Young Adult

In The Colored Car, Jean Alicia Elster, author of the award-winning Who's Jim Hines?, follows another member of the Ford family coming of age in Depression-era Detroit. In the hot summer of 1937, twelve-year-old Patsy takes care of her three younger sisters and helps her mother put up fresh fruits and vegetables in the family's summer kitchen, adjacent to the wood yard that her father, Douglas Ford, owns. Times are tough, and Patsy's mother, May Ford, helps neighborhood families by sharing the food that she preserves.

Who's Jim Hines? is a story based on real events about Douglas Ford Jr., a twelve-year-old African American boy growing up in Detroit in the 1930s. Doug's father owns the Douglas Ford Wood Company, and Doug usually helps his dad around the scrap wood yard located in the side lot next to their house.

When Ray Ingle asks his Uncle Thad if he can go to sea with him, he knows his parents won’t like it. But they’re not around, and anything is better than staying with mean old Uncle Slye! To Ray’s great surprise, Uncle Thad agrees to take him on, and soon Ray and his pet capuchin monkey Allie are helping out in the galley of The Newburyport Beauty.

When David hears that his grandfather has sold his dairy farm and is coming to live with his family on Grosse Ile in Michigan, he is excited. When David used to visit Grandad's farm, Grandad showed him lots of wonderful things. Now it's David's turn, and there are so many things he wants to share with Grandad.

LONESOME ROAD is a gripping story of the sudden disappearance of a child. The book explores the effect of family tragedy on a happy marriage. A chilling and compelling story. The reader is caught up from the beginning and follows the steady anguish in the heart of a mother who has lost here child. The narrative races along, like one of those Bluegrass Thoroughbreds in the setting of this marvelous novel (Bobbie Ann Mason).

Tom Savage, Cabin boy, is lucky to survive the perilous voyage to Jamestown. As hostage for one of Powhatan's sons, he lives with the Pamunkeys, learning their skills-until the son dies, and Tom's in more danger than ever! ."history as fascinating drama, with Pocahontas, Capt. John Smith, and other characters of historical note playing key roles in a new light, for Mrs. Stiles' story is based on research and fact." "Chicago Daily Tribune"

."at the close of her book, [Stiles] gives a fascinating account of what became of some of the historical characters who appear in it." "Charleston News & Courier"

Essence Lafontaine and Grace Woodson don't know each other, but soon Hurricane Katrina will force them together. Evacuated to Houston from New Orleans, Essence finds herself in the posh world of St. Catherine's Academy. She and her little sister, Chardonnai stay with the Woodson family as they fight bullying and racism in their new community. Buoyed by the lessons they learn from reading To Kill a Mockingbird, Essence and Grace leave old ties behind to forge a new friendship of healing and renewal.

Fifteen-year-old Cara Jenkins feels most at home high off the ground, clinging to a rock wall by the tips of her fingers. She’s enjoyed a roaming life with her mountaineering parents, making the natural world her jungle gym, the writings of Annie Dillard and Henry David Thoreau her textbooks. But when tragedy strikes on an Ecuadorian mountaintop, Cara’s nomadic lifestyle comes to an abrupt halt, and she's sent to live with her grandparents in Detroit. Cara's story is about love and loss, the transformative power of nature, and discovering that home can be far from where you started.​

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