by Mike Costanzo | Mar 24, 2009 | Realistic/Contemporary Fiction
Sarah Byrne was scalded by hot water as a young child, and she carries an ugly disfiguring scar on half of her face. She also carries the pain of having been abused by her family. Her friend, Eric Calhoune, has chosen to stay fat so that he too will show his pain to...
by Mike Costanzo | Mar 24, 2009 | Realistic/Contemporary Fiction
Sarah is just starting fifth grade, and things aren’t looking so good. She didn’t mean to run into Eric Bardo’s little brother with her bike, and now he’s really got it in for her. It doesn’t help that he’s a bully. She’s just...
by Mike Costanzo | Mar 24, 2009 | Picture Book
Sarah, Percy and Bill are three little owls whose mother has gone off to hunt. They sit side-by-side on their branch ,and they worry. Bill says, “I want my mommy.” Great book especially for those who are dealing with separation anxiety. Pictures are...
by Mike Costanzo | Mar 24, 2009 | Historical Fiction
Set in Maine, as it becomes a state, this is the story of Will, who has lost his leg. He goes to live in town with his sister and her husband and begins the journey of trying to find a useful future for himself. His sister, Cassie, begins to examine the possibilities...
by Mike Costanzo | Mar 24, 2009 | Historical Fiction
Set in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, young Will has lost his entire family to the Civil War and the dreaded Yankees. Now he’s being taken to live with his Aunt Ella and his Uncle Jed, who chose not to fight in the war. Will struggles with his uncle’s...
by Mike Costanzo | Mar 24, 2009 | Historical Fiction
Set out in the farmlands of Nebraska, this is the story of two boys: Nathaniel, a farmboy, whose leg is crushed and Worth, an orphan who comes to do the work Nathaniel can no longer do. The two boys struggle with each other and then struggle with the battle raging...
by Mike Costanzo | Mar 24, 2009 | Realistic/Contemporary Fiction
Seventeen-year-old Michael has always wanted a gun, and when he finally gets one, he really wants to fire it – just once. So, on the 4th of July, he gets his wish, and he shoots that weapon, just once, straight up in the air. Wow! But there is no way he can know...
by Mike Costanzo | Mar 24, 2009 | Realistic/Contemporary Fiction
Seventh-grader, Tobin Macauley, does not have a perfect family. After the death of his mother, his father, his brother and his sister have drifted into their own worlds, and no one cooks or cleans or acts as though they’re part of a family. His grandmother is in...
by Mike Costanzo | Mar 24, 2009 | Realistic/Contemporary Fiction
She comes into high school, an unknown 10th grader, playing a ukulele, and everyone laughs. That lasts a couple of weeks, and then, suddenly, she is cool, and that lasts a couple of weeks. Now you’ve read about 50 pages, and the story begins. What is it like to...
by Mike Costanzo | Mar 24, 2009 | Realistic/Contemporary Fiction
She has just gotten her driver’s license, and her parents have sent her to stay with her grandmother for the weekend, while they go off on a trip. When 16-year-old Brit arrives at Grandma’s house, however, she finds that the old lady has big plans. They...
