Alison McGhee

Because their dreams of daring adventures go against the cautious teachings of their nations, Firefly and Cricket set out on their own, find a home with kindly Vole, and together help a grieving "miniature giant" named Peter.

"Shadow Baby" is eleven-year-old Clara Winters' story. Clara, who lives with her no-frills mother Tara in the foothills of the Adirondacks, is obsessed by a need for family -- or at the very least the knowledge of one. She learns that she had a twin sister who died at birth; she knows she must have a father somewhere; she knows little bits and pieces about her mother's father, whom she's never met; and that's all she has. In her search for information...

Since his father's suicide, Will tries to overcome his own misery by secretly helping the people around him-- and trying to replicate his late father's famous cornbread recipe. When Will learns his friend Playa was raped at a party, he believes he could have stopped the worst from happening if he hadn't left early, he's determined do some good in the world. Will acts of kindness help Will push past his own trauma and truly begin to live his life again?...

In the past year, William's life has fallen apart. His musically-gifted son has lost his life ... and it looks as though his marriage and his job will be the next things to go.

"McGhee writes confidently as one who remembers the ordinariness of adolescence as well as its angst . . . and compellingly creates a protagonist blindsided by loss." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

For seventeen-year-old Rose, it keeps happening — the car crash. The car crash that put her sister, Ivy, in a coma with only a respirator keeping her alive. While Rose tries to find support from her reticent mother,

...

A mother reflects on the all the milestones, from walking in a deep wood to holding someone else's hand, that her child will achieve during life.

When the snow falls, a young boy makes a snowman that becomes his friend until the seasons change.

Pablo, nearly ten, has many questions about his origins and how he arrived at Isla as a baby, but finding the answers may mean losing his lifetime companion, Birdy the parrot.

Nine-year-old Julia Gillian learns a lot about facing fear as she and her St. Bernard, Bigfoot, take long walks through their Minneapolis neighborhood one hot summer, and she seeks the courage to finish a book that could have an unhappy ending.

Ten-year-old Julia Gillian's best friend is keeping secrets, their beloved lunch lady was replaced by a tyrant, and trumpet lessons prove difficult, making it hard for her to follow the music teacher's advice to "look for the joy."