Lois Lenski

Mary Jemison has been captured by a Shawnee war party! How will she survive? When twelve-year-old Mary Jemison and her family are captured by Shawnee raiders, she's sure they'll all be killed. Instead, Mary is separated from her siblings and traded to two Seneca sisters, who adopt her and make her one of their own. Mary misses her home, but the tribe is kind to her. She learns to plant crops, make clay pots, and sew moccasins, just as the other members...

It's the worst blizzard in fifty years! Delores is very ill, but there's no way to get through the snow. How long will she be stranded at school? Out on the South Dakota prairie, the winters are fierce. This storm is the worst one yet: It's below freezing outside, and the winds are howling. All of the other kids have gone home, but Delores's family can't get to her, so she has to stay at the school. Between a fuel shortage and having to boil snow...

A young boy dreams of music and sunshine in the Great Smoky Mountains. As far as Billy is concerned, there's no sight more beautiful than the sun setting over the Blue Ridge Mountains. When the day is done, he sneaks away from his work to watch the sun go down. If his father knew, he would call Billy lazy, but Mama would understand. She knows life in the mountains is hard and that there's no point in living if a person can't take time to appreciate...

A young girl grows up in the sooty shadow of the coal mines of West Virginia. When the whistle blows, Christina knows her father is coming home. Every day he emerges from the pit with his skin caked in coal dust. He's 50 now and he's been working in the mines since he was 12 years old. It's dangerous, backbreaking labor, but he does it because he loves his family. As far as Christina is concerned, there is no job in the world more honorable than digging...

A young boy growing up in the Oregon wilderness dreams of becoming a logger. Little Joe has been sawing trees since he was 5 years old. A child of the Oregon hills, he spends his days scampering through the forest around his family's cabin. Ever since he was old enough to hold an ax, he's wanted to be a logger like his daddy. He wants to wear boots with nails on them, saw down the mightiest trees in the forest, and holler "Timber!" as they come crashing...

Ten-year-old Birdie Boyer can hardly wait to start picking the strawberries. Her family has just moved to the Florida backwoods, and they haven't even begun their planting. Making the new farm prosper won't be easy--what with the heat, the droughts, the cold snaps and the neighbors.

Sally and her family live in Vermont. A major flood in towns affects everyone. The family stays in the high school until the flood recedes.

Charlotte Clarissa is used to the healthy rigors of ranch life and hates the confines of school until she learns a good cowhand always obeys orders and must know arithmetic.

After Tacy Kelly moves into the house across the street from Betsy Ray, the five-year-olds become inseparable friends.

The further adventures of 12-year-old Betsy, Tacy, and Tib as they explore the world beyond their neighborhood and discover the public library, see a real play, and make friends with the owners of the downtown hotel.