At the outbreak of World War II, a twelve-year-old girl comes up with an idea to help the war effort America has just entered World War II, and everyone in Charlotte Campbell’s family is doing his or her part, either abroad or in the Pennsylvania factory town where the Campbells live. Charlotte’s brother Jim has enlisted in the navy, and her mother works in Braddock’s local war plant. Her dad guides tugboats filled with supplies up the Monongahela River. Eager to contribute to the war effort—besides saving to buy defense stamps—Charlotte organizes a scrap metal drive like the ones all over the country. She and her sixth-grade classmates start collecting old junk and soon have so much that they have to store it in the school basement . . . until someone steals all the metal. Charlotte is determined to find the thief and get back the precious scraps. Her younger brother Robbie supplies a list of potential suspects, from the school janitor to a fellow fourth grader. Some of the kids think it might be Charlotte’s German friend Betsy. But when they set a trap for the culprit, Charlotte has to face the fear that’s been giving her nightmares since childhood. This ebook includes a historical afterword.

In their Pennsylvania town in 1942, 12-year-old Charlotte and her classmates collect scrap metal for the war effort--only to have it disappear from the school basement. Color illustrations throughout.

An eleven-year-old immigrant must clear her name when things start disappearing from a Boston settlement house Innocenza Moretti’s parents died in a fire when she was two. Ever since, she’s lived with her grandmother and seven lodgers in the flat downstairs from her aunt, uncle, and cousins in a crowded tenement in Boston’s North End. Innie’s world changes when she and her cousin Teresa become members of a settlement house where immigrant girls can learn more about American life. Best of all, they’ll get to participate in a library club. At school, Innie has to share books with two or three other girls. Having her own books would be like eating Sunday dinner every day. The girls’ first assignment at the settlement house is unpacking books that had to be moved because of the recent fire that tore through the city. But now valuable things are vanishing: a pottery mug. A silver teapot. Money. And the prime suspect is Innie! With the help of Teresa and their new friend Matela Rosen, Innie searches for the real culprit. A secret tunnel under Copp’s Hill Burying Ground leads them to a surprising thief. This ebook includes a historical afterword.

Winner of the Edgar Award: When her homing pigeons disappear while her father is fighting in World War I, a twelve-year-old girl suspects a German spy may be responsible With her father in France, fighting in the war, Pam Lowder has the responsibility of taking care of the family’s prize-winning homing pigeons on their farm. The birds are special because her father trained them to fly at night so they can bring messages to his family when he’s not there. And now a stranger with a foreign accent has shown up in Currituck with an offer to buy the whole lot. But Pam isn’t interested in selling. She loves the pigeons and would much rather spend time with them than go to school. Then she wakes up one morning to find some pigeons missing. After the disappearance of Caspian, her favorite, the plucky pigeoneer sets a plan in motion to catch the thief. She has a pretty good idea who it is. But how is she supposed to rescue her pigeons and outwit a German spy? This ebook includes a historical afterword.

Molly still does her patriotic duty to help America win World War II, but she's weary and troubled. Dad is home safe, but he seems different now. And someone is sneaking into the backyard shed and messing with the scrap paper she's collecting!