Andy Paris

Just before his thirteenth birthday, Jeremy Fink receives a keyless locked box--set aside by his father before his death five years earlier--that purportedly contains the meaning of life.

"Jacob Hunt is a teen with Asperger's syndrome. He's hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, though he is brilliant in many ways. He has a special focus on one subject-forensic analysis. A police scanner in his room clues him in to crime scenes, and he's always showing up and telling the cops what to do. And he's usually right. But when Jacob's small hometown is rocked by a terrible murder, law enforcement comes to him....

Ella Mentry is having a fund-raiser, and guess who's in charge? Alexia's mom, Ms. Sue! The school's selling everything from popcorn to goldfish to raise money for a new playground. But when happens when Ms. Sue crosses the line? Someone's going to end up in the big house! -- Back cover.

"Story time goes to the dogs when Ella Mentry School gets a therapy dog to help kids with their reading skills"--

"It's time for the annual Ella Mentry School talent show, and this year Principal Klutz has hired a wacky professional, Mrs. Lane, to help the kids with their talents"--

"Prepare for weirdness when Ella Mentry School gets a French foreign exchange student just in time for Valentine's Day!"--

A wrong turn in a rainstorm leads Englisher Amelia Devries to Michael Hostetle, and the young Amishman's charming Old Order community of Hickory Hollow, Pennsylvania. Despite their very different backgrounds, Amelia and Michael both feel hemmed in by the expectations of others and struggle with how to find room for their own hopes. And what first seems to be a chance encounter might just change their lives forever.

"For A.J. and the gang from Ella Mentry School, a night of regular trick-or-treating turns into the weirdest Halloween in the history of the universe"--

Homeschooled by his hippie grandmother, Capricorn (Cap) Anderson has never watched television, tasted a pizza, or even heard of a wedgie. But when his grandmother lands in the hospital, Cap is forced to move in with a guidance counselor and attend the local middle school. While Cap knows a lot about tie-dyeing and Zen Buddhism, no education could prepare him for the politics of public school.

Four fifth-grade students--a geek, a class clown, a teacher's pet, and a slacker--as well as their teacher and mothers, each relate events surrounding a computer programmed to complete homework assignments.