National Network for Equitable Library Service

Gemma has always lived in a very nice little house, always slept in the same room and always worn the same clothes. A doll in an old forgotten dollhouse, Gemma wonders if she will ever grow up, but her parents tell her she will always be their little girl. Until, one day, the dollhouse is opened by a GIANT, and Gemma's whole life changes. New things are introduced into the little house and Gemma finally has an opportunity to leave what's familiar and see the enormous world beyond.

For as long as Saanvi can remember, she has been friends with her elderly neighbor Helen. They play cards and garden together and, especially, care for the wild birds that visit Helen's yard. When Helen dies suddenly, a "For Sale" sign goes up, and movers arrive, emptying the house of its furniture and stripping the yard of its birdfeeders. The sparrows and hummingbirds disappear. Soon a bulldozer tears down Helen's house. All winter, Saanvi walks numbly past the property as developers begin to build condos.

A thirteen year old girl has lived her entire life in a domed city, unaware there is a world outside the walls--a world in which there are adult humans, and where a "mother" is a living being, and not a robot.

When a team in an all-girls' hockey league comes to recruit players, twelve-year-old Lou's dreams seem to be coming true. But the dreams hinge on one thing: never letting on that Lou is a boy. But the road to stardom is not easy, as Lou discovers that the competition is fierce, and that he's got a lot of work to do to match the skills of the league's star player and his chief rival, Albertine Lapensée. All the while, he has to keep his secret, and wrestle with the moral dilemma of taking a place on the team away from a deserving girl.

Newcomer Kammie Summers has fallen into a well during a (fake) initiation into a club whose members have no intention of letting her join. Now Kammie's trapped in the dark, growing increasingly claustrophobic, and waiting to be rescued-- or possibly not. As hours pass, the reality of Kammie's predicament mixes with her memories of the highlights and lowlights of her life so far, including the reasons her family moved to this new town in the first place.

Mischa "Ish" Love knows she'll be one of the first settlers on Mars. She's applied to - and been rejected from - the Mars Now project forty-seven times, but the mission won't leave for ten years, and Ish hasn't given up hope. She also hasn't given up hope that Tig will be her best friend again. When Ish collapses on the first day of seventh grade, she gets a diagnosis that threatens all her future plans.

A young boy becomes fascinated with his mother's bindi, and asks her to explain what it is and why she wears it. She tells him that the red dot is commonly worn by Hindu women to indicate the point at which creation begins. When he wishes to have one of his own, she agrees to it, and teaches him about its cultural significance, allowing the boy to discover the magic of the bindi, which in turn gives him permission to be more fully himself.

A magical gender variant child brings transformation and change to the world around them thanks to their mother's enduring love. In the magical time between night and day, when both the sun and the moon are in the sky, a child is born in a little blue house on a hill. And Miu Lan is not just any child, but one who can change into any shape they can imagine. The only problem is they can't decide what to be: a boy or a girl? A bird or a fish? A flower or a shooting star?

Although evil terror nearly brought Uthgar to his demise, Owen was able to save his friend from death, reconcile with his long-lost sister Elsa and free the town from the Evil King. With his family reunited and Uthgar's health improving, The Dwarf King wishes to share a secret known by very few humans or dwarves. However, with this knowledge also comes a new quest and new challenges to ensure humans and dwarves can finally live in peace.

Cassandra Wilson's life isn't easy. She's spent most of her teen years taking care of her much younger brother Chris, working to help support her widowed mother, coping with high school and its pressures, and still grieving over the death of her beloved father. Her life begins to change once she learns that her mother has been lying to her about working overtime and taking Saturday courses because she's secretly dating a man whom Cassandra fears will try to take the place of her father.