Claudia Mills Books in Order

Luisa's hopes for life in America collide with the hard realities around her. Mills uses one girl's dreams to tell a grounded story about family, change, and finding a place to belong.

In one of Mills's earliest novels, a young girl faces the shadowy fears and confusions that gather around childhood change. The story blends an intimate family world with a feeling of mystery at the edges.

A girl haunted by thoughts about death and what it means to be alive moves through a family story full of fear, love, and growing self-awareness. It is a reflective early novel with unusually big questions.

After losing her parents and living with grandparents in a small Iowa town, Lindy feels trapped between grief and boredom. A nearby carousel and her sister's dream of New York sharpen her longing for a different life.

Jessica has long known she was adopted, but a new detail about why her parents chose adoption unsettles her sense of belonging. Family love is real here, yet so are the questions it cannot instantly answer.

During the Great Depression in Baltimore, thirteen-year-old Annie watches her father's job loss and despair shake her whole family. Her impulsive attempt to escape becomes part of a painful search for hope.

Cynthia has always had room to be herself, until her younger sister Lucy joins her class for math and science. Suddenly she must figure out who she is when comparison comes right into the classroom.

Melanie's urge to gather, keep, and treasure things leads her into the everyday tangles of school and family life. It is an early Claudia Mills story about wanting too much and learning what truly matters.

After breaking her ankle, Cally briefly escapes her parents' overplanned schedule, then gets swept into a money-making scheme with classmate Chuck. For once, she has to decide what she wants, not just what others expect.

Heidi is determined to take on a strict teacher she thinks is unfair, especially when her shy best friend gets hurt by classroom sarcasm. Her campaign for justice becomes messier than she expects.

Dinah Seabrooke wants attention, applause, and center stage, preferably all at once. Two jolting disappointments force her to see that the world does not revolve around her.

Rachel cannot wait to visit her older cousin Amy-Claire, only to find herself left out of the games. Hurt feelings, a younger sister, and a smart new plan turn the day around.

Dinah throws herself into school politics with her usual ambition and certainty. Running for office gives her another chance to chase the spotlight and learn that other people matter too.

Dinah swears she will not chase romance, which of course makes the possibility of sixth-grade love even harder to ignore. Her big feelings collide with friendship, pride, and the awkwardness of growing up.

Hannah would rather read, draw, and stay herself than rush toward makeup and popularity. A new friendship pulls her into the social world of fifth grade and forces her to decide what growing up should mean.

Phoebe is thrilled to be a Peewee Majorette in the Fourth of July parade. Even teasing from her brother cannot dull the excitement of marching in a day that feels made just for her.

Bethany worries about everything, from friendships to her younger brother's speech to whether her mother can handle all her fears. Her secret inner life is both exhausting and deeply recognizable.

Dinah is still sharp, restless, and self-absorbed, but bigger questions start crowding in as she thinks about death and growing up. The final book gives her funny, difficult emotions real weight.

In these three short stories, seven-year-old Gus and his seventy-year-old Grandpa share everyday adventures full of mishaps, affection, and quiet humor. It is a warm start to one of Mills's gentlest series.

Christmas baking with Grandpa should be simple, but little problems have a way of appearing. The warmth of the season shines through in their shared effort.

Ethan and his best friend Julius proudly call themselves losers, at least until Ethan decides he wants to impress a student teacher. Trying to stop being a loser puts his friendships and decency under strain.

Young Benjamin cannot find his lame sheep, Kivsa, and his search leads him through Bethlehem on a night of wonder. The lost sheep becomes the thread that carries him to the Nativity.

Hospitals can be scary places, especially for a child. Grandpa helps Gus face the unfamiliar with calm, curiosity, and reassurance.

A train ride with Grandpa promises adventure, noise, and a little nervous excitement. Gus gets to see the world feel bigger and friendlier at the same time.

Maggie refuses to dissect a worm in biology class and suddenly finds herself at odds with a teacher she admires. It is a quiet, thoughtful story about conscience, friendship, and speaking up.

Learning to ride a two-wheeled bike is thrilling until the wobbling starts. Grandpa gives Gus the mix of patience and faith he needs to keep trying.

Julius starts summer feeling like a disappointment to his demanding mother. French class, babysitting, and new friendships slowly show him that kindness and steadiness count as real strengths.

Gus wants show-and-tell to be special, not embarrassing. With Grandpa nearby, an ordinary school event becomes a gentle lesson in confidence.

Smart, eccentric Lizzie is tired of being the weird girl in seventh grade. When she tries to reinvent herself for popularity and a crush, she has to figure out how much of herself she is willing to give up.

Gus heads to basketball with Grandpa and discovers that sports can be exciting and intimidating at the same time. Grandpa's steady presence helps keep the fun bigger than the pressure.

Wilson is sure the multiplication tables were invented to ruin third grade. Between math drills and everyday school pressures, he has to find a way through numbers that just will not stick.

