Betsy Byars

From Newbery-winning author Betsy Byars comes a story full of "poignancy, perception, and humor" (The Chicago Tribune), about three foster kids who learn what it takes to make a family. 

You can't always decide where life will take you—especially when you're a kid.

Carlie knows she's got no say in what happens to her. Stuck in a foster home with two other kids, Harvey and Thomas J, she's just a pinball being

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What happened to the class hamster? Find out in this Edgar Award–winning mystery story with some “delightfully comic twists” (Kirkus Reviews).
When Junior brings home the classroom hamster, Scooty, he decides to build the best hamster tunnel ever. But when Scooty goes missing, all evidence points to Mud. Meanwhile, Mad Mary is missing, too—although her bag and walking stick were found near the highway. When...

Anna Bean goes to the roof in search of inspiration, and soon her family will follow her into a new world just a few floors above their home
The Bean children are not allowed to play on the roof of their apartment building. One evening Anna Bean goes up to the roof—not to play, but to be alone so she can write a poem for school. Her poetry writing fever is contagious; one by one, the rest of the Bean family visits the roof to write...

A panel of three judges has to decide which dog out of eight finalists deserves to win the title of My Hero.

May-May and Rose, the singing, dancing Golly sisters, travel west by covered wagon, entertaining people along the way. 2 of 2

An entertaining adventure in the Newbery Medal–winning author’s series starring “a lively, likable family” (School Library Journal).
Junior Blossom has set out to test his brand-new invention, a coyote trap. How on earth does he end up lost in a cave with Mad Mary, a.k.a. “the Vulture Lady,” while his family attempts to find him in this suspenseful and sidesplitting Blossom Family sequel. ...

When Boo brings home a dinosaur that only she can see, her brother Sammy, doesn't want to encourage her antics. Boo and her dinosaur are inseparable until Boo says good-bye to the dino quite suddenly. When Sammy sees how sad his sister is, he understands Boo's need for her dinosaur more than he wants to admit. So much so that he almost believes it ... almost. Betsy Byars has written many chapter books, including Little Horse and Little Horse on...

Somehow Jimmie Little must overcome his belief that terrible things are always about to happen. Jimmie Little was always the sensible one in the family. The rest of his aunts, uncles, and cousins were always getting into ridiculous scrapes because of their bold, show-off attitudes. But when he loses his father to a mining accident and his Uncle Pete to a frozen river, everything changed. Jimmie is certain that everything he or anyone else in his family...

There's no such thing as a colt with wings-is there? When Charles arrives at his Uncle Coot's Texas ranch from back East, he's sure that books have taught him everything he needs to know about horses. He wants to prove he's a cowboy just like his uncle, a retired movie stunt rider, who knows Charles is out of his element. But when a neighbor's mare gives birth to a miraculous colt with wings, Charles and Coot realize that they both have much more...

When Birch agreed to one last flight in her grandfather's Piper Cub, neither knew it would be a life-changing trip. Birch's grandfather, "Pop," wants to take his plane out for one more trip before moving into a retirement home. He wants to take Birch along with him, which sounds like a fine plan - until the two decide to turn the short flight into a cross-country adventure without telling Birch's parents. As grandfather and granddaughter soar westward...