Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar Leslie sat in front of Paul. She had two long, brown pigtails that reached all the way down to her waist. Paul saw those pigtails, and a terrible urge came over him. He wanted to pull a pigtail. He wanted to wrap his fist around it, feel the hair between his fingers, and just yank. He thought it would be fun to tie the pigtails together, or better yet, tie them to her chair. But most of all, he just wanted to pull one.

Invitation to the Game by Monica Hughes And we scrounged. Next to survival, scrounge was probably the most important word in our new vocabulary. We found a store that was throwing out water-damaged mattresses. Getting them home was a problem, since we had to make two trips, leaving Brad and Katie, armed with sticks to guard over the remained. I truly expected them to be challenged by some gang boss, but they said that the only person who came by was a scrawny little rat of a girl living alone. We let her have one of the mattresses.

Curious George and the Pizza by Margret Rey At the pizza place, Tony the baker was getting the pizzas ready for baking. He flattened out a ball of dough into a large pancake and tossed it in the air. He spread tomato sauce on it, sprinkled it with cheese, and shoved it in the oven. Then the telephone rang. “A fellow from the factory wants a large pizza delivered in a hurry,” Tony’s wife called. “OK, I’ll get my coat,” said Tony.

The Baffled Parent's Guide to Great Basketball Drills by Jim Garland Before each practice begins, make sure you check the court and remove any debris from the playing surface. When your players arrive, check that they have the proper footwear and that they’ve removed any jewelry, which could injure the player wearing the jewelry or another player. Always carry a list of emergency phone numbers for your players, and know where the nearest phone is located. You should also have a first-aid kit, and you might want to take a first-aid course.

The Ninja Housewife by Deborah Hamlin After dropping her son off at school, Sara sat at a traffic light and waited. She was on her way to her office job as a secretary in a law office. It was mainly paperwork with very little time to interact with other people, but Sara had gotten used to that. It also gave her plenty of time to daydream, something she had also gotten quite used to. She was a woman in her mid-30s, married 13 years, with one child.

How to grill by Steven Raichlen Once you have your grill assembled, the next thing to decide is where to put it. A grill puts out a lot of heat, so you should position it several feet away from the side of the house or any plants or shrubbery. You’ll have an easier time with a spot that is sheltered from the wind. When positioning a grill on a wooden deck, remember that sparks and live embers can fall from a charcoal grill.

Alice's adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, John Tenniel Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, “and what is the use of a book,” thought Alice, “without pictures or conversations?” So she was considering, in her own mind whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her.

Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor The day Shiloh come, we’re having us a big Sunday dinner. Dara Lynn’s dipping bread in her glass of cold tea, the way she likes, and Becky pushes her beans over the edge of her plate in her rush to get ’em down. Ma gives us her scolding look. We live high up in the hills above Friendly, but hardly anybody knows where that is. Friendly’s near Sistersville, which is halfway between Wheeling and Parkersburg. Used to be, my daddy told me, Sistersville was once of the best places you could live in the whole state.

The Skull of Truth: A Magic Shop Book by Bruce Coville, Gary A. Lippincott To his astonishment, Charlie found himself standing next to his bicycle, back where he had entered the swamp. That was bizarre and upsetting—but not as bad as the realization that he was still holding the skull. He thought he had dropped it before he raced out the door. He certainly hadn’t intended to steal the thing. He didn’t even really want it!

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg Claudia knew that she could never pull off the old-fashioned kind of running away. That is, running away in the heat of anger with a knapsack on her back. She didn’t like discomfort; therefore, she decided that her leaving home would not be just running from somewhere but would be running to somewhere. To a large place, a comfortable place, an indoor place, and preferably a beautiful place. And that’s why she decided upon the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers, Mary Shepard They found themselves in bed and watching, by the dim light from the night-light, the rest of Mary Poppin’s unpacking being performed. From the carpet bag she took out seven flannel nightgowns, four cotton ones, a pair of boots, a set of dominoes, two bathing-caps and a postcard album. Jane an Michael sat hugging themselves and watching. It was all so surprising that they could find nothing to say. But they knew, both of them, that something strange and wonderful had happened at Number Sevennteen, Cherry-Tree Lane.