Halloween should be fun, but costume worries can feel enormous when you are small. Grandpa helps Gus face the day with humor and a little extra courage.

Show-and-tell feels huge when you want everything to go right. This picture book turns one classroom moment into a funny, high-stakes adventure for a young child.

Class clown Alex Ryan is used to laughing first and thinking later. After he hurts Marcia and feels humiliated by his own father, he has to decide what kind of joke is no longer funny.

A fishing trip with Grandpa turns into another warm, funny adventure for Gus. Patience, small surprises, and being together matter more than the catch.

Gus would rather do almost anything than practice piano. Grandpa helps him through the worries, boredom, and small triumphs that come with learning something hard.

Chelsea loves school, church, and doing things right, but life keeps refusing to go perfectly. Through friendships, mishaps, and big questions about faith and death, she learns to make room for flaws, including her own.

Popular Marcia thinks beauty and social success should be easy, until weight worries, art class, and a nursing home service project unsettle her world. The story gently asks what being pretty really means.

Ziggy dreads field day because he always comes in last. But when his artwork becomes the thing everyone wants, he gets a different kind of blue-ribbon day.

Twin siblings Amy and Todd feel their family turning upside down after their father's unemployment and their mother's new job. A school economics project mirrors the shifts at home as each twin starts acting unlike themselves.

Riley would much rather get a saxophone than do a biography tea project on Teddy Roosevelt. But the more he learns about Roosevelt's bold spirit, the more he starts thinking like someone who can solve his own problems.

Amanda's parents are separating, and her fifth-grade Civil War diary project becomes her safest place to think. Writing about a girl with brothers on opposite sides of the war helps her face a split at home.

Oliver has overprotective parents who never let him do anything on his own, not even attend the class space sleepover. Deciding to change his small corner of the universe is his first big act of independence.

Cooper and his little sister build an imaginary kingdom to survive the frightening swings of their mother's mental illness. It is a tender story about fear, loyalty, and how hard kids work to protect one another.

Mason starts fourth grade with one huge problem: everyone has to sing in the school choir. He will do almost anything to stay out of the spotlight, but his careful plans keep exploding.

Wilson can barely manage fractions, a science fair, and the secret of his Saturday tutor. With his hamster Pip nearby, he muddles through math panic, friendship strain, and the fear of being found out.

Mason does not even want a pet, but his parents keep bringing animals into his life, one chaotic attempt after another. By the time a dog arrives, he has to admit he may care more than he thought.

Mason Dixon dreads joining a basketball team, especially with his dad coaching and a bully waiting to humiliate him. It becomes a funny, painful season of missed shots and small acts of courage.

Kelsey loves reading so much that a school contest turns it into a fierce competition. Chasing victory forces her to remember why books matter in the first place.

Sierra does the honest thing and turns in the paring knife she accidentally brought to school in her lunch. Instead of praise, she gets suspension, publicity, and a hard lesson about rules and fairness.

Annika loves numbers, sudoku, and any chance to use math in real life. When a school carnival is headed for trouble, her favorite subject may be the very thing that saves the day.

This nonfiction collection looks at how children's books handle right and wrong, responsibility, and moral growth. It is aimed more at adult readers, teachers, and scholars than at kids.

Izzy is the fastest kid in third grade, but what she really wants is for her dad to show up for her big races. Between field day and a city run, she has to keep going without losing heart.

Simon is great at spelling, but that talent becomes a problem when his best friend gets tired of always losing. As the spelling bee nears, Simon has to decide what winning is really worth.

Fourth-grader Nora Alpers loves facts, order, and her ant farm. When school and family life get messier than any experiment, she tries to solve everything scientifically, with mixed results.

Cody loves animals and already has a house full of them. But school, family life, and pet responsibilities all collide, and he learns that being king of pets takes more than affection alone.

Nora would rather study ants than think about her mother's coming baby. As she fills another notebook with facts, she faces big changes at home that refuse to follow scientific rules.

Autumn loves to write and wants badly to be published. But when a personal essay about her brother wins a contest, she has to choose between literary success and protecting the people she loves.

Science-loving Nora hates being pushed into new experiences, especially when it involves a class assignment and a possible new friend. She has to learn that people do not sort themselves as neatly as ants do.

When Nixie's mom starts working, Nixie lands in after-school cooking camp while her best friend spends afternoons elsewhere. Jealousy, hurt feelings, and new classmates force her to rethink what friendship really means.

Lucy joins coding camp hoping it will bring her closer to her older sister, Elena. Instead, she has to find her own strengths and learn that sisters can stay close without loving the same things.

Vera loves drawing comics and finally gets her chance at after-school comics camp. But when her mother dismisses the camp's comic-con field trip, Vera has to fight for what matters to her.

Boogie feels like he cannot do anything right. At after-school sign language camp, a visit with Deaf students gives him a chance to find confidence and discover a talent of his own.

Betsy and her best friend decide to help save an endangered language to impress Betsy's linguist mother. Their project becomes a tender test of friendship, family strain, and finding the right words.