Books with author Bonnie Shimko

You do not kill a man in cold blood and then talk your way out of it. Other than her real name — Mary-Magdalene Feigenbaum — fifteen-year-old Maggie’s problems seem ordinary. She has tiffs with her too-critical mother, a crush on her cute psychologist, and worries that her only friend — fellow outcast Abigail — is morphing into a popular girl, leaving her behind. But Maggie has a few not-so-ordinary problems. A voice in her head is telling her to kill. And not just anyone. Each time the target is a person who has done something terrible to someone Maggie cares for. You know what you have to do, the voice commands. Maggie struggles to resist, but the voice is relentless. And as its demands escalate, her world begins to crumble. With rising suspense, this story of psychological horror introduces a narrator whose own unique voice and irreverent humor are unforgettable – an unlikely hero fighting a desperate battle against incomprehensible evil.

"All a person needs in life is one true friend."So says Grandpa Thomas, the only member of Amelia's family who cares about her one bit. That true friend finally arrives when Fancy Nelson, the first Negro kid Amelia has ever seen in person, walks into her fourth grade classroom. As Fancy's special sort of magic rubs off on Amelia, she slowly comes to understand her trainwreck family and her place in it—and Fancy discovers a surprising secret about her own past.

Jenny Barker, a street-smart thirteen-year-old, lives in Buffalo with her mother, Rudy, and “stepfather,” Daddy Jake—both meth heads.One morning, Rudy kills Daddy Jake with his own rifle and is sentenced to life in prison. Jenny is shipped off to Paris, New York, a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, to live on a farm with an old woman, her granddaughter, and the hired man—a shopworn backup-guitar-player from the Janis Joplin era.Although Jenny vows to get out of Paris as fast as she can, things don’t unfold the way she thought they would and gradually she finds hope: an amazing musical talent she didn’t know she had, Gracie Disher, a kindred spirit who lives right down the road, and Bo, the hired man who shows Jenny what a loving parent is like. Jenny Barker is not a regular girl. She’s “a kid who has seen and heard every hateful, gross thing a human being is capable of doing or saying.” How Jenny deals with the secrets and mysteries of her train-wreck family makes for captivating reading. "The characters just about dance off the pages in this graceful and touching story about a young girl's search for love.” ---Lesley Kagen, New York Times bestselling author of The Undertaking of Tess and The Resurrection of Tess Blessing.

You do not kill a man in cold blood and then talk your way out of it. Other than her real name — Mary-Magdalene Feigenbaum — fifteen-year-old Maggie’s problems seem ordinary. She has tiffs with her too-critical mother, a crush on her cute psychologist, and worries that her only friend — fellow outcast Abigail — is morphing into a popular girl, leaving her behind. But Maggie has a few not-so-ordinary problems. A voice in her head is telling her to kill. And not just anyone. Each time the target is a person who has done something terrible to someone Maggie cares for. You know what you have to do, the voice commands. Maggie struggles to resist, but the voice is relentless. And as its demands escalate, her world begins to crumble. With rising suspense, this story of psychological horror introduces a narrator whose own unique voice and irreverent humor are unforgettable – an unlikely hero fighting a despaerate battle against incomprehensible evil.

You do not kill a man in cold blood and then talk your way out of it. Other than her real name — Mary-Magdalene Feigenbaum — fifteen-year-old Maggie’s problems seem ordinary. She has tiffs with her too-critical mother, a crush on her cute psychologist, and worries that her only friend — fellow outcast Abigail — is morphing into a popular girl, leaving her behind. But Maggie has a few not-so-ordinary problems. A voice in her head is telling her to kill. And not just anyone. Each time the target is a person who has done something terrible to someone Maggie cares for. You know what you have to do, the voice commands. Maggie struggles to resist, but the voice is relentless. And as its demands escalate, her world begins to crumble. With rising suspense, this story of psychological horror introduces a narrator whose own unique voice and irreverent humor are unforgettable – an unlikely hero fighting a desperate battle against incomprehensible evil.

Kat is just twelve years old when her mother dies. Suddenly an orphan, she has no choice but to move in with her bitter, wealthy aunt--the same aunt who Kat believes caused her mother's death. And that is just the beginning of Kat's awful eighth-grade year. The thing that keeps her going, even in her darkest moments, is the promise she made the day her mother died. With an exceptional voice and haunting insight, Bonnie Shimko has written a story about uncovering dark family secrets, finding friends in the most unlikely places, and learning to let go. Kat is both wise beyond her years and frighteningly vulnerable--but above all, she is wholly unforgettable.

"All a person needs in life is one true friend."So says Grandpa Thomas, the only member of Amelia's family who cares about her one bit. That true friend finally arrives when Fancy Nelson, the first Negro kid Amelia has ever seen in person, walks into her fourth grade classroom. As Fancy's special sort of magic rubs off on Amelia, she slowly comes to understand her trainwreck family and her place in it―and Fancy discovers a surprising secret about her own past.

Kat is just twelve years old when her mother dies. Suddenly an orphan, she has no choice but to move in with her bitter, wealthy aunt--the same aunt who Kat believes caused her mother's death. And that is just the beginning of Kat's awful eighth-grade year. The thing that keeps her going, even in her darkest moments, is the promise she made the day her mother died. With an exceptional voice and haunting insight, Bonnie Shimko has written a story about uncovering dark family secrets, finding friends in the most unlikely places, and learning to let go. Kat is both wise beyond her years and frighteningly vulnerable--but above all, she is wholly unforgettable.

Jenny Barker, a street-smart thirteen-year-old, lives in Buffalo with her mother, Rudy, and “stepfather,” Daddy Jake—both meth heads. One morning, Rudy kills Daddy Jake with his own rifle and is sentenced to life in prison. Jenny is shipped off to Paris, New York, a tiny town in the middle of nowhere, to live on a farm with an old woman, her granddaughter, and the hired man—a shopworn backup-guitar-player from the Janis Joplin era. Although Jenny vows to get out of Paris as fast as she can, things don’t unfold the way she thought they would and gradually she finds hope: an amazing musical talent she didn’t know she had, Gracie Disher, a kindred spirit who lives right down the road, and Bo, the hired man who shows Jenny what a loving parent is like. Jenny Barker is not a regular girl. She’s “a kid who has seen and heard every hateful, gross thing a human being is capable of doing or saying.” How Jenny deals with the secrets and mysteries of her train-wreck family makes for captivating reading. "The characters just about dance off the pages in this graceful and touching story about a young girl's search for love.” ---Lesley Kagen, New York Times bestselling author of The Undertaking of Tess and The Resurrection of Tess Blessing.

“All a person needs in life is one true friend.”So says Grandpa Thomas, the only member of Amelia’s family who cares about her one bit. That true friend finally arrives when Fancy Nelson, the first Negro kid Amelia has ever seen in person, walks into her fourth grade classroom. As Fancy’s special sort of magic rubs off on Amelia, she slowly comes to understand her trainwreck family and her place in it—and Fancy discovers a surprising secret about her own past.