• To save the lives of strangers, young Kate Shelley braved crossing a railroad bridge on a stormy nig - 09/01/2011

    Lightning ripped across the night sky and thunderclaps shook the farmhouse windows where Kate Shelley sat watching the summer storm. Kate and her mother were the only people awake at the Shelley home that July night in 1881. Nearby, floodwaters of Iowa's Honey Creek and Des Moines River swirled dangerously...

  • Jaimie thinks her new house is full of tigers! - 09/01/2011

    The first time Jaimie saw the new house was in winter. Snow reached to the tops of her boots and covered the shed at the bottom of the garden so that it looked like a snow house. Mom said, “When we move here in the spring, I’m afraid this garden will be a jungle.” Jaimie shivered. Tigers lived...

  • Sarah's decision to go sailing without permission gets her into a heap of trouble. - 09/01/2011

    Sarah sat on the edge of the wooden dock, dangling her feet in the chilly water. The summer sun warmed her back. Skrawk! A sea gull sailed across the blue Maine sky. Sailing. Sarah sighed. That was just what she wished she were doing. Her sailboat, Whisper, bobbed quietly against the dock. Sarah’s...

  • Gilby's Snowman lay tired in the snow. But when Gilby returns the snowman is awake! - 09/01/2011

    Gilby opened his eyes and saw snow, snow, snow! He scrambled out of bed and danced into Darren's room. “Today is the day of the giant snowman,” Gilby announced. Darren looked up from his book. “OK, Gilby. Just let me get my homework done. Then we'll make the biggest snowman ever.” Gilby's smile...

  • Robert Smalls becomes a hero when he sails his family to freedom from slavery. - 09/01/2011

    To nine-year-old Robert Smalls, Beaufort, South Carolina, was the best place in the world. It lay off the Carolina coast in the midst of a maze of islands. Rich oak, pine, and cedar trees stood as guardians over what were known as the Sea Islands. Robert lived in the slave quarters on Prince Street....

  • A light brightens a dark playground and Jordie's day. - 09/01/2011

    This morning Dad made me a promise. “Baby Matt is sick, Jordie,” Dad said. “Mama stayed up with him most of the night. She might not be able to take you to the park today. But when I get home from work, we'll visit the playground. Just the two of us. I promise.” All day I helped Mama. All day I...

  • What wonderful adventures would be in store! - 09/01/2011

    I would be bundled in my bed, dreaming of dinosaurs and dragons, when suddenly I would open my eyes. My heart would thump, and my breath would catch, and there she would be, sitting right at the foot of my bed . . . if I met a fairy. If I asked, she would sprinkle her magic flower pollen on me to...

  • Juan and Pepe learn that you shouldn't take chances with a river. - 09/01/2011

    Juan and Pepe lived in Ecuador and loved to sail on the Guayas River. They always started from home, sailing downstream with the current. They headed to their favorite sandbar in the middle of the river. There, they tied the boat to an oar and sank the oar into the sand. Then they spent the rest of...

  • When it comes to tiny crawly creatures, Barney has an eye like a hawk. - 09/01/2011

    Barney Tomberlin is a lizard man, a snake man, and a bug man. He is a hardworking Good Samaritan.He is the unofficial mayor of his town. And his favorite creatures are those that slither, creep, and crawl—animals with too few legs, or too many. I met Barney while doing research for a rattlesnake...

  • A girl proves she can swim farther than she thinks. - 09/01/2011

    Lots of times I’ve looked at that tree on the sandbar across the estuary. It sticks out between the sea and the sky like a flag, and I think to myself, I could swim to that tree. One day I’m sitting on the beach with my friend Duncan. The tide is in, it’s all the way across to the sandbar. “I could...

  • Emeka will drown if Rebisi can't convince him to ignore the snake and climb out of the fishing hole. - 09/01/2011

    I felt the cool moist sea breeze on my face as we rowed our way through the mangrove swamps. The mosquitoes whined in our ears; Emeka’s paddle clunked against the side of our canoe. The day was hot and oppressive. “Slow down and pull up against the large tree to your right,” I told Emeka. “We’ll...

  • The tables are turned when Jake has to teach his mom to ride a bike. - 09/01/2011

    “OK, you can do this,” I said, trying to sound cheerful. My mom sat straddling her brand-new bike, her new helmet falling forward over her eyes. She gripped the handlebars the way I had seen her grip the steering wheel in heavy traffic, and she looked kind of pale. “I don’t know, Jake. There are...

  • Young Ruskin observes a deadly confrontation between a cobra and a mongoose. - 09/01/2011

    Though the house and grounds belonged to my grandparents, the magnificent old banyan tree was mine—chiefly because Grandfather, at sixty-five, could no longer climb it. Its spreading branches, which hung to the ground and took root, forming a number of twisting passages, gave me endless pleasure....

  • Chris discovers how powerful the snowy mountains can be. - 09/01/2011

    “Look out!” I shouted. “An avalanche!” Dad turned as the huge wall of snow roared down the mountainside—straight at him. “Run!” he screamed. My little brother, Kevin, and his friend Alan skied safely out of the path of the avalanche on their cross-country skis. But Dad and I were wearing snowshoes....

  • A sleepy camper wakes up to a frightening noise. - 09/01/2011

    Growl! Groan! The noises startled me from a sound sleep. In a single motion I sat straight up in my sleeping bag. “A bear,” I thought. “Outside the tent!” The sign at the entrance to the campground had read: CAUTION. YOU ARE IN BEAR COUNTRY. Know the rules and follow them. Just ahead we had seen...

  • Margaret stays strong and thinks quickly in a dangerous situation. - 09/01/2011

    “Fire’s somewhere close!” cried Margaret as she hurried up the hill to the house, lugging a pail of milk. There had been no rain for months. The summer sun had parched the land. In her nine years, Margaret had never seen such a dry spell. With things so dry, forest fires were on everyone’s mind. “Mama,...

  • A man searches for the hidden gold of the ancient Incas. - 09/01/2011

    When I was living in Ecuador in South America, I heard about a lost treasure hidden by the Incas more than four hundred years ago. Seven hundred tons of gold and silver statues and religious symbols lay somewhere in the lonely Andes Mountains. I was fascinated, and I wanted to find out more. The...

  • Cassie, a city slicker, finds herself riding on a cow's back after a spill. - 09/01/2011

    I was born in the city. I like the city. But when Mom suggested I visit Uncle Ed and Aunt Earline and my cousin Donna on their farm, I went along with it. Why not? Now I was standing in front of a beast that appeared to be about two stories high, with feet the size of manhole covers. It blew its...

  • If this boy's class had a knotted rope, he wouldn't be in this predicament. - 09/01/2011

    The cornstalks towering above my head are thirty feet high, at least. The temperature out here must be one hundred and twenty degrees. And I’m sure I’ve been lost in this corn maze for fifty hours. I didn’t even want to go on this field trip in the first place. Give me an air-conditioned classroom...

  • A neighbor is convinced he's seen Bigfoot. Now Eddie, Cathy, and Marie want to find out for themselv - 09/01/2011

    Eddie nudged Cathie closer to the corner of the barn. “I can’t see,” Cathie said. “Shh. Just listen.” The kids knew it was impolite to listen to other people’s conver-sations, but the topic captured their attention. “I’m telling you, Tom. If it wasn’t Bigfoot, it was something just as big. It...