After a stint as the school agony aunt, Anya's forthcoming summer as an intern at a London publishing house comes as a breath of fresh air. It'll take her mind off Al - her AWOL boyfriend - at least, and maybe she'll get tips on how to be a writer, too. But it's clear that Anya's role is senior dogsbody - and involves reading terrible stories, listening to her colleague's Katie's domestic woes, and taking on a nightmarish teenage author, who is about five years late delivering his next 'best selling novel'. It's not quite the gltiz and glamour Miss Understanding thought it would be, but it does have its plus points: Delicious Seth Hodges being one of them...Anya is torn between the swarve Seth, the notorious waste of time The Boy, her lost boyfriend Al, not to mention the intriguing teenage writer Casper...So many boys, so little time. Another fresh, original and witty journey through Miss Understanding's life...

Sixteen year-old Anya Buxton has been transferred from her fee-paying school to the local comp. Her parent's acrimonious divorce has left them strapped for cash, and Anya is forced to adapt to her new school life. Deciding to keep her head down and her opinions to herself every day, Anya distracts herself from a chaotic home life and warring parents by becoming the school's anonymous Agony Aunt on the newsletter website. Her fabulous powers of observation and perception along with a no-nonsense attitude and sometimes caustic wit, makes a big impact on the pupils who write in with their problems. Miss Understanding tells it like it is, and doesn't pull any punches and on the whole delivers wise, and often hilariously brutal advice, along with a few sage observations about her fellow pupils and the teachers at the Academy. Stirred by her irreverance, the school chucks her off the offical website, but undeterred, Miss Understanding simply sets up her own, along with a regular blog for her readers' entertainment. She is articulate and riveting reading and the problems continue to flood in. But gradually Anya's feelings about her home life, her frustration with her mother and with her father's new wife begin to bias her writing and her responses to problems, and the readers begin to form a picture of who Ms Understanding really is. Consequently, when she inadvertently raises questions and issues of her own in her blog, her readers start to chip in with advice of their own on how she should cope with and adjust to all the changes in her life. All this is executed in a consistently funny and wry narrative, and reveals a unique and strong new character in chick lit genre for teens.

“The summer before I turned ten was idyllic—until August 3, 1970. It perfectly describes a time when I thought the world was safe and good things lasted forever..." Christy Award Winner! Nine-year-old Abby McAndrews has just experienced her greatest loss, and in its wake, her family is unraveling with guilt, grief, and anger. Her father, Reverend McAndrews, cannot return to the pulpit because he has more questions than answers. Her older brother Matt’s actions speak louder than the words he needs to confess, as he acts out in dangerous ways. Her mother tries to hold her grieving family together, but when Abby’s dad refuses to move on, the family is at a crossroads. Stars in the Grass, set in a small Midwestern town in 1970, is an uplifting novel that explores a family’s relationships and resiliency. Abby’s heartbreaking remembrances are balanced by humor and nostalgia as her family struggles with—and ultimately celebrates—life after loss.

Valley's life doesn't start out easy. The daughter of a mulatto mother and Full Moon Comes-George, a Cherokee Indian father, her mother dies when she is still a baby. Even though her responsible, respectable father continues to care for Valley, her mother's parents are less than thrilled. When Valley is kidnapped from her father's home and taken to her maternal grandmother's house, George decides to let the child go, though he sends money to take care of his daughter and visits at least twice a year. But when George dies, the money stops, and Valley's life is suddenly full of pain and suffering. Because of her mixed race, she struggles to find her true place in society. She finally meets and marries Dennis Cobin. Despite his abuse, Valley gives birth to a daughter, Heidi. After Valley loses their second child to Dennis's violence, she divorces him and moves to Boston with Heidi. Life in the early 1950s is not easy for many, but it's worse for a divorced woman with a small child. They face prejudice because of their mixed race, but Valley continues to gather strength and courage from the love she has for Heidi. Every Shut Eye Isn't Asleep is her inspiring story.