Grandmothers' Stories by Burleigh Muten
"Muten retells eight folktales with the purpose of restoring the image of the wise woman 'as a benevolent, resourceful, independent, informed guide, who is respected in her community,' in place of the images of evil hags or silly fools. The stories come from Senegal, Japan, Russia, Hawaii, Mexico, Ireland, Germany, and Sweden, and are a mixture of the familiar and the lesser known....
Blueberry Girl by Neil Gaiman
This is a prayer for a blueberry girl . . . A much-loved baby grows into a young woman: brave, adventurous, and lucky. Exploring, traveling, bathed in sunshine, surrounded by the wonders of the world. What every new parent or parent-to-be dreams of for her child, what every girl dreams of for herself. Let me go places that we've never been, trust and delight in her youth.
Ivy + Bean and the Ghost that had to go by Annie Barrows
When the normally quiet Ivy tells her classmates that there's a ghost in the second-grade bathroom, reactions vary from fascination to fear. When a girl refuses to use the bathroom, though, Ms. Aruba-Tate's gentle reprimand sends Ivy reeling, and she and her friend Bean decide to make the problem go away by performing an exorcism. Barrows keeps the language simple and clear without sacrificing wit and subtlety.