Tricia Springstubb

Twelve-year-old Nella Sabatini's life is changing too soon, too fast. Her best friend, Clem, doesn't seem concerned; she's busy figuring out the best way to spend the "leap second" -- an extra second about to be added to the world's official clock. The only person who might understand how Nella feels is Angela, but the two of them have gone from being "secret sisters" to not talking at all. Then Angela's idolized big brother makes a terrible, fatal...

"Cody's best friend, Spencer, and his parents are moving in with his grandmother right around the corner, and Cody can't wait. For one thing, Cody needs Spencer to help solve the mystery of the never-seen Mr. Meen, who lives on the other side of the porch with a skull-and-crossbones sign in the window and an extermination truck out front. How's Cody to know that a yellow jacket would sting her, making her scream "Ow! Ow!" just as they start spying?...

"Khalil lives in the upstairs apartment with his family, which is big and busy and noisy. Downstairs lives Mr. Hagerty, who is quiet. Khalil and Mr. Hagerty don't appear to have a lot in common, but hot summer days have a way of bringing people together. As Khalil looks for buried treasure in the yard, Mr. Hagerty tends to his garden. Both help each other navigate language-- whether it be learning new words or remembering those seemingly forgotten....

"Jude and Gladys join forces to try and rescue a dog they think has been abandoned"-- "Jude is tall, moddy, and quiet. Gladys is tiny, bossy, and a blabbermouth. Though they live in the same small, crumbling town, there's no way these two would ever be friends. Until...along comes a dog with a crooked tail and true-blue eyes, mistreated by a sad, cruel owner. Gladys has never especially liked dogs, and Jude's been taught to fear them, but this one...

Fox Street means everything to Mo Wren, who is nearly eleven, and so she is very upset when a land developer offers to buy her father's house, especially since she has not yet found the fox she is sure lives in the nearby ravine.

"In Cody's experience, some people keep you on your toes-- just like Mother Nature, who is warm one day and snowy the next. Cody's brother, Wyatt, is wearing collared shirts because his girlfriend likes them. Pearl has joined the soccer team, and it's all she can talk about. Spencer is creating a mysterious museum under GG's porch and is never around to play. And Spencer's mom is going to have a baby! Everything around Cody-- from seasons to friendships--...

As she watches her parents' marriage deteriorate, eleven-year-old Eunice, the sensible child in the family, wants only to escape.