This story describes a village in Mexico from the point of view of Juanita, who lives there. She tells about her favorite places in the village and her observations about the people who live there.
Russell's favorite place is art class, and his favorite activity is drawing. His art teacher, Ms. Perez, helps and encourages him to explore his talents. Russell even incorporates his artwork into his other school assignments. Russell is overjoyed when one of his pieces of art is published in a children's magazine.
The story opens with Tonya beginning college at Gallaudet University, the only university in the world for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. College changes everything for Tonya. While growing up, she learned cued speech, which enabled her to communicate only with people who could hear. However, at college she learns American Sign Language (ASL), which opens up a whole new community of peers. Tonya likes using ASL so much that she no longer wants to use cued speech to communicate. This causes conflict between Tonya and her mother, who likes to hear Tonya and speak with her. Tonya's mother feels hurt until she realizes that Tonya needs to do things her own way. In the end, both mother and daughter do their best to understand each other's feelings and point of view.
Nick is deaf and is unhappy at his new school. At his old school, he had a friend who was also deaf, but at this school, only his teacher knows how to sign. Nick feels very alone. On Fridays, each student shares something from home. After a lot of thinking, Nick decides to teach his class how to sign on Share Day.
This story is about Deka, a young Somalian girl who has moved with her family to the United States. Deka appreciates her heritage but recognizes the need to make friends and learn English. She also encourages her mother to learn English and become comfortable in their new country.
Mercedes is the new kid in school. The first group of kids she sits with at lunch turn out to be mean girls. Mercedes doesn't like the way they act, so she starts sitting with a different group. Later she sees Jessica, one of the mean girls, crying. Mercedes talks to Jessica and finds out that she is afraid that all the kids at school will laugh at her when they find out her problem. Mercedes offers Jessica a chance to start over and make new friends.
Based on the real-life events of the Spanish fleet commanded by Ferdinand Magellan in the early 1500s, this story follows the adventures of Juan de Zubileta, a young boy who serves as a page aboard one of the ships. As the voyage progresses, the crew experiences many hardships. At one point, Magellan asks Juan's advice about whether or not to end the expedition and return home.
Assia and her family have come to America from Somalia to escape a civil war. Once in America, Assia feels lonely and out of place. Several experiences cause Assia to discover that misunderstandings lead people to make assumptions about one another that may not be true. This, in turn, leads to conflict. Assia realizes that she can make a choice to try and understand people better, which helps to resolve some of the conflicts that she and others face.
Highlights presents Crystal's Crystals written by Christina Wilsdon. A young girl uses rhyme to point out the many crystals in her home. They are in ice, in sugar, and even in computers. Then she reveals that she, too, is a Crystal--it is her name.
