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Junebug

Alice Mead

"Corpus Bones! I utterly loathe my life."
Catherine feels trapped. Her father is determined to marry her off to arich man--any rich man, no matter how awful.
But by wit, trickery, and luck, Catherine manages to send several would-be husbands packing. Then a shaggy-bearded suitor from the north comes to call--by far the oldest, ugliest, most revolting suitor of them all.
Unfortunately, he is also the richest.
Can a sharp-tongued, high-spirited, clever young maiden with a mind of her own actually lose the battle against an ill-mannered, piglike lord and an unimaginative, greedy toad of a father?
Deus! Not if Catherine has anything to say about it!
Catherine feels trapped. Her father is determined to marry her off to a rich man--any rich man, no mater how awful.
But by wit, trickery, and luck, Catherine manages to send several would-be husbands packing. Then a shaggy-bearded suitor from the north comes to call--by far the oldest, ugliest, most revolting suitor of them all.
Unfortunately, he is also the richest.
Can a sharp-tongued, high-spirited, clever young maiden with a mind of her own actualy lose the battle against an ill-mannared, piglike lord and an unimaginative, greedy toad of a father?
Deus! Not if Catherine has anything to say about it!
Junebug

Alice Mead

Reeve McLain, Jr.--Junebug--has a big dream that keeps him going. He dreams that someday he and his younger sister and mother will move from the awful housing project where drugs, gangs, and guns are part of everyday life. Junebug's tenth birthday is coming up, and he knows the gangs and drug dealers will be after him to join them. But he has a big birthday plan to keep his hope alive. He's going to launch his glass-bottle collection filled with notes of his dreams and wishes. Maybe some way, somehow, Junebug's dream will come true.
Junebug and the Reverend

Alice Mead

Junebug is set to leave all his old problems behind when his family moves from the projects to a better neighborhood. But new problems crop up when he runs into school bullies and has trouble making new friends. His younger sister, Tasha, quickly fits in and makes friends with the tenants in their building, a group home for the elderly that their mama supervises.

When summer vacation starts, Junebug's lazy-day plans are squashed when Mama tells him to take walks with cranky old Reverend Ashford every day and play soccer with the very same school bullies that beat him up. Is this any way to spend summer vacation? Little does Junebug know that there are some lessons you don't learn in school.
Junebug in Trouble

Alice Mead

It’s been several busy months since Junebug and his family moved away from their old housing project. Now Junebug is ecstatic about seeing his best friend Robert again at the beach on Labor Day weekend. But Robert’s with Trevor, another project pal, who happens to be a gang member with a gun. Junebug’s scared of Robert joining Trevor’s gang and wonders if he can stop him.

At home, Junebug thinks about the father he hardly knows. He has been in prison for over six years. Maybe he’s really innocent, but if not, will people think that Junebug will grow up to be like him?
Year of No Rain

Alice Mead

"An artfully told story . . . The history, the land, and the determination of a band of refugees to care for each other are vividly evoked in this important work." -- Starred review, Kirkus Reviews

In the dry spring of 1999, eleven-year-old Stephen Majok watches as his friend Wol joins a circle of dancers. Wol is celebrating – only fourteen, he is engaged to Stephen’s sister. Wol wants to marry because he might join the guerrillas in southern Sudan and fight the northern government soldiers. He wants a wife to remember him. Stephen thinks Wol is crazy. Children should study. But because of the civil war, there has been no school in their village for over a year. All Stephen has left from his student days is his books and one precious pencil, and the hunger for knowledge. Then, suddenly – but not unexpectedly – exploding bombs are heard in the tiny village. Stephen’s mother tells him to hurry, pack his bag, and hide beyond the forest with Wol and their friend Deng. Stephen grabs his geography book, his pencil, and little else. He does not want to leave his mother and sister. He does not want to leave the life he loves.
In her latest portrayal of “children caught in the cultural crossfire” (School Library Journal), Alice Mead emphasizes the attachment all humans have to the small place on earth we call home, and our resistance to being displaced, even when our very lives are threatened.
Adem's Cross

Alice Mead

"Adem is an ethnic Albanian in the former Yugoslavian province of Kosovo, where the Serbian soldiers are making their violent presence increasingly felt...Acts of resistance are met with reprisals and death, as Adem finds out when his defiant older sister loses her life."-Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books.

"Riveting."-Publishers Weekly
Dawn and Dusk

Alice Mead

For as long as thirteen-year-old Azad can remember, the Islamic Republic of Iran, where he lives in the predominantly Kurdish town of Sardasht, has been at war with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, and his country has been a harsh society full of spies, secrets, and “disappearances.” Still, most of the time Azad manages to live a normal life, hanging out at the bakery next door, going to school with his friend Hiwa, playing sports, and taking care of his parrot. Then Azad learns that his town may soon become a target for Saddam’s weapons of mass destruction. Now more than ever, Azad feels torn between his divorced parents and his conflicting desires to remain in his home or escape. His father is somehow connected to the police and is rooted in the town. His mother may be part of the insurgency, yet is ready to flee. How can Azad make the choice?

