Houghton Mifflin reading

When the first mate of the freight boat Neptune falls ill, it is up to Abigail, the captain's daughter, to steer the ship up the Hudson River from New Jersey to New York City.

One of Newbery Honor author Avi's most popular middle-grade mysteries is available in paper once again. The mystery revolves around a rare edition of The Wizard of Oz missing from the local library. When Becky is accused of stealing it, she and her twin brother Toby set out to catch the real thief and prove her innocence. Clues cleverly hidden in four other books lead to a hidden treasure--and a gripping adventure.

While Tom Farmer is asleep under the haystack, the cows, ducks, pigs, hens, and sheep make quite a mess in the farmhouse.

Twelve-year-old Maggie receives European fire bugs for her birthday, but when they fail to metamorphose and grow grossly large and explode instead, she uses scientific reasoning to determine the cause of their strange death.