“Gorgeous, heartbreaking, and ultimately life-affirming.” —Nicola Yoon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything. Perfect for fans of Turtles All the Way Down,Thirteen Reasons Why, and Zentner's own The Serpent King, one of the most highly acclaimed YA novels of 2016, Goodbye Days asks what you would do if you could spend one last day with someone you lost. Where are you guys? Text me back. That's the last message Carver Briggs will ever send his three best friends, Mars, Eli, and Blake. He never thought that it would lead to their death. Now Carver can’t stop blaming himself for the accident and even worse, a powerful judge is pressuring the district attorney to open up a criminal investigation. Luckily, Carver has some unexpected allies: Eli’s girlfriend, the only person to stand by him at school; Dr. Mendez, his new therapist; and Blake’s grandmother, who asks Carver to spend a “goodbye day” together to share their memories and say a proper farewell. Soon the other families are asking for their own goodbye day with Carver—but he’s unsure of their motives. Will they all be able to make peace with their losses, or will these goodbye days bring Carver one step closer to a complete breakdown or—even worse—prison? "Jeff Zentner, you perfectly fill the John-Green-sized hole in our heart." —Justine Magazine “Evocative, heartbreaking, and beautifully written." —Buzzfeed "Masterful." —TeenVogue.com “Hold on to your heart: this book will wreck you, fix you, and most definitely change you.” —Becky Albertalli, Morris Award-winning author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
This is a book written by a mother who tells about her daughter Maria's painful path towards death. She discovered a lump in her breast and spent the next 5 years battling breast cancer. We hear Maria speak as she tells of conflicting emotions on how she does and does not want to die. Maria and her family experience all of the emotions from horror to hope, and we follow Maria through her 5 years of a struggle to survive while hope becomes smaller and smaller—like a light that disappears in the dark.
Named to ten BEST OF THE YEAR lists and selected as a William C. Morris Award Winner,The Serpent King is the critically acclaimed, much-beloved story of three teens who find themselves--and each other--while on the cusp of graduating from high school with hopes of leaving their small-town behind. Perfect for fans of John Green's Turtles All the Way Down. "Move over, John Green; Zentner is coming for you." —The New York Public Library “Will fill the infinite space that was left in your chest after you finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” —BookRiot.com Dill isn't the most popular kid at his rural Tennessee high school. After his father fell from grace in a public scandal that reverberated throughout their small town, Dill became a target. Fortunately, his two fellow misfits and best friends, Travis and Lydia, have his back. But as they begin their senior year, Dill feels the coils of his future tightening around him. His only escapes are music and his secret feelings for Lydia--neither of which he is brave enough to share. Graduation feels more like an ending to Dill than a beginning. But even before then, he must cope with another ending--one that will rock his life to the core. Debut novelist Jeff Zentner provides an unblinking and at times comic view of the hard realities of growing up in the Bible belt, and an intimate look at the struggles to find one’s true self in the wreckage of the past. “A story about friendship, family and forgiveness, it’s as funny and witty as it is utterly heartbreaking.” —PasteMagazine.com “A brutally honest portrayal of teen life . . . [and] a love letter to the South from a man who really understands it.” —Mashable.com “I adored all three of these characters and the way they talked to and loved one another.”—New York Times
From bestselling author Todd Parr, a poignant and reassuring story about loss. Through the lens of a pet fish who has lost his companion, Todd Parr tells a moving and wholly accessible story about saying goodbye. Touching upon the host of emotions children experience, Todd reminds readers that it's okay not to know all the answers, and that someone will always be there to support them. An invaluable resource for life's toughest moments.
Goodbye Salad Days tells the story of Kevin, a regular hamster in a familiar quarter-life crisis. Kevin's got his own hamster-sized home, hamster-sized furniture, and the soul-crushing societal expectation to do adulthood right. Both adorable and painfully relatable, this book is sure to hit a soft spot in any reader trying to make the best of growing up and facing adulthood. • Features 25 scenarios with short captions • Filled with full color photographs of Kevin in handmade dioramas • At once perfectly weird and very relatable, making it a great gift Life for Kevin means enduring the grind of work responsibilities, an aching body, and mounting pressure from his parents to start a family, among other things. This sweet and funny book is a great gift or self-purchase for anyone hitting their quarter-life crisis and in need of some relatable laughs. • This hilarious and cute book is for anyone who has experienced (or is about to experience) these moments of loss and despair, and need a good laugh or a pick-me-up • Also a great gift for anyone who loves hamsters—especially funny photos of them • Author Traer Scott is a celebrated animal photographer and has had work featured in National Geographic • Add it to the shelf with books like Henri, le Chat Noir: The Existential Musings of an Angst-Filled Cat by William Braden, The Secret Life of Squirrels by Nancy Rose, and Awkward Family Pet Photos by Mike Bender and Doug Chernack.
Not since The 10th Good Thing About Barney or I'll Always Love You has there been such a peaceful and inspiring book to help children and adults cope with the loss of a pet. The talented multiple-medalist Jane Yolen takes on this difficult subject with her usual grace and poetic sensitivity, focusing not on the death as much as the life in the last day of an older cat named Tiger Rose. Tiger Rose's kitten days are long gone and she's grown too tired to stay, so she says her goodbyes to all the creatures and the joys of her natural world—from the scolding blue jay, to the dog and children she shares her home with, to a chipmunk, startled by her gentleness, to her favorite shady patch under a piney bush. In a final vision, Tiger Rose takes one last leap into the blue sky and becomes one with all—the earth, the air, the sun. . . . This is perhaps the most reassuring book on death available for children.