The story of how one boy’s world was turned upside down in 1987 Iran is a timely and memorable introduction to the conflicts in the Middle East.
Girl of Kosovo

Alice Mead
Swimming to America

Alice Mead

The quandary of the illegal immigrantLinda Berati, an eighth grader in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, knows that her parents are Albanian and her little sister American. But what is she? And how did she get to New York? Her parents evade her questions, fueling Linda's uneasiness about her identity. Only Ramón, a Cuban immigrant her age, seems to understand. Together, they escape to the hideout she and Ramón built. Then a strange, foreign man appears at the hideout, and right away Linda feels connected to him. She soon discovers that Ramón's wayward brother knows the man, and learns that immigrants - even illegal ones - come to the United States for many reasons. She determines to confront her mother and find out the truth about herself at last.The author, known for her empathic portrayals of children, shows what it's like to live the American dream in dread of losing it.
Billy and Emma

Alice Mead

"Best friend macaws Billy and Emma share a cage at the zoo . . . A simple, appealing animal story and language well-suited to beginning readers. Hale's bright, cartoonish watercolors emphasize the birds' beauty and personalities, as well as the delicious freedom of flight." -Booklist
Soldier Mom

Alice Mead

A single parent is suddenly called to serve in the Persian Gulf War.

In early August 1990, eleven-year-old Jasmyn Williams is shocked when her mother, a member of the Army Reserve, is called to active service. Within thirty-six hours, she is gone. Jas and Andrew, her baby half brother, are left in the care of her mother's boyfriend, Jake, who has never been responsible for Andrew, much less Jas. At first Jas is filled with anger. Then, despite the sacrifices she must make, including precious basketball practice, Jas comes to understand that her mother has to do her job. Still, she wonders, should a mother have a job that might require abandoning her children? Alice Mead, always an advocate for children, takes a firm stand on their behalf even as she creates a heroine who could probably adjust to anything.
Isabella's Above-Ground Pool

Alice Mead

“I won’t share ’cuz it’s not fair!” is nine-year-old Isabella
Speedwalker-Juarez’s motto. It’s all because she’s stuck in a room
with her toddler brother, Dozer. Mom says Izzy has to adapt to
Granny’s tiny trailer, where they’ve just moved because money
is tight and Mom is worried about losing her job at the gum
factory. Izzy knows what will make everything better – an
above-ground pool. She’ll swim in it for hours, and she won’t
share it with anyone, not even her new classmates or her friend
Deborah Nibblebitz-Fifer. With help from Zachary O’Toole, the
neighborhood handyman – and from Deborah – Izzy plans to
hold a car wash to raise money. But when things finally start
to go her way, a tornado damages the neighborhood, and Izzy
begins to rethink her motto.

Sparkling illustrations and a large dose of warmhearted humor
make Isabella’s dilemma – and change of heart – easily
identifiable to young readers everywhere.
Soldier Mom

Alice Mead
Crossing the Starlight Bridge (Aladdin Fiction)

Alice Mead

When Native American Rayanne Sunipass and her mother leave their Maine island home, Rayanne finds it difficult to adjust to the very different mainland culture, where her grandmother provides the only link to her traditional life. A first novel. Reprint. AB. K.
Journey to Kosova

Alice Mead
Madame Squidley and Beanie

Alice Mead

The story of a girl whose mother has a chronic illness

Beanie's mom used to be a lot of fun. She still is, when she pretends to be the amazing fortune-teller, Madame Squidley. But Beanie knows it's a strain. Mrs. Kingsley has been sick for months, and doctors can't say exactly what's wrong. They don't seem to take the illness very seriously, though. Beanie does. She worries about her mom, and wonders what will happen to her and Jerm, her little brother, if their mother doesn't get well. Beanie's friend Charles Sprague has a problem, too -- scoliosis, and divorced parents who fight about it. Beanie begins to long for a new mother and a whole new set of friends. Then she discovers that she already has the best family, and the best friend, and that there's plenty she can do to help them.

This is perhaps the most personal story written by Alice Mead, herself a mother with a chronic illness.
ADEM'S CROSS

MEAD ALICE
Beetles (Leveled readers)

Alice Mead
Crossing the Starlight Bridge

Alice Mead
Halt den Kurs, Kleiner!

Alice Mead

Käfer, his mother, and his little sister Tasha have moved to a new home and a new world, leaving the life of drugs and gangs behind them. But Käfer soon discovers that his new life is not any easier than his old one — it seems that he runs into bad kids wherever he goes, and making friends at a new school proves difficult at the end of the school year. But at least his little sister is doing well for a change…

Reeve, genannt Käfer, hat den Kopf voller Fragen und das Herz voller Hoffnung. Endlich sind seine Mutter, seine kleine Schwester und er weggezogen aus der Gegend mit den vielen Gangs. Aber leichter ist das neue Leben erst einmal nicht. Käfer findet in der neuen Schule nicht gleich Freunde und zuhause ist er umgeben von den alten Leuten, die seine Mutter betreut. Doch nach und nach entdeckt er, dass in jedem Menschen etwas Besonderes steckt. Der schrullige Reverend Ashford etwa, mit dem er jeden Tag spazieren gehen muss, ist ein wunderbarer Zuhörer und den braucht Käfer jetzt ganz besonders. Aber das Wichtigste ist, dass Käfers Traum endlich in Erfüllung geht: Er lernt segeln. Und nichts ist schöner auf dieser Welt, als den Wind in voller Fahrt zu spüren!