Ellen Fremedon, Volunteer

Thirteen-year-old Ellen Fremedon is not looking forward to summer. Her best friend Jenny is going away to art school, and none of her usual projects seem like very much fun anymore. She isn't thrilled when she considers all the ways she could spend her time: hanging out with her obnoxious twin brothers, reading to the brats in the summer reading program at the library, gardening for her fussy neighbors, or maybe taking on some more chores at home now that the housekeeper has left and her wheelchair-bound mother suffers from multiple sclerosis. Things look bad for Ellen, but then, to add insult to injury, she's roped into visiting the senior citizens at Peacehaven, the local retirement home. But the experience proves to be far from boring when Ellen meets her match in Mr. Martin, a blind, rude old man, who is even crankier than Ellen. Maybe summer won't be a complete bust after all.