Through a series of letters, Sophie Brown, age twelve, tells of her family's move to her Great Uncle Jim's farm, where she begins taking care of some unusual chickens with help from neighbors and friends.

Moose Flanagan, who lives on Alcatraz along with his family and the families of the other prison guards, is frightened when he discovers that noted gangster Al Capone, a prisoner there, wants a favor in return for the help that he secretly gave Moose.

With the help of a very special pit bull puppy, twelve-year-old Hannah adjusts to moving from Michigan to California and makes friends, despite the birthmark that makes her self-conscious.

On her family's California horse ranch in the 1960s, eighth-grader Abby Lovitt faces the possibility of giving up her beloved colt, Jack, when it comes to light that his dam might have been stolen.

"Dust Bowl refugee Gloria Mae Willard finds herself uprooted and working on a California peach orchard, where she tries to join the secret, all-boys baseball team that she's desperate to play on"--

Brainy twelve-year-old Bart attracts little attention at his new middle school near Hollywood, California, but whenever he can get around his gym-coach father, he secretly hunts electricity-guzzling aliens.

Seventh-grader Steve Brixton finds himself pulled back into sleuthing when, during a train trip down the California coast, he uncovers a mystery involving a fleet of priceless automobiles, an assassin, and a private rail car.

"Millie McGonigle lives in sunny California, where her days are filled with beach and surf. It should be perfect--but times are tough. Hitler is attacking Europe and it looks like the United States may be going to war. Food is rationed and money is tight. And Millie's sickly little sister gets all the attention and couldn't be more of a pain if she tried. It's a time of sunshine, siblings, and stress. Will Millie be able to find her way in her family,...

"Abby Lovitt is put in charge of training the expensive and haughty horse Pie in the Sky when his owner refuses. While trying to get a hold on him, she must deal with the new challenges, both good and bad, that come with being a freshman in high school in 1970's Northern California"--