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Showing 1 - 20 of 150 items
By Jon Papernick. 2002
In a land where sudden death is an everyday fact of life, a boy dodges bullets and searches through rubble…
for news of his soldier father. An aging rabbi's faith is tested by a crippling, seemingly supernatural affliction. A middle-aged man comforts his Holocaust-survivor mother as she faces senility, convinced that Nazis are conspiring against her. And the mysterious biblical red heifer makes a startling appearance in the midst of a decidedly contemporary struggle. 2002.By Lisa Gabriele. 2002
Faith genuinely wants to be a good Catholic girl and she's pretty sure Jesus loves her, though the evidence is…
sometimes difficult to find. The trouble is, Faith's angry with everyone in her family. She breaks every commandment and finds herself torn between who she wants to be and who she is. 2002.By Linda Byler. 2018
Hannah and her husband Jerry remained in North Dakota when the rest of her family returned to Pennsylvania. However, when…
their ranch is decimated by locusts, Hannah relents and they follow. But tragedy strikes once again, leaving Hannah reeling and questioning her faith. 2018By David Grossman. 2014
Walking Man announces to his wife that he is setting out in search of their son, who has died. As…
Walking Man travels, other townspeople join him in search of their own loved ones. They all question whether death is truly the end of a person. Translated from Hebrew. 2014By Curtiss Anderson. 2008
In this classic story of a midwestern boyhood, Curtiss Anderson takes readers into the colorful lives of his robust Norwegian…
family and their wonderfully familiar summerscape in northern Minnesota: the lake place. Sweet childhood reminiscences comprise this coming-of-age memoir set in the poignant summers of the 1930s and '40sBy James Kelman. 2016
The story of a teenage boy, who travels with his father from Scotland to Alabama to visit with relatives after…
the death of his mother and sister, and becomes swept up into the world of zydeco and bluesBy Glenn Beck, Kevin Balfe, Jason Wright. 2008
Twelve-year-old Eddie is mad that he didn't get a bike for Christmas--only a homemade sweater from his widowed mother. When…
Eddie's mom is killed on their way home from visiting his grandparents, his grandfather tries to teach the grieving boy about life, happiness, and faith. Bestseller. 2008By Elaine Marie Alphin. 2003
Best friends Ian and Teddy meet regularly in an abandoned motel in the redwood forest, California, to take photographs. One…
day Teddy doesn't show up and Ian suspects his oppressive father has something to do with his friend's mysterious disappearance. Ian is questioned by the sheriff but he can't remember everything that happened that day. For grades 6-9By Sarah Lean. 2012
Praised by Newbery Medal–winning author Katherine Applegate as "graceful" and "miraculous," this Schneider Family Book Award–winning novel tells how one…
girl's friendship with a homeless dog mends a family's heart.Cally Fisher knows she can see her dead mother, but the only other living soul who does is a mysterious wolfhound who always seems to be there when her mom appears. How can Cally convince anyone that her mom is still with the family, or persuade her dad that the huge silver-gray dog belongs with them?With beautiful, spare writing and adorable animals, A Dog Called Homeless is perfect for readers of favorite middle-grade novels starring dogs, such as Because of Winn-Dixie and Shiloh.By Uri Orlev. 2010
When his family moves to Israel, nine-year-old Michael bonds with his grandfather Raphael, who has strong convictions about being a…
vegetarian, helping others, and knowing the soul's dark secrets. Raphael bestows an unusual gift on Michael, dream sharing. For grades 4-7 and older readers. 2010By Katherine Paterson. 2009
When the hostilities between Albanians and Serbs escalate in Kosovo, Meli's older brother Mehmet is temporarily captured. Fleeing to refugee…
camps, the Lleshi family then immigrates to Vermont, where, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, they face mistreatment for being Muslim. For grades 5-8. 2009By Tony Johnston, Susan Beth Pfeffer, Barry Moser. 2006
Sixteen-year-old Miranda keeps a journal describing her family's struggle to survive after an asteroid hits the Moon and causes disastrous…
climate change on Earth. She records her feelings about losing contact with friends and the outside world, locating food, and keeping hope alive. For junior and senior high readers. 2006By Stephanie S Tolan. 2006
A lonely summer spent regaining use of her injured leg becomes interesting when twelve-year-old Charley adopts a wild dog she…
finds in the woods. While Charley slowly tames the dog, he begins healing her heart, which is full of memories of her dead mother. For grades 4-7. Christopher Medal. 2006By Kevin Henkes. 1997
