Life, Alice McKinley feels, is just one big embarrassment. Here she is, about to be a teenager and she doesn't know how. It's worse for her than for anyone else, she believes, because she has no role model. Her mother has been dead for years. Help and advice can only come from her father, manager of a music store, and her nineteen-year-old brother, who is a slob. What do they know about being a teen age girl? What she needs, Alice decides, is a gorgeous woman who does everything right, as a roadmap, so to speak. If only she finds herself, when school begins, in the classroom of the beautiful sixth-grade teacher, Miss Cole, her troubles will be over. Unfortunately, she draws the homely, pear-shaped Mrs. Plotkin. One of Mrs. Plotkin's first assignments is for each member of the class to keep a journal of their thoughts and feelings. Alice calls hers "The Agony of Alice," and in it she records all the embarrassing things that happen to her. Through the school year, Alice has lots to record. She also comes to know the lovely Miss Cole, as well as Mrs. Plotkin. And she meets an aunt and a female cousin whom she has not really known before. Out of all this, to her amazement, comes a role model -- one that she would never have accepted before she made a few very important discoveries on her own, things no roadmap could have shown her. Alice moves on, ready to be a wise teenager.
Alice Hoffman is at her magical best in a new novel about loss and healing.When her family is lost in a terrible disaster, 15-yr-old Green is haunted by loss and by the past. Struggling to survive physically and emotionally in a place where nothing seems to grow and ashes are everywhere, Green retreats into the ruined realm of her garden. But in destroying her feelings, she also begins to destroy herself, erasing the girl she'd once been as she inks ravens into her skin. It is only through a series of mysterious encounters -- with a ghostly white dog and a mute boy -- that Green relearns the lessons of love and begins to heal as she tells her own story.
Writing at the height of her powers, Alice Hoffman conjures three generations of a family haunted by love. Cool, practical, and deliberate, John is dreamy Arlyn's polar opposite. Yet the two are drawn powerfully together even when it is clear they are bound to bring each other grief. Their difficult marriage leads them and their children to a house made of glass in the Connecticutcountryside, to the avenues ofManhattan, and to the blue waters of Long Island Sound. Glass breaks, love hurts, and families make their own rules. Ultimately, it falls to their grandson, Will, to solve the emotional puzzle of his family and of his own identity.
A New York Times bestseller—now a major motion picture. A luminous tale of nostalgia and enchantment, for readers both young and old. Hailey and Claire are spending their last summer together when they discover something at the bottom of the murky pool at the Capri Beach Club. There in the depths is a mysterious and beautiful creature with a sharp tongue and a broken heart: a mermaid named Aquamarine who has left her six sisters to search for love on land. Now, as this mythological yet very real being starts to fade in the burning August sun, a rescue is begun. On the edge of growing up, during a summer that is the hottest on record, Hailey and Claire are discovering that life can take an unpredictable course, friendship is forever, and magic can be found in the most unexpected places. “This spare, haunting novella . . . is a lovely introduction to the author’s storytelling genius and matter-of-fact lyrical style.” —The New York Times Book Review “Hoffman creates an apt metaphor for that twilight time between childhood and adolescence when magic still seems possible and friendships run deep and true.” —Publishers Weekly “In this small, spacious book, Hoffman’s spare words reveal the magic and the gritty realism in daily life, ‘somewhere between laughter and a wave breaking.’” —Booklist “This book has some wonderful elements—there is some vivid imagery, especially when it comes to the setting, with its waves of heat and air of decay.” —School Library Journal
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, A Wrinkle in Time, Blubber, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark - these are some of the most beloved, and most challenged, books, Leaving controversial titles such as these out of your collection or limiting their access is not the answer to challenges. The best-selling Hit List series gives you the information you need to defend challenged books with an informed response, all the while ensuring free access to young book lovers. Featuring 24 hot button books, Hit List for Children 2 presents a who's who of children's literature writers including Dahl, Allard, Blume, Rowling, Stine, L'Engle, Lowry, and Naylor. With a profile of each book that includes its plot, characters, published reviews, awards and prizes, and author resources, you will be prepared to answer even the toughest attacks. The most recent and compelling challenges are also discussed so that you will be prepared to address specific points. Eleven new books have been added to the second edition including Mommy Laid an Egg, the Alice series, Witches, and Guess What? For any librarian who feels alone on the front lines of the free access debate, the appendix reassuringly details wha
It's the summer after Alice's freshman year, she's survived her breakup with Patrick, and she and her friends are looking forward to their jobs as assistant camp counselors. Alice feels as if she's finally gotten a handle on life. But Alice soon learns that the only thing she can count on is change. Pamela's mother is contemplating coming home, Lester is contemplating leaving home, and even Alice's father's romance with Miss Summers hits an unexpected snag. But most surprising of all are the shocking revelations about some of Alice's closet friends. Can Alice keep up with all the changes around her?
After four years of hoping, wishing, scheming, and waiting, the moment Alice has been yearning for has at long last arrived....Alice’s dad is finally marrying Sylvia Summers! Alice always knew they were perfect for each other when she set them up back in seventh grade, but she’s relieved that The Big Day is here. She’s never felt so excited, so vindicated, so grown-up, and so...well, so left out. Now that the wedding is really happening, no one has time for Alice anymore, and the situation just gets worse when Sylvia moves into their house. Nothing is the way Alice thought it would be. Her dad and Sylvia have their new life together; Lester has his new apartment; and Alice feels like she’s on her own for the first time in her life. She’s also starting to notice that even though Dad and Sylvia are perfectly happy together, not everyone gets along so well. Elizabeth and Ross never see each other; Leslie and Lori are breaking up; Pamela and her mother can’t seem to find a way to even talk to each other; and Alice herself has started to hear some surprising rumors about Patrick.... As Alice watches her friends sort out their problems and sees her dad and Sylvia navigate their new marriage, she starts to understand all the hard work that goes into relationships, and how even when people seem to be meant for each other, it’s not always easy to be together.