Ann Cameron

"If Julian has not already won readers' hearts with his [earlier] exploits, he will here when he tries to find out his father's secret dream for a birthday present. Surprised at hearing his father mumble 'two snakes,' Julian duly catches and presents them, only to discover that snakes are his father's recurring nightmare. Cameron's style is elegantly smooth and the characters come alive through easy dialogue and involving action."—Bulletin,...

Called a troublemaker by his human family, a reflective dog defends himself and then relates the family's adoption of an aristocratic but incompetent cat, who gives him a life purpose and new way of looking at his world.

"Julian is the best at making up stories and games. When you're busy thinking about when frogs wore shoes or how your best friend, Gloria, can move the sun, it's impossible to be bored. But sometimes, words can be tricky. When Julian calls his little brother, Huey, a name, the story that follows isn't a good one. How can a few words get Julian into so much trouble?"--Back cover.

Kidnapped when she was very young by an unscrupulous man who has forced her to lie and beg to get money, a twelve-year-old Mayan girl endures an abusive life, always wishing she could return to the parents she can hardly remember.