After the death of his beloved grandmother, ten-year-old Spoon pockets Gram's special deck of solitaire cards as a keepsake. When…
his grandfather becomes nostalgic and searches for the missing cards, Spoon returns the deck in exchange for another memento with a very special meaning. For grades 4-7"The Miller family's move from Ohio to Montana was, for the most part, uneventful, except that Sadie Miller had to…
leave her beloved horse, the palomino named Paris. Still, she likes the Montana snows and her job at Aspen East Ranch serving the ranch hands. Unexpectedly, Ezra appears, the man who seems to be perfect in every way and fully intends to marry Sadie. But does she love him back? And who is this fascinating Mark who helps to rescue a dying horse and shows up at the Amish hymn-sing though he is English? Why can't she get his dark eyes and tall stature out of her mind? Now Sadie's own close-knit family is falling apart. Mam claims her head is cluttered and unclear, and she no longer trusts herself to make a chocolate cake from scratch or to cut Reuben's hair in a straight line. The worst part is, Dat refuses to acknowledge Mam's struggles. Sadie finds some refuge in Nevaeh, a black and white paint. But when a dreadful accident involving wild horses occurs, Sadie must move forward into the unknown future. Will Dat let Mam seek professional help? Will Mam be willing to go? Will Mark be at the next hymn-sing? Is he Amish or English? Will he like her favorite pink dress? Will she see the wild horses again? Why do these phantom-like animals take her breath away every time they appear on the horizon?"--Provided by publisherBy Kwame Alexander. 2019
"Twin fourteen-year-old basketball stars Josh and Jordan wrestle with highs and lows on and off the court, as their father…
ignores his declining health. Told in hip-hop style verse." -- Provided by NLSBy Linda Byler. 2013
"One moment, Ben Miller was high up in the rafters at his neighbor's barn raising. The next, his foot slipped…
and he plunged to his death, leaving behind a young wife and six children, the youngest born four months after his death. Ruth Miller is not alone. Her Amish neighbors help her to make the difficult transition from wife to widow. But while the community has been generous, raising six growing children, each grieving their father's death, is overwhelming. Devastated by her loss, Ruth isn't sure how she'll make ends meet or restore order to a house full of rambunctious kids. With help from her mother and her energetic, but untidy neighbor, Mamie, Ruth finds a way to start over. Preoccupied with the effort to create a new life and manage her shrinking bank account, Ruth barely notices John King, the handsome newcomer to her community. Besides, how could she, if she had a chance, replace Ben? Does one ever replace a husband? As Christmas approaches, Ruth knows that she can't afford gifts for her children this year. It's hard enough to find money for groceries each week. But then banana boxes full of food, treats for the children, and even money begin to appear on her front porch. Who is leaving her these generous gifts? Is it a neighbor or a friend? Or, Ruth wonders, could it be John, who keeps unexpectedly appearing when Ruth most needs help?" -- Provided by publisherBy Sarah Everett. 2023
“One of the best books I have read this year (maybe ever).” —Colby Sharp, Nerdy Book ClubNPR Books We Love…
2023 | Publishers Weekly Best of 2023 | Winner of the Governor General's Literary Awards for Young People's LiteratureA heart-wrenching middle grade debut about Kemi, an aspiring scientist who loves statistics and facts, as she navigates grief and loss at a moment when life as she knows it changes forever.Eleven-year-old Kemi Carter loves scientific facts, specifically probability. It's how she understands the world and her place in it. Kemi knows her odds of being born were 1 in 5.5 trillion and that the odds of her having the best family ever were even lower. Yet somehow, Kemi lucked out.But everything Kemi thought she knew changes when she sees an asteroid hover in the sky, casting a purple haze over her world. Amplus-68 has an 84.7% chance of colliding with earth in four days, and with that collision, Kemi’s life as she knows it will end.But over the course of the four days, even facts don’t feel true to Kemi anymore. The new town she moved to that was supposed to be “better for her family” isn’t very welcoming. And Amplus-68 is taking over her life, but others are still going to school and eating at their favorite diner like nothing has changed. Is Kemi the only one who feels like the world is ending?With the days numbered, Kemi decides to put together a time capsule that will capture her family’s truth: how creative her mother is, how inquisitive her little sister can be, and how much Kemi's whole world revolves around her father. But no time capsule can change the truth behind all of it, that Kemi must face the most inevitable and hardest part of life: saying goodbye."My heart hurt as I raced through the last chapters of this unique book that shines a light on family, friends, grief, and love." —Lisa Yee, author of Maizy Chen's Last ChanceBy Will Browning, Réjean Ducharme. 2003
