Pearsall, Shelley

On a bitter November day in Washington, D.C., when everything felt metallic - when the sky was gray and the wind stung and the dry leaves were making death-rattle sounds in the alleys - Thirteen-year-old Arthur Owens picked up a brick from the corner of a crumbling building and threw it at an old man's head.

"April is looking for an escape from the sixth-grade lunch hour, which has become a social-scene nightmare, so she signs up to be a 'buddy bench monitor' for the fourth graders' recess. Joey Byrd is a boy on the fringes, who wanders the playground alone, dragging his foot through the dirt. But over time, April realizes that Joey isn't just making random circles. When you look at his designs from above, a story emerges . . . Joey's 'bird's eye' drawings reveal what he observes and thinks about every day"--Amazon.

"April is looking for an escape from the sixth-grade lunch hour, which has become a social-scene nightmare, so she signs up to be a 'buddy bench monitor' for the fourth graders' recess. Joey Byrd is a boy on the fringes, who wanders the playground alone, dragging his foot through the dirt. But over time, April realizes that Joey isn't just making random circles. When you look at his designs from above, a story emerges . . . Joey's 'bird's eye' drawings reveal what he observes and thinks about every day"--Amazon.

"April is looking for an escape from the sixth-grade lunch hour, which has become a social-scene nightmare, so she signs up to be a 'buddy bench monitor' for the fourth graders' recess. Joey Byrd is a boy on the fringes, who wanders the playground alone, dragging his foot through the dirt. But over time, April realizes that Joey isn't just making random circles. When you look at his designs from above, a story emerges . . . Joey's 'bird's eye' drawings reveal what he observes and thinks about every day"--Amazon.

Samuel, an eleven-year-old Kentucky slave, and Harrison, the elderly slave who helped raise him, attempt to escape to Canada via the Underground Railroad.

Five urban middle school students, their teacher, and other community members relate how a school project to build the world's largest tetrahedron affects the lives of everyone involved.

In 1945, thirteen-year-old Levi is sent to find the father he has not seen in three years, going from Chicago, to segregated North Carolina, and finally to Pendleton, Oregon,where he learns that his father's unit, the all-Black 555th paratrooper battalion, will never see combat but finally has a mission. Includes historical notes.

In 1945, thirteen-year-old Levi is sent to find the father he has not seen in three years, going from Chicago, to segregated North Carolina, and finally to Pendleton, Oregon, where he learns that his father's unit, the all-Black 555th paratrooper battalion, will never see combat but finally has a mission. Includes historical notes.

Samuel, an eleven-year-old Kentucky slave, and Harrison, the elderly slave who helped raise him, attempt to escape to Canada via the Underground Railroad.

When thirteen-year-old Josh goes to stay with his father in Chicago for a few months, he discovers--to his horror--that his dad has become an Elvis impersonator.