Kevin Henkes

"Amelia Albright dreams about going to Florida for spring break like everyone else in her class, but her father--a cranky and stubborn English professor--has decided Florida is too much adventure. Now Amelia is stuck at home with him and her babysitter, the beloved Mrs. O'Brien. The week ahead promises to be boring, until Amelia meets Casey at her neighborhood art studio. Amelia has never been friends with a boy before, and the experience is both...

Returning to the beach cottage—a cottage named Scallop—where she has always celebrated her birthday is a special occasion for Alice Rice.

Who will see the first dolphin this time? The first pelican? What will have changed? Stayed the same? And will this be the year she finally finds a junonia shell?

Alice's friends are all returning, too, for their annual family vacation. And she's certain her parents have the best

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On a summer visit to her grandmother's cottage by the ocean, twelve-year-old Martha gains perspective on the death of a classmate, on her relationship with her grandmother, on her feelings for an older boy, and on her plans to be a writer.

Chrysanthemum loves her name, until she starts going to school and the other children make fun of it.

"A beautifully written, rich, and tender novel." —The Horn Book (starred review)

Blaze Werla is having a routine summer. He spends his days alone, wandering around the hill next door, and his nights awake, avoiding the dreams that haunt him.

Then a message appears on the side of the hill and Blaze's predictable summer suddenly takes a turn toward the mysterious. By the time he meets outgoing Joselle Stark, Blaze

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Four-year-old Sal cannot find a gift she received from Santa, her new baby sister still does not have a name and takes up all of Mama's attention, and her brother Billy is annoying, but Sal finds her own strengths over an eventful Christmas season with her family.

Penny instantly loves the doll her grandmother sends her, but finding the perfect name for her is a challenge.

A mouse named Wemberly, who worries about everything, finds that she has a whole list of things to be anxious about when she faces the first day of nursery school.

When her teacher announces that he is getting married, Lilly the mouse sets her heart on being the flower girl at his wedding.

A young girl visiting her grandparents at the beach stays in a little house and walks along the shore gathering seashells, wondering about the creatures who used to live in each shell, about the hidden treasures of the sea--and about the world.