Alison McGhee

Because their dreams of daring adventures go against the cautious teachings of their nations, Firefly and Cricket set out on their own, find a home with kindly Vole, and together help a grieving "miniature giant" named Peter.

Eleven-year-old Edwina confronts old and new challenges when her longtime best friend Sally faces the inevitable death of the grandmother who raised her.

A first grader is frightened on her first day of school after hearing a rumor that her teacher is a 300-year-old alien with a purple tongue who steals baby teeth from her students.

Ten-year-old Julia Gillian's best friend is keeping secrets, their beloved lunch lady was replaced by a tyrant, and trumpet lessons prove difficult, making it hard for her to follow the music teacher's advice to "look for the joy."

A young girl wants to fly like a witch on a broom, and one special night, through enormous effort and with the help of her brother, her black cat, and an owl, she fulfills her dream.

Ten days before the start of kindergarten, a preschooler cannot tie her shoes by herself and fears the worst.

A little boy in a sheriff's hat and his dog deputy are bringing donuts home when the "Sheriff" is unable to resist getting rid of a slightly squished powdered donut, then wonders how everyone knows he ate it.

Told in the voices of two high school juniors, Micah is held captive by the cult his parents joined and Sesame, his orphaned girlfriend, rallies their friends to save him. Micah and Sesame safeguard each other's secrets and share their dreams. Micah wants to save his parents from the cult leader who calls himself "the Prophet." Sesame recently lost the last of her own family-- her grandmother-- and plans to keep a low profile until she turns eighteen...

After a car accident in the Adirondacks leaves her older sister Ivy brain-dead, seventeen-year-old Rose struggles with her grief and guilt as she slowly learns to let her sister go.

A father tells his young son the story behind each of his tattoos.