Jeffrey Lionel "Maniac" Magee might havelived a normal life if a trolley accident hadn't made him an orphan. After living with his unhappy and uptight aunt and uncle for eight years, he decides to run-- and not just run away, but run. And this is where the myth of Maniac Magee begins, as he changes the lives of a racially divided small town with his amazing and legendary feats.

"Orphaned Heidi is sent to live with her grumpy grandfather in the Alps, but soon grows to love the mountains. When she is taken to Frankfurt, her homesickness and a new friendship with a disabled girl called Clara lead to an extraordinary turn of events"--

When nine-year-old Nellie begins to attend school, Samantha determines to help her with her schoolwork and learns a great deal herself about what it is like to be a poor child and work in a factory.

For nearly a century, Victorian London relied on "climbing boys" - orphans owned by chimney sweeps - to clean flues and protect homes from fire. The work was hard, thankless, and dangerous. Eleven-year-old Nan Sparrow is quite possibly the best climber who ever lived, and a girl. With her wits and will, she's managed to beat the deadly odds time and time again. But when Nan gets stuck in a deadly chimney fire, she fears her time has come. Instead,...

"Jack, 12, tells the gripping story of Joseph, 14, who joins his family as a foster child. Damaged in prison, Joseph wants nothing more than to find his baby daughter, Jupiter, whom he has never seen. When Joseph has begun to believe he'll have a future, he is confronted by demons from his past that force a tragic sacrifice"--

The Alden children, isolated in a storm at a small bus station, are led into a mystery centering on a polluted river.

The Giver: Given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, Jonas becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives. -- Gathering blue: Lame and suddenly orphaned, Kira is mysteriously removed from her squalid village to live in the palatial Council Edifice, where she is expected to use her gifts as a weaver to do the bidding of the all-powerful Guardians....

A young Canadian visitor helps the Alden family solve a mystery involving a lost coin collection.

Benny's friend accompanies the Aldens to the South Seas for a vacation on a supposedly deserted island where they find an unusual mystery.

The Alden children have another mystery to solve when they visit a castle and must figure out which of the guests has stolen the Stradivarius violin.