Friendship

Lydia Grace Finch brings a suitcase full of seeds to the big gray city, where she goes to stay with her Uncle Jim, a cantankerous baker. There she initiates a gradual transformation, bit by bit brightening the shop and bringing smiles to customers' faces with the flowers she grows. But it is in a secret place that Lydia Grace works on her masterpiece -- an ambitious rooftop garden -- which she hopes will make even Uncle Jim smile.

"An effective, unusual 34-word story of the beginnings of a friendship, accompanied by wild and wonderful illustrations. Against pastel backgrounds, in vibrant, colorful images, an African-American boy and a white boy meet on the street. [Their] one- and two-word exchanges on each spread lead to a tentative offer of friendship, sealed as both boys jump high in the air and yell "Yow!" With a beautifully balanced, economical style, the book illumines the peaks and pitfalls of getting acquainted, and puts in a good word for brotherhood as well." — School Library Journal, starred review

When the king's priests declared Miri's village the home of the future princess, Miri, Britta, and the village's other girls attended the Princess Academy to learn how to be princesses. In the end, the prince chose Britta to be his bride.

Now Miri and five of her fellow graduates are leaving their mountain town to spend several months at the palace helping Britta prepare for the royal wedding. Miri's excited to help her friend, and to get a chance to study at the grandest school in the kingdom!