In a small Louisiana mill town in 1940, Jolene does not want her Momma to marry the logger who is courting her, but it seems that even her most defiantly bad behavior cannot make him go away.

During the summer of 1971 in a small Texas town, thirteen-year-old Toby and his best friend Cal meet the star of a sideshow act, 600-pound Zachary, the fattest boy in the world.

It's 1948 in Rippling Creek, Louisiana, and Tate P. Ellerbee's new teacher has just given her class an assignment--learning the art of letter writing. Luckily, Tate has the perfect pen pal in mind: Hank Williams, a country music singer whose star has just begun to rise. Tate and her great aunt and uncle listen to him on the radio every Saturday night, and Tate just knows that she and Hank are kindred spirits.

Traces the hard life, filled with losses, adversity, and adventure, of Amos, son of a trapper and dowser, from 1833 when his mother dies giving birth to him until 1859, when he has grown up and has a son of his own.

Previously published as Piper Reed, the Great Gypsy. The Gypsy Club Creed We are the Gypsies of land and sea. We move from port to port. We make friends wherever we go. And everywhere we go, we let people know That we're the Gypsies of land and sea. Piper's dad-the Navy Chief-might be gone again, but Piper's got plenty to keep her busy at home: new neighbors, a spaceship beach house, a trip to New Orleans, and most important, the upcoming Gypsy...

Bernard has never been to dinner at a friend's house before. His mother gives him quite the list of rules to follow-no elbows on the table, put your napkin on your lap, don't talk with food in your mouth, and so on. But Bernard isn't prepared to discover that the Goldsmiths think the table is the best place for elbows and feet, never put their napkins on their laps, and talk with food in their mouths! How will Bernard survive dinner with such an obnoxious...

In Kimberly Willis Holt's Piper Reed, Campifire Girl, the Reed family is going camping on Halloween, and Piper is determined to make it a holiday to remember. Piper and her family are going camping--nothing could be better. But when Piper finds out that the camping trip falls on Halloween, nothing could be worse! Still, catching fish, roasting marshmallows, and sleeping in a trailer are right up Piper's alley, even if getting poison ivy is not....

Piper is sad about leaving her home and friends behind when her father, a Navy aircraft mechanic, is transferred yet again, but with help from her often-annoying sisters and a surprise from their parents, she finds happiness in their new home in Pensacola, Florida.

After the sudden death of her parents, Stevie, thirteen, is sent to live at a rundown motel, where she charms everyone except her estranged grandfather.

Growing up in Saitter, Louisiana, in the 1950s, twelve-year-old Tiger Ann struggles with her feelings about her stern, but loving grandmother, her mentally slow parents and her good friend and neighbor, Jesse,