As Henry finishes fifth grade, his biggest concern is facing a summer with nothing to do. With his best friend, Max, away at summer camp, it's looking so bad he can feel himself "being pulled by the gravitational force of nothingness." But then Henry does something irresponsible, something with real consequences. And suddenly he'd give anything to go back to the nothingness. Has Henry turned into the dingus Max told him not to be? A classic coming-of-age...

A child and beloved grandma bond over birds during the grandma's final days. When Grandma gets sick and comes to stay at her grandchild's house, she brings her bird feeder. Grandma loves birds. And the child loves the time they spend together, drawing bird pictures and "talking about interesting things." Grandma's health declines, however. She moves to the hospice, where the child hangs the bird feeder outside her window. There, though the grandma's...

A hockey fan's best night ever. A young boy doesn't want to go to bed. The hockey game is on! And he's worried he won't be able to fall asleep. After his parents have tucked him in and turned out the light, he decides he'll listen to the hockey game on a radio placed under his pillow. With the familiar drone of the announcer's voice for company, the boy drifts off to sleep. And there he is on the ice playing for his favorite team - and scoring the...

"You can write about ANYTHING, as long as you write about YOU." A young boy listens as Mr. Lopez explains the class's assignment: write about yourself. Marcus is going to write about his hat collection. Alia is going to write about the vampires she talks about all the time. The boy, however, doesn't have any ideas beyond a title: "The Story of Me by Me." His sister suggests making lists as a way to start - Thinks I Like, Things I Know. But the...

An evocative story about two brothers who are growing up (one faster than the other), an unusual summer night and a special tree house that proves childhood is not just a time but also a place.

Andrew Larsen's latest story celebrates the eternal hope and joy of baseball. Lenny loves playing baseball. He also loves reading about it. He wants to be in the big leagues, and, he figures, the more he knows, the better his chances. The only thing is, when he's in the outfield, the ball somehow always ends up by his feet and not in his glove. But he and his dad practice. And practice. Lenny doesn't give up. And it pays off. He makes a game-changing...

One day on a walk with his dad, Charlie sees some boys and girls on the rooftop of the school saying goodbye as they release butterflies up into the sky. Charlie is amazed by all the butterflies flying around and wishes he could do something like that too. And when Charlie starts school next year he becomes a "butterfly scientist" as well and helps his teacher and classmates care for some teeny tiny caterpillars as they grow into butterflies and are...

It's almost Poppa's birthday and young Theo wants to give her beloved grandfather the perfect gift. Poppa has traveled the world and keeps a trunk full of mementos collected on his adventures. That gives Theo an idea for a very special gift: a new adventure! They'll take the streetcar to the local beach, sink their toes in the sand, skip stones and stop for lunch at the beachside café. Together, Poppa and Theo plan their trip and sketch a map of...

"The story itself is simple. Boy gets up, boy goes to school, boy comes home from school, boy goes to bed. Boy seems a bit grumpy, until the end of the day when he comes home to his cat, who he clearly loves. The boys story is told in a traditional picture book style--in the meantime, the cat's story is told in graphic panels. Throughout the entire book, the boy tells the reader how much he dislikes stories, all kinds of stories inspired by his surroundings...