July/August 2012
— A grueling hike through Hawaiian wilderness nearly ends in defeat before revealing hidden pools, where exhaustion transforms into pure joy.
— Three cousins play Monster Tag in overgrown summer fields, transforming into predator and prey as they chase through bushes and around corners.
— A girl with overly intellectual parents seeks sisterhood on a school trip to Yosemite, but finds bickering cabinmates, indifferent leaders, and a bed-wetting incident instead.
— Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson; Simon & Schuster: New York, 2011; $35 Almost everybody uses Apple products these days: the iPad, iPod, iPhone, iMac, etc. But do you know who...
— After losing her arm in a car accident, Kate struggles with depression until a voice teacher helps her discover singing as a new way to make music.
— A child at the beach reaches out to touch the sunset and wraps it around their shoulders like a coat, transforming sensory experience into wearable joy.
— A girl chosen as a dragon sacrifice discovers that her brother's lily hair clip, given as a farewell gift, becomes the weapon that defeats the beast.
— Sean Griswold’s Head, by Lindsey Leavitt; Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers: New York, 2011; $16.99 Her parents lie about her father’s multiple sclerosis (MS), a potentially deadly disease of the...
— During a sailing race with a $100 prize, a boy gives up certain victory to help his friend win the money for his dying father's medical care.
— A poem captures the last night before a friend moves to Ireland, from joyful evening to tearful goodbye as she disappears in the rain.