challenge he never expected. Dewey can solve any problem parents may cause, but what will he do when the parents who are causing problems are his own?