In a future Chicago, sixteen-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomoly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.

"Jabari is definitely ready to jump off the diving board. He's finished his swimming lessons and passed his swim test, and he's a great jumper, so he's not scared at all. "Looks easy," says Jabari, watching the other kids take their turns. But when his dad squeezes his hand, Jabari squeezes back. He needs to figure out what kind of special jump to do anyway, and he should probably do some stretches before climbing up onto the diving board. In a sweetly...

"Hal and the other Herons face many perils as they track down the pirates who stole Skandia's most prized artifact, the Andomal"--

In Pakistan, Amal holds onto her dream of being a teacher even after becoming an indentured servant to pay off her family's debt to the wealthy and corrupt Khan family.

In 1940, when the Nazi invasion of Norway reaches their village in the far north, twelve-year-old Peter and his friends use their sleds to transport nine million dollars worth of gold bullion past the German soldiers to the secret harbor where Peter's uncle keeps his ship ready to take the gold for safekeeping in the United States.

"A heroic little mouse leads three mischievous black cats on a wild and epic chase up and down and over and around and into the pantry as part of a plan to protect her best friend, a goldfish the cats have been frightening"--

A young girl with appendicitis recounts her strange and scary trip to the hospital, and the nine times she cried--and a few times when she did not.

"Lucy is teased by a boy at school because she is different. She has the courage to be true to herself and to make the right choice when that same boy needs help."--T.p. verso.

With their honor restored, Hal and his fellow Herons leave Skandia again on a new mission--to track down and stop Hal's nemesis, Tursgud, a bullying youth-turned vicious pirate and slave trader.

"Most castles are protected by powerful men. This one by women... A reluctant resistor...1940. French schoolteacher and aspiring artist Marthe Simone has an orphan's self-reliance and wants nothing to do with war. But as the realities of Nazi occupation transform her life in the isolated castle where she came of age, she makes a discovery that calls into question who she is, and more importantly, who she is willing to become. A daring visionary...1914....