Central Kansas Library System

Since thier father died, the five Pepper children and their mother have been living in poverty, with only potatoes and brown bread for supper. Ben chops wood to help support the family, and Polly looks after the little ones while their mother earns what she can by sewing. The Peppers are so poor, they've never even had a Christmas. But from measles to monkeys, through bad times and good, the cozy kitchen in the little brown house rings with laughter...

The story about eleven-year-old Harriet, who is a spy, plans to be a writer, and keeps a secret notebook filled with thoughts and notes on her schoolmates and people she observes on her after-school "spy route". However, when her classmates find and read her notebook, their anger and retaliation and Harriet's unexpected responses explode in a hilarious and often touching way.

Thirteen-year-old Anastasia acquires poise and self-confidence, a new friend, and advice on becoming a bookstore owner when she commutes to Boston to take a modeling course.

After her mother's death, Julie goes to live with Aunt Cordelia, a spinster schoolteacher, where she experiences many emotions and changes as she grows from seven to eighteen.

This is the story of the coon dog, Sounder, and his devotion to his master. It is also a story of humans: the father, a black sharecropper, who must feed his children, the timid mother fighting for survival, and the son who grows to maturity through his father's prison term and the devotion of Sounder.

Seventh-grader John "Crash" Coogan has always been comfortable with his tough, aggressive behavior, until his relationship with an unusual Quaker boy and his grandfather's stroke make him consider the meaning of friendship and the importance of family.

A young orphan, afraid of being sent to the workhouse, finds himself at the mercy of the unsavory owner of a tavern in Alexandria, Virginia, while he tries to solve the mystery surrounding his past and a missing twin.

In this final part of the chronicle of Prydain the forces of good and evil in an ultimate confrontation, which determines the fate of Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper who wanted to be a hero.

Danny is brought up by his father, who's a great storyteller and a genius with cars and kites. He's also a poacher, and with Danny's help he catches more pheasants than anyone else in the history of poaching.

This brightly illustrated book shows how traditional American quilt-block designs tell the story of pioneer days, when designs were created to reflect daily life and special events.