"Budding film director Kate Walden navigates middle school girl politics and chores on her mother's chicken farm while trying to become the next Spielberg"--

On his first day at a new school, eleven-year-old Billy goes up against the school bully in a challenge that ends up with a total gross-out date...to eat 10 worms in one day. As the pressure mounts, Billy must summon all his strength to meet the dare, all the while keeping his weak stomach from betraying him and his big mouth from getting him in even more trouble.

Every day people tune in to The Writer's Almanac on public radio and hear Garrison Keillor read them a poem. And here, for the first time, is an anthology of poems from the show, chosen by the narrator for their wit, their frankness, their passion, their "utter clarity in the face of everything else a person has to deal with at 7 a.m." The title Good Poems comes from common literary parlance. For writers, it's enough to refer to somebody having written...

Black Beauty: The adventures of a horse as he is passed through the hands of many masters prior to returning to his original young master and a happy retirement. Hotel for dogs: Foster children Andi and Bruce have been placed with a flaky couple who care more for their aspiring rock careers than their charges. Their mischievous tendencies repeatedly get them into trouble. After a close call with the local pound, the kids end up searching for Friday,...