Party Girl Read online

  “Mesmerizing and suspenseful.”—New York Newsday

  “Rich in detail, high in excitement, and filled with unforgettable characters.”—Booklist

  An ALA Notable Book

  An IRA-CBC Young Adults’ Choice

  SONGS OF FAITH

  by Angela Johnson

  Some people stay and some people go. That’s just the way it is. The year 1976 is just a few months away, and everyone in town is gearing up for the Bicentennial. But Doreen doesn’t feel much like celebrating. It just doesn’t seem right, so soon after the Vietnam War. So soon after Mama Dot and Daddy’s divorce. So soon after her little brother, Bobo, suddenly stopped talking. Doreen knows for sure this will be a sad summer, an everybody-leaving-me summer.

  But under the falling maple leaves, in her mother’s embrace, Doreen begins to learn the knowledge of the heart: you’re never alone if you have love—and your own song of faith.

  “An eloquent and life-affirming novel.”

  —Kirkus Reviews (pointer review)

  “Heart-wrenching lyricism and fascinating

  characters…. Another tender, eloquent book from

  a gifted writer.”—Booklist (starred review)

  AVAILABLE FROM DELL LAUREL-LEAF BOOKS

  GONE FROM HOME

  by Angela Johnson

  Meet Sweetness, who has saved an abandoned baby and held up a convenience store, both on the same day. And Starr, who arrives on her Day-Glo orange bicycle to baby-sit for a summer—and changes a family forever. And Victor, who cannot hear, but sees clearly that his brother and sister will soon learn to fly.

  In twelve taut, emotional stories, Angela Johnson explores the hardship, hope, and surprising acts of compassion in the lives of young people gone from home.

  “A remarkable collection.”

  —The Horn Book Magazine, Starred

  “A beautiful collection of twelve ‘short takes’ in spare but sparkling prose.”

  —School Library Journal, Starred

  “In these brief, emotion-packed dramas … the characters, whatever their personal hardships, find shelter in their connection to others, grace in their appreciation of life’s uplifting moments.”

  —Publishers Weekly, Starred

  WRESTLING STURBRIDGE

  by Rich Wallace

  Here’s the deal. I’m stuck in Sturbridge, Pennsylvania, where civic pride revolves around the high school wrestling team, and the future is as bright as the inside of the cinder block factory where our dads work. And where their dads worked. And where I won’t ever work. Not if I can help it.

  I’m the second-best 135-pound wrestler in school, behind Al—the first-best 135-pound wrestler in the state. But I want to be state champion as badly as he does, maybe even more. I just haven’t figured out how to do it.

  I tell myself that I will find the way. I think my whole life depends on it.

  “A real winner.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

  “An excellent, understated first novel … Like Ben, whose voice is so strong and clear here, Wallace weighs his words carefully, making every one count.”

  —Booklist (starred review)

  An ALA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults

  An ALA Quick Pick for Young Adults

  AVAILABLE FROM DELL LAUREL-LEAF BOOKS

  SWALLOWING STONES

  by Joyce McDonald

  It begins with a free and joyful act—but from then on, Michael finds it impossible even to remember what it felt like to be free and joyful. When he fires his new rifle into the air on his seventeenth birthday, he never imagines that the bullet will end up killing someone. But a mile away, a man is killed by that bullet as he innocently repairs his roof. And Michael keeps desperately silent while he watches his world crumble.

  Meanwhile, Jenna, the dead man’s daughter, copes with a desperation of her own. Through her grief, she tries to understand why she no longer feels comfortable with her boyfriend and why a near stranger named Michael keeps appearing in her dreams.

  Suspenseful and powerfully moving, this is the unforgettable story of an accidental crime and its haunting web of repercussions.

  “Mesmerizing.”

  —School Library Journal

  “Readers will quickly become absorbed in this electrifying portrayal of fear and deception.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  An ALA Best Book for Young Adults

  A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age

  Published by

  Dell Laurel-Leaf

  an imprint of

  Random House Children’s Books a division of Random House, Inc.

  1540 Broadway

  New York, New York 10036

  Text copyright © 1998 by Lynne Ewing

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. For information address Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc., 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036.

  The trademark Laurel-Leaf Library® is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

  The trademark Dell® is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

  Visit us on the Web! www.randomhouse.com/teens

  Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at

  www.randomhouse.com/teachers

  eISBN: 978-0-307-47775-0

  RL: 6.5

  Reprinted by arrangement with Alfred A. Knopf,

  a division of Random House, Inc.

  v3.0