WELCOME HOME JELLYBEAN

A family’s life is disrupted when their thirteen year old retarded daughter comes home to live for the first time. — Here’s an excerpt:

“When my sister turned thirteen the school where she lived got her toilet-trained and my mother decided she ought to come home to live, once and for all.

My father and I weren’t so sure, but he agreed that we could all give it a try, and he and I got the suitcase out of the storage room and loaded up the trunk of the car and drove to the gas station to have the tank filled while my mother was still up in the apartment writing with the whipped-cream squirter on a cake she had baked:

“Winner of The Other Award, finalist in Iowa Children’s Choice Award, Surrey School Book of the Year Award

“It is just impossible to stop reading… to delay learning the outcome of a touching, surprisingly amusing and important story.” Publishers Weekly — to order

 

FLEASBISCUIT SINGS!

Fleabiscuit is a terrier with a fuzzy face, short legs…and there’s something else…he can sing! When 12-year-old Nicky meets his neighbor’s puppy, it’s love at first sight. Nicky’s plans to have Fleabiscuit join his quirky family in their “Music Under New York” act lead to unexpected twists and turns.

…”A lively read.” — Debbie Stewart Hoskins, Grand Rapids Public Library, MI

 

 

 

THE RAINBOW KITE

Fifteen-year old Bennett is gay. Having only recently admitted it to himself, he’s not yet ready to tell  his family, never mind the world. Bennett must cope with the harsh reality of the bullies in school, their ignorance and cruelty.
As seen through the eyes of his little brother, who identifies with his older brother, Bennett’s increasing isolation, his withdrawal from sports and the stamp club is increasingly confusing and upsetting.

ADORABLE SUNDAY — Modeling and a career doing television commercials turn out not to be as glamorous as they seem for this thirteen year old girl.

“…neatly executed… Shyer handles [the theme] with more style, less soap than many.” Kirkus –to order

BLOOD IN THE SNOW (THE SILVER FOX) — A boy in Vermont finds a fox trapped in a steel-jaw trap and tries to stop its suffering. — to order

GRANDPA RITZ AND THE LUSCIOUS LOVELIES — A boy is sent to spend the summer with his newly widowed grandfather and is courted by the “luscious lovelies” – the widows who are pursuing the old man. –

“Readable, funny, appealing… [the] chronicle is as entertaining as it is incisive.” Hornbook — to order

HERE I AM, AN ONLY CHILD — A small boy weighs the benefits of being an only child. –

“The ending shows the child quite happy to be an only child. If you need “only child” bibliotherapy, this will do.”Association of Children’s Libraries — to order

ME AND JOEY PINSTRIPE, KING OF ROCK — A girl’s life changes when a famous rock star moves into the building in which she lives. — to order

MY BROTHER, THE THIEF — A young girl who admires and loves her older brother begins to suspect that he is stealing. –

“The plot moves along quickly, helped appreciably by the casual first-person telling…” School Library Journal — to order

RUBY, THE RED-HOT WITCH AT BLOOMINGDALE’S — A sister and brother plot to help their parents reconcile with the help of a witch who works her spell on the sixth floor of Bloomingdale’s department store. — Here’s and excerpt:

“Dad called me downstairs and told me not to worry; he’d be seeing me every week and would take to me every single day from this little place he’d found in New York City on Seventy-eighth Street. He told me to keep my eye on Thomas and said we were still a family and would be forever. Then he ran upstairs and woke up Thomas to say good-bye and that’s when I saw this change in his face; he looked all scrunched up, his eyes squinty, as if he was in the middle of a desert windstorm and sand was blowing in his face.”

“Snappy dialogue spiced with plenty of humor and a cast of slightly eccentric but likeable characters are the ingredients that add up to a fast-paced, entertaining story.” School Library Journal – to order

STEPDOG – A little girl loves her new stepmother but the stepmother’s dog is jealous and creates a problem. — to order

TINO – A Puerto Rican boy brings home a fertilized egg, hatches a chick and tries to raise a chicken at home in Spanish Harlem. — to order