"Claudia has a sad goodbye to make. Her grandmother, Mimi, has just died. Claudia understands that Mimi was sick for a long time, but she's still mad at her grandmother for leaving her. Who will help Claudia with her homework . . . and share "special tea" with her? To keep from thinking about Mimi, Claudia spends all her free time painting and baby-sitting. She's even teaching an art class for some of the kids in the neighborhood. Claudia knows she...

"Victor Vollmer, introduced to readers in Paperboy and Copyboy, is 21 years old now and has been waiting for three years to reunite with Philomene Moreau, the South Louisiana free spirit who saved him from drowning in the Mississippi River. Soon after Phil arrives in Memphis, Vic's meticulously planned weekend comes crashing down as a world event unfolds. Vic, still dealing with his worrisome stutter, and Phil, needing badly to share her secret, grapple...

"Cases of remarkable experiences on the threshold of death have been reported since ancient times, and are described today by 10% of people whose hearts stop. The medical world has generally ignored these "near-death experiences," dismissing them as "tricks of the brain" or wishful thinking. But after his patients started describing events that he could not just sweep under the rug, Dr. Bruce Greyson began to investigate. As a physician without a...

Alternating between present day and flashbacks, multiracial Filipina-American teen Marisol tries to figure out who she really is in the wake of her mother's sudden death.