Tweet Layla dreads starting 8th grade, another year, she assumes, of mediocre grades and the feeling of just getting by. Life at home has difficult moments too: her dad’s been gone since she was a baby, her mother juggles single-parenting … Continue reading
Category Archives: Contemporary Fiction
Tweet Twelve-year-old Abbey thinks the worst thing about starting seventh grade is being the new girl (again) when her dad is stationed at an Army base in Tennessee. But then planes fly into the World Trade Center in New York … Continue reading
Tweet Thirteen-year-old Nellie has a lot on her shoulders. Her mother left the family, her dad sometimes gets depressed and stays in bed for days on end, and her younger brothers need someone around to be responsible. She believes if … Continue reading
Tweet Today I’m reviewing a book I loved that’s great for readers aged 9 to 14. It’s called Dan Unmasked, and I have one copy to give away to someone who comments here. Just leave a note telling me if … Continue reading
Tweet Hank knows that different is not less. It’s one of the things his parents taught him to help him get through moments when it’s clear that he’s different than his classmates. Like when he set fire to a book … Continue reading
Tweet Pearl has grown up in the Lancaster Avenue branch of the New York City Library, where her mom is a librarian. But with circulation down and a crumbling building that’s expensive to fix, she’s worried that she won’t have … Continue reading
Tweet Hannah Steele is a little nervous when she agrees to babysit her neighbor’s two school-age children. It’s only her second time babysitting, and all the adults she knows will be off the remote island where they live near Seattle. … Continue reading
Tweet When Emmy’s family moves from Wisconsin to San Francisco for her dad’s job, she feels like she doesn’t fit in. Everyone at her new school already seems to have friends and be involved in activities. When her teacher asks … Continue reading
