In 1945, in Florida, ten-year-old Birdie Boyer and her family struggle to make their new farm prosper despite heat, droughts, cold snaps, and rowdy neighbors.

A young detective's attempts to uncover a group of poachers on Crocodile Island in Florida involve her with kidnapping, reptiles, enemy boats, and a sinister racket.

"Merci Suárez knew that sixth grade would be different, but she had no idea just how different. For starters, Merci has never been like the other kids at her private school in Florida, because she and her older brother, Roli, are scholarship students. They don't have a big house or a fancy boat, and they have to do extra community service to make up for their free tuition. So when bossy Edna Santos sets her sights on the new boy who happens to be...

Nick and his friend Marta decide to investigate when a mysterious fire starts near a Florida wildlife preserve and an unpopular teacher goes missing.

"One summer's day, ten-year-old India Opal Buloni goes down to the local supermarket for some groceries - and comes home with a dog. But Winn-Dixie is no ordinary dog. It's because of Winn-Dixie that Opal begins to make friends. And it's because of Winn-Dixie that she finally dares to ask her father about her mother, who left when Opal was three. In fact, as Opal admits, just about everything that happens that summer is because of Winn-Dixie."--

"An instant bestseller when it was published in 1938, this Pulitzer Prize winner has been beloved by readers of all ages for the last eighty years. Set in the 1870s, this classic story of one family and their wild, hard, and satisfying life in remote central Florida is a rich and varied tale. The Yearling is tender in its understanding of childhood, filled with excitement of the backwoods hunt and vivid descriptions of the countryside, and written...

Whether you're settling in for a heaping plate of banana pudding or arepas and tostones, a good meal can always bring families together. Once a year, on a Friday night, My family leaves the city And drives hours and hours . . . First my family drives through the mountains to stop at Mamaw and Papaw's house in rural West Virginia. We share blueberry jam and toast for breakfast the next morning, then munch cookies and cut bananas to make banana pudding...

"Walking gthrough the misty Florida woods one morning, twelve-year-old Rob Horton is stunned to encounter a tiger--a real-life, very large tiger--pacing back and forth in a cage. What's more, on the same extraordinary day, he meets Sistine Bailey, a girl who shows her feelings as readily as Rob hides his. As they learn to trust each other, and ultimately, to be friends, Rob and Sistine prove that some things--like memories, and heartache, and tigers--can't...

The world's shark population is in trouble for a sad, simple reason: shark fin soup. And although it's illegal, poachers have been targeting Florida's biannual migration of blacktip sharks. Marine biologist Doc Ford needs some assistance protecting the sharks and enlists the help of three kids--Luke, Maribel and Sabina. Together they form Sharks, Inc. and are given an important assignment: to set out each day on their small fishing boat in hopes of...

When he receives a mysterious, disturbing letter from his long-lost childhood playmate Christine, privileged and popular Caleb, celebrating his high school graduation, travels to his tiny hometown of Hudsonville, Florida, to find her, uncovering terrifying prophecies of the spirits.