Central Kansas Library System

Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father--the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids.

One night, little Bill is positive there are mean things in his dark closet and that they are just dying to get him. Only when Alice the great performs a magical tucking-in trick do the mean things go away for good.

"When Cole moves in with his dad, Harp, he thinks life will be sweet--just him and his horse, Boo, hanging out with Philadelphia's urban cowboys. But when Harp says he has to get a job, Cole winds up as a stable hand for the polo team at George Washington Military Academy, where the players are rich, white, and stuck-up--all except Ruthie, the team's first and only girl, who's determined to show the others she can beat them at their own game. As Cole...