Ten short stories in which the lives of young people in different circumstances are changed by their encounters with books.

In your hat / Ellen Conford -- Escape / Margaret Peterson Haddix -- Follow the water / Jennifer L. Holm -- Testing, testing 1, 2, 3 / A. La Faye -- Tea party ends in bloody massacre, film at 11 / Gregory Maguire -- What's a fellow to do / Katharine Karr -- Wet hens / Ellen Wittlinger -- The good deed / Marion Dane Bauer -- Bacarole for paper and bones / M.T. Anderson -- Clean sweep / Joan Bauer.