Able to read and write at only a second grade level, sixth-grader Sam Mott considers himself dumb until he is prompted to cooperate with those who think something can be done about his problem.

Seattle fourth-grader McKenna Brooks, who lives for gymnastics, struggles with school work until Josie, a tutor confined to a wheelchair, helps her with reading comprehension and much more.

"Maple Mehta-Cohen has been keeping a secret: she can't read all that well. She has an impressive vocabulary and loves dictating stories into her recorder--especially the adventures of a daring sleuth who's half Indian and half Jewish like Maple herself--but words on the page just don't seem to make sense to her. Despite all Maple's clever tricks to hide her troubles with reading, her teacher is on to her, and now Maple has to repeat fifth grade....

"An endearing and empowering story that demonstrates that a learning difference like dyslexia doesn't define who you are. Despite her struggles with reading and writing, Beatrice is a natural and brilliant storyteller. With the help of a kind-hearted teacher, Beatrice uses an old-fashioned tape recorder so she can speak her words and then play them back, as a technique for learning in whole new way. With her new approach, Beatrice is able to show...

Asher Symon falls behind in his reading assignments and is summoned before the ominous Sentencer for reading crimes, but will the boy face a lifetime sentence of punishment, or can the mighty Librarian prove a slower learning pace is no crime?