Books with title The Summer of the Swans

Dust storms, rabbit drives, hobo camps, and riding on freight trains were all a part of life for many throughout the Midwest during the Great Depression. Polio and many other diseases had not yet been conquered and the huge dust storms that killed livestock and ruined crops also caused life-threatening respiratory ailments, such as asthma and pneumonia. In the spring of 1935, 13-year-old Brady Foster's family is forced to leave their "dusted out" wheat farm in southwest Kansas when his mother's asthma takes a turn for the worst. Deciding her only hope lies in California's cleaner air, Brady and his little autistic sister are sent to live with their grandfather, a county sheriff in the north central part of the state, until their parents can return. In his new school, Brady is bullied and ostracized, but he finds a friend in Eddie Peel, the son of the town drunk, a boy with a pet crow. This book was selected for the Kansas State Reading Circle Catalog and Winner of the J. Donald Coffin Memorial Book Award!

The summer is turning out to be the most confusing time of fourteen year old Sara Godfrey's life. Up until now , things have flowed as smoothly and peacefully as the swans sliding across the lake. But suddenly, Sara feels like things are going wrong. She wants to fly away from everyone her popular sister, her bossy aunt, and her beloved, mentally retarded brother Charlie. Then one night, Charlie disappears.

Adults insist that you never completely remember your childhood. They say that as the years pass by, those little details that once captured your undivided attention become fuzzy around the edges. As time marches on, the sharp memories start crinkling up like a piece of newspaper burning in a campfire; first you can just make out the sentences, and then, the white hot fire laps at the pages, blurring them and obscuring the actual words. Until all that you are left with is a fine white ash and the vague memories of what used to be.As long as I’m breathing, I know I will never forget my sixteenth summer. It’s been years, but that summer is etched finely in my memory. That was the summer I finally kissed a boy, found the body in the basement, and discovered that keeping secrets just might kill you. And believe me, that isn’t something you forget too easily, no matter how hard you try. And I sure as hell have tried.Kennedy Ryan is a normal fifteen year old girl with a best friend who tells her what to do, an agoraphobic mother, a crush on an inappropriate boy...and a body in her basement. Totally normal, right?

Enjoy best-selling author Eve Bunting’s moving story about the bond between a boy and his dog. "Maybe that's one of the reasons people get dogs, to kind of close up the empty places inside them."Eleven-year-old William never needed a friend more than now. After his parents' separation, his father's new engagement, and his grandfather's dying without any warning—adopting big, beautiful Riley is the first thing in a long time that has made him feel better. That is, until Riley innocently chases a horse.Local law states that any animal that chases livestock must be put to sleep. Suddenly William stands to lose another thing close to him. Together with his friend Grace, William begins a campaign to reverse the county commissioners' decision. But with a community divided on the issue, and the bully Ellis Porter trying to stop them at every turn, will they be able to save Riley's life?Celebrated author Eve Bunting shows William's determined struggle to fight for what he believes in. The Summer of Riley is an inspiring novel about learning to accept life's changes, the healing power of friendship, and the unending desire to protect those we love.

Summer is just a teenager, but sometimes she feels like the parentFifteen-year-old Summer McIntyre lives with her mother, Oriole, and seven-year-old sister, Sparrow, in a trailer in Alvarro Bay City, overlooking the Pacific. Oriole is a Northern California flower child who fantasizes about being at one with nature and forgets about needing money. Even though she’s only fifteen, Summer is good at being Mom.That is, until Oriole’s new boyfriend upsets the precarious balance in their lives. Suddenly Summer has to protect her family as she copes with the dangers of drug-smuggling, blackmailing, and even terrorism.Set during the 1980s, The Birds of Summer is the story of a teenager with the responsibilities of adulthood thrust upon her shoulders, who learns how to adapt . . . and how to survive. Winner of the PEN Literary Award and the Parents’ Choice Award.This ebook features an extended biography of Zilpha Keatley Snyder.

Enjoy best-selling author Eve Bunting’s moving story about the bond between a boy and his dog. "Maybe that's one of the reasons people get dogs, to kind of close up the empty places inside them."Eleven-year-old William never needed a friend more than now. After his parents' separation, his father's new engagement, and his grandfather's dying without any warning—adopting big, beautiful Riley is the first thing in a long time that has made him feel better. That is, until Riley innocently chases a horse.Local law states that any animal that chases livestock must be put to sleep. Suddenly William stands to lose another thing close to him. Together with his friend Grace, William begins a campaign to reverse the county commissioners' decision. But with a community divided on the issue, and the bully Ellis Porter trying to stop them at every turn, will they be able to save Riley's life?Celebrated author Eve Bunting shows William's determined struggle to fight for what he believes in. The Summer of Riley is an inspiring novel about learning to accept life's changes, the healing power of friendship, and the unending desire to protect those we love.

Now in paperback, a moving novel of loss and resilience, told in a voice that is “sometimes humorous, at times heartbreaking, and always authentic” (School Library Journal).Twelve-year-old May lives with her grandmother, who is depressed about the absence of May’s mother, and her father, who works long hours and is almost never around. Due to her circumstance and her resentment over having to live in a low-income neighborhood, May often finds herself picking fights and getting into trouble.But when May is caught defacing her least favorite teacher’s classroom, she has a choice: expulsion or one-on-one summer school with the teacher she most detests. Begrudgingly, May chooses summer school and ultimately learns that her teacher has a secret past—and might just hold the key to answers no one else will give May about her mother.