Junior Blossom has created the most spectacular invention of all time: a homemade UFO. The Green Phantom took all of the garbage bags and Day-Glo paint Junior could find, but now it requires one more very special ingredient. Although Junior needs help, his family seems too busy to notice. Then when Pap and his dog, Mud, don't come home from town, the Blossoms are pulled apart even farther. Are Pap and Mud in serious trouble? Can a Blossom promise...

Clara and Deanie are on vacation to see their dad - so why do they have to spend time with his new girlfriend and her annoying son? After their parents' divorce, sisters Clara and Deanie are more than happy to have some time alone with their father during a beach vacation. After all, nobody dotes on them as much as their father. But it turns out dad has different plans for their trip. He's brought along his girlfriend and her son: the snotty, completely...

Retta, Johnny, and Roy have no parental rules to follow, so they've made up their own. After their mother passes away, Retta, Johnny, and Roy don't have much parenting in their lives. Their dad is a country singer who keeps them well fed but isn't around much. Older sister Retta takes control, leading her brothers on all sorts of unwise adventures and promising that one day they'll have money, safety, and a nice home. When their dad is away performing...

When Birch agreed to one last flight in her grandfather's Piper Cub, neither knew it would be a life-changing trip. Birch's grandfather, "Pop," wants to take his plane out for one more trip before moving into a retirement home. He wants to take Birch along with him, which sounds like a fine plan - until the two decide to turn the short flight into a cross-country adventure without telling Birch's parents. As grandfather and granddaughter soar westward...

From Newbery Medal-winning author Betsy Byars comes a sweet, entertaining story that will touch the heart of dog lovers at any age. A tornado appears in the distance, and Pete, the farmhand, gathers everyone into the storm cellar. While they wait for the storm to pass, he tells the family about a tornado that struck when he was a boy-a twister that blew in a doghouse, complete with a dog inside! Pete tells everyone how he soon learned that this dog,...

From Newbery-winning author Betsy Byars comes a story full of "poignancy, perception, and humor" (The Chicago Tribune), about three foster kids who learn what it takes to make a family.

You can't always decide where life will take you—especially when you're a kid.

Carlie knows she's got no say in what happens to her. Stuck in a foster home with two other kids, Harvey and Thomas J, she's just a pinball being bounced

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When Boo brings home a dinosaur that only she can see, her brother Sammy, doesn't want to encourage her antics. Boo and her dinosaur are inseparable until Boo says good-bye to the dino quite suddenly. When Sammy sees how sad his sister is, he understands Boo's need for her dinosaur more than he wants to admit. So much so that he almost believes it ... almost. Betsy Byars has written many chapter books, including Little Horse and Little Horse on...