Families

Families
TITLE & AUTHOR	SYNOPSIS
Adam & Eve & Pinch-Me* JOHNSTON, J	15-year-old Sara Moone, abandoned at birth and shunted from one foster home to another, finds that she cannot remain aloof from her latest family.
After The Rain* MAZER, N	The story of two dynamic individuals who come to love and respect each other - one clinging to his final days, the other poised on the threshold of womanhood.
Aguero Sisters GARCIA, C	Two sisters reunite after a thirty-year estrangement. Lyrical story of family secrets and cultural boundaries.
Annie John KINCAID, J	The story of a young girl coming of age in Antigue. Annie John is an adolescent who has a sometimes rocky, sometimes loving relationship with her mother.
Anywhere But Here SIMPSON, M	Adele, a larger-than-life American dreamer, and her wise child, Ann August, follow their perennial urge to keep moving on the open road.
Autobiography Of Jane Pitman GAINES, E	A fictional biography of a black woman born in slavery whose long life span saw the end of the Civil War and the emancipation of her people.
Backwater* BAUER, J	A research project on her family history leads 16-year-old Ivy on a trek into the wilderness to interview a reclusive aunt.
Beach Music CONROY, P	The story of Jack McCall, an American expatriate in Rome, desperately seeking peace after his wife's suicide, and trying to find a way to heal himself and his closely-bound group of fiends.
Bel-Air Bambi And The Mall Rats PECK, R	When Bambi's TV producer father goes bankrupt, her family has to get out of L.A. fast. They head for Hickory Fork, where Bambi, her sister Buffie, and their little brother Brick come up against a down home teenage gang called the Mall Rats.
Belle Prater's Boy* WHITE, R	When Belle Prater disappears, her son Woodrow comes to live in Coal Station, Virginia - next door to his cousin Gypsy. The two cousins become best friends and together they are able to face and transcend tragedy.
Bless Me, Ultima ANAYA, R	Ultima, a curandera, one who cures with herbs and magic, comes to Antonio Marez's New Mexico family when he is six years old, and she helps him discover himself in the magical secrets of the pagan past. A depiction of life for a Chicano family in the American Southwest.
Blessing Over Ashes FIFIELD, A	The remarkable true story of a 14-year-old refugee from the killing fields of Cambodia who changes the life of his American foster parents.
Bonesetter’s Daughter TAN, A	LuLing Young searches for the name of her mother, the daughter of the "Famous Bonesetter from the Mouth of the Mountain". Trying to hold on to the evaporating past, she begins to write all that she can remember of her life as a girl in China.
Boy Called "It". One Child's Courage To Survive PELZER, D	Dave Pelzer shares his unforgettable story of the many abuses he suffered at the hands of his alcoholic mother and the averted eyes of his neglectful father. Someone with no one to turn to, his dreams barely kept him alive. Through each of his struggles, readers will find themselves enduring his pain, comforting his loneliness and fighting for his will to survive.
Brothers* THOMPSON, J	When his idolized older brother leaves college for a mental health facility and then disappears, 17-year-old Chris follows him to the compound of an anti-government militia group and tries to rescue him.
Can't Hear You Listening IRWIN, H	Chronicles the changing relationship between Tracy and her overprotective, famous-author mother, and Tracy's struggle to help a close friend who's experimenting with drugs.
Carolina Autumn* WILLIAMS, C	Carolina slowly emerges from her grief after her father and sister's death in a plane crash, forging new relationships with her mother and friends.
Chinese Cinderella: The True Story Of An Unwanted Daughter YEN MAH, A	An authentic portrait of 20^th-century China, as well as the story of the painful childhood of an unwanted daughter.
Choosing Sides COOPER, I	Jonathan wants to quit the basketball team, but does not want to disappoint his dad.
Clover SANDERS, D	Clover Hill, who is a shrewd South Carolina orphan, is raised by her stepmother, a white woman frowned upon by Clover's black kinfolk.
