When ten-year-old Cora and her family leave their home in Missouri, their hearts are filled with the hopes and dreams of a bright future gleaming with promise and opportunity.

But the journey west by wagon train is harsh, and tragedy strikes swiftly and unexpectedly. Now Cora and her father must steel themselves for a different future from what they had carefully planned. How can they move forward when their hearts are broken?

But move on they must, and Cora takes comfort in her new baby sister (named Susan after the black-eyed flowers). When Cora learns she and Susan are to be separated at the end of their journey, she looks to the past to help craft a link to their new lives.

Over his mother's objections Robert Henry Hendershot has joined the Union Army as a drummer boy. He wants to see battle and capture a confederate soldier -- but his company commander says he's too young and removes him from the pontoon carrying troops across the Rappahannock to face the rebels at Fredericksburg.

The tickle of sand on the bottom of bare feet... the taste of salt from a spray of water... the rumble-roar as waves come ashore. These are just a few of the many sensory experiences a day at the beach can bring. S is for Sea Glass: A Beach Alphabet uses a variety of poetry forms such as free verse, haiku, and ode in this celebration of the beach and seaside life. From a walk down the boardwalk to collecting sea glass to imagining the life of a shell's former occupant, poet Richard Michelson reminds beach-lovers of all ages the many reasons why we're drawn to the shore.

Readers will be delighted to discover the many wonders of the Garden State, from her famous sons and daughters (inventor Thomas Edison and the Revolutionary War heroine Molly Pitcher) to her beautiful sights (the Highlands, the Pinelands, and New Jersey's famous shoreline), and her unique institutions (The Seeing Eye training institute for seeing eye dogs and Haddy, the largest complete dinosaur skeleton of its time, found in 1858). "G is for Garden State" explores the places, people, and landmarks that make New Jersey a fascinating place to live in and to visit again and again.

Written in the popular two-tier format for our Discover America State by State alphabet series, young readers will explore state facts through colorful illustrations, rhyming verses, and expository text. Used in schools throughout the country, this series effectively expands classroom curriculum.

Author/preservationist Eileen Cameron is interested in protecting our natural and historical resources. She serves on the board of the Washington Association of New Jersey at Morristown National Historical Park. Eileen has hiked the Appalachian Trail at High Point, rafted on the Delaware River, and now lives in Morristown, New Jersey.

Doris Ettlinger has illustrated numerous children's books including "Springtime in the Big Woods" and "Mr. Edwards Meets Santa Claus," both adapted from the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. She graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design. Doris lives and works in a 150-year old gristmill in western New Jersey with her family and a Welsh Corgi.

Texas Bound Hazelle has been living in the Grace Home, an orphanage in New York City, for almost a year. Now she and several other children have been put on a train headed for Texas, where they will be placed with families that want children. But Hazelle isn't an orphan, and her new home isn't what she expected. Will Hazelle find a place where she belongs? Hazelle Boxberg was a real eleven-year-old girl who traveled to Texas on an orphan train in 1918. Her story is as exciting as any novel.