Stories
— A young cellist faces performance anxiety before a school concert, finding that the music transforms his fear into something better than summer itself.
— A seventh-grader with a lifelong crush on her neighbor plans to reveal her feelings at the Valentine's dance, but gets the flu and misses it—until a midnight mailbox exchange changes...
— A girl finds an abandoned black lab in the woods with a note asking someone to care for him, then encounters him a year later, happy with a new family.
— A boy hiding in an abandoned Paris theatre discovers ghostly musicians are his mother's orchestra, leading him to his grandfather, the famous conductor Alexandre Mierceles.
— A sparrow clan leader, haunted by his mate's death, flees when his son faces the same predator—but the son survives to lead the clan home while the father finds healing...
— A girl hides in her favorite tree before a dreaded doctor's visit, finding solace in the branches and sharing a poem that no one else appreciated.
— A fourth-grader arrives at school excited to perform in a play, only to learn his beloved science teacher has died. He finds solace feeding the classroom lizards one last time.
— After his grandfather's death, a boy inherits a lucky penny passed down through generations, only to have bullies steal and throw it in a lake.
— When her best friend moves away, a girl who loves marine biology finds unexpected comfort in yellow daffodils floating in the ocean.
— A magnificent buck stands guard at forest's edge, sensing danger, then battles a hungry cougar to protect the sleeping does and fawns.