Coffin Quilt* RINALDI, A	In the 1880's fanny McCoy witnesses the growth of a violent feud between her Kentucky family and the Hatfields of West Virginia. Powerless to stop the fighting, Fanny must find her own way out of the hatred.
Cold Sassy Tree BURNS, O	On July 5^th, 1906, Will Tweedy's newly widowed grandfather elopes with Love Simpson, half his age, and a Yankee to boot!
Color Purple WALKER, A	A triumphant novel of a black woman's life in the South.
Colors Of The Mountain CHEN, D	Rich with scenes of rural life in China at the time of Mao Zedung's Cultural Revolution, this memoir of a boyhood full of mischief and love is an exhilarating account of success in the face of adversity.
Crash* SPINELLI, J	John "Crash" Coogan has always been comfortable with his tough, aggressive behavior until his relationship with a Quaker boy makes him consider the meaning of friendship and family.
Day No Pigs Would Die PECK, R	To a 13-year-old Vermont farm boy whose father slaughters pigs for a living, maturity comes early as he learns "doing what's got to be done," especially regarding his pet pig that cannot produce a litter.
December Stillness* HAHN, M	Kelly's interest in a homeless Vietnam veteran ends in a tragedy while opening a door to a deeper relationship with her father, who had never come to grips with his own experiences in Vietnam.
Deep End Of The Ocean MILLER, F	Beth Cappadora, brings along her children to a school reunion. She asks 7-year-old Vincent to watch his younger brother Ben as she makes her way to the hotel's registration desk. When she returns, Ben is gone.
Devil's Arithmetic* YOLEN, J	Hannah resents the traditions of her Jewish heritage until time travel takes her to a Polish village in the 1940's.
Dicey's Song* VOIGT, C	A heartwarming novel of the young Tillerman family, led by eldest sister Dicey.
Dinner At The Homesick Restaurant TYLER, A	Pearl Tull is nearing the end of her life but not her memory. Ever since 1944 when her husband left her, she has raised her three very different children on her own. Now grown, they have gathered together - with anger, with hope, and with a beautiful, harsh and dazzling story to tell.
Dive* GRIFFIN, A	Happy with his stable life, Ben chooses to stay with his stepfather when his mother's increasing restlessness causes her to leave, taking Ben's older stepbrother with her.
Door Near Here* QUARLES, H	Head of the household at 15 when her out-of-work, alcoholic mother refuses to get out of bed, Katherine wonders how long she can hold things together and keep her three siblings' teachers from becoming suspicious.
Downtown* MAZER, N	Pete Connor's parents leave him behind when they become fugitives due to their antiwar protest bombings. Eight years later, his mother reappears and he must decide what direction his life must take.
Effect Of Gamma Rays On Man In The Moon Marigolds ZINDEL, P	The story of Tillie, a young girl who uses science to help escape from her odd family life.
Everytime A Rainbow Dies GARCIA, C	After witnessing a rape and interceding on the victim's behalf, 16-year-old Jamaican Thulani begins to move beyond his grief over his mother's death as he builds a relationship with the Haitian girl he helped.
Face In Every Window* NOLAN, H	JP's safe and secure world unravels when his grandmother, his family's guiding hand, dies, leaving him with a mentally challenged father and a mother who retreats into adolescence.
Father Figure PECK, R	17-year-old Jim Atwater and his younger brother, Byron, find their lives turned upside down by the death of their mother and the return of their long-lost father.
Finding Laura Buggs WEST, S	One perplexing clue to her past sets Sandy Meyer on an incredible and harrowing journey in search of her lost family, a pilgrimage that brings her face to face with nerve-shattering suspense, unbearable terror and the magnificent capacity of the human heart.
For The Life Of Laetitia HODGE, M	As the first in her family to go to secondary school, Lacey struggles with a variety of problems including a cruel teacher and a difficult home life with her father and stepmother.
