2013

Mary O'Hara, 12, thinks her great-grandmother is a new neighbor, but Tansy, dead since age 25 from influenza, is a ghost ready to be with her dying daughter, Ember, Mary’s beloved Granny. Those three and Mary’s mother, Scarlett, take an intergenerational midnight journey before their final parting.

Quirky, humorous illustrations complement the story of Barnum Brown and his quest to find the bones of a species never before unearthed. The text captures both personality and profession as Brown searches and eventually finds Tyrannosaurus Rex. Backmatter includes an author’s note and selected bibliography.

Peter Friedman keeps secrets from his friends and families. He will never pitch again, his grandfather’s Alzheimer’s is quickly worsening, and he has a crush on a girl. Fluctuating between accentuated, funny dialogue and straightforward narration, Luke Daniels adeptly expresses the personalities and passions of characters experiencing both life’s losses and gains. (12 up)

An amazing tour de force of historical fiction and the bonds of friendship, this elaborately plotted, impeccably researched, and ultimately heartbreaking novel follows two young women as they struggle to survive in Nazi-occupied France. Christie Morven’s and Lucy Gaskell’s narrations in the audio version enliven both the action and the tension.

Interviews with Audrey, Wash, James, and Arnetta, participants as children in the 1963 Birmingham Children’s March, recreate the rarely-related story of this important civil rights event. After they protested peacefully, they were arrested and jailed. Archival photographs and extensive author notes complement the well-researched narrative of their role in Birmingham’s desegregation.