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When the family health food store burns down, 12-year-old-Mitch is even more determined to win first prize in a Bakeathon with his special gingerbread.

Frustrated at her seeming lack of talent for anything, a young Taiwanese American girl sets out to apply the lessons of the Chinese Year of the Dog, those of making best friends and finding oneself, to her own life.

Twelve-year-old Isabel dreams of seeing the world but has never left Oregon, and so when her best friend, Sophie, tells her of a baking contest whose winners travel to New York City, she eagerly enters despite concerns about her mother, who is opening a cupcake bakery.

Eighth-grade star quarterback Nate Brodie's family is feeling the stress of the troubled economy, and Nate is frantic because his best friend Abby is going blind, so when he gets a chance to win a million dollars if he can complete a pass during the halftime of a New England Patriot's game, he is nearly overwhelmed by the pressure to succeed.

When someone steals the winner's trophy for the school book project, Clarice emulates her favorite book heroine, Ruby Redfort the detective, to solve the crime.

During the Great Depression, Marshall, an African American boy, uses lessons learned in arithmetic class and guidance from his mother to figure out how many beans are in a jar in order to win her a new sewing machine in a contest.

In 1959, ten-year-old Freedom Jane McKenzie wants to enter and win the marble competition at the Autumn Jubilee and win the title of Marble Queen, but first she must convince Mama that competing with boys is okay.

Myra, a high school senior, will do almost anything to win a contest and earn money for a study trip to the Galapagos Islands, which would mean getting away from her demanding family life in Utah and ex-boyfriend Erik, but Erik is set on winning the same contest.

In Overton, Ohio, in the 1920s, Fran Parker and her family adjust to such modern inventions as the radio and the airplane, and Fran enters a radio contest.

In the 1930's at their family restaurant in rural New York state, Hannah and her father each enter separate contests and help each other through the ups and downs of competing.

"Avery is the black sheep of the wealthy VanDemere clan--the ostracized illegitimate daughter.

Born into a family of over-achievers, fifth-grader Allie Velasco has never finished first in anything, and lately things have been going badly: her science project is ruined by a well-meaning student, her former best friend is hanging out with another girl--but now she is determined to win the Trailblazer contest with a photographic presentation about her great grandfather, the first Congressional Medal of Honor winner from their town.

"Josh's life has just fallen apart. His father will no longer be coaching the travel baseball team and is moving to Florida, forcing his mom and little sister to move into a small apartment on the wrong side of town.

"The town's annual Turkey Trot race and festival is coming up, and Judy and Stink are training to win.

JT is a gay high school senior determined to get out of Clearwater, Florida, and be the first person in his family to go to college, even though he can not figure out how to pay for it--until his friends convince him to compete in a drag teen competition where the first prize is a college scholarship.