“The middle place is that sliver of time when parenthood and childhood overlap.” Kelly Corrigan’s childhood was defined by the relationship she had with her family, her mother, father and two older brothers. Now as a wife and mother she has realized that it’s the family relationships that also define adulthood. It’s through the good times and the bad times that Corrigan tells how she became the woman she is today, a survivor of breast cancer and a mother and wife who loves fiercely. A highly moving memoir, The Middle Place will make you laugh, make you cry and in the end, realize how important each moment shared really is.

Gemma Doyle is not your average sixteen year old girl. A British girl raised in India during the 1800s Gemma has developed a bit of a wild side and a dislike for the structure of conventional society. But her mother’s untimely death puts her father in a tough place and she is shipped off to England’s prestigious Spence Academy; the school of her mother’s youth and a place with many secrets. A tale for any historic action lover, A Great & Terrible Beauty combines history, romance and the supernatural in an all too riveting manner.

One of my favorites, this is the story of family and enduring love. A story you will read over and over. Beginning with her great-gramma’s trip across the Atlantic Ocean and ending with her children and the future, Polacco’s tale will wrap itself around you just as the family quilt has wrapped itself around so many generations.

“I go to seek a Great Perhaps” – Rabelais Miles is your typical scrawny 16 year-old boy, who just happens to be a collector of last words. It is Rabelais’ last words that lead him to Culver Creek Boarding School where he meets Alaska Young, the enigmatic girl living down the hall. Through the course of the book Miles gets wrapped up in Alaska’s wild, sexy, scheming lifestyle falling in love with this bold and at times self-destructive girl. But when tragedy strikes Miles is left in sinking despair questioning life, love, the choices we make and those we don’t get to. With the help of his roommate “The Colonel” Miles searches for the answer to Alaska’s favorite question, How will we ever get out of this labyrinth? Because as William Mckinley said with his last breath, “We are all going.”