Books with author Joe Cottonwood

"While their parents attend a World Series game in San Francisco, Franny, 14, and her once-best friend Jennie, now a tattooed stranger wearing headphones, are babysitting her bratty brother Sidney. Clearly, getting reacquainted with Jennie, who moved away when her parents divorced years before, will be a disaster. But when the ground starts shaking their Loma Prieta home, Franny and her brother are plunged into a real crisis situation. In a flash, blood-and-gore loving Sidney becomes a terrified little boy. Jennie sheds her flaky facade to display competent first-aid skills and Franny finds herself calmly able to follow the preparation instructions drilled into her over the years. The hours and days after the quake are a time in which the children and their neighbors fumble toward survival, showing themselves to be 'the best kind of hero...an everyday sort.' With unsettling realism, Franny describes the aftershocks, the struggle to rebuild homes and lives, the triumphs of restoring basic services, and the steps she and her family take to re-establish their lives. Cottonwood spins his tale with great immediacy and power. Characters and relationships are multidimensional and convincing. Readers who enjoy survival and disaster stories will find this one inspiring and thought-provoking."—School Library Journal"Based on California's 1989 earthquake, this survival story fleshes out the newspaper headlines in fascinating detail. Cottonwood, himself a survivor of the earthquake, chronicles the nightmarish ordeal through the eyes of 14-year-old Fran. While her parents attend the World Series, Fran stays home with her bratty brother, Sidney, and Jennie, a visiting friend. Their reunion is awkward until the earthquake shakes them into action: they lift a Volkswagen off a neighbor, turn off combustible propane tanks, and help at the school emergency shelter. The experience builds bridges between the trio and offers Fran the bittersweet challenge of being in charge until her parents return safely home. There are surreal details--'when the water heater fell out [of the closet] . . . for a weird moment it looked like a mummy falling out of a coffin' --and the triviality of a 'Go Cheetahs' sign at Fran's school mark the shift in perspective that accompanies a major seismic shift. Grippingly told, this story will add depth to any study of earthquakes."—Booklist

Boone Barnaby has a few problems: His soccer team is thrown out of the league. The dogcatcher is after Boone's dog. The town hoodlum is throwing rocks. Boone's father is arrested for burning down houses just because he walks through the streets at night carrying a can of gasoline. The adult world doesn't seem fair, but Boone tries to make things right and maybe learn exactly who he is and what he stands for.Boone Barnaby is part of the San Puerco Trilogy, three award-winning novels that have been loved by adults and children alike, about the adventures of three boys in a town of cranks, dreamers, and adventurous children.“This warmly engaging story is resplendent with humor, irony, thoughtful introspection, and well-paced plotting." —School Library Journal.

Danny lives alone in a trailer with no money and little food. That's when the coyotes start coming to visit. Coyotes are tricksters. Coyotes are clever survivors. So is Danny as he learns what kind of human being he truly is — and what kind he ain't.DANNY AIN'T is part of the San Puerco Trilogy, three award-winning novels that have been loved by adults and children alike, about the adventures of three boys in the scrappy little town of San Puerco, California. Other titles in the trilogy are BOONE BARNABY and BABCOCK."A finely crafted story. The characters are enormously appealing." — School Library Journal"The author of THE ADVENTURES OF BOONE BARNABY returns to the small town of San Puerco for another engaging, well-told tale." — Kirkus Reviews"Brave, compassionate Danny, who embraces his incorrect grammar as symbolic of his identity, is worth cheering for." —Publishers WeeklyDANNY AIN'T won the BABRA Award (Bay Area Book Reviewers Association) as Best Book for Children in 1992.

Four smart kids. One busy town.Hoot Howard collects waterfalls - until somebody steals them. He's a small boy with a big heart.Bowie Brown plays guitar - and uses it as an assault weapon. He breaks things - rules, windows, collar bones.Jaz McGuire is determined to never grow up. She wants to never hear mention of ess ee ex.Mimi Bucher grew up much too fast. She lives in a secret bedroom in a shopping mall.A couple of neighbors nicknamed Curly and Moe just might be starting a multi-billion dollar software company in a garage - if only they can cash their first check.It’s the beginning of another year of school in Menlo Park, California in the year 1998, a time of change, the end of a millennium.