Phil Bildner

In New Orleans, there lived a man who saw the streets as his calling, and he swept them clean. He danced up one avenue and down another and everyone danced along. The old ladies whistled and whirled. The old men hooted and hollered. The barbers, bead twirlers, and beignet bakers bounded behind that one-man parade. But then came the rising Mississippi-and a storm greater than anyone had seen before. In this heartwarming book about a real garbage man,...

"From the first morning with their odd new teacher fifth grade is full of shocking surprises for best friends Rip and Red"--

With their fifth grade graduation only weeks away, Rip, Red, and the rest of their classmates must decide if boycotting a test is worth forfeiting their graduation gala and the opportunity to play with Hoops Machine, a Harlem Globetrotters-like team.

Things are getting alittle clearer for the Payne children, well, at least for Griffith. Uncle Owen has finally let him in on some of the big secrets that the kids have been dying to find out. He even told him some things that Griffith never wanted to know about, like The Chancellor. The very name strikes fear into Griffith's heart. And he knows that unless he and his siblings can figure out the magic baseball and start winning some games, the chancellor...

The year is 1899, and the Travelin' Nine are criss-crossing the good ol' U.S. of A., raising money to pay off the Payne family's big-league debt! Griffith knows the most about his family's troubles. So it's his job to set things right, because that's what his father would have done. Ruby has noticed a change in her big brother. Suddenly he's acting anxious and secretive, and she's determined to find out why. Graham just wants to hit the field. Deep...

Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert come from completely different places and play tennis in completely different ways. Chrissie is the all-American girl: practiced, poised, with perfect technique. Martina hails from Czechoslovakia, a Communist country, and her game is ruled by emotion. Everything about them is different, except for one thing: they both want to be the best. But as their intense rivalry grows, something else begins to swing into place,...