Jerry Spinelli

After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life--and his name--changes. Maniac Magee appears in Two Mills looking ragged and undernourished, and the kids make fun of him until they see him on the football field. But somehow, despite his own problems, Maniac Magee manages to bring a new direction to everyone he encounters along his path.

Cammie O'Reilly lives at the Hancock County Prison - not as a prisoner, she's the warden's daughter. She spends the mornings hanging out with shoplifters and reformed arsonists in the women's excercise yard, which gives Cammie a certain cache with her school friends. But even though Cammie's free to leave the prison, she's still stuck. And sad, and really mad. Her mother died saving her from harm when she was just a baby. You wouldn't think you could...

Still moping months after being dumped by her Arizona boyfriend Leo, fifteen-year-old Stargirl, a home-schooled free spirit, writes "the world's longest letter" to Leo, describing her new life in Pennsylvania.

Ever since they were Snotsippers, Jack and the girl have fought, until one day she steals his bike and as he and the Amigos try to recover it, Jack realizes that he is growing up and must eventually leave the "goodlands and badlands of Hokey Pokey."

Mourning the loss of his mother, nine-year-old David forms an unlikely friendship with independent, quirky thirteen-year-old Primrose, as the two help each other deal with what is missing in their lives.

Will Tuppence's life has always been ruled by science and common sense but in ninth grade, shaken up by the discovery that protons decay, he begins to see the entire world differently and gains new perspective on his relationships with his little sister and two closest friends.

Now a seventh grader, Jason finds out the hard way just how different things are where ninth graders are the kings.

Inspired by 366 quotes from children's literature, the authors offer insight and advice for every day of the year.