Valerie Hobbs

After a fire destroys the farm where he was born, a young border collie acquires a series of owners and learns about life as he seeks a home and longs to fulfill his life's purpose of shepherding sheep. Finally, he arrives at the Good Shepherd Home for Boys, where he finds a friend in Luke, who is also alone in the world and looking for a home.

During a summer visit, twelve-year-old Lucy must come to terms with both her grandmother's failing memory and how her mentally-challenged neighbor will impact her popularity when both enter the same middle school in the fall.

After eleven-year-old Carolina begins to make decisions for herself and no longer feels constrained by her mother, she is able to let her pet crow fly free.

After being left by her husband at a gas station in Florida, sixteen-year-old Sally Jo Walker, also known as Jody, makes some difficult decisions and a better life for herself.