The residents of Critters animal shelter are all looking for a home There are many creatures at Critters, an animal-rescue facility, who are waiting for a home. Irving, a twelve-year-old part–German shorthaired pointer, loves to watch the soaps and has been living at Critters so long he believes it is his home. Placido, on the other hand, has no problem finding new homes—but with his bad habits, the cat is always back within twenty-four hours. Goldie the Labrador retriever is new at the shelter, and he’s homesick for his last owners. Marshall, the black-and-yellow king snake who never knew his mother, doesn’t think he’s lovable enough to be adopted. But eleven-year-old Walter Splinter doesn’t agree: He wants Marshall to be his. Featuring an array of endearing talking animals, Snakes Don’t Miss Their Mothers is a fun, heartfelt story for every young animal lover. This ebook features an illustrated personal history of M. E. Kerr including rare images from the author’s collection.

A Long Island teenager reunites with her older sister in a novel about family, sibling rivalry, and the love you didn’t know you were missing Fifteen-year-old Suzy Slade’s parents are divorced. Now Suzy lives with her mother in a beautiful house on the ocean in Seaville, Long Island. Her gorgeous older sister, Chicago, lives with their father in New York City. At least, she did. Chicago just roared into town on her brand-new Harley. With her sister’s return, Suzy’s whole world changes. She becomes caught up in Chicago’s life—and a secret affair she wishes she didn’t know about. Her dad’s been keeping secrets, too, and soon Suzy discovers the reason for the bad blood between him and her sister: his new girlfriend, Enid, who’s only two years older than Chicago. Then there’s Suzy’s teacher, Miss Spring, who’s pining for a lost love. Somewhere in the mix is Suzy herself, who’s in danger of losing her own identity. It isn’t until someone close to Suzy disappears that she realizes it’s time to start living her own life. This ebook features an illustrated personal history of M. E. Kerr including rare images from the author’s collection.

World War II comes to a small Pennsylvania town in this thought-provoking novel about a peace-loving Quaker family War may be raging in Europe, but in Sweet Creek, Pennsylvania, peace is being waged. Bud Shoemaker is vehemently opposed to the war when he registers for the draft as a conscientious objector. No one except his Quaker family shares Bud’s pacifist views—although his thirteen-year-old brother, Jubal, wonders what kind of Quaker he’ll be when it comes time for him to enlist. Jubal loves and believes in his brother, even if the whole town—including Daria Daniel, the girl Jubal secretly loves—doesn’t. With everyone calling Bud a coward, Jubal’s family is slowly being torn apart. But when an unexpected, vicious act forces Jubal to grapple with man’s penchant for violence, he has to grow up fast in a community in which killing becomes the measure of a man. Slap Your Sides is a riveting tale of courage and conscience that delivers a timeless, universal message about what makes a hero and what it really means to be a patriot. This ebook features an illustrated personal history of M. E. Kerr including rare images from the author’s collection.

Set during the Depression, this haunting historical novel by M. E. Kerr follows two teenage girls—one German, the other American—whose friendship plays out against the quickly shifting political world stage Jessie Myrer is the daughter of the prison warden in Cayuta County, where there are few foreigners and even fewer Jews. Jessie’s provincial views change when she meets her new across-the-street neighbor. At fifteen, sophisticated, German-born Elisa Stadler is a year older than Jessie. The girls would seem to have little in common, yet they soon become the best of friends. Then one night, they hear the music of the prison band’s spellbinding solo bugler. Convicted murderer and gifted musician Slater Carr is the newest arrival at Cayuta Prison. Jessie and Elisa become obsessed with Slater, who to Jessie is like a local John Dillinger—and who was an unwitting part of a botched robbery in which two people were killed. When a daring escape culminates in murder, Elisa’s family moves back to Germany, where Hitler is rising to power. Years later, Jessie makes a shocking discovery about her long-lost friend. Your Eyes in Stars is a stunning novel about friendship, prejudice, assimilation, and the end of innocence. This ebook features an illustrated personal history of Marijane Meaker including rare images from the author’s collection.

