Emmi, a German immigrant, is living in Chicago when the Great Fire breaks out on October 8, 1871, and, separated from her father, she finds herself with her neighbors, Cara and Seamus, braving the smoke and flames trying to escape the danger of the burning city, and searching for all their parents.

In 1970 thirteen-year-old Marika dreams of going to Harvard to study economics, but her parents both believe that a woman's place is in the home; Marika does not understand why they are so attached to "traditional values," especially since they defied convention when they were married at a time when interracial marriages were illegal in many states; so Marika defies her parents and joins her Black friend, Beth, and her parents and attends the Women's...

Soraya is a creative girl who marches to the beat of her own drum. She feels isolated from her fourth grade classmates and is most comfortable in the world of her comic book hero, Nimbla Moony. A class trip to the aquarium yields an unexpected surprise when Soraya is approached by a young mermaid who needs help returning to the sea. How can Soraya get Estelle safely out of the building to the nearby bay without detection? Does she have what it takes...

Nita Dara is one of ten eighth graders who has already won a scholarship to attend the Alaska Young Explorers program and learn explorer skills in an Alaskan wilderness camp; but the program is also a competition and the winner will get 5000 dollars--money that Nita's family could really use--but on the final challenge she is paired with the super-competitive Sohail Aman, and the challenge turns deadly when they find themselves lost in the fog while...