Forged By Fire* DRAPER, S	While his mother was serving a prison sentence for child neglect, Gerald lived with his aunt. Then, one day, his mother returns with her new husband and Angel, Gerald's little sister. As the children grow up, it becomes more and more apparent that Angel needs Gerald's protection from her father's sexual abuse. But who will protect Gerald?
Go Tell It On The Mountain BALDWIN, J	Autobiographical novel of a family in Harlem composed of an angry father, a stoic mother, a rebellious older son and a sensitive younger one.
Good Negress VERDELLE, A	Denise Palms is transplanted from her grandmother's rural Virginia home to the chaos of big-city Detroit in 1963 to help care for the baby expected by her mother and stepfather.
Grand Opening HASSLER, J	Brendan's parents decided to buy a run-down grocery store in a tiny Minnesota town in 1944-45. What they discover about small town idealism, bigotry and good old American values will change them and the town forever.
Grass Crown MCCULLOUGH, C	Grass Crown continues the saga of the Roman Empire begun with The First Man in Rome.
Great Santini CONROY, P	A tyrannical father brutalizes his family, and particularly his oldest son, interpreting humanity as weakness in this unsparing novel. Tragedy is the outcome.
Hard Love* WITTLINGER, E	John's friendship with Marisol helps him deal with his buried feelings about his family in this honest and engaging look at a teenage boy's first love.
Hate You* MCNAMEE, G	Nursing hatred for an abusive father that choked her and damaged her voice as a child, 17-year-old Alice writes songs she cannot sing, and tries to come to terms with her feelings.
Homecoming* VOIGT, C	Four abandoned children take a journey from Connecticut to Maryland in search of love.
Homeless Bird * WHELAN, G	13-year-old Koley enters into an ill-fated arranged marriage and suffers the destiny dictated by India's traditions.
Horse Whisperer EVANS, N	Teenager Grace Maclean loses a leg in a terrible accident while riding her horse, Pilgrim. Grace and Pilgrim are both emotionally scarred as well as physically devastated by the accident. Realizing that the fates of her daughter and the horse are linked, Grace's mother launches a campaign to find a '"horse whisperer'", someone who can cure troubled horses with only a calm voice and a soothing touch.
Humming Whispers* JOHNSON, A	In a poignant first-person narration, Sophy expresses her fear that at 14, the same age her sister began to hear voices, she too will become schizophrenic.
Hundred Secret Senses TAN, A	Years after her Chinese half-sister assails her with ghost stories set in the mysterious world of Yin, a young woman finds herself in China, looking for a way to reconcile the ghosts of her past with the dreams of her future.
I Only Made Up The Roses PORTE, B	The 17-year-old narrator, Cydra, conducts readers on a guided tour of her family, ting with her southern step-grandfather's funeral and ending back at the same setting with Thanksgiving. Each chapter revolves around a family incident memorable to Cydra and usually involving a death, marriage or birth.
Jacob Have I Loved* PATERSON, K	A twin, overshadowed by her talented and charismatic sister, is tormented by hate and jealousy.
Joy Luck Club TAN, A	Chronicles the lives of four Chinese women, their forty-year friendship, and how the death of one member brings her daughter into the group, creating a new understanding for each.
Jubilee Journey MEYER, C	Emily Rose has always felt comfortable growing up in Connecticut with her African-American mother and her French-American father, but when she spends some time with her grandmother in Texas, she learns more about her heritage.
Kidnapping Of Christina Lattimore NIXON, J	Christina's kidnappers are holding her for ransom, but her family is convinced that she is an accomplice in her own kidnapping! Christina is on her own to prove her innocence. But what if she can't?
Kitchen God’s Wife TAN, A	An unfolding of secrets that takes a mother and her daughter back to the small island outside Shangui in the 1920’s and throughout China during WW II.
Lena* WOODSON, J	When their mother dies, Lena and Dion, disguised as boys, run away in search of their mother's family.
