If your house were on fire, what one thing would you save? Newbery Medalist Linda Sue Park explores different answers to this provocative question in linked poems that capture the diverse voices of a middle school class. Illustrated with black-and-white art.

Poppy believes that all they need in life is love, but the Little One keeps coming up with other things that will make their life comfortable--until it is all swept away in a storm.

The director of The Story of Stuff Project tracks the life of the "stuff" we use every day, transforming how we think about our patterns of consumption. This book is based on the author's 2007 internet film, "The Story of stuff." "With just 5 percent of the world's population, [the U.S.] is consuming 30 percent of the world's resources and creating 30 percent of the world's waste." -- Dust jacket.

After almost twenty years of caring for elderly parents -- first for their senile father, and then for their cantankerous ninety-three-year old mother -- author Plum Johnson and her three younger brothers have finally fallen to their middle-aged knees with conflicted feelings of grief and relief. Now they must empty and sell the beloved family home, twenty-three rooms bulging with history, antiques, and oxygen tanks. Plum thought: How tough will that...

"Moving is no fun. Neither is getting rid of stuff. And both jobs get harder as we get older. So, when those over a certain age - say, in the last third of life - are looking to downsize and move all at the same time, many will conclude, "I'll just stay put, thank you very much." It's not just the acquired possessions holding them back, but also the intangibles. Their memories, their family history, their identities are all in jeopardy, they think....