In their Pennsylvania town in 1942 twelve-year-old Charlotte and her classmates collect scrap metal for the war effort only to have it disappear from the school basement.

"Leo has explored the zany, wonderful Whippet Hotel from basement to top floor, with trains, flying goats, and mazes (among other things) in between. But even Leo doesn't know every secret of the Whippet - and when he discovers that there's more beneath the hotel than he'd thought, it doesn't take long for more adventures to unfold!"--Dust jacket.

While working on a science fair project, a Philadelphia school boy discovers both a secret laboratory in his basement and Benjamin Franklin, who comes to life after receiving a jolt of electricity.

After Zara's bike goes missing, her parents insist on her earning money to pay for it, so she and her friend Naomi turn their red wagon into The Treasure Wagon and try and sell some old knickknacks found in her family's basement.

Long after Mr. Popper found his famous penguins a proper home, his distant relatives, Nina and Joel, move to a new house with their mother and find mysterious eggs in the basement.

"Raise the drawbridge for a story-within-a-story melding classic fairy-tale trappings with contemporary, tongue-in-cheek wit, abundantly illustrated in black-and-white--a perfect family read. Noble children Thomas and Emily have always known their mother to be sensible, the lady of the castle--if anything, a bit boring. But then they discover Meg, a cranky scribe who lives in the castle basement, leading a quirky group of artists in producing party...

"Anderson and his friends Greg and Julie have been doing everything they can to avoid the battered trunk full of old military things in the basement of his family's junk shop. Only, staying away seems impossible, and this time Anderson discovers a dusty World War II medic's bag inside the trunk. But who does it belong to?"--Back cover.

"Sunny's just made it to middle school . . . and it's making her life very confusing. All her best friend Deb wants to talk about is fashion, boys, makeup, boys, and being cool. Sunny's not against any of these things, but she also doesn't understand why suddenly everything revolves around them. She's much more comfortable when she's in her basement, playing Dungeons & Dragons with a bunch of new friends. Because when you're swordfighting and spider-slaying,...