Like Sisters On The Homefront* WILLIAMS-GARCIA, R	When 14-year-old Gayle becomes pregnant a second time, her mother sends her to Georgia to live with her Uncle Luther. Strong-willed and impulsive, Gayle eventually makes friends with her pious cousin Constance, but develops a true affinity for Luther's stubborn, spirited grandmother.
Locked Inside WERLIN, N	Kidnapped and locked away in a basement, 16-year-old heiress Marnie is forced to confront painful truths about her family as she tries to escape.
Long Way From Chicago* PECK, R	Joey and his sister Mary Alice, two city slickers from Chicago, make their annual summer trip to Grandma Dowdel's rural Illinois town. Each trip - seven in all - is funnier than the one before.
Love Medicine EDRICH, L	This is a powerful and poetic tale of Kashpaws and Lamartines, two Native American families caught up in a multigenerational drama of anger, magic and healing.
Man Named Dave: A Story Of Triumph And Forgiveness PELZER, D	The third part in David Pelzer's autobiographical trilogy is an inspiring story of terror, recovery and hope experienced by the author throughout his life. He provides living proof that we can "stop the cycle" and lead fulfilling, rewarding lives.
Miracle's Boys WOODSON, J	Lafayette's close friendship with his older brother Charlie changes after Charlie is released from the correctional facility and returns a hostile stranger.
My Name Is Sus5an Smith, The 5 Is Silent PLUMMER, L	Sus5an (the ``5'' is to make her name special) hopes to show her art while living with Aunt Libby in Boston. Secretly, she also searches for her beloved Uncle Willy, who abandoned another aunt, Marianne, 10 years ago. She finds him, only to discover that he is a thief - of hearts as well as valuables - who betrays her as he once betrayed Marianne.
My Sweet Audrina* ANDREWS, V	Audrina Adare knew her father could not love her as he loved her sister. Her sister was so special, so perfect - and dead. Then she comes face to face with a dangerous, terrifying secret. Haunting story of love and deceit, innocence and betrayal, and the suffocating power of parental love.
New Year's Eve GRUNWALD, L	Twin sisters, Heather and Erica, both give birth within weeks of each other. Three short years later, an accident takes the life of Heather's young son, David. Then something extraordinary happens: Sarah, Erica's daughter, crosses the seemingly impassable boundary between two worlds.
Night Kites KERR, M	17-year-old Erick's comfortable and well-ordered life begins to fall apart when he is forced to keep two secrets: the identity of his new girlfriend and the nature of his brother's debilitating disease.
Of Nightingales That Weep* PATERSON, K	Takiko, whose warrior father was killed in battle, accepts a position at the Japanese imperial court. Her beauty and nightingale voice captivates the handsome young warrior, Hideo - who also turns out to be an enemy spy. Takiko is forced to choose between loyalty to her people and her love for Hideo.
One-armed Queen YOLEN, J	On the field of a battle, Jenna, queen of the Dales, received an one-armed girl named Scillia from her dying mother's arms, and adopted the baby. Scillia was named heir to the throne. When Scillia came of age, she discovered the truth her mother had long concealed from her, and a great rift opened between them, a rift that the men of Garun will exploit to take by stealth what they could not win in battle.
Optimist's Daughter WELTY, E	Laurel Hand comes from Chicago to New Orleans, where her father dies after surgery. She returns to her former Mississippi home and stays a few days after the funeral. In a night alone in the house she grew up in, she confronts elements of the past and comes to a better understanding of it and of herself and her parents.
Ordinary People GUEST, J	An incisive, unsparing look at family politics among a father, a mother and a son in the wake of a family tragedy.
Out Of The Dust HESSE, K	As dust storms and the Great Depression ravage Oklahoma, Billie Jo comes of age within the landscape of failing farms, personal tragedy, and family relationships that are badly in need of repair.
