Seventeen-year-old Val runs away to New York City where she falls in with a gang of squatters who live in the city's subway system and consort with fairies, trolls, and other strange creatures

Fearing that her legal guardian plans to abandon her to return to France, ten-year-old aspiring scientist Lucky Trimble determines to run away while also continuing to seek the Higher Power that will bring stability to her life

Clayton feels most alive when he's with his grandfather, Cool Papa Byrd, and the band of Bluesmen -- he can't wait to join them, just as soon as he has a blues song of his own. But then the unthinkable happens. Cool Papa Byrd dies, and Clayton's mother forbids Clayton from playing the blues. And Clayton knows that's no way to live. Armed with his grandfather's brown porkpie hat and his harmonica, he runs away from home in search of the Bluesmen, hoping...

Huck tells of his adventures travelling down the Mississippi on a raft with an escaped slave, and of the many people they encounter, including a pair of swindlers and two families in a feud.

Henry, Jessie, Vioet and Benny Alden are brothers and sisters - and tehy're orphans. The only way they can stay together is to make it on their own. One night, during a storm, the children find an old red boxcar that keeps them warm and safe. They decide to make it their home.

After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life becomes legendary, as he accomplishes athletic and other feats which awe his contemporaries. From the Publisher: He wasn't born with the name Maniac Magee. He came into this world named Jeffrey Lionel Magee, but when his parents died and his life changed, so did his name. And Maniac Magee became a legend. Even today kids talk about how fast he could run; about how he hit an inside-the-park "frog"...

The boxcar children: Four orphaned siblings set up house in an abandoned boxcar because they think their grandfather is mean; but they realize he is nice and they move into his house and live happily ever after. Surprise Island: The Alden children spend living on their grandfather's island. The yellow house mystery: The Alden children determine to solve the mystery that surrounds an old yellow house on their grandfather's property. Strange things...