Despite the disfiguring injury that ended Old Sam's career as a champion thoroughbred trotter, he is still as fast and as canny as ever, an indispensable help for the Scott family in their new home. Then, Old Sam mysteriously goes missing. Johnny figures that any thief who dares to steal that horse will soon be sorry. With the help of Lee and their gang of friends, Johnny soon has things well in hand, finding Old Sam's track, setting up a communication system that works with mirrors and well-placed minions, and generally running circles around his elders.

The Revolutionary War is seen through the eyes of a British family to whom an American prisoner of war has been entrusted. Technically the young prisoner is in Uncle Lawrence's custody, but the children soon forge a forbidden friendship with him. He becomes the Reb and they his Redcoats.

The Fellows family has joined numerous others striving to make a go of homesteading in the Oregon high desert. But the venture has been disastrous from the start. Mr. Fellows, who is not a farmer, resents any advice from his wife, who grew up on a farm. Ma is not only troubled about the farming, but 7-year-old Ellie's chronic illness has become a source of constant worry and expense.

In this first book, young Gabrielle Allan (called Gay) is living contentedly on Drovers Road, her uncle Dunsany’s sheep station in the hill country a hundred miles from Gisborne. Besides her young, bachelor uncle there are her three orphaned cousins - Eve, Hugh and Merry - and their great-aunt Belle. Taken in by Dunsany years before, after her parents’ divorce, Gay now scarcely remembers any other life.

Amid great mystery Hugh is left in the care of Glastonbury Abbey by his father, who must flee England too swiftly to be burdened by a crippled son. Ashamed of his physical weakness yet possessed of a stout heart, Hugh finds that life at the abbey is surprisingly full in this year 1171, in the turbulent days of King Henry II. Hugh; his friend, Dickon; and their strange friend, the mad Bleheris, uncover a treasure trove and with it a deeper mystery of the sort that could only occur in Glastonbury, where Joseph of Arimithea was said to have lived out his last years.

King Richard is dead, and John is king, a ruler ever-ready for more money in his treasury whether it comes there honestly or not. When the Baron Eric mysteriously disappears, the moody Sir Basil, distant relative and heir, has taken over the castle - and would not be pleased if Eric should ever return. In an unguarded moment of genuine gratitude, Sir Basil invites young Martin to come to the castle as a page and squire. Martin is swiftly drawn into Rosamund's troubles and into a few of his own before the tale reaches its dramatic climax.

Madeleine Verchère's story is based on a true account of colonial French Canada of the 1690s. Harassed by Iroquois, the Verchère family's fort must keep a continual guard. 14-year-old Madeleine is left alone with two younger brothers and few others when the Indians attack. We follow the brave and determined stratagems of Madeleine and her small circle. Madeleine's youthful leadership, especially of her brothers, will win the reader's admiration.

In the country of Burgundy, the Sauval brothers have begun to terrorize the surrounding lands in an attempt to bring the area under their control. They raid the Red Keep, in hope of gaining it for themselves, only to be thwarted by Sir Roger and young Conan. Now they plot anew to steal the Keep from its rightful owner, Lady Anne. She, with Conan and her loyal followers, sets out to bring justice upon the evil brothers.

The Moody family moves from New Hampshire to a Colorado ranch. Experience the pleasures and perils of ranching in 20th Century America, through the eyes of a youngster.

Beowulf the Warrior is an outstanding modern version of the oldest epic in the English language. Ian Serraillier has retold in verse the story of the hero Beowulf and his three memorable exploits - first, his rescuing of Hrothgar the Dane from the ravages of monstrous Grendel; next, his victory over Grendel's strange and horrible mother; and finally, in Beowulf's old age, his saving of his own people, the Geats, from the horrors of a dragon at the cost of his life. Beowulf's heroism and noble heart communicate to any modern listener.

It is perilous to be a Catholic in the Ireland of 1735, and it's almost more than can be borne for 15-year-old Padraic Fitzbrian. Nearly 100 years before, Lord Protector Cromwell of England had put down the Irish rebellion confiscating lands, killing priests, outlawing the Mass, and prohibiting education of any kind for Irish Catholics. Padraic and his two friends, Liam and Rose, are in their last year as scholars in the forbidden and risky all-weathers classroom under the hedgerow.

Sun Slower, Sun Faster by Meriol Trevor is an adventure story with a difference - it is soon after World War II, and Cecil (short for Cecilia) along with her cousin Rickie are thrown into a series of adventures that have little to do with the England that they know. Inexplicably, they and their eccentric tutor Dominic find themselves in another time.

Ten-year-old Andries, newly orphaned, comes to join his bachelor uncle, Pieter Verbeek, in a large, but silent and unhappy house. Across the way sits a cottage, overflowing with the lively Dykstra family. While Father Dykstra works as a wooden-shoemaker, Mother Dykstra oversees the household of four children.

Fifteen-year-old Leo is an orphan being raised in an abbey in the days of King Richard the Lionhearted. He knows nothing of his parentage and has little hope for a future outside the familiar but sometimes restrictive monastery walls. Under the firm and loving hand of Abbot Michael, Leo has been well trained in piety, obedience, and courtesy, and has begun to master a strong will and quick anger. Nevertheless, he is restless, longing to go out into the world for a time before renouncing it forever.

For 12-year-old Peter Lundstrom, the Norwegian winter of 1940 begins like any other. When he isn’t in school, he spends the cold days outside, going sledding in the deep snow of his mountain village. But all around him, the adults are talking about the war that is raging through much of Europe. One day Uncle Victor warns that German soldiers will invade soon. He believes they will try to steal the bank’s gold bullion. But he has a daring plan to protect the treasure.