Willow Finds a Way


Book Description

Willow is thrilled the whole class - including her! - is invited to classmate Kristabelle’s fantastic birthday party, until the bossy birthday girl starts crossing guests off the list when they dare cross her. There are many books on bullying, but Willow’s story offers a unique look at how to handle the situation as a bystander.




Willow's Whispers


Book Description

A captivating picture book about a very soft-spoken little girl's ultimately successful struggle to find her own voice.




Shy Willow


Book Description

Willow is shy. VERY shy. Her home is in an abandoned mailbox, and she'd rather stay put. Outside kids scream and soccer balls collide, trees look like monsters, and rain is noisy in a scary kind of way. It's much nicer to stay inside, drawing. But then a young boy drops a letter in Willow's mailbox: it's a note to the moon asking for a special favor. Willow knows that if she doesn't brave the world outside, the letter will never be delivered, and the boy will be heartbroken. Should she try? Can she? Cat Min delivers a breathtakingly illustrated story about shyness, the power of empathy, and what it means to make a friend.




Counting by 7s


Book Description

A New York Times Bestseller In the tradition of Out of My Mind, Wonder, and Mockingbird, this is an intensely moving middle grade novel about being an outsider, coping with loss, and discovering the true meaning of family. Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old genius, obsessed with nature and diagnosing medical conditions, who finds it comforting to count by 7s. It has never been easy for her to connect with anyone other than her adoptive parents, but that hasn’t kept her from leading a quietly happy life . . . until now. Suddenly Willow’s world is tragically changed when her parents both die in a car crash, leaving her alone in a baffling world. The triumph of this book is that it is not a tragedy. This extraordinarily odd, but extraordinarily endearing, girl manages to push through her grief. Her journey to find a fascinatingly diverse and fully believable surrogate family is a joy and a revelation to read. * “Willow's story is one of renewal, and her journey of rebuilding the ties that unite people as a family will stay in readers' hearts long after the last page.”—School Library Journal starred review * “A graceful, meaningful tale featuring a cast of charming, well-rounded characters who learn sweet—but never cloying—lessons about resourcefulness, community, and true resilience in the face of loss.”—Booklist starred review * “What sets this novel apart from the average orphan-finds-a-home book is its lack of sentimentality, its truly multicultural cast (Willow describes herself as a “person of color”; Mai and Quang-ha are of mixed Vietnamese, African American, and Mexican ancestry), and its tone. . . . Poignant.”—The Horn Book starred review "In achingly beautiful prose, Holly Goldberg Sloan has written a delightful tale of transformation that’s a celebration of life in all its wondrous, hilarious and confounding glory. Counting by 7s is a triumph."—Maria Semple, author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette




Diamond Willow


Book Description

There's more to me than most people see. Twelve-year-old Willow would rather blend in than stick out. But she still wants to be seen for who she is. She wants her parents to notice that she is growing up. She wants her best friend to like her better than she likes a certain boy. She wants, more than anything, to mush the dogs out to her grandparents' house, by herself, with Roxy in the lead. But sometimes when it's just you, one mistake can have frightening consequences . . . And when Willow stumbles, it takes a surprising group of friends to help her make things right again. Using diamond-shaped poems inspired by forms found in polished diamond willow sticks, Helen Frost tells the moving story of Willow and her family. Hidden messages within each diamond carry the reader further, into feelings Willow doesn't reveal even to herself. Diamond Willow is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.




Kiss Me


Book Description

From USA Today best-selling authors W Winters and Amelia Wilde comes a sinful romance with a touch of dark and angst that will keep you gripping the edge of your seat … and begging for more. I should have known when I couldn’t keep my eyes off her that this would be a mistake. I was hired to protect her, this woman who’s lost everything yet there’s an obvious fire that blazes behind her beautiful gaze. She stares back, daring and tempting me. It calls to a side of me that’s darker and longs to tame her. We both have secrets, we both have a past we’re not ready to face. More than that, we both want to get lost in each other, falling into a forbidden game of control and power. Of submission and dominance. The moment she agrees to my terms, I know I’ve crossed a line. One of many rules I’m willing to break. No one can know, not a soul, but secrets in the life I lead never last for long.




