Sarah Weeks

After spending her life with her mentally retarded mother and agoraphobic neighbor, twelve-year-old Heidi sets out from Reno, Nevada, to New York to find out who she is. Living with her mentally disabled mother who only knows just over twenty words, young Heidi has learned to live in her special world until a new word is suddenly used and repeated by her mother; causing Heidi to think it might be a key to a secret past about which she knows so little....

All her life Aurora has heard stories about how wonderful and lucky Heidi is, and soon this paragon (now grown up and expecting a baby) will be visiting; but before she arrives part of their house is damaged in a fire, and worse, Aurora's beloved dog disappears--and while her parents have always believed in "soof" (Heidi's mom's word for love), Aurora, who has never really fit in with children her own age, will just have to find her own soof.

Quirky fourth-grader Oggie Cooder goes from being shunned to everyone's best friend when his uncanny ability to chew slices of cheese into the shapes of states wins him a slot on a popular television talent show, but he soon learns the perils of being a celebrity--and having a neighbor girl as his manager.

Pip Squeak the mouse is kept awake all night by the drips from his leaky roof.

Two cats that are as different as night and day are nevertheless best friends.

Mac finally convinces his best friend Cheese to go to the beach, but then they miss the bus.

Eleven-year-old Verbena Polter gets through a difficult summer of turbulent emotions and the revelation of a disturbing family secret with an odd new friend who believes she is the ghost of a girl who drowned many years before.

Mrs. McNosh's dog breaks his leash and leads her on a merry chase in the park, disrupting a boating party, a wedding, and a ballgame.

Glamourpuss loves being the center of attention. So when an unwelcome guest (a dog, no less!) steals the spotlight with some tasteless bow-wowing and undignified tail-wagging, Glamourpuss worries that she's going to fall out of fashion. Is there room for only one superstar in this mansion? When Glamourpuss makes her most majestic move to find out, the result is pure purrfection.

Pip Squeak the mouse works hard to clean the house for his friend Max's visit, but then he has to clean up after Max too.