After harsh early years, Pip, an orphan growing up in Victorian England, is given the means to become a gentleman by an unknown benefactor and learns that outward appearances can be deceiving.

Three days before Christmas, in the freezing slums of London's East End, thirteen-year-old Gracie Phipps and eight-year-old Minnie Maude Mudway join together in a search for Charlie, the donkey who belonged to Minnie Maude's Uncle Alf. Gracie is shocked to learn that only the day before, someone brutally murdered Uncle Alf and made off with his rag-and-bones cart and the beloved beast who pulled it.

Nothing is quite as it seems in this lush retelling of Dickens' classic coming-of-age story with colorful characters: conspirators, rogues, rakes, and wretches.

"The untold story of the root cause of America's education crisis--and the seemingly endless cycle of multigenerational poverty. It was only after years within the education reform movement that Natalie Wexler stumbled across a hidden explanation for our country's frustrating lack of progress when it comes to providing every child with a quality education. The problem wasn't one of the usual scapegoats: lazy teachers, shoddy facilities, lack of accountability....

When young Edward VI of England and a poor boy who resembles him exchange places, each learns something about the other's very different station in life.

Belle Teal Harper is from a poor family in the country, and beginning fifth-grade is a challenge as her grandmother's memory is slipping away and she becomes involved with the two new children in her class.

Eleven-year-old Maurice must beg for change in order to eat, but when Laura stops to help, they begin a years-long friendship that gives each a new perspective and hope. Includes a list of suggested acts of kindness.