A Wasp Is Not a Bee
(Holt, 1995)
Animals that are easily confused with each other or with the wrong family. Taxonomy for kids.
Illustrated by Patrick O’Brien.
Bibliography
The Painted Fan
(Morrow, 1994)
When the evil Lord Shang bans all the fans in his realm, Bright Willow manages to save hers, a magical heirloom passed down through generations, and uses it to defeat the villain, rescue her love, Seahorse, and reunite the divided houses of Li and Chen.
Illustrated by Wenhai Ma.
Family Reunion
(Macmillan, 1994)
A collection of poems featuring the characters and events of a family reunion held one sunny August day in Small Park.
Illustrated by R.W. Alley.
Big Wheel
(Disney-Hyperion, 1993)
Twelve-year-old Wheel Wiggins is the head honcho of his neighborhood. Every year he masterminds the town’s 4th of July extravaganza. But this time he’s stuck for an idea and suffering from, as he puts it, “executive stress,” made worse when everyone’s favorite deejay, Wild Willie, announces a contest for the best Independence Day celebration. At last Wheel does dream up his greatest scheme ever – an amazing carnival. But then a new kid arrives in town – a hot shot, unicycle-riding rich kid named Topper, who wants not only to join Wheel’s gang, but to take it over. And the war begins.
It’s Hard to Read a Map with a Beagle on Your Lap
(Holt, 1993)
Silly dog poems. True doggerel.
Illustrated by Clement Oubrerie.
The Case of the Sabotaged School Play
(Harper & Row, 1984)
Sam and Dave try to discover who is sabotaging the school play and why.
Illustrations by Judy Glasser.
Leroy Is Missing
(Harper & Row, 1984)
Sam and Dave are hired by Rita O’Toole, their sidekick-to-be, to find her missing brother, Leroy. In the process, they stumble upon a bookmaking operation.
Illustrations by Judy Glasser.
The Course of True Love Never Did Run Smooth
(Harper & Row, 1983)
Becky and Nemi, fast friends, find their relationship problematic when they both become involved in their high school production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Their love lives, and those of their friends, parallel those of the play.
The Fido Frame-Up
(Warne, 1983)
Sam tracks down the Black Feather Gang, jewel thieves.
Illustrations by Andrew Glass.
Tarantulas on the Brain
(HarperCollins, 1982) and Published in paperback by Scholastic.
Lizzie Silver wants a pet tarantula more than anything in the world. Her attempts to raise money to buy one result in a series of adventures and misadventures, including a missing wedding ring and a stint as a magician’s assistant.
Illustrations by Leigh Grant.
The First Few Friends
(Harper & Row, 1981)
In 1968, Nina Ritter returns from her junior year abroad at Reading University, England to New York, where things have radically changed. Her friends, The Whole Sick Crew, are wilder now. Their ringleader, Aviva, has joined a rock band, and they are all experimenting with sex and drugs. Nina, still in love with the poetic Welsh boyfriend she had to leave behind, is both attracted and repelled by this new world. It takes some new friends – Ruth, a committed Hispanic teacher, Billy, a dancer struggling with the specter of Vietnam, and especially Floyd, a brilliant Black activist – to force Nina herself to change from a self-involved romantic to a socially responsible woman.
