Maribeth Boelts

Ruben feels like he is the only kid without a bike. His friend Sergio reminds him that his birthday is coming, but Ruben knows that the kinds of birthday gifts he and Sergio receive are not the same. After all, when Ruben's mom sends him to Sonny's corner store for groceries, sometimes she doesn't have enough money for everything on the list. So when Ruben sees a dollar bill fall out of someone's purse, he picks it up and puts it in his pocket. But...

Evalina has trouble tending her sheep, so she bakes a gingerbread pup to help her. But once the pup comes out of the oven, it races around town causing trouble. When the gingerbread pup gets a ride across the river from a shaggy stray dog, Evalina comes up with a solution for both of her problems.

For soccer games Sierra rides a bus out of the city to fields that are nicer than the "lot" in her neighborhood, but so her auntie can be at her last game, she asks Coach Marco if the team might play in her neighborhood on a day her aunt does not work.

A boy tells how he will change his behavior on the last day of school.

Little Bunny gradually learns to give up his pacifier.

LB spends the summer dreading the first day of preschool, especially after his second-grade cousin makes him worry about what it will really be like.

Sixth-graders Russell and Shawn, poor and picked on, work together scooping dog droppings to earn money for a Rottweiler puppy to protect them from bullies, but when they learn the puppies' owner is running an illegal dog-fighting ring, they are torn about how to respond.

Discusses ways children can be safe around strangers, traffic, and other potentially dangerous situations.