The eccentric, forceful, big-hearted Grandma Dowdel--the star of Peck's Newbery Medal-winning "A Year Down Yonder"--is back in this new story set during Christmas of 1958. A new family has moved in next door to Mrs. Dowdel, and soon she will work her particular brand of charm on all of them. Illustrations. Relates the surprising gifts bestowed on twelve-year-old Bob Barnhart and his family, who have recently moved to a small Illinois town in 1958,...

"Seishuu Handa, a handsome young calligrapher, uproots himself and moves to an island on the westernmost edge of Japan. "Sensei," as he comes to be known, is a city boy through and through and has never experienced rural life until now. And by the looks of it, he has much to learn! Luckily , he has a willing teacher in Naru, the energetic expert islander, to help show him the ropes. But can Sensei keep up with the plucky first-grader, or will he get...

Budding costume designer Lola Nolan has big plans for the future but is pretty content with her life right now, until the Bell twins move back in next door and Lola must deal with a lifetime of feelings for Cricket and her longtime rivalry with his twin sister.

Amedo moves to a new town with a dream. He wants to discover something and he wants a friend to share his search.

Angry that her father has left, twelve-year-old Alice swears that she will live in her family's old Renaissance tent until he agrees to return; but after she meets her mute four-year-old neighbor Piper she finds herself becoming involved in the child's life--and when she hears the little girl speak a word for the first time in years she sets out to prove to Piper's parents that the dismal diagnosis they received for their daughter may be all wrong....