The miracle of innocence the story of how a boy who believed in the goodness of human nature set out to change the world. The third person Trevor hopes to help is his teacher, Reuben St. Trevor's goal is to match him with his mother, Arlene, hardworking woman who has raised Trevor more or less alone, a pretty, but who Trevor feels has a lot to offer the right man.
The first person he chooses to help -- a homeless man to whom he gives his paper-route money so he can make himself presentable enough to find a job -- disappoints him by returning to a life of dissolution and eventually ending up in jail. Failure seems inevitable, and Trevor is resigned. Clair, bitter, a scarred, untrusting man who seems to come truly alive only when in front of his class.
Does his plan work? No. It's nothing less than a human chain letter of kindness and good will. The idea that trevor comes up with is so simple and so naïve that when others learn of it they are dismissive.
Jumpstart the World
Now she’ll have to search inside herself to find not only the true meaning of friendship but her own role in jumpstarting the world. Which is a good thing, because she’s on her own: she had to move into her own apartment so her mother’s boyfriend won’t have to deal with her. But frank is different in a way that Elle was never prepared for: he’s transgender.
He listens to her. Then she meets Frank, the guy who lives next door. She doesn’t need people. And elle is falling for him, hard.
Becoming Chloe
This deeply felt, redemptive novel reveals both the dark corners and hidden joys of life’s journey–and the remarkable resilience of the human soul. From the Hardcover edition. She’s 18 and blond and pretty–her world should be perfect. Innocent. She doesn’t seem broken, though. Nobody to depend on; nobody depending on him.
Like she doesn’t know a whole lot. Only sometimes she does. The one thing she knows for sure is that the world is an ugly place. She seems.
Chasing Windmills
From the bestselling author of pay it forward comes a provocative and unlikely love story that starts on a New York subway car and blossoms under the windmills of the Mojave Desert. Both sebastian and Maria live in worlds ruled by fear. In this tremendously moving novel, catherine Ryan Hyde shows us how two people trapped by life's circumstances can break free and find a place in the world where love is genuine and selfless.
From the Trade Paperback edition. They dream of a new future and agree to run away together, only to find that each has kept a major secret from the other.
When You Were Older
Ivana of willing to See Less. Tensions are running high in the wake of the terrorist attack, while Rusty struggles to put the the past behind him and care for the exasperating brother he loves. He's still at home when two planes hit the World Trade Center--and only one of his friends and colleagues survives.
Rusty returns to his tiny hometown and the brother he was more than happy to leave behind. A fantastic read which will have people talking about it for many weeks and months to come. Sarah's book reviewsby the bestselling author of don't let me go and pay it forward, when you were oldeR is the heartrending, and life-affirming story of two very different brothers who try to build a new life together, thought-provoking, against the backdrop of an uncertain and uneasy time in our shared history.
Rusty is beginning to get his life back. Until one awful night threatens to take it all away again.
Where We Belong
The problem is her little sister, Sophie. When the opportunity arrives, angie decides to risk everything to help Paul’s dream come true, even their friendship and her one chance at a real home—the only thing she’s dreamed of since her father was killed. A place she can never be thrown out. Sophie has an autism-like disorder, and a tendency to shriek.
Sophie falls in love immediately, and begins to imitate the “inside of the dog, fortunately, ” which, is a calm place. Until paul inverness, socially isolated owner, the dog’s grumpy, moves to the mountains, and it all begins again. Much to angie’s humiliation, when they’re thrown out of Aunt Vi’s house, Angie’s mom moves the family to the mountains after Paul and his dog.
No matter where they live, home never seems to last long. Until they move in with Aunt Vi, across the fence from a huge black Great Dane who changes everything. Everybody begins to breathe again. Angie is able to talk to him about growing up gay, and Paul trusts Angie with his greatest secret, his one dream.
Love in the Present Tense Vintage Contemporaries
Then one day, pearl drops him off with their neighbor Mitch, and never returns. Mitch is far from the ideal caretaker--he’s having an affair with a client’s wife--but he and Leonard must find a way to bridge the gap between them as they bond as parent and child. Gritty but big-hearted, love in the Present Tense is an inspiring story of love and the surprising forms it can take.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Pay It Forward: Young Readers Edition
. Includes an author'snote and curriculum guide. The internationally bestselling book that inspired the Pay It Forward movement is now available in a middle grade edition. Pay it forward is a moving, uplifting novel about trevor McKinney, a twelve-year-old boy in a small California town who accepts his teacher’s challenge to earn extra credit by coming up with a plan to change the world.
This middle grade edition of pay it forward is extensively revised, making it an appropriate and invaluable complement to lesson plans and an ideal pick for book clubs, classroom use, and summer reading.
The Year of My Miraculous Reappearance
From the Hardcover edition. Cynnie takes care of herself—and more importantly, she takes care of her little brother, Bill. So it doesn't matter that her mom is drunk all the time. Cynnie's the one Bill loves more than anyone. Cynnie's the real mother in the house.
The Day I Killed James
. This compelling tale of love and loss is about broken hearts—and how to begin to repair your own. From the Hardcover edition. But when everything goes horribly wrong, James drives his motorcycle off a cliff—and Theresa knows she’s responsible for his death. Theresa tries to run away from the pain, becoming a new young woman with a whole new life.
It wasn’t supposed to end up like this.
Leaving Blythe River: A Novel
With the help of three locals—a fearless seventy-year-old widow, a pack guide, and a former actor with limited outdoor skills—he heads into the wild. Not only is he small, scrawny, and skittish but he’s barely speaking to the man after a traumatic betrayal. The days that follow transform Ethan’s world.
Hail, swollen rapids, and exhausting pain leave him wondering if he’s been fooled yet again: Is his father out here at all? As the situation grows increasingly dire, punishing sun, Ethan realizes this quest has become about more than finding his dad. From the bestselling author of Pay It Forward comes a story of nature revealing human nature—the trickiest terrain.
Yet when his father vanishes from their remote cabin and rangers abandon the rescue mission, suddenly it’s up to Ethan to keep looking. Navigating an unforgiving landscape, Ethan searches himself for the ability to forgive his father—if he finds him alive.
