Before We Were Strangers by Renee Carlino
To the Green-eyed Lovebird:
We met fifteen years ago, almost to the day, when I moved my stuff into the NYU dorm room next to yours at Senior House.
You called us fast friends. I like to think it was more.
We
lived on nothing but the excitement of finding ourselves through music
(you were obsessed with Jeff Buckley), photography (I couldn’t stop
taking pictures of you), hanging out in Washington Square Park, and all
the weird things we did to make money. I learned more about myself that
year than any other.
Yet, somehow, it all fell apart. We lost
touch the summer after graduation when I went to South America to work
for National Geographic. When I came back, you were gone. A part of me
still wonders if I pushed you too hard after the wedding…
I
didn’t see you again until a month ago. It was a Wednesday. You were
rocking back on your heels, balancing on that thick yellow line that
runs along the subway platform, waiting for the F train. I didn’t know
it was you until it was too late, and then you were gone. Again. You
said my name; I saw it on your lips. I tried to will the train to stop,
just so I could say hello.
After seeing you, all of the youthful
feelings and memories came flooding back to me, and now I’ve spent the
better part of a month wondering what your life is like. I might be
totally out of my mind, but would you like to get a drink with me and
catch up on the last decade and a half?
M
Not After Everything by Michelle Levy
Tyler has a football
scholarship to Stanford, a hot girlfriend, and a reliable army of
friends to party with. Then his mom kills herself. And Tyler lets it all
go. Now he needs to dodge what his dad is offering (verbal tirades and
abuse) and earn what his dad isn’t (money). Tyler finds a job that
crashes him into Jordyn, his former childhood friend turned angry-loner
goth-girl. She brings Tyler an unexpected reprieve from the never-ending
pity party his life has become. How could he not fall for her? But with
his dad more brutally unpredictable than ever, Tyler knows he can’t
risk bringing Jordyn too deeply into the chaos. So when violence rocks
his world again, will it be Jordyn who shows him the way to a hopeful
future? Or after everything, will Tyler have to find it in himself?
Where One Goes by B.N. Toler
What happens when the very thing ruining your life ends up saving it?
I was never one to believe in spirits—until six years ago, when a bone-chilling accident changed my life... forever.
My name is Charlotte, but most people call me Char... and I have a special gift. I talk to the dead. Make
no mistake, I can’t summon them. I’m only able to see and speak to the
spirits that linger when they’re unable to crossover. They’re somehow
weighted to the world with unfinished affairs. And for the last six
years, I've relentlessly used my gift to help their lost souls. But
it’s come at a price. My life is dark. Feeling despondent, I've begun
to give up. And in helping the dead, I've realized I haven’t allowed
myself to live. With no money, no place to go, and most importantly...
no hope, I've decided there is only one option—to end it all.
But
fate is a funny thing. One minute, I’m about to leap to my death, and
the next, I’m saved by Ike McDermott. The strong, striking soldier
stopped me from putting an end to my despair. He’s the kind of man that
smiles and brightens an entire room.
Sweet and gentle. He is my savior. And he’s dead. We've
made an agreement. He’ll help me find a place to stay and a new job if
I’ll help him with his unfinished business so that he may crossover. Ike’s
unfinished matter involves his twin brother, George. George has been
falling apart since Ike’s death and Ike has not been able to compel
himself to crossover in peace until he knows George will be okay. When
I agreed to help, little did I know that I’d fall in love with the
charming folks of Bath County, and... Ike and George McDermott. Now,
as both brothers own equal parts of my heart, I am faced with a cruel
and unfair predicament. In saving George, I must let go of Ike.
But how does one let go of half of their heart?
What You Left Behind by Jessica Verdi
It’s all Ryden’s fault.
If he hadn’t gotten Meg pregnant, she would have never stopped her chemo
treatments and would still be alive. Instead, he’s failing fatherhood
one dirty diaper at a time. And it’s not like he’s had time to grieve
while struggling to care for their infant daughter, start his senior
year, and earn the soccer scholarship he needs to go to college.
The
one person who makes Ryden feel like his old self is Joni. She’s fun
and energetic—and doesn’t know he has a baby. But the more time they
spend together, the harder it becomes to keep his two worlds separate.
Finding one of Meg’s journals only stirs up old emotions, and Ryden’s
convinced Meg left other notebooks for him to find, some message to help
his new life make sense. But how is he going to have a future if he
can’t let go of the past?
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Moral allegory and
spiritual autobiography, The Little Prince is the most translated book
in the French language. With a timeless charm it tells the story of a
little boy who leaves the safety of his own tiny planet to travel the
universe, learning the vagaries of adult behaviour through a series of
extraordinary encounters. His personal odyssey culminates in a voyage to
Earth and further adventures.
