Eleven-year-old Kaia, who has felt emotionally isolated since her brother's suicide, befriends a wild boy who mysteriously appears at her London school, finding a way to communicate with him despite his being mute.

"Twelve-year-old Thea, devastated after seeing her best friend die, begins to open to the possibility of new friendships and forgiveness, and comes to believe in what cannot be fully explained"--OCLC.

Twelve-year-old Kester Jaynes, who has been locked away at a school for troubled children, is called upon to save the last animals living in a post-apocalyptic world where disease has killed most living things.

"Judith stopped talking long ago when Mom left her in the care of beloved Aunt Cora. Going back into a regular fifth-grade classroom won't be easy, but she has her Dog and new friend who will help her through"--

Feeling barely alive in a world where all animals are endangered, Kester Jaynes, a voiceless inmate in a home for troubled children, discovers that he can communicate with bird and cockroach rescuers that he endeavors to save from extinction.

In Elise's notebook there is a page of tally marks for each day she has spent at her new school. Five tally marks is five words spoken that day. Her favorite days are days when there are no tally marks. Elise will find, however, that after months of not speaking, she may no longer be able to, not even to keep her only friend from drifting away from her or even to ask if anyone else had seen their teacher's stuffed raven come to life. Elise will learn...

Twelve-year-old Trey and his seven-year-old brother Lou, who does not speak, cross the barrier between two worlds, that of their island in the Bahamas, and a land called Pangaia, and play a mysterious role in restoring the natural environment in both places.

The kids of Mr. Fab's sixth-grade class decide to run the class on their own in his absence. Meanwhile, a troubled young girl reminds the class that it's been six months since one of their classmates died. For the first time, Mr. Fab's students reveal their true and sometimes hurtful thoughts.

Twelve-year-old Jewel was born on the day her brother Bird died and lives in a house of silence and secrets, but a new boy in her Iowa town may help find the answers Jewel wants despite her Jamaican grandfather's warning that he is a "duppy," a malevolent spirit.

"A young boy loses both parents as they attempt to flee Haiti for a better life, and afterward is only able to process his grief and communicate with the outside world through playing the drums. Includes author's note"--