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Cal’s mother acts weird sometimes, but Cal always knows how to deal with that — until that day at the library. When Cal is put in a group home with the knitting lady and four other girls, he’s sure the situation is just temporary, but the other foster home girls know differently.

Vince’s family is wealthy, while his new girlfriend is solidly middle class. But the bigger problem is Vince’s father is a mob boss, and his girlfriend’s father works for the FBI. Filled with colorful characters, this book is perfect for reluctant readers.

Mara’s older sister has a daughter nearly as old as Mara. Unlike her immature, rebellious older sister, Mara has been accepted to Yale and is obedient to a fault. When Mara’s niece V comes to live with Mara’s family, it seems like she’s allowed to do whatever she wants, and Mara begins to chafe at her role as “the perfect one.”

Katy lives in Montreal with her Mom, an archeologist. When Mom leaves on a dig, Katy must stay in L.A. with her estranged father, an ex-addict and aging punk rock drummer in LA. Though, Katy is determined to stick to her “beige” personality, she and her Dad’s edgy companions have a lot to learn from each other.

Cousins Clay and Addison were like brothers, growing up together in the projects, until they were ripped apart by a family argument. When they are reunited in a drug-treatment program, they try to work out their issues like a family. But one night, one wrong decision, leaves Clay shaken and Addison dead. And in the rash of events that follow, the truth of what actually happened on the rooftop of the apartment building is caught up in a clash of politics and racial issues. Will Clay be able to rise above the lies and face the truth?

Fifteen-year old DeAndre lives in the projects of West Baltimore, and his parents, Fran and Gary, battle severe drug addiction. This book asks difficult questions: What happens when parents don’t parent? What is the community’s role? Simon and Burns went on to create the TV series “The Wire,” continuing their examination of life in Baltimore.

Ten-year old Lucky lives in a small California desert town with her guardian Brigitte, her father’s ex. Lucky’s “family” also includes the adults at the 12-Step meetings she eavesdrops on. When Lucky begins to worry that Brigitte will return to her native France, she searches for her own “higher power.” This title is a Newbery Award winner.

The four Casson children, whose mother, Eve, is a fine-arts painter, have all been given the names of paint colors. Cadmium (Caddy), Saffron (Saffy), Indigo, and Rose. When Saffy discovers quite by accident that she has been adopted, she is deeply upset, though the others assure her that it makes no difference at all. Saffy is the daughter of Eve’s twin sister, who lived in Siena, Italy, and died in a car crash. Grandad brought Saffy, as a very small child, back from Siena. At Grandad’s death he leaves something to each of the children. To Saffy, it is “her angel,” although no one knows its identity. How Saffy discovers what her angel is, with the help of an energetic new friend, lies at the heart of this enchanting story. Unforgettable characters come alive in often deeply humorous and always absorbing events to be treasured for a long, long time

Hattie enjoys her family and the boarders in her parents’ rooming house. Her wealthy grandmother is tough sometimes, but Hattie doesn’t get discouraged. When her mentally challenged Uncle Adam comes to live with them, Hattie must determine who in her family is most important.

Kate has suffered from leukemia since she was a toddler, and her younger sister Anna was conceived for the blood and bone marrow that would help Kate fight the disease. But when it seems Kate might need a kidney, Anna decides that, though she loves her sister, enough is enough.

After her Mom and stepdad divorce, Addie moves with Mommers into a trailer owned by stepdad Dwight. Mommers is dysfunctional and inattentive, but Addie loves her and struggles to hold their life together. As she meets the trailer’s neighbors, Addie and this makeshift family become a group of folks you can’t help but root for.

This classic of Latin American literature tells the story of Esperanza, who lives in a poor Hispanic neighborhood in Chicago. Told in a series of vignettes, Esperanza tries to leave, while realizing the house on Mango Street will always be with her.

When 16-year-old Hope and the aunt who has raised her move from Brooklyn to Mulhoney, Wisconsin, to work as waitress and cook in the Welcome Stairways diner, they become involved with the diner owner’s political campaign to oust the town’s corrupt mayor. (from Penguin.com)

Created in conjunction with the White House Historical Society; contemporary and historical photographs chronicle the history and various functions of the presidential mansion.

The life and times of Eleanor Roosevelt are presented chronologically as though one is examining a scrapbook. Much like the approach the author uses for other historical figures, this look at Eleanor is almost intimate, certainly thorough, and compelling.

Espionage played an important role in defeating the British, as is demonstrated in this cleverly-formatted, intriguing book.

Primary sources are used to relate the life of an enslaved woman who achieved freedom to become Mary Todd Lincoln’s highly esteemed dressmaker and friend.

From asthmatic childhood to robust adulthood, the determined life — both personal and professional — of Theodore Roosevelt is presented in an authoritative, attractive, and appealing biography.

Sameera, adopted daughter of a U.S. President, continues to adjust to her new life in the White House — as she confronts very contemporary issues.

The ghost of George Washington introduces Sara to other presidential ghosts.

We know a lot about Kennedy’s political career and untimely death, but little has been written for younger readers about his childhood. Kennedy was both a sickly child and a mischievous one.

The sons of one family fight on different sides while the youngest tries to make sense of the war.

As the Civil War breaks out, India, a young Southern girl, summons her sharp intelligence and the courage she didn’t know she had to survive the war that threatens to destroy her family, her Virginia home, and the only life she has ever known.

A lighthouse keeper’s daughter on Fenwick Island, Delaware, chronicles the confusion brought on by the War.