Jessee, a young girl going into middle school, lives in Northwest Oklahoma with her dad. She has two major plans for her summer. One, she wants to sleep late at home while her dad works on the Earl's farm. Two, she wants to have an archeological dig with Buford Earl, also going into middle school. Jessee's mom died, and this makes her dad a bit over-protective. He requires her to get up early and go to the farm with him. He refuses to allow her to stay home alone. Buford's dad plans on him working on the farm during the summer, not going on a dig with Jessee. Jessee and Buford are convinced that summer is for sleeping late and having fun. Now, they just have to get their parents to believe that too.

2004 - The discovery of a skeleton in the Liverpool docklands unearths long buried secrets. Reporter, Anne McCarthy is keen to prove herself and dives into the case with abandon. There she finds Michael, an old Irish caretaker who knows far more than he’s letting on. Meanwhile, Vinny Doyle is starting a postgrad degree, researching Liverpool’s immigrant history and a burgeoning Scouse identity. But Vinny has been neglecting his own family history and stranger Michael might know about his father disappeared in the 70s. 1955 - Escaping violence in Ireland, Michael falls in with Wicklow boys Jack Power and Paddy Doyle, who smuggle contraband through the docks. Putting them at odds with unions while they rally the dock workers against the rackets and the strikebreakers. As the conflict heightens, Michael questions the life sprawling out ahead of him. In the present, Anne races to solve the mystery, but is she prepared for what she’ll find? This is a story of identity, family, and the search for truth.

Based on a heavy dose of symbolism and metaphor, the poems reflect the ups and downs and the everyday experiences of life in general that make life worth living. Overall, they laud courage and perseverance and point to the trials and tribulations of life that must be overcome as if one were crossing from one bank of a difficult bridge to the other. The bridge is not necessarily a physical structure, although perceiving it as such enables the reader to interpret what the bridge could look like. The more important element, in a metaphorical sense, is what the reader may associate with the variety of experiences. Struggling to survive may lead to success or apparent failure, which spurs us to further effort either to devise better strategies or improve a preferred course of action. Whatever the result, it seems death is mans ultimate fate and should be experienced with the same equanimity as other setbacks and challenges of life.

*Now a Hulu limited series starring Lily Gladstone, Riley Keough, and Archie Panjabi!* “A swift, harrowing classic perfect for these unnerving times.” —Jenny Offill, author of Dept. of Speculation One moonlit night, fourteen-year-old Reena Virk went to join friends at a party and never returned home. In this “tour de force of crime reportage” (Kirkus Reviews), acclaimed author Rebecca Godfrey takes us into the hidden world of the seven teenage girls—and boy—accused of a savage murder. As she follows the investigation and trials, Godfrey reveals the startling truth about the unlikely killers. Laced with lyricism and insight, Under the Bridge is an unforgettable look at a haunting modern tragedy.

Two teenagers, strangers to each other, have decided to jump from the same bridge at the same time. But what results is far from straightforward in this absorbing, honest lifesaver from acclaimed author Bill Konigsberg. Aaron and Tillie don't know each other, but they are both feeling suicidal, and arrive at the George Washington Bridge at the same time, intending to jump. Aaron is a gay misfit struggling with depression and loneliness. Tillie isn't sure what her problem is -- only that she will never be good enough.On the bridge, there are four things that could happen:Aaron jumps and Tillie doesn't.Tillie jumps and Aaron doesn't.They both jump.Neither of them jumps.Or maybe all four things happen, in this astonishing and insightful novel from Bill Konigsberg.