The small, sleepy southern town of Lily, Arkansas goes into a frenzy when a birdwatcher thinks he spots a Lazarus Woodpecker, a species thought to be extinct. (“Lily is the kind of place you’d like to move to some short time before you die. If at any other time in your life you think you [...]

Tags: coming of age, family life, grief, kidnapping, mystery, religion, small town
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David Levithan’s newest book, Every You, Every Me, is a collaborative work with photographer Jonathan Farmer. In the spirit of collaboration, I read and reviewed this book with Isaiah Vianese in a series of email exchanges. Melanie, I just finished Every You, Every Me. My feelings about the book are mixed, so I thought I [...]

Tags: grief, mental illness, mystery, photography, stalking
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It has been three years since Adam promised Mia that he would do anything for her if she would stay. Did she hear his promise? He doesn’t know. But she stayed. And then she left. Where She Went picks up the story from Adam’s perspective. Adam’s band has achieved huge success and he is so [...]

Tags: grief, identity, music, romance, secrets
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Following up Hate List, a book that explores how people heal in the aftermath of a school shooting, Jennifer Brown tackles another tough subject in Bitter End. Alex’s mom died when she was young; her dad dismisses her mom as crazy and doesn’t bring the topic up much. He doesn’t bring up much of anything [...]

Tags: dating, domestic abuse, family problems, friendship, grief, high schools
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Jen Violi’s Putting Makeup on Dead People immediately comes across as both a bit morbid and witty, and it delivers on that promise all the way through. I loved this book more than I ever would have expected; it’s the kind of book I want to buy just so that I can pass it around [...]

Tags: career planning, coming of age, death, family problems, grief, identity
Filed under: Book Review