Stories
— A feared substitute bus driver called 'No Mercy Mercer' turns out to be a gentle grandfather who uses his tough reputation to maintain order on the bus.
— A young pilot on the USS Yorktown experiences his first combat mission bombing Japanese carriers, losing his best friend and his romantic notions about war.
— Two sisters leave their island home after a baby's drowning, sent to live with their aunt on the mainland while their mother recovers from grief.
— A girl loses her beloved tiger Beanie Baby at the beach, and the story alternates between her grief and the stuffed animal's ocean adventure before their reunion.
— In 1850, a sixteen-year-old girl who dreams of more than housework meets a stranger who takes her poetry to a printing press, changing her life forever.
— A thirteen-year-old mountain biker crashes on Mammoth's Kamikaze downhill course, loses his memory temporarily, then reflects on why he continues despite the risks.
— After a baby's drowning death, thirteen-year-old Eve and her sister are sent from their Massachusetts island home to the mainland while their mother recovers from grief.
— A wolf named Buck leads his pack in a three-day hunt through the Alaskan wilderness, finally cornering and killing a formidable old moose.
— Buck the wolf leads his pack on a three-day hunt through Alaskan wilderness, tracking and ultimately killing a formidable old moose in a violent confrontation.
— While watering tomato plants, a boy watches water flood an ant colony and desperately tries to save drowning ants, reflecting on empathy and the value of small lives.