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Showing 1 - 20 of 192 items
By Beth Powning. 2021
In this beautiful and deeply moving novel, a young widow struggles to come to terms with her solitary life in…
the rambling Victorian house she shared until recently with her husband and children in semi-rural New Brunswick.It is in this house, surrounded by heirloom gardens and the gentle sounds of a river, that Kate Harding, 52, faces her second winter since the untimely death of her husband. Her children, now grown, are living away, and Kate is truly on her own. In her living room are several hatboxes filled with letters and other ghostly ephemera, recently brought by her sister from the attic of their grandparents’ 18th-century Connecticut house. Their sweet mustiness tinges the air and makes Kate dream of her childhood and of her beloved grandparents. She remembers the sense of permanence and refuge that she felt in their apple-scented world, as well as, more recently, with her husband. As she begins to read the hatbox letters, she discovers that what to a child seemed a serene and blissful marriage was in fact founded on a tragic event. As Kate’s eyes clear to the truth of the past, a new tragedy unfolds, and her own house, filled with the shared detritus of marriage and motherhood, becomes the refuge where Kate can connect the strands of her unravelled life.In The Hatbox Letters — which is both sad and exhilarating, touching and illuminating — Beth Powning offers readers an unforgettable story of love, grief and renewal, both past and present, as well as her extraordinary perceptions of the natural world.Excerpt from The Hatbox LettersThe birds rise with a muted thunder, their wings serrate the light. For an instant, a peregrine falcon zigzags through the flock. Then it drops from the belly of the rising bird-cloud. In its talons is a sandpiper, crumpled like a ball of paper. It is hard to decide which drama to observe, the escape of the falcon with its prey or the flock’s display as the birds rush seaward like a single entity, a ballooning flame that rises and falls, expands and implodes, one instant silver and the next black. The flock speeds back towards the beach, passes close to the watchers, makes a dazzling turn, fast as thought. Then, with a diminishing roar, the birds waver, their legs drop, stretch. They touch down. They fluff their feathers, Kate observes, the way humans pull coats up around necks after a shock. Trying to put ourselves back as we were.By 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 Georgia Bragg, Kevin O'Malley. 2011
Guide to the deaths of nineteen notable people begins with King Tut, who died of malaria. Also covers King Henry…
VIII, whose corpse exploded; George Washington; Marie Curie, who literally worked to death; and Albert Einstein. Includes facts, oddities, and resources. Some violence. For grades 5-8 and older readers. 2011By Holly Robinson Peete, Ryan Elizabeth Peete, Shane Evans. 2010
A girl tells what it is like living with her twin brother who has autism and sometimes finds it hard…
to communicate with words, but who, in most ways, is just like any other boy. Includes authors' note about autism. For preschool-grade 2By 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 Susan Campbell Bartoletti. 2015
Mary Mallon, who became known as "Typhoid Mary," was hired as a cook for a wealthy family in 1906. A…
few weeks later an outbreak of typhoid fever swept through the household. Eventually it was determined that Mallon was a healthy carrier, spreading the disease but not suffering it herself. She was arrested and quarantined against her will. This biography explores the many violations of Mallon's human and civil rights, the culture of the period, how the public and health officials responded, and the sensationalism of "yellow journalism." For grades 5-8By Monica Roe, Monica M Roe. 2008
Paralyzed with Guillain-Barré syndrome, eighteen-year-old champion skier Dane Rafferty is sent from New York State to a rehabilitation center in…
Florida. Dane's arrogance gradually fades as he contends with his physical limitations. Meanwhile, Carissa visits her comatose father across the hall. Strong language. For senior high readers. 2008By Helen Wells. 2006
Army nurse Cherry Ames returns home to Illinois and begins a new assignment at a veteran rehabilitation hospital. While healing…
the bodies and spirits of wounded soldiers, Cherry meets Toby, a four-year-old boy with a life-threatening disease. Cherry wants to help but doesn't trust Toby's doctor. For grades 5-8. 1946By Helen Wells. 2005
Working in the children's ward during her senior year of nursing school, Cherry Ames meets Lex Upham, a young doctor…
with a questionable reputation. When someone steals a new drug that could help the war effort, everyone suspects Lex. Cherry sets out to prove he's innocent. For grades 5-8. 1944By Helen Wells. 2006
Cherry Ames lands a visiting nurse position in New York and moves into a Greenwich Village apartment with her girlfriends.…
Cherry treats the new patients in her district but becomes especially concerned with the welfare of a mysterious recluse who may need her help. For grades 5-8. 1947By Shelley Tanaka. 2005
Discusses the ways cultures in various climates and time periods have preserved the dead. Describes the process of mummification in…
the Andes mountains and dry deserts of South America, the Egyptian desert, glaciers of Canada and Italy, European peat bogs, Siberian ice, and Chinese sand dunes. For grades 3-6. 2005By George Moran, Christy Grant, Nadine Bernard Westcott. 1995
Billy uses a wheelchair and talks with a wordboard because he has cerebral palsy. He is both excited and scared…
when he learns that everyone in his class is going to be taught to ski. Some will use walkers or crutches fitted with little skis, but Billy gets to use a sit-ski! For grades 2-4By Jeffrey Shulman, Barbara Aiello. 1989
Eleven-year-old Christine Kontos learns successfully to cope with her diabetes. But she finds it much harder to come to terms…
with the demands of her Greek-American heritage. Includes a section of questions and answers about diabetes and its treatment. For grades 3-6By Cynthia Ruchti. 2017
By Jean-Christophe Réhel, Dr Joe Schwarcz. 2021
It’s a long way from a basement apartment in a Montréal suburb to a new life on a fictional planet,…
but that’s the destination our unnamed narrator has set his sights on, bringing readers with him on an off-beat and often hilarious journey. Along the way, he writes poems, buys groceries at the dollar store and earns minimum wage at a dead-end supermarket job. In between treatments for his cystic fibrosis and the constant drip-drip-drip of disappointment, he dreams of a new life on Tatouine, where he’ll play Super Mario Bros and make sand angels all day. But in the meantime, he’ll have to make do with daydreams of a better life. Bespeak Audio Editions brings Canadian voices to the world with audiobook editions of some of the country’s greatest works of literature, performed by Canadian actors.By 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 Brian Lies. 2018
Farmer Evan and his dog do everything together, and they especially love working in the garden. But when his dog…
passes away, Evan lets his garden fill with weeds until a pumpkin vine brings new hope. PRINT/BRAILLE. For grades K-3. 2018By Katherine Applegate. 2018
Fearing she may be the last of her kind, Byx sets off to find a safe haven and to see…
if the legends of hidden dairne packs are true. For grades 4-7. 2018By 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. 2010