Books with author Hilma Wolitzer

While in foster care, Toby and her sister learn what “family” really meansWhen Toby’s father dies in a car accident, her mother gets a new job and a cheaper apartment. At first it seems as if everything might be all right, but soon the pressure gets to be too much. Toby’s mother stops cooking, stops talking, and starts crying or laughing at random times. When she is committed to a rest home, Toby and her sister, Anne, are placed in foster care against their will.. The Selwyns are a kind couple, but nothing about their house feels like home. The artwork is tacky, the music is lame, and the kitchen table is depressing yellow Formica. But in her simple little bedroom, Toby finds a haven. As she and her sister struggle to adjust to their scary new life, she learns that family is what you make it, and home can be anywhere you feel at peace. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Hilma Wolitzer, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.

After her parents’ divorce, Teddy realizes that love is not as easy as it looksIn Teddy’s daydreams, the elevator is never broken and her father comes home every day. But in reality, her dad has a new home and a new wife, Shelley, who is glamorous in a way Teddy’s mother could never be. Still, Teddy holds out hope that one day her dad will come to his senses—and when she finds a shoebox full of faded love letters in the closet, she knows her mother is hoping for the same thing. In the letters, her father calls her mother “my own true love.” If Teddy can just fix her mom up a little bit, maybe her dad will realize he loves her still. But after exercise classes, a visit from the Avon lady, and a furious campaign to get her mom to stop smoking, Teddy learns that real love is far more complex than those old letters make it seem. And though her parents love and support her, Teddy’s perceptions of her family will have to change. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Hilma Wolitzer, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.

As World War II rages, a sixth-grader from Brooklyn battles adolescenceEven while the air-raid sirens blare, Shirley Braverman isn’t worried. Her father is the air-raid warden for their apartment house, and she knows he will keep them safe. There is a war on the other side of the ocean, but here in Brooklyn, life goes on. People ride trolleys, they go to double features at the movies, and they cheer on the Dodgers, win or lose. Shirley is also the best speller in her school’s sixth grade, and she has her eyes on an even bigger title: spelling champion of New York City. When she’s not practicing, Shirley takes care of her younger brother, Theodore—a clumsy kid who’s scared of everything that moves, and some things that don’t. But to win the spelling bee, she will have to listen to what she’s always telling Theodore: Believe in yourself, and don’t be afraid. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Hilma Wolitzer, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.

Bernie only needs $99 for freedom, but he can’t make a dimeBernie Segal has a lot of normal problems—like algebra, his height, and a sister who insists he help her learn her lines for the stupid school play. But he also has a lot of not-so-normal problems, like dealing with his father’s death. His mother is about to remarry, and the thought of having a new man around the house makes Bernie sick. To get out of being at the wedding, Bernie decides to fly to Miami to live with his grandfather. All he needs is $99 for airfare—but where is he going to get the money? Bernie’s asthma means he can’t do anything strenuous, like having a paper route, so he’s forced to take lame jobs, even babysitting, to get the cash. But as the date for his great escape approaches, Bernie begins to wonder if he’s really trying to run away from the wedding and his new stepfather, or if he is running from himself. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Hilma Wolitzer, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s personal collection.