Stretching from the Oregon border to the Baja peninsula, the California Coast ecoregion (ecoregions are geographical areas that share similar natural features and cultural history) is known for mild, Mediterranean-like weather. This book gathers stories, poems, and essays chosen because they feature the natural heritage of the region and because kids often are the protagonists. A book in the acclaimed Stories from Where We Live series, "The California Coast" includes pieces both historical and contemporary and many contributions from ethnic groups. Individual pieces tell of gold rush fortunes, Wells Fargo stagecoach "whips," and surfers who brave the sharks in the "Red Triangle." They recall a Native American woman who survived for eighteen years alone on an island and the "Pigeon Express" that carried mail to the Channel Islands in the days before radio. There are pieces about seals and sea otters, foxes amidst the dry chaparral, redwoods and the La Brea tar pits. The book includes information about the region’s habitats and a list of natural areas to visit. Divided into four sections—Adventures, Great Places, Reapers and Sowers, and Wild Lives—this book is a wonderfully imaginative way to get to know the natural life of the California Coast.

Children learning to fish in the tidewaters of Chesapeake Bay, a girl escaping Ocean City to see her first American oystercatcher, a family canoeing through Okefenokee Swamp, brothers catching a trophy bass together—these are some of the vivid stories, contemporary and historical, in this multilayered portrait of the South Atlantic Coast. Renowned writers and gifted observers limn the region’s seasons and moods, from autumn along the C&O Canal to kite flying on a spring day in South Carolina. Included are sections on common plants and animals, maps of the region, and a list of parks and nature centers for further study. Anna's tenth summer : a story / by Katherine S. Balch—Summer of being ten : a poem / by Gretchen Fletcher—Jack's kite : an essay / by Gary Henderson—Back of the pack : a story / by Susan Gray Gose—On Assateague Island : a poem / by Charles Rossiter—Into the Okefenokee : an essay / by C.W. Dingman—The fort : an essay / by Kimberly Greene Angle—Breathless toes : a poem / by April Pulley Sayre—Chesapeake homeplace : an essay / by Susan Schmidt—A peek : a poem / by McCabe Coolidge—Oystercatchers on the moon : a story / by Joe Shepherd—In the dune forest : a poem / by Lynn Schuessler—Hampton wetlands : an essay / by P.G. Brake—Heron bay : a poem / by Martin Galvin—Welcoming the waves : a story / by Mälina Mangal—Coming of age in the tropics : a poem / by Gretchen Fletcher—Longleaf : an essay / by Janisse Ray—Ponte Vedra Beach : a poem / by Marianne Poloskey—Paynes Prairie : an essay / by Archie Carr—Lessons from the road : crossing the Florida-Georgia state line : a poem / by Larry Rubin—A February walk in Georgia : a poem / by Mary Ann Coleman—My country garden : a poem / by Felicia Mitchell—Catch of the day : a story / by Michael W. Raymond—Shrimping : a poem / by Amelia Sides—Bounty : an essay / by Paul Jahnige—A haiku and two tankas, poems / by Lenard D. Moore—Oystering : an excerpt from Jacob have I loved / by—Katherine Paterson—Freeze : a poem / by Nancy Priff—Legacy : an essay / by June Owens—Digging for clams : a poem / by Anina Robb—Berry-picking : an essay / by Mary E. Mebane—Haiku, poems / by Lenard D. Moore—The eco-canoeist : an essay / by Sy Montgomery—Tiger of the air : a story / by Katharine Crawford Robey—Swifts at evening : a poem / by Jeffrey Harrison—Alligators : an essay / by William Bartram—Whooping cranes : an excerpt from The yearling / by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings—Gopher tortoise lament : a poem / by Ann Morrow—Potomac and the gray swan : a story / by Day Alexander—Green heron : a poem / by Ann E. Michael—Our lads : an essay / by Jake Page—Beach meal, 1820 : a poem / by Jan Godown—Legend of the swallow-tailed kite : a story / by Susan Cerulean—Waiting and watching : an excerpt from The pond / by Robert Murphy—Bliss : a poem / by Rina Ferrarelli—Disturbing the universe : an essay / by Betsy Hilbert—Ecology of the South Atlantic Coast and Piedmont—What is an ecoregion? — Habitats—Animals and plants—Stories by state parks and preserves