Akron Public Library

"A rich family story, a personal look at the legacy of war in the Middle East, and an indelible rendering of how we hold on to the people and places we call home"--

In alternating chapters, two teenagers describe how their feelings about themselves, each other, and their families have changed over the years. You never forget your first love.

For Henry Huggins and his friends Robert and Murph, a clubhouse is a place where they can do as they please, without being bothered by girls. The sign that says NO GIRLS ALLOWED -- THIS MEANS YOU especially means Ramona Quimby. Lately Ramona has been following Henry on his newspaper route, embarrassing him in front of Henry's customers. The day Ramona follows Henry to the clubhouse, she wants to teach him girls aren't so bad, but she almost puts an...

The Jarrets are a typical American family. Calvin is a determined, successful provider and Beth an organized, efficient wife. They had two sons, Conrad and Buck, but now they have one. In this memorable, moving novel, Judith Guest takes the reader into their lives to share their misunderstandings, pain...and ultimate healing.

"These Ghosts are Family centers on Abel and Vera Paisley are a working-class Jamaican couple, striving to build a better life for their children. Abel travels to London in the early 1960s in search of fortune. Instead, he sees an opportunity to escape the drudgery of his life by faking his death and assuming a new identity. Vera, now a widow, is racked with guilt over her husband's "death" and takes out her grief on her children, Irene and Vincent....

Rollo the troll is tired of chores, but after spending time on the tundra with various animal families, from owls to moose, he realizes that he wants to be home for Christmas even if that means behaving himself.

Matt Hunter is expecting the latest sword-and-fantasy video game, but he's in for a disappointment when he receives a hamster for Christmas instead. A hamster called Snuffles. A hamster that dies, but somehow keeps going. A zombie hamster that has his eye on Matt.

Responding to the fractured relationships of the adults around them, two young girls — one wild and reckless with a fierce imagination and one polite and cautious — engage in increasingly dangerous play and find their lives shattered in a single, unthinkable moment. Miggy Brenneman is a wild and reckless seven-year-old with a fierce imagination, hellbent on pushing against the limits of childhood. Ellen is polite, cautious, and drawn to her friend's...

Red-haired Marvin is convinced that the reason he looks different from the rest of his family is that he is really the lost prince of Shampoon.

From National Book Award winner Pete Hautman, the story of a girl who acts out by stealing cars.Some girls act out by drinking or doing drugs. Some girls act out by sleeping with guys. Some girls act out by starving themselves or cutting themselves. Some girls act out by being a bitch to other girls. Not Kelleigh. Kelleigh steals cars.In How to Steal a Car, National Book Award winner Pete Hautman takes teen readers on a thrilling, scary ride...