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On Wednesday April 24 at 10pm ET the CELA website will be unavailable for about 15 minutes for planned maintenance.
Showing 1 - 20 of 48 items
By Stephen Chbosky. 1999
In 1991 Charlie is a high school freshman, reeling from his only friend's recent suicide. In a series of letters,…
the overly sensitive and intelligent Charlie describes making friends with two seniors, who are step-siblings, and growing up with their help. For senior high and older readers. 1999By Katherine Paterson. 1977
Jess finds his biggest rival and best friend in Leslie, a girl who moves to his rural Virginia community from…
the city. Together they create Terabithia, a secret kingdom in the woods where they reign supreme--until tragedy strikes. For grades 5-8. Newbery MedalBy 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 4-7By Sylvia Plath. 2004
Sylvia Plath's last manuscript before committing suicide in 1963 is restored to her preferred selections and arrangement of poems by…
her daughter Frieda Hughes. Hughes's foreword discusses the confessional voice in this poetry and her parents' complex marriage. 2004By Nancy Dunnan. 2003
Women's guide to short- and long-term legal and financial matters following a spouse's death. Lists ten tasks needed to be…
done immediately. Covers obtaining benefits, investing, handling taxes and 401(k)s, setting up credit cards and insurance, and planning for the future. Includes checklists, resources, and advice for young widows. 2003By Deepak Chopra. 2006
Doctor explores scientific discoveries and ancient religious traditions to address the subject of the afterlife. Posits that life and death…
are not separated by an impassable wall and that a person can shape what happens after death. 2006By William Reichel, David John Doukas. 2007
Physicians offer advice on making and communicating medical and legal decisions concerning end-of-life care. Uses a question-and-answer format to explain…
proxies, advance directives, living wills, and the Patient Self-Determination Act. Emphasizes the connection between values and treatment preferences. Includes resources and web sites for obtaining legal forms. 2007Describes the horrific events in Philadelphia in 1793 when citywide illness prevented Congress from convening. Thousands of people were dying,…
many unattended, and physicians of the time were unsure of the cause or treatment of the yellow-fever outbreak. For grades 6-9. 2003By Kate Braestrup. 2007
A chaplain for the Maine Warden Service relates being widowed with four children after her state-trooper husband was killed. Explains…
her decision to follow his dream of becoming a Unitarian Universalist minister. Describes her deep faith and comforting of those who lost loved ones. 2007By Mark Doty. 2007
Award-winning poet recalls experiences with his beloved retrievers, Arden and Beau. Describes how they helped him through his grief after…
his partner's death, and how, in turn, he cared for them as they aged. Reflects on the lessons learned about life, loss, and unconditional love. Some strong language. 2007By Drew Gilpin Faust. 2008
President of Harvard University interprets the significance of the U.S. Civil War's death toll. States that two percent of the…
country's population was killed and many died without proper burials. Analyzes the way those losses transformed American society, culture, and politics through the experience of shared suffering. Violence. Bestseller. 2008By Jim Sheeler. 2008
Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Sheeler recounts the two years he spent shadowing marine major Steve Beck, an officer whose job is…
to notify the families of fallen soldiers. Sheeler portrays the lives of the deceased, Beck's efforts to comfort the grieving relatives, and the toll on surviving kin. 2008By 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 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 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 David Works. 2009
Parents recount the murders of their two teenaged daughters on December 9, 2007, outside the New Life Church in Colorado…
Springs. Highlights the faith that enabled their family to cope with the tragedy, which physically wounded David and emotionally scarred the entire church community. 2009By James Merrill. 2008
Representative verse from the published works of James Merrill (1926-1995), ranging from First Poems in 1951 to the posthumous Collected…
Poems in 2001. Includes excerpts from The Changing Light at Sandover, an introduction by the editors, and a chronology. 2008By Harold Bloom. 2010
Literary critic Harold Bloom compiles the final poems of one hundred poets and supplies commentary for each. His anthology proceeds…
in chronological order, beginning with Edmund Spenser, and includes Andrew Marvell, William Blake, Herman Melville, D.H. Lawrence, Hart Crane, Elizabeth Bishop, Dylan Thomas, and Agha Shahid Ali. 2010By 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 Christopher Hitchens. 2012
Hitchens (1949-2011), author of Why Orwell Matters (DB 74336), chronicles his battle with esophageal cancer, which began with his diagnosis…
in June 2010. Describes accepting the inevitability of death and the questions of faith he dealt with as an avowed atheist. Includes afterword by Hitchens's widow Carol Blue. Bestseller. 2012