Books with author Erika Tamar

A moving middle-grade novel about a girl's struggle to save the life of a starving junkyard dog comes to Knopf Paperbacks. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly said, "Tamar produces a tough-edged but tender story. ...Besides conveying a strong message about neglectful pet owners, she deftly introduces a range of issues affecting her heroine...the happy ending to her story is one sure to satisfy readers."

When Katie sees the shivering, emaciated dog locked in the junkyard, she know she has to save him. But dogs aren't allowed in her housing project, and money is scarce at home. Then brutally cold weather hits, and Katie knows that the dog will die without shelter--unless she can figure out how to help him. Written in spare prose, here's an inspiring story of responsibility and commitment for young feminists and animal lovers alike.

Katherine is the daughter of the lighthouse keeper. She dreams of becoming a painter. But in 1905, a girl can't grow up to be a famous artist -- can she? Rose just moved to the town of Cape Light. She wants to fit in with her new friends, but Rose has a secret she can't share with anyone. . . . Lizabeth is Kat's rich cousin who always gets what she wants. But Lizabeth soon finds out that money can't keep her from losing the most precious thing of all. . . . Amanda's mother passed away, and now she keeps house for her minister father. When Amanda meets a very special young man, can she find the courage to be friends with him in spite of her father's disapproval? The quiet New England town of Cape Light never seems to change. But in the year 1905, the lives of these four friends will be transformed in ways they never could have imagined. . . .

Nine-year-old Venus Macquire is ready to trade smiling for the camera for nailing a soccer ball into the net. Her mother isn't thrilled. She's been grooming Venus for supermodel status since her daughter was three. Everyone at school knows about Venus's famous commercials, and some of the girls on the soccer squad don't think she's cut out for athletic competition. Thing is, Venus is a soccer natural—and she almost has her team convinced. When she's scheduled to be the Cinderella doll at a toy store grand opening, the would-be soccer star has to show everyone, even herself, that her real goal is not to be special. It's to be the real Venus—a regular kid, with a kick!

Katie refilled the saucer and he came rught up next to her. His tongue made sloshing noises as he drank eagerly. Boy, she'd never seen anyone that thirsty! When he finished, he stayed at the fence. Katie was croached down; they were eye to eye. "Good dog," she whispered. He poked the tip of his nose against the links. "I bet no one ever pets you," she said. Her hand wouldn't fit through. "But I can't reach you." They looked into each other's eyes for the longest time. "I'll be back," she promised.

An orphan train child escapes a coldhearted adoptive family to join a vaudeville troupe and travel to Texas to find her older brother Sean.Deirdre O'Rourke and her brothers Sean and Jimmy are sent by their mum from their tenement existence to ride one of the last of the orphan trains west, in the hope of finding a good family. Instead, all three are separated, and Deirdre is placed with a straitlaced minister and his wife, who she soon learns adopted her out of pity. Deirdre can only hope that someday she will be reunited with her beloved older brother, Sean. When at last she finds that he is on a ranch in Texas with a wonderful family, Deirdre longs to be with him, but with no money, she has no real hope of escaping. Then a vaudeville troupe comes to town on its way west. Deirdre convinces the vaudevillians to take her with them, and suddenly her life takes on a real purpose: getting to Texas. But along the way, Deirdre discovers she has a greater depth and purpose than she'd expected--and that being on stage is perhaps an even greater pull than family.

A heartwarming story of a young girl’s search for a family in the 1920s–from the orphan train to the vaudeville stage.When the O’Rourkes were kicked out of their New York City tenement apartment, 11-year-old Deirdre was sure their mother would find a way to keep them together. Instead, she put Deirdre and her brothers on an orphan train to be adopted by families out west. That was bad enough. But then Deirdre is separated from her siblings and taken in by a coldhearted minister and his wife. Desperate to find her brothers, Deirdre begs a passing vaudeville troupe to let her join their act. When Deirdre steps on board their midnight train, she has no idea just how far she’ll go in search of her family–or how much she’ll learn along the way.Erika Tamar’s rich historical novel is filled with a memorable cast of characters, and at center stage is a young girl who is determined to find love and acceptance on her own terms.