Go Figure is the hauntingly beautiful tale of a Montreal couple alienated from each other after suffering the miscarriage of…
twin girls. Mammy, the wife of Rémi Vavasseur, has gone away. Not because she no longer loves him, but because she no longer loves herself. She is criss-crossing Europe and Africa in the company of the dangerous and blonde Raïa, Rémi's former mistress. Meanwhile, Rémi remodels a ramshackle house in rural Quebec, designed for Mammy, if she ever comes back, "in flesh and bed." The novel is the journal that he keeps during their parallel journeys.By Charlie Quimby. 2013
Leonard Self has spent a year unwinding his ranch, paying down debts, and fending off the darkening. Just one thing…
left: taking his wife's ashes to her favorite overlook, where he plans to step off the cliff with her into a stark and beautiful landscape. But Leonard finds he has company on a route that intertwines old wounds and new insights that make him question whether his life is over after all."Part modern western, part mystery, this first novel will appeal to fans of Louise Erdrich and Kent Haruf. Quimby's prose reads so true, it breaks the heart."-BOOKLIST, starred review"The Colorado setting and the author's simple style of prose perfectly complement the complexity of the human spirit in this superb debut."-PUBLISHERS WEEKLY"Monument Road is so rich with landscape, character and event that such a small telling cannot begin to do it justice. Read this exquisite story; it is a joy and a wonder and a tour de force of authorship."-SHELF AWARENESS"Quimby's storytelling, his humane impulses and his lyrical passages on the meaning of love and time, and on the history, geology and botany of the region, will surely impress readers."-MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE"Quimby uses words as spare as Colorado's landscape to describe characters who range from endearing to crusty, wise to foolish, spiritual to downright evil. The folks who live near Monument Road aren't just descriptions in a book; they're complex people readers will care about."--FOREWORD REVIEWS"Not to be overlooked is the love, humor and friendship among pain and loss, which makes it a book far more about the richness of life than the finality of death."-GRAND JUNCTION DAILY SENTINEL"Monument Road is a wonderful novel full of wit and wisdom, generosity and malice."-GRAND JUNCTION FREE PRESS"Quimby's writing is sensitive and graceful; he has a talent for revealing slowly blossoming characters who are beautifully flawed and realistic."-THE DESERET NEWS"While not exactly a happy novel, Monument Road is beautiful and real, full of landscape imagery of the American Southwest as a poignant and sometimes haunting metaphor of our connections to the land."-15 BYTES"This is a novel with size and scope and generosity, with an acute understanding of human nature and a deep appreciation for the ways people face change and work out their lives in relation to each other."-Kent Meyers, author of Twisted Tree and The Work of Wolves"In prose that might have been chiseled from the magnificent landscape he describes, Charlie Quimby has written a great big American Novel. Full of pathos and humor and sadness, you won't reach the end of this book without feeling fuller and wiser. What a gift Charlie has given us."-Peter Geye, author of The Lighthouse Road and Safe from the Sea"Monument Road is a legitimate modern western, complete with an impressively authentic and aging rancher, heartache, ghosts, low-lifes, a rural landscape undergoing radical transformation, a glut of evangelical churches, and the ancient, powerful cliffs and mesas that surround it all, in southwestern Colorado. The narrative is likewise unpredictable and wild! A pleasure to read."-Bonnie Nadzam, author of Lamb"The landscape and characters of Monument Road ring true. Charlie Quimby has created a story that is hard to forget. His attention to the details of a fading life and life style are spot on and will be a window to any reader's understanding of the central phenomenon of the New West."-Dan O'Brien, author of Stolen Horses and Buffalo for the Broken Heart: Restoring Life to a Black Hills Ranch"Monument Road is a big-hearted novel chock full of memorable characters, a pleasure to read."-David Rhodes, author of Jewelweed and Driftless