Seven days after his mother dies in a sudden, senseless accident, seventeen-year-old Will embarks on a search for meaning that leads him to the great philosophers—Plato, Seneca, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche—and to Taryn, the beautiful girl he meets at his mother’s wake. Will is desperate to find, however he can, something authentic, something ultimate, something so true he would live or die for it. But is he willing to risk losing Taryn—losing everything–to seek the answers he craves?
There’s
more to me than
most people
see.
Twelve-year-old Willow would rather blend in than stick out. But she still wants to be seen for who she is. She wants her parents to notice that she is growing up. She wants her best friend to like her better than she likes a certain boy. She wants, more than anything, to mush the dogs out to her grandparents’ house, by herself, with Roxy in the lead. But sometimes when it’s just you, one mistake can have frightening consequences . . . And when Willow stumbles, it takes a surprising group of friends to help her make things right again.
Using diamond-shaped poems inspired by forms found in polished diamond willow sticks, Helen Frost tells the moving story of Willow and her family. Hidden messages within each diamond carry the reader further, into feelings Willow doesn’t reveal even to herself.
When Pancho arrives at St. Anthony’s Home, he knows his time there will be short: If his plans succeed, he’ll soon be arrested for the murder of his sister’s killer. But then he’s assigned to help D.Q., whose brain cancer has slowed neither his spirit nor his mouth. D.Q. tells Pancho all about his “Death Warrior’s Manifesto,” which will help him to live out his last days fully–ideally, he says, with the love of the beautiful Marisol. As Pancho tracks down his sister’s murderer, he finds himself falling under the influence of D.Q. and Marisol, who is everything D.Q. said she would be; and he is inexorably drawn to a decision: to honor his sister and her death, or embrace the way of the Death Warrior and choose life. Nuanced in its characters and surprising in its plot developments–both soulful and funny–Pancho & D.Q. is a “buddy novel” of the highest kind: the story of a friendship that helps two young men become all they can be.
Kat can think of dozens of good reasons not to go on a boring family vacation to hot, grungy Mexico. Number one: missing her friend Fiona’s minicamp. If she’s not there, she’ll begin eighth grade as a social reject. Despite her reluctance, Kat ends up on a teen adventure tour where she meets Nando, a young Mayan guide (who happens to be quite a cutie). As they travel to different Mayan ruins each day, Nando tells Kat his original legend of Muluc, a girl who lived in the time of the Ancient Maya. The dangerous, dramatic world in which Muluc lives is as full of rivalry, betrayal, and sacrifice as Kat’s world at school. And as she makes new friends and discovers treasures in Mexico, Kat begins to wonder: Is she willing to keep sacrificing her self in exchange for popularity?
At his new school or on the soccer field, all everyone wants to know is why Tomasito is in a wheelchair. His father gives Tomasito a new pet to make him smile, but this bird is a little bit different. Can Tomasito\’s featherless friend teach him that there\’s more than one way to fly? Will the cheers Tomasito hears on the sidelines ever be for him? Award-winning author and poet Juan Felipe Herrera scores yet again with this sparkling story of friendship and self-empowerment. The brilliant acrylic paintings by Ernesto Cuevas, Jr., burst off the page with sheer joy.
Sonia Rodriguez was born in the United States, but her parents are Mexican immigrants who came to California before she was born. Her father has three Social Security numbers, her mother is pregnant (again), and neither of them speaks English. Sonia’s mother spends most of her time in bed, watching soap operas, and letting Sonia clean up after her brothers. Sonia’s father works dutifully to support his family, but he knows that his daughter’s dreams are bigger than making tamales for family get-togethers. When Sonia attempts to put school work before her familia, her mother decides that it’s time for Sonia to visit her grandmother in Mexico to learn “the ways of the old world.” While in Mexico, Sonia spends time with her wise grandmother and her cousin Maria who teach her that while familia is important, the most important thing is to follow your heart. Sonia returns to the States determined to succeed in school, but the birth of her new twin siblings, inappropriate advances from her drunk uncle (Drunkle), and a forbidden relationship with an El Salvadorian boy push school to the back burner. If only Sonia can find the time to cook dinner, secretly meet with her boyfriend, avoid her Drunkle, AND finish her homework, she just might be able to graduate from high school…
Most dogs in this world are content with their doggy lives, playing dead and burying bones, but Diogenes was a dog of a different sort – he wanted to become his own master. So he buried his collar and leash, left his cozy doghouse, and ran off to the great city of Athens, Greece. There he took upon himself the role of “watchdog” to those around him, warning of life’s moral pitfalls and showing by his own surprising example the path to an enlightened way of being.
Hector is being hectored by an unlikely bully: a talking brain tumor. And it’s not just a talking brain tumor. It’s a know-it-all, pain-in-the-arse, jibber-jabbering brain tumor that names itself Jack, and insists on coaching Hector through life even as it’s threatening to take his life away. It’s a pretty good coach, actually. With Jack in control of Hector’s speech and brain chemicals, Hector suddenly finds himself with a cool haircut, a new fashion sense, and tactics for snogging previously unattainable hottie Uma Upshaw. But when Jack begins to force increasingly questionable decisions and behavior, Hector has to find a way to turn the tables – before it’s too late for both of them. Delightfully twisted, desperately funny, and deeply moving, this novel is also the winner of the Booktrust Teenage Prize in the United Kingdom.
Despite criticism for his lack of “accomplishments,” Takiboki finds contentment sweeping flower blossoms and raking the sand and gravel in the monks’ temple garden. Includes a note on the art and beauty of Japanese gardens.