Willow


Book Description

Seven months ago, on a rainy March night, sixteen-year- old Willow's parents drank too much wine and asked her to drive them home. They never made it. Willow lost control of the car and her parents died in the accident. Now she has left behind her old home, friends, and school, and blocks the pain by secretly cutting herself. But when Willow meets Guy, a boy as sensitive and complicated as she is, she begins an intense, life-changing relationship that turns her world upside down. Told in an arresting, fresh voice, Willow is an unforgettable novel about one girl's struggle to cope with tragedy, and one boy's refusal to give up on her.




Willows Under Trial


Book Description

Several plays have been composed into novels of short stories. This began the saga of Beneath the Willow. The first book in the series focused on several of the residents of the established settlements. After many years of hard work, the town began to flourish. When they initially settled, all residents were in one central location. They spread out as the town began to grow. Development of farms and pastureland advanced rapidly. The town of Willow Bend is filled with imaginary characters but implies a very realistic concept. It is the writers vision that the town was established in the 1870s. Horace Lee Crowley and seven hundred migrants braved the elements, traveling until they found what they later established as the Willows. It was divided into several settlements: Willow Bend, Willow Estates, Willow Grove, and Willow Creek. The people tilled the soil and made their own clothing. For a short length of time, everyone cooked on a huge open pit. They prayed, inspired, encouraged, and made unified efforts together to lighten the load of chores of one another. They suffered the hardship of floods, crop infestation, poor farming equipment, and loss of profits. Through it all, unity blended them together as a community. After many years of hard work, the town flourished. Disagreements were natural in personality differences but were short lived. They migrated from a sharecrop farm thirty miles away. They tread large bodies of water that sometimes rose above waistlines. Small children were placed upon mens shoulders or on one of the old mules. Women carried the bundles of food and what little clothing they owned. It was a rough going, but majority of the people endured it. They had small clippings of flowers, twigs from fruit trees, and roots from vegetables. The substance of their existence was on their backs, mules, and wooden trestles that the men fashioned. Scraps of wood and small trees made up the trestles. This was the beginning of the Willows. Once settled, many differences occurred, natural in personalities, but they were able to accomplish agreement with the help of the county judge. The drama was getting to that point. Thanks for reading. See what you would do in these cases.




Willows vs. Wolverines


Book Description

It’s an all-out boys vs. girls summer camp prank war in this hilarious M!X novel from the author of The Classy Crooks Club! Izzy Cervantes and her best friend, Mackenzie, have spent summers together at Camp Sweetwater since they were eight. So when their parents decide to ship them off to Camp Foxtail instead, the girls find themselves completely out of their element—and worse yet, in different cabins! Izzy feels like an outsider in Willow Lodge. But when she hears about the time-honored prank war between the Willows and the Wolverines, the rival boy cabin, she sees a chance to make her mark. Convinced the girls will never accept her as one of them unless she has roots at Camp Foxtail, she boasts that her older brother is the most respected prankster in the camp’s history and would be happy to help them win the war. In reality, Izzy doesn’t even have an older brother, but the Willows embrace her as their new secret weapon, and Mackenzie agrees to help her hatch a series of epic stunts. As the hijinks escalate, so does Izzy’s popularity. But she becomes so focused on impressing her new friends that she starts neglecting Mackenzie, putting her friendship and her secret prank-master identity in serious jeopardy. Can Izzy keep the truth under wraps and win her best friend back, or will she end up on the wrong side of her allies as well as her enemies?




Along Life's By-Ways


Book Description

Maxine has been entertaining family and friends with her stories of life's events, wisdom she has gained over the years, and fantasies from a a creative imagination for eighty-five years. Her words weave a vivid picture that will capture your attention and make you want to abandon the hectic life today's society imposes on you for a simpler time, when folks took the time to stop and listen to the corn grow. Like a fine wine you need to savor each page taking the time to visualize the pictures, depicting a simple life, created by the words of an average woman. Each poem is a step in a journey rich with wisdom and emotions overflowing. The ideal place to read this book is sitting in the top of an apple tree in the summer sun but since most of us are a little too old or just too busy to take the time to climb a tree, I recommend you find a comfy place and settle in for a whirlwind journey ALONG LIFE'S BY-WAYS.