Karen Harrington

"Twelve-year-old Wayne Kovok loses his uncle to war and his voice to a plane crash in the same year and must learn to speak up as he navigates relationships with his father, grandfather, and new friend, Denny Rosenblatt"--

"Twelve-year-old Mysti Murphy of Texas wishes she were a character in a book. If her life were fiction, she'd know how to solve her problems at school, take care of her family when her dad has to spend time in the hospital, and deal with her family's secret: that her mother is agoraphobic and never leaves the house"--