Reappearance Of Sam Webber FUQUA, J	After his father’s desertion, Sam learns that family can come in various colors, shapes and sizes. An award winning portrayal of the daily joys, hopes and hungers of a middle-class black family, and that the worst of circumstances can be a blessing in disguise.
Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir Of The Cultural Revolution JIANG, J	Ji-li Jiang faces terror, persecution and an impossible choice when she must denounce her family or sacrifice her future with the Communist Party during China's Cultural Revolution.
River Boy BOWLER, T	Knowing he is dying, Jess' grandfather insists on returning to the river he had known as a boy to finish a painting - and fulfill a lifelong dream.
Rundown* CADNUM, M	In a quest for attention from her family, 17-year-old Jennifer Thayer reports a crime that never happened, claiming that she is the victim of a rapist. As her lie continues, Jennifer faces the hard reality that she knows the truth.
Saint Maybe TYLER, A	When Ian Bedloe’s older brother, Danny, is killed in a late-night car crash after an angry confrontation with Ian, and Danny's grief-stricken and unstable wife commits suicide, leaving behind three children, Ian is overwhelmed by guilt.
Secret Garden* BURNETT, F	Mary Lennox, an ill-tempered orphan, is sent to live in England with an uncle she has never met. While there, she discovers a spoiled cousin and a long-abandoned garden. Working to restore the garden, she also cures her own ill temper, and reforms her cousin as well.
Sister Of My Heart DIVAKANI, C	Since their birth in India, cousins Sudha and Anjou have been bonded in ways even their mothers cannot comprehend. When a dark family secret suddenly shatters this connection, the two travel different paths until a tragedy reminds them that they only have each other to turn to.
Somebody's Baby* KAGAN, E	When teenager Jenny Jaffe becomes pregnant, she and Will McDonald, father of her unborn child, plan to elope. Her parents put a stop to their plans, and Jenny is sent to a Catholic Home for Girls in California to have her baby and give it up for adoption. Three decades pass, and the child, Claudia, now grown with her her own child, decides to find her birth parents.
Song Of Solomon MORRISON, T	Macon Dead, an upper-class Northern black businessman, tries to insulate his family the danger and despair of the rank and file blacks with whom he shares the neighborhood. The plan leads his son onto a path exactly opposite the one his father had hoped.
Spring Tone YOMOTO, K	Tomomi feels as though her whole life is turning upside down when her grandmother's death, the onset of puberty, and family secrets bring disturbing dreams.
Spring Tone* YUMOTO, K	Plagued by headaches and nightmares, Tomomi tries to make sense of her grandmother's death, her little brother's obsession with saving sick and abandoned cats, and her fear that she is becoming a monster.
Stone Water* GILBERT, B	15-year-old Grant confronts the difficult decision of whether or not to cooperate with his grandfather's wish that he not be placed on life-support systems.
Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Sister Went Crazy SONES, S	Cookie's short first-person poems reveal her unraveling world and concern for her own sanity when her older sister is institutionalized after a mental breakdown.
Striking Out* WEAVER, W	Since the death of his older brother, Billy Baggs has had a distant relationship with his father, but life on their farm in northern Minnesota begins to change when he starts playing baseball.
Stuck In Neutral* TRUEMAN, T	Cerebral Palsy traps Shawn McDaniel in a world where he can't speak or control his movement. No one knows that he is more than he seems - that he thinks, reads and understands that his dad wants him dead.
Summer To Die LOWRY, L	Meg poignantly relates the story of her older sister's death from leukemia in this moving and perceptive novel.
Taking Terri Mueller* MAZER, N	14-year-old Terri remembers only life with her father, but then she discovers that he kidnapped her from her mother after a divorce and that her mother is still alive.
Tangerine BLOOR, E	Paul Fisher, who is legally blind, has a passion for soccer and a deep mistrust of his football hero brother, Erik. Why is everyone - except Paul himself - blind to the terrifying truth about Erik?
