GIST
Everyone is afraid of Grandma Dowdel, including her grand-daughter. As Mary Alice watches her grandmother's shenanigans, she learns that a kind heart beats under Grandma's gruff exterior. From one chapter to the next, Grandma rights wrongs-and teaches Mary Alice some of her tricks-in this warm, funny look at small-town life.

MESSAGE
Judeo-Christian.

GIST
Winn-Dixie, named after the grocery where Opal finds him, is a life saver. With the dog's help Opal makes friends with all sorts of odd characters, including the librarian Miss Franny, whose great-grandfather invented a candy that tastes like life: "sweet and sad at the same time." Reads like a kid's version of the Mitford stories.

MESSAGE
Judeo-Christian.

GIST
In a rural Wisconsin town the mayor is a bad guy, and it takes G.T. Stoop, a diner owner recently diagnosed with leukemia, to take him on. Aunt Addie and Hope come to run the diner, but they get pulled into politics in this bittersweet novel pitting good versus evil. (The politics are predictable: The bad guy is the businessman and the good guys want to spend more money on day care.)

MESSAGE
Moralism.

GIST
Meds are good. When Joey has his patch his life becomes focused, and he can function. But when his dad tells him he doesn't need the medicine and flushes it down the toilet, Joey begins to fall apart. Meanwhile, his father, who had stopped drinking cold turkey, begins to drink again. A frantic story that's supposed to be funny but isn't.

MESSAGE
Materialism.

GIST
The book begins as a straightforward adventure tale as Sophie and her cousins, Cody and Brian, and her uncles prepare and set off on their Atlantic crossing. Both Sophie and Cody keep journals, and through the alternating entries, it becomes clear that there's a mystery associated with Sophie, which is revealed bit by bit. It's a voyage of discovery for the others as well.

MESSAGE
Naturalism.