Kim" is not his real name, but this is the first of his important secrets he must keep to himself as he runs away following the death of his parents in an auto accident. At the age 15 he naively enters a difficult search on his own for a new identity and new family. Supported by his strong religious and moral convictions, he struggles to survive as he encounters many serious crises. Can he not only survive but achieve his goals and eventually prevail? This is an authentic, semi-autobiographical coming of age story set in the post WWII era but still highly relevant for the 21st century.
ÒBoys are emotionally illiterate and donÕt want intimate friendships.Ó In this empirically grounded challenge to our stereotypes about boys and men, Niobe Way reveals the intense intimacy among teenage boys especially during early and middle adolescence. Boys not only share their deepest secrets and feelings with their closest male friends, they claim that without them they would go Òwacko.Ó Yet as boys become men, they become distrustful, lose these friendships, and feel isolated and alone. Drawing from hundreds of interviews conducted throughout adolescence with black, Latino, white, and Asian American boys, Deep Secrets reveals the ways in which we have been telling ourselves a false story about boys, friendships, and human nature. BoysÕ descriptions of their male friendships sound more like Òsomething out of Love Story than Lord of the Flies.Ó Yet in late adolescence, boys feel they have to Òman upÓ by becoming stoic and independent. Vulnerable emotions and intimate friendships are for girls and gay men. ÒNo homoÓ becomes their mantra. These findings are alarming, given what we know about links between friendships and health, and even longevity. Rather than a Òboy crisis,Ó Way argues that boys are experiencing a Òcrisis of connectionÓ because they live in a culture where human needs and capacities are given a sex (female) and a sexuality (gay), and thus discouraged for those who are neither. Way argues that the solution lies with exposing the inaccuracies of our gender stereotypes and fostering these critical relationships and fundamental human skills.
He looked lost and sad, I felt so sorry for him. 'What's going to happen to me?' he asked quietly. 'My dad doesn't like me. I'm never going home again. Teenager Carl arrives on foster carer Maggie Hartley's doorstep following a terrible row with his father. Quiet, withdrawn and unhappy, Carl refuses to talk about his home life, and Maggie finds herself at a loss as to how to help this vulnerable, lost boy. It's clear that there's a very heavy burden resting on Carl's young shoulders, but with the boy refusing to confide in anyone, and with concerns about his mental health growing by the day, Maggie begins to feel desperate. A chance discovery in Carl's room finally reveals the truth behind the boy's anguish, and despite all her years of experience as a foster carer, Carl's secret is unlike anything Maggie has ever had to deal with before. Can Maggie help this confused and unhappy boy share the truth behind his misery? And can Carl ever find a way to move beyond his pain to live a happy, normal life? A true story of hope from Sunday Times bestselling author Maggie Hartley, a foster carer for over 20 years. 'An amazing inspiration' 5* Amazon reader review
October, 1916. Clara is sent to stay with her formidable aunt and uncle in the grounds of a country estate. Clara soon discovers that her new surroundings hold secrets: a locked room and a hidden key, and a mysterious boy who only appears in the gardens at night... But can Clara face up to her own secrets, and a war she’s desperate to forget?
_______________ A mesmerising mystery about bravery and brotherhood in the Second World War, from an outstanding new voice. September 1939. When Jimmy is evacuated to a small village in Wales, it couldn't be more different from London. Green, quiet and full of strangers, he instantly feels out of place. But then he finds a skull hidden in a tree, and suddenly the valley is more frightening than the war. Who can Jimmy trust? His brother is too little; his best friend has changed. Finding an ally in someone he never expects, they set out together to uncover the secrets that lie with the skull. What they discover will change Jimmy – and the village – forever. _______________ 'Beautifully told. This appealing book is about losses healed, lies uncovered, cruelty defeated and goodness rewarded' - The Sunday Times
A soul-stirring novel about the bonds between mother and child and the redemption that comes with facing the past and letting it go. Thirty-two-year-old Jess Abbot has lost everything: her job, her apartment, and--most heart-wrenching--her eight-year-old son, Chance, to a tragic accident. Haunted by memories and grief, Jess packs what's left and heads for the small mountain town of Pine Lake, where she takes a position as caregiver to an eccentric old woman. A rumored clairvoyant, Lucy is strange but welcoming and immediately intuits Jess as a "loose end" in need of closure. But Jess isn't the only guest in Lucy's large Victorian home. There's also Star, a teenage runaway with a secret too painful to share. And the little boy with heart-shaped stones, who comes with a hope for reconciliation--and a warning. Soon Jess learns that she's not the only lost soul running from the ghosts of the past. She and Star have been brought together for a reason: to be saved by the very thing that destroyed them.
Essays by popular children's authors reveal the books that shaped their personal and literary lives, explaining how the stories they loved influenced them creatively, politically, and intellectually.
"Rice’s remarkable gift for creating singular characters in this memorable story underscores her presence as a fresh new voice in fiction."—Publishers Weekly Set in 1950s London, The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets centers around Penelope, the wide-eyed daughter of a legendary beauty, Talitha, who lost her husband to the war. Penelope, with her mother and brother, struggles to maintain their vast and crumbling ancestral home—while postwar London spins toward the next decade’s cultural revolution. Penelope wants nothing more than to fall in love, and when her new best friend, Charlotte, a free spirit in the young society set, drags Penelope into London with all of its grand parties, she sets in motion great change for them all. Charlotte’s mysterious and attractive brother Harry uses Penelope to make his American ex-girlfriend jealous, with unforeseen consequences, and a dashing, wealthy American movie producer arrives with what might be the key to Penelope’s—and her family’s—future happiness. Vibrant, witty, and filled with vivid historical detail, this is an utterly unique debut novel about a time and place just slipping into history.
These hilarious fictional diaries put us inside the heads of hapless figures from history. Meet Roderick – a scrawny, unremarkable teenager keeping a diary of his life in the Middle Ages. When he’s chosen to become a knight on a quest to find a holy relic (the fingers of St Stephen), Roderick is determined to prove his honour and graduate from zero to hero. ‘Get Real’ fact boxes feature throughout, providing historical context and further information, as well as a timeline, historical biographies and a glossary in the end matter.
