foster home care

One Year in Coal Harbor

Icon:

Copies: 7

Primrose Squarp - the invincible heroine of the Newbery Honor Book Everything on a Waffle - returns for another adventure-filled year in Coal Harbor.

Her parents, once lost at sea, are safe at home, just as she always believed they would be. But now other people and places that Primrose loves are in precarious circumstances. For one thing, Uncle Jack and Miss Bowzer can't - or won't - connect, no matter how hard Primrose tries to move their romance along. There's also the logging of Mendolay Mountain, which threatens the woods Primrose has always known.

Author:

Polly Horvath

Lexile:

880L

A Child Called "It", One Child's Courage to Survive

Icon:

Copies: 23

This book chronicles the unforgettable account of one of the most severe child abuse cases in California history. It is the story of Dave Pelzer, who was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother: a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games--games that left him nearly dead. He had to learn how to play his mother's games in order to survive because she no longer considered him a son, but a slave; and no longer a boy, but an "it."

Author:

Dave Pelzer

Ruby Holler (Unabridged)

Icon:

"Trouble Twins" Dallas and Florida have been shuffled between foster families and the orphanage all their lives. All they want is a loving place to call home, but they are mistrustful that one exists for the likes of them.

Author:

Sharon Creech

Grade Level:

Middle

Lexile:

660L

Length:

05:08

The Great Gilly Hopkins (Unabridged)

Icon:

At age 11, Gilly is nobody's real kid. If only she could find her beautiful mother, Courtney, and live with her instead of in the ugly foster home where she has just been placed! How could she, the great Gilly Hopkins, known throughout the county for her brilliance and unmanageability, be expected to tolerate Maime Trotter, the fat, nearly illiterate widow who is now her guardian?

Author:

Katherine Paterson

Grade Level:

Middle

Lexile:

800L

Length:

04:40

Everything On a Waffle (Unabridged)

Icon:

Primrose Squarp simply knows her parents did not perish at sea during a terrible storm, despite what the other residents of Coal Harbour believe. For all practical purposes, Primrose is an orphan, and there's no great clamoring of prospective adopters.

Author:

Polly Horvath

Grade Level:

Middle

Lexile:

950L

Length:

03:15

The Wide Window: A Series of Unfortunate Events #3 (Unabridged)

Icon:

Dear Listener,

I am sorry to say that the lives of the Baudelaire orphans, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, are filled with bad luck and misery. All of the stories about these three children are unhappy and wretched, and this one may be the worst of them all.

Author:

Lemony Snicket

Grade Level:

Middle

Lexile:

1150L

Length:

03:05

The Wide Window: A Series of Unfortunate Events #3 (Unabridged)

The Penultimate Peril: A Series of Unfortunate Events #12 (Unabridged)

Icon:

Lemony Snicket returns with the last book before the last book of his New York Times best-selling A Series of Unfortunate Events.

After any harrowing struggle, it is nice to consider checking into a hotel for a rest. In fact, this might be just the break Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire could use after their wearying deep-sea adventure.

Author:

Lemony Snicket

Grade Level:

Middle

Lexile:

NC1280L

Length:

06:27

The Penultimate Peril: A Series of Unfortunate Events #12 (Unabridged)

The Vile Village: A Series of Unfortunate Events #7 (Unabridged)

Icon:

Dear Listener,

Nobody in their right minds would listen to this particular book about the lives of Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire on purpose, because each dismal moment of their stay at the village of V.F.D. has been faithfully and dreadfully recorded on this program.

Author:

Lemony Snicket

Grade Level:

Elementary

Middle

Lexile:

1080L

Length:

04:18