Even though her Dad calls her “Bruiser,” eleven-year-old Joy isn’t as strong as she looks. With Dad gone and Mom depressed, it’s up to Joy to care for the house and her younger brother Ian. Struggling with old clothes in sizes too small now and Ian's constant hunger, Joy fears the school counselor might call Child Protective Services. When a baby bird falls from its nest, Joy recalls her Dad's warning, “You don’t know your own strength.”
Ben’s best friend Cooper is getting nasty notes from an unknown bully. On top of that, her dad is keeping his new girlfriend a secret. It’s up to Ben and his Basset Hound, Blue, to help Cooper unravel these mysteries.
Nearly 1 in 5 American adults will have a diagnosable mental health condition in any given year. Ruby Bean, a 12-year-old Accidental Expert on Missing Mothers, embarks on a cross-country journey with her aunt to find her missing mother who suffers from mental illness and addiction. Along the way, Ruby discovers that sometimes the worst events can bring the best surprises into one's life.
Scott Schroeder dreams of a day when he and his father can have a home of their own. Following an accident that took his mother’s life eight years before, doctors discovered Scott was suddenly deaf. Blessed with being an accomplished gymnast, and even though he signs and reads lips, Scott’s biggest challenge is convincing others he is just as able in doing all things as those in the hearing world. Picking up on conversations he observes along the way, Scott figures out a big family secret concerning his father and uncle and makes his mind up to play a part in their reconciliation.
Into the Wind is a middle-grade novel about the unlikely friendship between a boy and an elderly woman. Both moving and joyful, this is a poignant story about loss and love, and the surprising and sustaining bonds that can grow between the old and young.
