In 2001, this social issues book was awarded the Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in young adult literature. The book is about the journey of a young man, Will, who is trying to understand why death follows him. Over the course of the book the reader learns that his mother, father, and step...
I used to have a mother, and a friend, and anotherfriend. Now I got relationships. Elvin Bishop is fourteen--an official Young Adult. Having barely survived the sports camp that he and his best friends, Frankie and Mikie, attended in SLOT MACHINE, Elvin is actually ready for high school to begin...
If I ran things,. nobody would have names. We would just have batting averages. When star rookies Fred Lynn and Jim Rice, the Gold Dust Twins, join the Red Sox in 1975, Richard dreams of following in their footsteps. Napoleon Charlie Ellis arrives in Boston from the island of Dominica with a fir...
High school senior Gordon Foley runs for mayor at the behest of his grandfather, an old-style politician scheming to regain power while he's in prison for fraud.
When He-Man Wolf leaves to form his own club, Steven, Jerome, Ling, and Cecil have mixed feelings. But they hardly know what to think when they hear that Wolf's new clubhouse is a beauty parlor, and his new club is "all girls" ! Then Wolf recruits Jerome--inflicting serious damage to the He-Man m...
In a few short years Chris Lynch has established himself as a powerful, innovative writer of young adult fiction. His new Blue-Eyed Son trilogy reinforces that reputation, taking its "100% White American" hero from his tough, blue-collar Irish neighborhood on a journey of self-discovery that's ra...
They call it Twenty-One Nights with the Knights. But for Elvin Bishop--fourteen, overweight, and a self-proclaimed non-athlete--the summer "retreat" is more like the twenty-one trials of hell. As everyone around him slips smoothly into a slot in his chosen sport, Elvin is pounded on the football ...
In the sleepy town of Whitechurch, three friends reach a crossroads that will change their lives -- and their relationships -- forever. There's Pauly, the local misfit; Lilly, the town "good girl"; and Oakley, the loyal friend who loves them both. When Pauly starts to go off-balance, Lilly and Oa...
Our lives are shaped by events from the moment we are born. Sometimes we are lucky...sometimes we are not. Almost always, we find a way to get by....A kid visited by memories of his dead cousin and tortured by his decision not to take a leap. A twin tormented by his monstrous brother. A couple bl...
Funny how much stuff you can lose when you move. The only thing you can't lose is yourself. No matter how hard you try. No matter where you go. Lost: 1 absentminded dog names Loose Lucy 2 inseparable duet-singing finches 1 seemingly indestructible tortoise 1 huggable hamster (FRAGILE -- Please ...
Davey's had to grow up fast in order to get away -- away from his family, who loves him, but doesn't know how to take care of him. The only constant in his life has been his sister, Joanne, who's fed him, protected him, and taken care of him. Now Jo, still a teenager, has a baby herself, and it's...
So I was lucky. Sure there were other schools, other teams, other weekend visits to campuses, boy oh boy, were there other weekend visits. But I never wanted to go anywhere else. I never wanted to go to fun-in-the-sun in California or Florida. I don’t need the sun for fun. I can have fun in the s...
Six hours on, six hours off, there is always watching to do, around the clock. I’m an electrician third class, and there is plenty for me to do on a ship this size. But not so much that I don’t also do a lot of watching. I wanted communications. That is what I should be doing, is communications. ...
“Jeez, Dad,” I say, springing up in the bed so fast that our foreheads clunk like coconuts and I fall right back again. He laughs, rubbing his head. He laughs. I squint at my clock in the darkness. It is neither late enough nor early enough to be seeing him. “Is it breakfast time? How did I not w...
I stayed with the ladies for as long as I possibly could, which meant ten o’clock. They have to be in the hostel by ten thirty or they get locked out, so I guess ten thirty is going to be my curfew too. Suits me just fine because what would I want to do after they were gone anyway? Nothing. ...
“Hi. Who is this?” “Come on, stop teasing. This is Carmine.” Oh god. “I wasn’t teasing, Carmine. Did I give you my phone number, Carmine?” Walter walked past the phone, giggling. I put my hand over the receiver. “Stop laughing. Did you give him our phone number?” “I don’t even know our phone numb...
I look at the writing after I’ve done it and I feel like the stupidest guy ever. I can’t help thinking a guy who writes like that should not be allowed to cross the street by himself. Good thing there are pretty much no streets around here. And I ha...
By “move on” I mean I can have thoughts that don’t entirely revolve around Junie. I can consider my father’s offer of a job for life—no—and the prospect of college—not yet—and what that leaves me for near-term options—beats the squat out of me—without my mind being paralytic with concerns and wor...
Rudi says, mixing pride and joylessness into a whole new emotion. “I know, man. Congratulations.” “Thanks,” he says. We are walking on Nantasket Beach, first of July, perfect summer day, perfect. The waves are crashing, the sun is scorching. The beach is mobbed, and the sounds of screeching kids ...
We hadn’t even discussed it, just found each other there at the right times again. Except this time there was no Sully, there was Ruben. He could have come, Sully, if he wanted to. The thing is he just doesn’t like new people, doesn’t like things to change, can’t deal with new stuff. Me, I needed...
1962) was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the fifth of seven children. His father, Edward J. Lynch, was a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus and trolley driver, and his mother, Dorothy, was a stay-at-home mom. Lynch’s father passed away in 1967, when Lynch was just five years old. Alon...