As further evidence of his family's bad fortune which they attribute to a curse on a distant relative, Stanley Yelnats is sent to a hellish correctional camp in the Texas desert where he finds his first real friend, a treasure, and a new sense of himself.

"It's been one year since Manny was cast out of his family and driven into the wilderness of the American Southwest. Since then, Manny lives by self-taught rules that keep him moving--and keep him alive. Now, he's taking a chance on a traveling situation with the Varela family, whose attractive but surly son, Carlos, seems to promise a new future. Eli abides by the rules of his family, living in a secluded community that raised him to believe his...

Twelve-year-old Felix's appearance on a television game show reveals that he and his mother have been homeless for a while, but also restores some of his faith in other people.

As she struggles to recover and survive, seventeen-year-old homeless Charlotte "Charlie" Davis cuts herself to dull the pain of abandonment and abuse.

Middle schoolers Timothy Murphy and Jessamyn Hazard careen downhill on a sailboat which was being towed through Manhattan and fall into the sewers, where they meet interesting characters before being caught by the evil "queen" of this underground society.

"When a woman appears with a sleeping bag, living in a shop doorway, Jess is full of questions. Where is her home? Why did she leave? And what will happen when the snow comes?"--Back cover.

On Saturdays, Delia and Jesse help Shoebox Sam, who teaches them about charity and love by not only repairing shoes for paying customers, but also giving poor and homeless people the dignity--and footwear--they need.

Robert "Cali" Callahan, seventeen, gets swept up into the private-investigator business and must deal with the ramifications of looking for fellow runaways who may not want to be found--and with falling in love with one of them.

After watching a homeless man collect empty soft drink cans for the redemption money, a young boy decides to collect cans himself to earn money for a skateboard until he has a change of heart.

When twelve-year-old Nell and her best friend, Lydia, are forbidden to see each other, they hatch a plan to spend their summer days in an abandoned miniature golf course, where they soon find others in search of a home.