The daughter of faith-healing Christians and the son of a TV evangelist are the stars of this lively cautionary tale about religion, family, faith, and love I start my story with the day I first saw Jesse Pegler. That was when my whole life first started changing. Sixteen-year-old Opal Ringer is the daughter of Royal Ringer, the Pentecostal leader of a motley flock of down-on-their-luck believers. Jesse Pegler is the son of Brother Pegler. An “evangelist for Jesus,” the elder Pegler is a flashy minister who appears regularly on television in his blue robes and gold tassels. Opal and Jesse meet at a faith healing at the Helping Hand Tabernacle church, where Opal’s daddy preaches. Jesse, with his soft eyes and sandy hair, is a younger version of his older brother, Bud, who ran away from the religious life—and whom Opal can’t forget. Alternating between Opal and Jesse’s perspectives, What I Really Think of You follows two preachers’ kids as they make fascinating discoveries about their faith, their families, and themselves. This ebook features an illustrated personal history of M. E. Kerr including rare images from the author’s collection.

The author of Shockproof Sydney Skate provides rare insights into the life of the reclusive lesbian writer and creator of The Talented Mr. Ripley, describing her own romance with Highsmith amidst the bohemian atmosphere of Greenwich Village during the 1950s. Original.

These 15 short stories by a writer the New York Times Book Review has called “one of the grand masters of young adult fiction” capture our fears, yearnings, loneliness, self-doubts, and universal need for love and acceptance M. E. Kerr’s pioneering young adult literature has gained a devoted following for fearlessly breaking rules and confronting conformity. In Edge, her trademark gifts of pulling apart relationships, exposing real emotion, and conveying what it means to grow up are on full display. From handling a teenage girl’s coming out in “We Might as Well All Be Strangers” to asking philosophical questions about God, life, and death in “The Sweet Perfume of Goodbye” to parodying social norms in “Do You Want My Opinion?,” this is a funny, moving, and brave anthology about faith, friendship, family ties, prom night, an unusual act of heroism, and staying true to yourself.

What do you do when your whole world is blown apart? A seventeen-year-old confronts love, betrayal, and his brother’s illness in this brave, deeply compassionate novel by M. E. Kerr Life is going great for Seaville High senior Erick Rudd. He’s a good student, he has a girlfriend he’ll probably marry, and he’s on a straight path to college. Then his best friend’s girlfriend lets him know she’s attracted to him. Seventeen going on twenty-five, Nicki Marr is blond, green eyed, and gorgeous. Soon, Erick is seeing her on the sly. Guilt ridden over his deception, Erick isn’t prepared for what happens next. He finds out that his brother, Pete, who’s ten years older and lives in New York, is very sick . . . with AIDS. Erick is stunned; he didn’t even know his brother was gay. It was Pete who told a five-year-old Erick that night kites don’t think about the dark, that they’re not afraid to be different. How Erick and his parents deal with Pete’s illness—and how Erick handles his relationship with Nicki—are what make this book so unforgettable. Fearless and profoundly affecting, it will stay with you long after the last page is turned. This ebook features an illustrated personal history of M. E. Kerr including rare images from the author’s collection.

Sixteen-year-old Buddy Boyle makes a shattering discovery about his family in this powerful and poignant novel by award-winning author M. E. Kerr Buddy Boyle lives with his parents and younger brother in a small house on a half-acre of land in undesirable Seaville, New York. Skye Pennington spends her summers on the opposite end of town on five acres with a view of the ocean. Buddy’s dad is a police sergeant; Skye’s is the head of a multi-million-dollar industry. But none of that stops Buddy and Skye from falling in love. To impress her, Buddy takes Skye to visit his aristocratic grandfather in Montauk. Frank Trenker is Buddy’s mother’s father, a man she never talks about. Just as Buddy feels he’s getting to know his estranged grandfather, reporter Nicholas De Lucca shows up. For three years, he’s been searching for a notorious Nazi war criminal known as Gentlehands. When De Lucca uncovers a shocking connection to Buddy’s grandfather, Buddy refuses to believe the accusations. One of M. E. Kerr’s very best novels, Gentlehands tells a spellbinding story of love, loyalty, and the family you thought you knew. This ebook features an illustrated personal history of M. E. Kerr including rare images from the author’s collection.

Discusses the life and work of the author who wrote young adult novels on topics that, at the time, were considered too risquâe for teenagers.