Thousand Acres SMILEY, J	When an Iowa patriarch decides to turn over his thriving farm to his three daughters, he sets off a series of tragic events that will eventually rip apart his family.
Ties That Bind, Ties That Break* NAMIOKA, L	Unaware of the consequences of her refusal to have her feet bound, Ailin learns the harsh realities of being an adolescent girl living outside the Chinese traditions.
Toning The Sweep JOHNSON, A	Ola, Emmie's grandma who lives in the California desert is dying of cancer. Emily borrows a video camera and begins to record Ola's friends, reminiscing about their times together. In giving her grandmother a gift of 'memories of her people', Emily's knowledge and understanding of her own family, and especially of Ola, grows.
Tribute To Another Dead Rock * POWELL, R	Grady Grennan is in Seattle for a concert tribute to his mother, a grunge-rock icon who died three years ago. He has been invited to speak at the tribute, but what is he supposed to say to thousands of adoring fans about a mother who abandoned her sons in favor of a musical career?
Tuck Everlasting BABBITT	The Tuck family is confronted with an agonizing situation when they discover that a 10-year-old girl and a malicious stranger now share their secret about a spring whose water prevents one from ever growing older.
Tune In Anytime* COONEY, C	As she watches her family fall apart around her, 16-year-old Sohie wishes that real life was like a soap opera and she could change the channel or fast forward to the final episode. But will she find a happy ending?
Turtle Moon* HOFFMAN, A	Captivating story of a divorced woman, her disillusioned teenage son, and the events that change their lives in ways both simple and extraordinary.
Twice Taken* PFEFFER, S	Brooke Eastman learns that her dad had abducted her when she sees a picture of herself and her father on a program about missing children. She calls the 1-800 number on the TV screen, and sets off a chain of events that not only brings about her return to her mother and a family she doesn't remember, but also alters everything she assumed to be true about herself.
Vinegar Hill ANSAY, A	When Ellen Grier and her family return to Holly's Field, Wisconsin, it is not exactly a happy homecoming as her husband, James, has been laid off from his job in Illinois. For the time being, the family has moved in with Ellen's in-laws, Fritz and Mary-Margaret, an unhappy pair who dislike their daughter-in-law almost as much as they despise each other:
We Were The Mulvaneys OATES, J	Saga about a seemingly ideal family that is suddenly rocked by the date-rape of 16-year-old Marianne Mulvaney. This shattering event brings about an extraordinary journey into 25 years of shameful secrets and despair, culminating in the unforseen miracles that can bring a family closer together.
What Jamie Saw COMAN, C	When Jamie saw Van throw his little sister, his mother moved them to a small trailer in the woods where they could learn to trust one another, and the people around them.
What They Don't Know* HORROCKS, A	Kelly's younger sister, Hannah, had always been strong-willed, but things take a sudden turn for the worse after Hannah prepares a blood project for the school science fair. Determined to know the facts and find the cause of Hannah's abrupt spree of self-destructive behavior, Kelly sets out to solve the mystery.
When We Were Colored TAULBERT	Taulbert looks back at his "colored" childhood in the segregated South with striking honesty and unusual affection, revealing the deep sense of community, optimism and self-worth instilled by his family.
White Horse GRANT, C	16-year-old Raina reveals her life with a dysfunctional family, life on the streets, drug abuse and an unplanned pregnancy through her writing to a concerned teacher.
Who Put That Hair In My Toothbrush SPINELLI, J	The sibling rivalry between Megin and her older brother Greg intensifies after she ruins his science project and he retaliates by throwing her favorite hockey stick into the pond.
Yellow Raft In Blue Water DORRIS, M	A fierce saga of three generations of Native American women, beset by hardships and torn by angry secrets, yet inextricably joined by the bonds of kinship.
Zack* BELL, W	Child of a mixed marriage, Zack Lane finds out why his mother won't talk about her side of the family in this tale of race hatred and personal identity.