After the death of her Japanese American mother, sixty-four-year-old Anne Kuroda Duppstadt finds the courage to confront the toxic legacy of her father, a famous artist and cruel narcissist. When a former art professor invites her to his island art studio, she begins pursuing her lifelong dream to become an artist in her own right. But the needs of her family tug at her heart. Her thirty-two-year-old daughter's love life is falling apart, and Annie's husband, facing retirement, struggles with depression, leading her to conclude, "There is a glass ceiling for women...and it's made out of the...

Celebrating the diversity of baseball, "Dear Ichiro," winner of the Children's Peace Book Award, is a warm, funny story that brings a universal message of healing and hope.

Newly arrived from Kazakhstan, twelve-year-old Maya Alazova resents the way her mother babies her brother, but when she leaves her English Language Learner program for mainstream classes and has to deal with a boy, a bully, and conflict at home, she finds her brother can help with their new culture in ways their parents can't.

Newly arrived from Kazakhstan, twelve-year-old Maya Alazova resents the way her mother babies her brother, but when she leaves her English Language Learner program for mainstream classes and has to deal with a boy, a bully, and conflict at home, she finds her brother can help with their new culture in ways their parents can't.

Where did she come from?Molly Jane Fletcher was adopted. She's known it for as long as she can remember. It's not something that usually bothers her, but lately, it's all she can think about.Now Molly has a chance to find her birthmother--a chance to understand where she came from, and why she was given away. But the Fletchers aren't happy about her decision to unearth the past. They're afraid that everyone involved may get hurt.That's a chance that Molly may be willing to take."Skillfully and sensitively written can make you laugh and cry at a single sitting."-Voice of Youth...

Rodney Suyama has two impossible dreams... to be a rap star and to go out with gorgeous Ivy Ramos. Set in the nineties at the dawn of rap, a witty and determined young man gets in touch with his past while taking control of his future in this romantic, poignant and hilarious novel by Jean Davies Okimoto. "A celebration of diversity."-Signal "A story of ethnic pride, first love and determination to overcome stereotypes. Okimoto's talents give this book the same wide appeal as her earlier titles Jason's Women and Molly By Any Other Name."-School Library Journal ." . . humor and empathy that...

It's the first summer of her retirement and librarian Maggie Lewis is relishing the unfolding of sweet summer days on Vashon Island: walking on the beach, reading the classics, and kayaking. But in June when a sudden storm hits the island, Maggie's summer becomes about as peaceful as navigating whitewater. Not only does her wealthy sister arrive uninvited with a startling announcement, but Maggie finds herself entangled with her new Baker's Beach neighbor, Walter Hathaway. A famous children's author and recovering alcoholic, Walter has a history with Maggie they would each like to forget....

This poetry collection reflects a range of human experience and diverse poetic responses to timeless subjects: love, death, grief, loss, aging, illness, suicide, divorce, family, racism, war and peace, nature, longing, joy, and just trying to make sense of the world. There are twenty-eight poets (the work of two of the poets is published posthumously-one haiku having been dictated on the evening of the poets death at age 101). The twenty-six living poets range in age from six years old to ninety. Some are nationally recognized published poets and for others, the poems in this collection are...