Claudia Mills

Gus enjoys basketball practice, but the noise and pace of real games bother him, until his grandpa gives him some good advice.

Second-grader Gus wants a store-bought Halloween costume to wear to school, but because he knows his parents do not believe in buying costumes, he turns to his grandfather for help.

Gus waves at the train near his grandfather's house, sets up a toy train, and eventually gets to ride on the train with his grandfather.

Writing down her experiences of being a reluctant fourth-grade aunt to her older sibling's newborn, Nora is challenged to write journals in the style of an Oregon Trail pioneer for the science fair while partnering with a science-hating classmate.

Gus despairs of coming up with something interesting and impressive for his second-grade class's show-and-tell, until he gets a great idea while visiting Grandpa.

"Twelve-year-old Autumn wants more than anything to be a real author, but when she wins a contest by writing something too personal about her brother, she has to decide if her dreams are more important than their relationship"--

Seventh-grade honor student Sierra Shepard faces expulsion after accidentally bringing a paring knife to school, violating the school's zero-tolerance policy.