Helen Plum Library

"When Annie Brown, a fun-loving woman, suddenly dies, her husband, best friend, and her children all struggle to find ways to go on after the loss of the woman who was the center of their lives, and who made life happy, fun, and secure. Her husband is overwhelmed with four children to raise, and turns to his teenage daughter for help, and to an old girlfriend for solace. Annie's best friend struggles again with opioid addiction, having depended on...

"A form-shifting and soul-crunching chronicle of grief and crisis, Venita Blackburn's debut novel, Dead in Long Beach, California, is a fleet-footed marvel of self-discovery and storytelling that explores the depths of humankind's capacity for harm and healing. With the daring, often hilarious imagination that made her an acclaimed short-fiction innovator, Blackburn crafts a layered, page-turning reckoning with what it means to be alive, dead, and...

"Everything happens for a reason. At least that's what everyone keeps telling Liam Cooper after his older brother Ethan is killed suddenly in a hit-and-run. Feeling more alone and isolated than ever, Liam has to not only learn to face the world without one of the people he loved the most, but also face the fading relationships of his two best friends in the process. Soon, Liam finds themself spending time with Ethan's best friend, Marcus, who might...

"Still Falling expands on Jennifer Grotz's precise sense of craft and voice to investigate new territory in this astonishing collection. These poems are emotionally raw and introspective, exploring the profound capaciousness of grief. Grotz carefully and deftly carries the weight of losses and their aftermaths--the deaths of the poet's mentors, friends, and mother; the endings of relationships; and the enclosures of a life spent in attendance to the...

"A boy dealing with the loss of his father describes the many waves of emotion that come with the grieving process: sad waves, mad waves, fear waves, even happy waves. As the boy and his family learn to adjust to life without Dad, the waves still come, but with help from friends, they learn to cope and heal"--

With insight and a light touch, best-selling, Newbery Honor-winning author Gary D. Schmidt tells two poignant, linked stories: that of a grieving girl and a boy trying to escape his violent past. Following the death of her closest friend in summer 1968, Meryl Lee Kowalski goes off to St. Elene's Preparatory Academy for Girls, where she struggles to navigate the venerable boarding school's traditions and a social structure heavily weighted toward students...

"This is a book that is easy to use and easy to carry with you throughout your day to touch in with and be supported by when bearing the often unbearable pain of a loved one's loss. Our culture often makes the bereaved feel alone, isolated, broken, and like they should just get over it-this book offers a loving antidote. Open the book to any image, and you'll find something that will instantly help you feel not alone, while honoring the full weight...

"Death affects us all. Yet it is still the last taboo in our society, and the process of mourning is still deeply misunderstood. In Grief Works we hear stories of those who have experience great love and great loss -- and survived. Arranged according to one's relationship to the person who has died -- a partner, a parent, a sibling, a child -- these stories show how grief unmasks our greatest fears, strips away our layers of protection, and reveals...

"Paj Ntaub, a young Hmong American girl, spends a busy year with her family in their new home, and seeks a way to share the beauty of the world with a grieving neighbor."--Provided by publisher

Three interludes in the life of Roth Cole, writer and daughter of writers