Sarah Weeks

Melody's mother died shortly after Melody was born, and compared to the remarkable person her mother was according to her father's stories, 10-year-old Melody feels completely unremarkable, so when Melody discovers she'll be getting a new stepmother soon, the one birthday wish she has, to have a talk with her mother, may just result in her receiving the most important birthday gift of all.

Eleven-year-old Verbena Polter gets through a difficult summer of turbulent emotions and the revelation of a disturbing family secret with an odd new friend who believes she is the ghost of a girl who drowned many years before.

After the death of Polly Portman, whose award-winning pies put the town of Ipswitch, Pennsylvania, on the map in the 1950s, her devoted niece Alice and Alice's friend Charlie investigate who is going to extremes to find Aunt Polly's secret pie crust recipe. Includes fourteen pie recipes.

Mrs. McNosh's dog breaks his leash and leads her on a merry chase in the park, disrupting a wedding and a ballgame.

A cat with style, charm, and a photo-savvy pose fears she has fallen out of fashion when a canine newcomer steals her spotlight.

Quirky fourth-grader Oggie Cooder goes from being shunned to everyone's best friend when his uncanny ability to chew slices of cheese into the shapes of states wins him a slot on a popular television talent show, but he soon learns the perils of being a celebrity--and having a neighbor girl as his manager.

Neither a long list of rules, nor the inability to find the perfect gift--Cheddar Jam--nor being locked in a bathroom with a juggling bear will keep quirky fourth-grader Oggie Cooder from attending neighbor Donnica Perfecto's birthday pool party.

Heidi, a gifted twelve-year-old who lives with her mentally challenged mother, travels alone from Nevada to New York to learn more about her family's past.