Vashti believes that she cannot draw, but her art teacher's encouragement leads her to change her mind.

"An Irish Catholic whose mother left home when she was only five, Paige has a special talent. She often finds, buried in her drawings, images that others recognize as details of their pasts or their innermost longings. Overwhelmed by guilt after an abortion, Paige finishes high school and runs away from home instead of checking into the Rhode Island School of Design. She practices her art at her job (at a diner aptly called Mercy), sketching the customers...

Seventh-grader Tristan Strong feels anything but strong ever since he failed to save his best friend when they were in a bus accident together. All he has left of Eddie is the journal his friend wrote stories in. Tristan is dreading the month he's going to spend on his grandparents' farm. But on his first night there, a sticky creature shows up and steals Eddie's notebook. Tristan chases after it, and a tug-of-war ensues between them underneath a...

As the Wanteds, Unwanteds, and Necessaries struggle to adjust to changes in their society, Mr. Today begins training fourteen-year-old Alex to replace him as Artime's leader one day while Alex's disgraced twin, Aaron, connives to take over Quill.

Ramon loses confidence in his ability to draw, but his sister gives him a new perspective on things.

Nell is told by her BIG sisters and her mother that she is too small to help out, but everyone, including Nell, feels differently after her forest friends give her the confidence to build a large snowman.

Features an audio read-along! With a simple, witty story and free-spirited illustrations, Peter H. Reynolds entices even the stubbornly uncreative among us to make a mark—and follow where it takes us. Her teacher smiled. "Just make a mark and see where it takes you." Art class is over, but Vashti is sitting glued to her chair in front of a blank piece of paper. The words of her teacher are a gentle invitation to express herself. But Vashti

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"...follow Mel on her journey from downward fall to triumphant flight in this tale of self-confidence and taking a leap of faith."--

Supported by her family, an African American girl is self confident about what she can do and in turn supports a younger family member. On board pages.

Celebrates the magnificent feeling that comes from walking out of a barber shop with newly-cut hair.