Material appropriate for young adults
The author of So Far from the Bamboo Grove continues her semi-autobiographical fiction, describing the hardships, poverty, tragedies, and struggles of life for her and her two older brother and sister, living in post-World War II (1947) Japan.
Justin Case is convinced fate has in for him. And he’s right. After finding his younger brother teetering on the edge of his balcony, 15-year-old David Case realizes the fragility of life and senses impending doom. Without looking back, he changes his name to Justin and assumes a new identity, new clothing and new friends, and dares to fall in love with the seductive Agnes Day. With his imaginary dog Boy in tow, Justin struggles to fit into his new role and above all, to survive in a world where tragedy is around every corner. He’s got to be prepared, just in case.
Jilly Coppercorn used to be a victim of abuse and drug addiction, but not is well on her way to being normal as an art school student when she runs into Donna Birch, her only friend from her past. This urban fantasy sets in Newford in 1972. Donna takes Jilly into a beautiful, mysterious city full of wonderful opportunities. It’s almost a paradise until Jilly realizes that the inhabitants are actually dead, souls whose lives were unfulfilled.
This funny and poignant novel tells the story of Nathan and his best friend, Simon–two 14-year-old boys with a passion for girls, soccer, weekends, girls, computers, and girls. Although Simon is confined to a wheelchair because of muscular dystrophy, his keen sense of humor and taste for excitement are more than a match for his disability.
Sixteen-year-old Jessica, who longs to be free of the restrictions of her father and life in the Jewish ghetto of sixteen-century Venice, falls in love with a Christian aristocrat and must make choices which will affect her whole family. Inspired by Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice.
Marnie comes to the remote fishing hamlet of Torcurra as the reluctant bride of Isake Isherwood, a lord of her parents’ farm. But two days later, while thatching the roof, Isake falls to his death. Marnie’s only kindness comes from Father Brannan, the village priest, and Raver, the strange mad boy whose incoherent cries belie his gentle heart. Taking him in one windy night, Marnie makes a startling discovery: Raver is not mad but deaf. Determined to communicate with the boy whom Marnie now calls Raven, she invents a system of hand-words. Raven learns quickly and has soon all but shed his madness. Yet while Marnie and Raven forge a deep bond, the villagers, already suspicious of Marnie’s role in Isake’s death, see his transformation as the result of witchcraft. Even as Marnie’s and Raven’s bond turns to love, and as they uncover the mysterious value of their cottage, Marnie is forced into a witchcraft trial where the test of the iron bar will determine her fate. Set in the times when magic was a force to be reckoned with, The Raging Quiet is the epic saga of a remarkable woman whose only crime is being different.
Describes, in story form, an incident in 1839 when a boatload of African slaves seized control of the ship and finally gained legal freedom in the American courts.
A summer in paradise. That’s all Marne wants. That’s all she can think of when she asks her parents permission to spend the summer in Hawaii with Aunt Carole and her family.
But Marne quickly realizes her visit isn’t going to be just about learning to surf and morning runs along the beach, despite the cute surfer boy she keeps bumping into. For one thing, Aunt Carole isn’t even Aunt Carole anymore—she’s Aunt Chaya, married to a Chasidic rabbi and deeply rooted in her religious community. Nothing could be more foreign to Marne, and fitting into this new culture—and house full of kids—is a challenge. But as she settles into her newfound family’s daily routine, she begins to think about spirituality, identity, and finding a place in the world in a way she never has before.
This rich novel is a window into a different life and gets to the very heart of faith, identity, and family ties.
A former member of the underground Dutch resistance force against the Nazis recounts her two years of covert meetings, perilous deliveries, near-confrontations, and life sentencing while she was still a teenager.
Avramik, a young Holocaust survivor, has difficulties adjusting to life on a kibbutz in the days before the first Arab-Israeli War.