Jamaica likes the substitute teacher, Mrs. Duval, right away. So when there"s a spelling test, of course Jamaica wants to please her by spelling all the words right. But this time something goes wrong and Jamaica has to make an important decision. . . . What will Mrs. Duval think of her now?...

It's wintertime again, and Jamaica has to wear her brother Ossie's hand-me-down boots. She finds herself envious of her friend Brianna's pink boots with the fuzzy cuffs, and Brianna teases her about her ugly, old "boy" boots. But one word brings reconciliation for the two friends....

Everything about Berneetha is big her mouth, her size, and especially her dreams. And when Berneetha decides to create a community garden on a vacant lot, twelve-year-old Kate Sibley s just got to help make that dream a reality. At first the neighbors think Kate and Berneetha are crazy, but slowly they begin to come around. Graffiti gangster Harlan turns out to be pretty good with a rented tiller. Dr. Chitra Arockiasamy is willing to be in charge of tomatoes. Hank Glover would like to grow corn. And unsmiling Jacob Wasserman somehow manages to get some manure. Slowly, a community begins to grow, just as the garden does.

But just as the garden and Kate are both beginning to bloom, a sign goes up; a parking garage will be built on the lot. Can Kate and Berneetha and their friends keep the garden and the dream alive?

Award-winning author Juanita Havill s story of a community garden in an urban neighborhood and the mismatched people who carefully tend it is told through the eyes of an impressionable girl in a series of richly detailed prose poems. The result is an affecting, lasting portrait of community life and the power of shared commitment and hope....

Everyone has plans for baby Ellen. But even though she's just a baby Ellen will do exactly as she pleases. Here is a heartwarming book for any family with a new baby, wishing for a new baby, and, most important of all, loving a new baby....

Jamaica finds a stuffed dog at the playground and after taking him home discovers her conscience as well....

Jamaica was friends with everyone in school - except for Russell. No wonder: Russell was a mean brat. When they had art class, Russell borrowed her markers and spoiled her picture. At recess, he threw sand and chased little kids. Jamaica certainly wasn't sorry to learn that Russell was going to move away. She didn't even want to make a card for him, the way the others in her class were doing. But then something happened to change her mind . . ....

Jamaica doesn't want a younger child to play with her, until she remembers how she felt when her older brother excluded her from his games....

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Jamaica finds a stuffed dog at the playground and after taking him home without trying to find the owner discovers her conscience as well. Jamaica's honest and appealing character inspired five more books, each about a childhood ethical dilemma....