juvenile fiction / family / parents

Illustrations and easy-to-read, rhyming text reveal that whether one is feeling frightened, grumpy, or shy, three special words can make things better.

In rural New Hampshire, sixteen-year-old Clair Taylor and her neighbor, eighteen-year-old Danny Stewart, fall into an unlikely relationship as they work together to save Wally, a loveable, but mistreated dog kept chained in a junk-filled yard by Danny's cruel father.

After Emma returns home from boarding school, she realizes her mother is suffering from a schizophrenic break, and suddenly, Emma's entire childhood and identity is called into question, pushing her to turn to her boyfriend, Daniel, for answers, but perhaps it is the brooding Phil who Emma meets while visiting her mother at the hospital who really understands her.

High school junior Sophie has always had the burden of taking care of her mother, who has bipolar disorder, but after her mother's hospitalization she must learn to cope with estranged family and figure out her own life.

In the two years since his mother left him with his grandparents in Des Moines, Washington, Sam has avoided making friends and perfected the art of being a slacker, but being paired with a frightening new student for a slam poetry unit transforms his life.

Three high school seniors face mounting pressures, at home and school, as they start their last season on the varsity wrestiling team.

When fifteen-year-old Rick's mother finally leaves for good, Ricki's absentee father steps in, taking Ricki with him as he chases bail "skips" across the country, but their fledgling relationship is tested as they pursue attractive, manipulative, seventeen-year-old Ian Burnham.