From basketball dreams and family fiascos to first crushes and new neighborhoods, this anthology, written by award-winning children's authors, celebrates the uniqueness and universality in all of us.

When twelve-year-old Izzy discovers a beat-up baseball marked with the words "Because magic" while unpacking in yet another new apartment, she is determined to figure out what it means. What secrets does this old ball have to tell? Her mom certainly isn't sharing anyespecially when it comes to Izzy's father, who died before Izzy was born. But when she spends the summer in her Nana's remote New Mexico village, Izzy discovers long-buried secrets that...

In the summer of 1988, twelve-year-old Chuck Bell is sent to stay with his grandparents, where he discovers jazz and basketball and learns more about his family's past.

A literary tour-de-force sure to turn the coming-of-age genre on its head from Printz honor author, Eric Gansworth
Brian, a 20-something reporter on the Niagara Cascade's City Desk, is navigating life as the only Indigenous writer in the newsroom, being lumped into reporting on stereotypical stories that homogenize his community, the nearby Tuscarora reservation. But when a mysterious roadside assault lands Tim, the brother of Brian's...

A Chinese-American girl learns how to properly celebrate Chinese New Year when her grandmother from China visits and shows her what to do and what not to do.

For Teenagers Living With a Parent Who Abuses Alcohol/Drugs by Edith Lynn Hornik-Beer answers questions about alcoholism asked by teenagers. Included are: What causes alcoholism? Where can I get help? What do I do about the abuse? Should I stay at home? Where can I go? How can anyone expect me to concentrate in school? Why do I fight with my parents even when they are sober?

When so much of the world is new, you want to go slowly... to stop and enjoy everything; hills to roll down, perfect-sized rocks, trees that seem to whisper their thoughts. It's the same when you're much, much older, and every time 'round the seasons seems precious. Yet the folks in the middle (we know who we are) are always rushing, rushing, rushing. Appointments to make, trains to catch, places to be, FAST.
That's what makes the bond between...

Lucky for Sophie and Chloe, Grandma Tillie knows how to royally entertain her grandchildren. To their delight, whenever Grandma Tillie babysits, she seems to disappear, only to be replaced by a parade of lovable characters. There's Tillie Vanilly with the bright pink hair, star of The Tillie Vanilly Show, who loves to tell jokes and dance the conga; Chef Silly Tillie with the lampshade hat who offers up a dinner of Worm Chili with Glue Gravy;

...

After the death of the beloved aunt who has raised her, twelve-year-old Summer and her uncle Ob leave their West Virginia trailer in search of the strength to go on living.

Ma and the girls follow Pa west by train where they make their home at a rough railroad camp and plan for their own homestead.