"On his eighth birthday, Billy Miller wishes for something exciting to happen. None of his wishes are answered the way he expects, but he does have lots of surprises--and the final one is possibly the best one ever"--

As final preparations are being made for a long-planned surprise party, Bear gets so excited he nearly ruins everything.

On Halloween, Melly is invited to Cousin Malberta's home for a surprise, but as she walks there on a beautifully spooky evening, she is followed by increasing numbers of creatures that may actually be frightening.

"After being together for ten years, Sylvie and Dan have all the trimmings of a happy life and marriage; they have a comfortable home, fulfilling jobs, beautiful twin girls, and communicate so seamlessly, they finish each other's sentences. However, a trip to the doctor projects they will live another 68 years together and panic sets in. They never expected "until death do us part" to mean seven decades. In the name of marriage survival, they quickly...

Publisher Annotation: Tom has a very important job: every day he climbs to the top of the hill and watches for pirate ships. When he rings his bell and shouts "PIRATES!" a few too many times - even though there's no pirate ship - the villagers start to get tired of hiding. But what will happen when the pirates really do show up?