The Prettiest is an incisive, empowering novel by Brigit Young about standing up for yourself and those around you. “All middle school girls AND boys (especially boys!) should read this book.” —Alan Gratz, New York Times–bestselling author of Refugee THE PRETTIEST: It’s the last thing Eve Hoffmann expected to be, the only thing Sophie Kane wants to be, and something Nessa Flores-Brady knows she’ll never be . . . until a list appears online, ranking the top fifty prettiest girls in the eighth grade. Eve, ranked number one, can't ignore how everyone is suddenly talking about her looks—and her body. Sophie, always popular and put together, feels lower than ever when she's bullied for being number two. Nessa isn't on the list at all, but she doesn't care. Or does she? Eve, Nessa, and Sophie are determined to get justice—or at least revenge. But as these unlikely vigilantes become fiercely loyal friends, they discover that the real triumph isn't the takedown. It's the power that comes from lifting one another up. A Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2020

"Real, relatable, and fully dimensional, Marianne is a main character you will root for with all your heart." —Dan Gemeinhart, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Midnight Children In this poignant middle grade novel, a struggling student joins her school's celebrated quiz team in a bid to avoid failing eighth grade. Marianne Blume has always known she’s not smart. After years of trying and trying at school, she’s mastered the art of getting by on a combination of luck, deflection, and her winning personality—that is, until she lands in the classroom of Mr. Garcia. Suddenly she’s at risk of flunking his class, repeating the eighth grade, and getting left behind by her best friend, Skyla. To receive much-needed extra credit and get into high school, Marianne makes the desperate decision to join her school’s Quiz Quest team, only to find out that her teammates have problems of their own—and that they need to win for her to get the credit. Now Marianne will need to try—like, actually try—for the first time in her life, while also helping her teammates pull it together. Can Marianne learn to be smart? What does it mean to be “bright,” anyway? And will she be left in eighth grade forever? Brigit Young (The Prettiest) has written an empowering story about bucking labels, overcoming preconceptions, and learning to hold your head—and hand—up high.

Winner of the 1994 Lamont Poetry selection of The Academy of American Poets. "Kelly has a talent for coaxing out the world's ghosts and then fixing them in personal landscapes of fear and uncertainty.... Smoothed by nuances of sound and rhythm, her poems exude an ambiguous wisdom, an acceptance of the sad magic that returns us constantly to the lives we might have led."--Library Journal

Quiet outsider Tillie is known around school for using her camera to find lost things, but when a boy named Jake needs help finding his dad, Tillie faces her biggest challenge yet.

Winner of Catholic Press Association Book-of-the-Year Award-Spirituality Unique in its range and depth, this lavish anthology for the first time captures in a single volume the most notable spiritual writings of leading women from all periods of Christian history. Because spirituality involves more than simply prayer and piety, Madigan has selected women whose quests for intimacy with God also involves some visionary experience or social witness. Ranging from Perpetua in the third century to Mother Teresa and Edwina Gately in this century, her volume includes writings from both European women and, in the modern period, Asian, American, and African American women. Apart from redressing the heavy gender imbalance of most histories of Christianity, this volume also provides strong historical introductions to and bibliographies of the twenty-six women whose writings are generously excerpted. Women included in this volume are: Perpetua the Martyr Pelagia the Actress Brigit of Ireland Balthild the Queen of Neustria Dhuoda of Septimania Hildegard of Bingen Heloise Mechthild of Magdeburg Gertrude the Great Hadewijch Julian of Norwich Catherine of Siena Margery Kempe Teresa of Avila Jane Frances de Chantal Sojourner Truth Maria Stewart Gabrielle Bossis Dorothy Day Caryll Houselander Pauli Murray Laura Lopez Silvia Maribel Arriola Mother Teresa Cho Wha Soon Mercy Amba Oduyoye Edwina Gately

"Beginning with key questions about clients of microfinance - Who are they? What financial services do they want? What is the impact of financial services on their lives? - the book examines all levels of the financial system. It shows what works, what does not work, and where more learning is needed. By focusing on promising models and practices, it offers a vision of how to achieve financial systems that will ultimately offer access for all."--BOOK JACKET.