Description

Pears on a Willow Tree is a multigenerational roadmap of love and hate, distance and closeness, and the lure of roots that both bind and sustain us all. The Marchewka women are inseparable. They relish the joys of family gatherings; from preparing traditional holiday meals to organizing a wedding in which each of them is given a specific task--whether it's sewing the bridal gown or preserving pickles as a gift to the newlyweds. Bound together by recipes, reminiscences and tangled relationships, these women are the foundation of a dignified, compassionate family--one that has learned to survive the hardships of emigration and assimilation in twentieth-century America.But as the century evolves, so does each succeeding generation. As the older women keep a tight hold on the family traditions passed from mother to daughter, the younger women are dealing with more modern problems, wounds not easily healed by the advice of a local priest or a kind word from mother.Amy is separated by four generations from her great-grandmother Rose, who emigrated from Poland. Rose's daughter Helen adjusted to the family's new home in a way her mother never could, while at the same time accepting the importance of Old Country ways. But Helen's daughter Ginger finds herself suffocating within the close-knit family, the first Marchewka woman to leave Detroit for the adventure of life beyond the reach of her mother and grandmother. It's in the American West that Ginger raises her daughter Amy, uprooted from the safety of kitchens perfuned by the aroma of freshly baked poppy seed cake and pierogi made by hand by generations of women. But Amy is about to realize that there may be room in her heart for both the Old World and the New.

Leslie Pietrzyk's Pears on a Willow Tree starts with a recipe for pierogi and ends with one for poppy-seed cake. In between, four generations of Polish-American women talk, cook, argue, sew each other's wedding dresses, tell stories, and understand and misunderstand each other in the way that only mothers and daughters can. Starting with iron-willed Rose, who emigrates from Poland, and ending with Amy, who flees the role of her alcoholic mother's keeper, the Marchewka women enact an ancient dance of embracing and rejecting the tradition they come from. "It is the girls who keep the family alive," Rose writes to her Polish mother; but it is also true that, as she later tells her great-granddaughter, "It's impossible for a good daughter to leave; it's impossible for a good daughter to stay." Many of the chapters in Pears on a Willow Tree were first published as stories, and they sometimes hang together a trifle too neatly, with none of a novel's usual depth or range. But Pietrzyk has a nifty, uncluttered prose style and above all a keen ear for the way women really do talk. Pears on a Willow Tree is a promising debut from a writer with a gift for the enduring art of domestic portraiture.

Description

“A major American novelist of a stature with William Burroughs and Joseph Heller.”—Los Angeles Times Bobby is young and black. Barely a teenager, he is old beyond his years. The best thing in Bobby’s life is Maria, his Hispanic girlfriend. However, their lives are irrevocably shattered when a vicious Hispanic street gang attack the couple. When Bobby’s bruised and bloodied body is discovered by Moishe, an aged concentration camp survivor, an unlikely friendship begins. As Moishe slowly, painfully reveals his own tragic story, Bobby struggles angrily with his desperate need for revenge.

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• ISBN13: 9780714531397
• Condition: New
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Description

Ten orphans mysteriously disappear from The Wide Wings Orphanage where their caretaker has abused them. Willie the weeping willow tree raises the orphans, teaching them to become well-adjusted adults so that they are able to take over the orphanage after it is abandoned. Find out how it all takes place and what happens to the evil caretaker. This story will teach children to keep trying to make changes that will benefit themselves and others when faced with difficult situations in life. They will also learn to use their experiences to help others less fortunate than themselves. Finally, they will learn to forgive but not allow evil a second chance. Ages: 8 - 12

Description

Two-time Newbery Award-winning author Lois Lowry brings a brand-new, beautiful diary to the Dear America series! Suddenly orphaned by the Spanish flu epidemic in the fall of 1918, eleven-year-old Lydia Pierce and her fourteen-year-old brother, Daniel, of Portland, Maine, are taken by their uncle to be raised in the Shaker community at Sabbathday Lake. Thrust into the Shakers' unfamiliar way of life, Lydia must grapple with a new world that is nothing like the one she used to know. Now separated from her beloved brother, for men and women do not mix in this community, Lydia must adjust to many changes. But in time, and with her courageous spirit, she learns to find the joy in life again.Since she is separated from her beloved brother -- for males and females do not live together in this communal village -- Lydia is forced to adjust to the restrictions placed upon her once carefree, creative spirit all on her own. PRAISE FOR DEAR AMERICA: "More than a supplement to classroom textbooks, this series is an imaginative, solid entre into American history." --PUBLISHERS WEEKLY "An impressive series that will challenge students to make connections from prominent historical events to relevant life situations . . . A wonderful asset to the classroom as well as to home libraries." --CHILDREN'S BOOK REVIEW SERVICE "Engaging, accessible historical fiction." --SLJ "The Dear America diaries represent the best of historical fiction for any age." --CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Description

When Betony was a baby, the court wizard made a prophecy: she will be friends with strange creatures; she will face danger many times; she will find love in unexpected places; and she will become a great queen. Betony is brought up to be a proper princess, but she hates all the fuss about dancing, embroidery and the right way to talk to a viscount. SHe'd rather work in the garden or explore the world outside the palace. So she runs away, and through her adventures she discovers that it takes courage and the help of good friends- including a certain gardener's boy - to find her true path in life.