Return to the earth with beautiful photographs and inspirational text. “Morning altars” are colorful mandalas that combine nature, art, and meditation. Incorporating the natural world into the everyday encourages positive well- being, even with the simplest of the earth’s gifts, such as leaves, flowers, berries, feathers, and stones. These stunning pieces of art are a peaceful and creative avenue to express gratitude for nature, to practice mindfulness, and to add meaning to daily life. In this book, Day Schildkret guides readers through the creation of morning altars, a seven- step process that includes wondering and wandering, place meditation, clearing space, creating, gifting, walking away, and sharing his art with others. Since his first morning altar, Schildkret has built hundreds more. His work has been warmly received on social media and he teaches workshops on altar building, all with the intention of sharing the positivity and beauty they have brought to his life.
Back in grade five, Bridge, Tabitha and Emily made a pact. Never to fight, ever. Now, two years later, they’re still best friends, but other things are changing. Bridge meets Sherm, and is soon excited and confused by her new, strange feelings. And when Emily starts texting pictures of herself to Patrick, Bridge and Tab find themselves complicit in a naïve plan that quickly spirals out of control. And while the three friends navigate the challenges of their changing friendship, another story—of betrayal and remorse—keeps you guessing until the very end. Goodbye Stranger is a tender and intricate story about friendships, and love, and the pain of sometimes making the wrong choices. Rebecca Stead is the author of four novels: First Light, When You Reach Me (a New York Times bestseller and Newbery Medal winner), Liar & Spy (Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize winner and New York Times bestseller) and, most recently, Goodbye Stranger. She lives in New York City with her family. ‘This memorable story about female friendships, silly bets, different kinds of love, and bad decisions is authentic in detail and emotion—another Stead hallmark.’ STARRED Review, Publishers Weekly ‘[Stead] captures the stomach-churning moments of a misstep or an unplanned betrayal and reworks these events with grace, humour, and polish into possibilities for kindness and redemption. Superb.’ STARRED Review, Kirkus ‘Stead shows how strongly love of all kinds can smooth the juddering path toward adulthood. Winsome, bighearted, and altogether rewarding.’ STARRED Review, Booklist ‘[Stead’s writing is] filled with humor, delightful coincidences, and the sorts of things...that escalate in ways that can seem life-shattering to a 13-year-old. The author keeps all her balls in the air until she catches them safely with ineffable grace.’ STARRED Review, School Library Journal ‘Rebecca Stead’s story is multi-layered and sumptuous, beautifully plotted and a real page-turner.’ Alpha Reader ‘An unforgettable book about young girls coming of age written with wit and compassion.’ ReadPlus ‘Goodbye Stranger was such a pleasure to read...[Stead’s] teenage characters are so real, and charming and likeable, even when they’re not making the best decisions...I will continue to sing the praises of this new book well into the rest of the year (and probably much longer).’ Middle Chapter ‘[Stead has] a profound appreciation for the young people she writes for...She creates the kind of situations that would shatter a vulnerable thirteen-year-old girl but somehow manages to do so with a deft, light touch full of empathy and humour.’ Readings ‘Goodbye Stranger is the kind of book you might call a revelation. It is surprising, generous, thoughtful, honest and it paints a picture of the time after childhood and before youth more honestly than I have ever seen depicted.’ Where the Writer Comes to Write ‘The language is often dazzling and the minor characters have great appeal. A very satisfying read.’ Stuff NZ ‘The emotional complexity is deftly done by Stead in a way that is satisfying and accessible for young adults and adults alike, without being patronising, and acknowledging that we all make mistakes along the way.’ New Zealand Book Council ‘Goodbye Stranger falls in the zone of upper middle fiction/young YA, and is a great book to discuss with a tween as it gently preempts teen issues...Stead opens up a discussion of phone use and photos that never veers into shaming or hysteria.’ Leanne Hall, Readings
As I sat waiting, I became more and more dazed and distant. I quietly prayed as I thought about Dad and all that he means to me. On a warm August morning in 1997, thirty something author Bryan Hogan woke suddenly to the sound of his mother's panicked voice as she frantically tried to awaken his lifeless father, Bill. In that sad moment, life for the Hogan family was forever changed. After a day of profound grief, Bryan fell asleep feeling empty and exhausted. To his disbelief, he awoke after a full night's sleep to find that his deceased father was still alive. But how could that be? Was his unexpected passing just part of a bad dream? As Bryan's story unfolds, share in the joys and sorrows of his family as they relive treasured memories and create new ones that will allow Bill to live on in their minds. A personal story about Bryan's relationship with his aging father, Three Days for Goodbye is a poignant testament to family, faith, and hope, in which fiction and reality intertwine to create a compelling tribute to the Hogan family patriarch.
From the acclaimed author of Lies We Tell Ourselves, Robin Talley, comes a Shakespeare-inspired story of revenge and redemption, where fair is foul, and foul is fair. Maria Lyon and Lily Boiten are their school’s ultimate power couple—but one thing stands between them and their perfect future: campus superstar Delilah Dufrey. Golden child Delilah is a legend at exclusive Acheron Academy, and the presumptive winner of the distinguished Cawdor Kingsley Prize. But Delilah doesn’t know that Lily and Maria are willing to do anything—absolutely anything—to unseat Delilah for the scholarship. After all, it would lock in Maria’s attendance at Stanford—and assure her and Lily four more years in a shared dorm room. Together, Maria and Lily harness the dark power long rumored to be present on the former plantation that houses their school. But when feuds turn to fatalities, and madness begins to blur the distinction between what’s real and what’s imagined, the girls must attempt to put a stop to the chilling series of events they’ve accidentally set in motion.
