"Three-time Coretta Scott King Award winner Angela Johnson writes a wrenching, honest audiobook about surviving the unimaginable and finding a way to go on.
Scotty compares herself to tofu: no flavor unless you add something. And it's true that Scotty's friends, Misha and Falcone, and her brother, Keone, make life delicious. But when a terrible accident occurs, Scotty feels responsible for the loss of someone she hardly knew, and the world goes wrong. She cannot tell what is a dream and what is real. Her friends are having a hard time getting through to her and her family is preoccupied with their own trauma. But the prospect of a boy, a dance, and the possibility that everything can fall back into place soon help Scotty realize that she is capable of adding her own flavor to life.
With artfully spare prose, acclaimed and award-winning author Angela Johnson explores the ramifications of unexpected death in this compelling coming-of-age story."
"Heaven is the perfect name for the small Ohio town where 14-year-old Marley lives. Or at least she thought so until the fateful day when the mysterious letter arrived. Now her life has been turned upside down. Twelve years ago Momma chose to live in Heaven because she liked the name of the town and the white picket fences and the little schoolhouse by the river. Pops agreed that it was a good place after he made sure it had a Western Union office. Ever since she can remember, Marley's been sent to Western Union to wire money to Uncle Jack. Now that she's learned the significance of those errands, life will never be the same. This award-winning author introduces a likeable, believable young character. Listeners empathize with her search for identity and are edified by her choice to forgive the family who hid her adoption from her."
"Bird, a 13-year-old girl with a mission, has run away in pursuit of her stepfather. She's sure she'll be able to convince him to return home-to fill the hole he left in their family. And while she hides near his sister's farmhouse, she becomes entwined in the lives of three people who also have holes to fill: Ethan, whose heart troubles have kept him too sheltered from kids his own age; Jay, whose brother has died unexpectedly; and Mrs. Pritchard, whose house has been too empty since her husband was moved to a nursing home.
Through the unique voices of the three kids, an eloquent, affecting story unfolds-the story of how one individual's warmth and kindness can heal so many hurts. Bird will leave you thoroughly uplifted."
"Bobby is a typical urban New York City teenager--impulsive, eager, restless. For his sixteenth birthday he cuts school with his two best buddies, grabs a couple of slices at his favorite pizza joint, catches a flick at a nearby multiplex, and gets some news from his girlfriend, Nia, that changes his life forever: He's going to be a father. Suddenly things like school and house parties and fun times with friends are replaced by visits to Nia's pediatrician and countless social workers who all say that the only way for Nia and Bobby to lead a normal life is to put their baby up for adoption. Then tragedy strikes Nia, and Bobby finds himself in the role of single, teenage father. Because his child--their child--is all that remains of his lost love.
With powerful language and keen insight, Johnson tells the story of a young man's struggle to figure out what the "right thing" is and then to do it. The result is a gripping portrayal of single teenage parenthood from the point of view of a youth on the threshold of becoming a man."
