Kate DiCamillo

"Crying ain't going to bring her back," Rob's dad says. So Rob fills a suitcase in his mind with all his forbidden thoughts - the rash on his legs, the bullies at school - and keeps it tight shut. But when he finds a caged tiger deep in the woods, his whole life begins to change. That same day he meets Sistine Bailey, another outsider who's bullied at school. She says they must set the tiger free - and when Rob imagines the tiger rising out of its...

Just before Christmas, an organ grinder and his monkey appear on the street corner outside Frances' apartment. She can't stop thinking about them, especially after she sees the man and the monkey sleeping outside on the cold street at night. What could she do to make the organ grinder's eyes less sad?