Books in A Harper trophy book series

It's one disaster after another as Desdemona Blank tries to make friends at her new junior high, salvage her single-parent father's budding romance, and not think too much about Mike Harbinger, the fifteen-year-old blond school heartthrob. Then several extraordinary things happen'including getting to know Mike'and Desdemona's desperate life becomes a delirious one.

Last year, Jerry Flack was a dork. So this year, at a new school in a new town, he's decided to start a new life altogether--as a Cool Kid. He's been preparing all summer: studying teen magazines, acquiring hair gel, and distressing his jeans. Things get off to a good start, and before you know it, Jerry's in, Rollerblading with the pros. But soon, Jerry finds himself tangled up in a complicated web of lies; and what's more, he's battling a terrible urge to put his glasses back on, join the science team, build a hovercraft, and, worst of all, date Brenda, a 100% geek. Does he really want to be a dork in disguise forever?

Sometimes Nickel sees a horse that isn't there...Could it be the ghost of Joe's old horse, Cougar, who died in a recent barn fire? Nickel isn't sure. What he does know is that since he moved with his aunt Starla and her husband, Joe, to Joe's parents' farm, he is happier than he's been in a long time. But a run-in with a school bully threatens to pull Nickel down. Then he finds Joe's battered old bike. It's hard to ride, harder to steer, and warm to the touch -- more like a living creature than a metal machine. Can this mysterious bicycle with a mind of its own help Nickel free himself from his violent past and protect his new life?

The long cold winter was over. The little red hen had changed and the other chickens picked on her now, or ignored her altogether. Then one day a big black dog came to the farm in search of a new home. The dog was humble and lonesome. The hen was cocky, and lonesome, too. A strange and wonderful friendship grew between them. The dog protected the little red hen, but who would protect the big black dog from being chased off the farm? Who would convince the man who owned the farm that the dog truly belonged there?

Muna has never known his father -- a samurai, a noble warrior. But Muna's mother has told Muna how he will know him one day: by the sign of the chrysanthemum. When his mother dies, Muna travels to the capital of twelfth-century Japan, a bewildering city on the verge of revolution. He finds a haven there, as servant to the great swordsmith, Fukuji. But Muna cannot forget his dream: He must find his father. Only then will he have power and a name to be reckoned with. Only then will he become a man.