Mary Casanova creëert verhalen die ertoe doen en die jonge lezers niet kunnen wegleggen. Haar verhalen, vaak gebaseerd op haar ervaringen aan de grens tussen Minnesota en Canada of op haar uitgebreide onderzoek in het buitenland, gaan dieper in op thema's die kinderen diep raken. Zij beschouwt de ultieme beloning als de verklaring van een kind dat van haar boeken houdt, en ziet schrijven als een essentiële vorm van communicatie van auteur naar lezer. Casanova beschrijft woorden als haar penseel, haar instrument om de wereld te verkennen, en ze deelt met plezier haar passie voor schrijven en lezen met publiek van alle leeftijden.
After being sent to work with her father in Minnesota, young Alex gets stranded on a small island with a wounded eagle and must manage to keep the other animals at a distance while trying to find a way to get back to her own home. Reprint.
Chrissa's had a good summer, practicing for swim team tryouts. Then her world is shaken when she and her friends get mean text messages and there's an accident at the pool. Can one girl put an end to the bullying?
When ten-year-old Jess McConnell meets a new friend on her trip to the ancient Maya ruins in Belize, she is invited on an eco-adventure and makes some real discoveries--about the dangers in the Belizean jungle, about the people who have lived there since long ago, and about herself.
When Kit arrives in Kentucky to visit her aunt and brother she finds trouble brewing and locals blaming the CCC workers, leaving Kit to find the real culprit before things get worse.
Twelve-year-old Cecile Revel is given a change to leave her peasant life and serve at King Louis XIV's court. She finds life within the palace gates is not as full of ease and elegance as she had imagined. Faced with a test of conscience, Cecile shows that behaving in a noble matter has little to do with one's place at birth.
Nine-year-old Grace is always thinking up big ideas, like starting a business with her friends over the summer! When Mom announces a trip to Paris instead, Grace gets on board, but it quickly seems as if none of her plans are working out the way she'd hoped. She and her French cousin aren't getting along, and Grace's friends back home have started a business without her. Can she find the courage to stay open to new ideas and turn the summer around?
