Books with author Bruce Brooks

The deep bond between a boy and his grandfather may be the only thing that can save the old man's life when he suffers a heart attack. But first the boy must overcome his feelings of helplessness and guilt.With the imaginative assistance of Dooley, the nephew of a local nurse who knows a mysterious ritual called "soul switching," the narrator discovers, in a reluctant flight to the farthest edges of faith, the miraculous and healing power of love.In the best literary tradition of Truman Capote and Carson McCullers, award-winning novelist Bruce Brooks tells this spellbinding tale with a compassionate understanding of the capacity of children to transcend pain with amazing grace.

In this trio of stories by two-time Newbery Honor author Bruce Brooks, cousins devise a fiendishly clever way to circumvent the law and give a loved one a proper burial; a boy begrudgingly tries to fulfill his dying uncle's last wishes; and a young girl must learn to unburden herself of the weight of grief. Each of Brooks's characters is searching for a way to deal with what's been left behind -- all have grief to be shared, and personal discoveries to be made.

Alice just can't stop crying. To her, it seems as if it should be simple. If your parents split up, you live with the one who understands you best. Alice's father had always been the one to "get" her. But somehow she had ended up living with her mom, who drank too much, and her stepfather, who didn't like her and didn't care who knew it. So when a bout with bronchitis lands her in the hospital, she decided she just can't face going home again--ever.What if she simply stops eating--goes on a hunger strike? They would have to keep her there, wouldn't they? It seems like the simplest solution, even when the hallucinations start, even when they kind of take over. But suppose she goes into a coma--or dies? If that happens, she'll have her new friend Rex, the mysterious boy who says he's dying, but whose jaunty ways have brought Alice to life.Once again, Bruce Brooks tells an intriguing story that puts new twists on the oldest, biggest issues--love, death, and taking charge of your own life as you move toward adulthood.