Family life

The adventures of Laura Ingalls and her family continue as they move from their little house on the banks of Plum Creek to the wilderness of the unsettled Dakota Territory. Here Pa works on the new railroad until he finds a homestead claim that is perfect for their new little house. Laura takes her first train ride as she, her sisters, and their mother come out to live with Pa on the shores of Silver Lake. After a lonely winter in the surveyors' house, Pa puts up the first building in what will soon be a brand-new town on the beautiful shores of Silver Lake.

The adventures of Laura Ingalls and her family continue as Pa, Ma, Laura, Mary, Carrie and Little Grace bravely face the hard winter of 1880-1881 in their little house in the Dakota territory. Blizzards cover the little town in snow, cutting off all supplies. Soon they are almost out of food, so young Almanzo Wilder and a friend make a dangerous trip across the prairie to find some wheat. Finally a joyous Christmas is celebrated in a very unusual way with the most exciting of all the Little House books.

When seventh grader Georges (the S is silent) moves into a Brooklyn apartment building he meets Safer, a twelve-year-old coffee-drinking loner and self-appointed spy. Georges is happy to hang out with Safer's warm, eccentric family, because lately things haven't been so easy at home: his dad lost his job, and his mom has started working extra shifts at the hospital. Life is no better at school, where Georges is the new target of Dallas, who is always on the lookout for other kids' weak spots (so he knows exactly where to hit them).

By the time Binny is eleven years old she has lived in two worlds. A child's world, and a time-to-start-growing-up-now world. An easy world, and a hard world. The first world held Binny; her mother and father; her big sister, Clem; and her little brother, James. And Max, the best dog in the whole world. But after her father's death, money was tight, and Binny's world became cramped apartments with no room for Max. So horrible Aunty Violet stepped in and gave Max away.

For Ruby Pepperdine, the center of everything is on the rooftop of Pepperdine Motors, stargazing from the circle of her grandmother Gigi's hug. That's how everything is suppose to be - until it goes spinning out of control. Now Ruby's best friend, Lucy, is mad at her. Her new friendship with Nero is pretty bumpy too. Worst of all, Ruby regrets what happened with Gigi. How Ruby didn't listen. And now it's too late to make things right.

Springtime is finally arriving on Gardam Street, and with it comes all the joyful chaos of the Penderwicks. The brood has grown to six with the addition of Lydia, the new youngest sibling, and there are surprises in store for all.

When a terrible famine struck William Kamkwamba's tiny village in Malawi, his family lost all of the season's crops, leaving them with nothing to eat or sell. The family could hardly find money for food, let alone school fees. forced to drop out of high school, William began to explore the science books in his village library. There, he came up with an idea that would change his family's life forever: He could build a windmill.

Twelve-year-old Ella Mae Higbee is a sensible girl. She eats her vegetables and wants to be just like Sergeant Friday, her favorite character on Dragnet. So when her auntie Mildred starts spouting nonsense about a scientist who can bring her cousin Robby back to life, Ella Mae doesn't believe her - until a boy steps out of the scientist's pod and drips slime on the floor right before her eyes.

School has started, and Binny can't believe how terrible it is. She has a horrid hand-me-down uniform, and the kids make fun of her "posh" city accent.

Then a storm destroys the roof of Binny's house. Binny; her mother; her sensible older sister, Clem; and her rambunctious brother, James (and his chickens) are forced to move across town to a rental home at the end of a forbidding, unlit lane. Things only get worse when she calls their new landlady a "bossy old witchy woman" at school...in front of the landlady's daughter, Clare, who starts bullying Binny mercilessly.

Terpsichore and her family are going to be pioneers in Alaska! Times have been tough in Wisconsin during the Great Depression, and she's eager to make a new start. Terpsichore has often dreamed about living like Laura Ingalls Wilder, but the reality of their new home is a shock. The town is still under construction, the mosquitoes are huge, and when a mouse eats her shoelace, causing her to fall on her first day of school, everyone learns the nickname she had hoped to leave behind: Trip.

There's an old yellow dog wandering around town, and you can bet that eleven-year-old Callie--fearless, a little stubborn, and a lot nosy--is gonna figure out who he belongs to. But her sleuthing causes her to cross paths with Wendell, a white boy her very same age. As the two try to find the old dog's owner, their segregated town doesn't take kindly to their new friendship.