After her mother leaves home suddenly, thirteen-year-old Sal and her grandparents take a car trip retracing her mother's route. Along the way, Sal recounts the story of her friend Phoebe, whose mother also left.

When a little boy spends Christmas with his dying cousin, they discover that Santa really does exist.

With insight and a light touch, best-selling, Newbery Honor-winning author Gary D. Schmidt tells two poignant, linked stories: that of a grieving girl and a boy trying to escape his violent past. Following the death of her closest friend in summer 1968, Meryl Lee Kowalski goes off to St. Elene's Preparatory Academy for Girls, where she struggles to navigate the venerable boarding school's traditions and a social structure heavily weighted toward students...

Since Jessie has never cared for her farmer husband's cat William, her difficult adjustment period after her husband's death makes William doubt if he is still welcome on the farm.

The suspenseful story of a young man thrust into the fight of his life. He races against time and ruthless criminals in pursuit of the truth about the mysterious death of his father and the key to a history-changing secret.

"The December 31st deadline is fast approaching, and Cal's enemies are closing in on all sides. Even the notorious "Toe Cutter" Durham has emerged from the underworld to join the hunt."--P. [4] of cover.

Cal's old life ended as soon as the deadly 365-day countdown began. He's a hunted fugitive who'll do anything to survive. But is Cal desperate enough to befriend a traitor with killer connections? Or risk returning to the scene of his attempted murder? Should he meet with a mysterious informant, when it could be a setup? The clock is ticking. Any second could be his last.

Buried in a coffin, Cal's chances of survival are running out as fast as the air around him. Thanks to his unknown attackers, he's lost the Jewel and the Riddle, and now his life hangs in the balance. Six feet under.