Catherine Ryan Hyde

It all started with the social studies teacher's extra-credit assignment: come up with a plan to change the world for the better, and do it. Twelve-year-old Trevor McKinney began by doing something good for three people. But instead of paying him back, he asked them to "pay it forward" by doing a favor for three more people, who in turn would help three others, and so on, each act a link in a chain of human kindness. And no one - not his teacher, his mom, or anyone in his small California town - could ever have dreamed of how far Trevor's plan would go.-Back cover.

a novel

Pay it forward

On an isolated Texas ranch, Dr. Lucy cares for abandoned animals. The solitude allows her to avoid the people and places that remind her of the past. Not that any of the townsfolk care. In 1959, no one is interested in a woman doctor. Nor are they welcoming Calvin and Justin Bell, a newly arrived African American father and son. When Pete Solomon, a neglected twelve-year-old boy, and Justin bring a wounded wolf-dog hybrid to Dr. Lucy, the outcasts soon find refuge in one another. Lucy never thought she d make connections again, never mind fall in love with a man like Calvin. Pete never imagined he d find friends as loyal as Justin and the dog. But these four people aren t allowed to be friends, much less a family, when the whole town turns violently against them. With heavy hearts, Dr. Lucy and Pete say goodbye to Calvin and Justin. But through the years they keep hope alive waiting for the world to catch up with them."

Say Goodbye for Now

Michael Crouch

Have You Seen Luis Velez?

Brooke is a divorced single mom, financially strapped, living with her mother, and holding tight to the one thing that matters most: her two-year-old daughter, Etta. Then, in a matter of seconds, Brooke's life is shattered when she's carjacked. Helpless and terrified, all Brooke can do is watch as Etta, still strapped in her seat, disappears into the Los Angeles night.

Brave Girl, Quiet Girl

During WWII, a teenage boy finds his voice, the courage of his convictions, and friends for life in an emotional and uplifting novel by the New York Times and #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author. 1941. Steven Katz is the son of prosperous landowners in rural California. Although his parents don't approve, he's found true friends in Nick, Suki, and Ollie, sons of field workers. The group is inseparable. But Steven is in turmoil. He's beginning to acknowledge that his feelings for Nick amount to more than friendship. When the bombing of Pearl Harbor draws the US into World War II, Suki and his family are forced to leave their home for the internment camp at Manzanar. Ollie enlists in the army and ships out. And Nick must flee. Betrayed by his own father and accused of a crime he didn't commit, he turns to Steven for help. Hiding Nick in a root cellar on his family's farm, Steven acts as Nick's protector and lifeline to the outside world. As the war escalates, bonds deepen and the fear of being different falls away. But after Nick unexpectedly disappears one day, Steven's life focus is to find him. On the way, Steven finds a place he belongs and a lesson about love that will last him his lifetime.

A Novel

Boy Underground

In the summer of 1969, fourteen-year-old Lucas Painter carries a huge weight on his shoulders. His brother is fighting in Vietnam. His embattled parents are locked in a never-ending war. And his best friend, Connor, is struggling with his own family issues. To find relief from the chaos, Lucas takes long, meandering walks, and one day he veers into the woods. There he discovers an isolated cabin and two huge dogs. Frightened, he runs. And the dogs run with him. Lucas finds unusual peace in running with the dogs, and eventually he meets their owner, Zoe Dinsmore. Closed off and haunted by a tragic past, Zoe has given up. She doesn’t want to be saved. She wants out. But Lucas doesn’t want her to go, and he sees an opportunity to bring more than one friend back into the light. It’s either the best or worst idea he’s ever had, but Lucas isn’t giving up on Zoe or Connor.

Stay

Bea has barely been scraping by since her husband died. After falling for a telephone scam, she loses everything and is forced to abandon her trailer. With only two-thirds of a tank in her old van, she heads toward the Pacific Ocean with her cat—on a mission to reclaim what’s rightfully hers, even if it means making others pay for what she lost. When fifteen-year-old Allie’s parents are jailed for tax fraud, she’s sent to a group home. But when her life is threatened by another resident, she knows she has to get out. She escapes only to find she has nowhere to go—until fate throws Allie in Bea’s path. Reluctant to trust each other, much less become friends, the two warily make their way up the Pacific Coast. Yet as their hearts open to friendship and love from the strangers they meet on their journey, they find the courage to forge their own unique family—and begin to see an imperfect world with new eyes.

Allie and Bea

When I Found You

"Abby Hubble lives in an unhappy home in the Sierra Nevada foothills where her father makes life miserable for her and her mother ... One day Abby witnesses a man dump a litter of puppies into the nearby river. Diving in to rescue all seven ... she takes them to an abandoned cabin ... Grieving widower Elliot Colvin, ... looking for solace, retreats to the hunting cabin ... What he discovers is not at all what he expected: seven puppies and one determined girl with an indomitable heart. As Abby and Elliot's friendship deepens, Abby imagines how much better her life and the puppies' lives would be if her mother were married to Elliot instead of her father"--

Seven Perfect Things

New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde returns with a hopeful novel of sacrifice, two lost souls, and enduring love. It's 1965, and life has taken a turn for eighteen-year-old Anton Addison-Rice. Nearly a year after his brother died in a tragic accident, Anton is still wounded--physically and emotionally. Alone for the holidays, he catches a glimpse of his neighbor Edith across the street one evening and realizes that she's in danger. Anton is determined to help Edith leave her abusive marriage. Frightened and fifteen years Anton's senior, Edith is slow to trust. But when she needs a safe place to stay, she lets down her guard, and over the course of ten days an unlikely friendship grows. As Anton falls hopelessly and selflessly in love, Edith fears both her husband finding her and Anton getting hurt. She must disappear without telling anyone where she's going--even Anton. If keeping Edith safe means letting her go, Anton will say goodbye forever. Or so he believes. What would happen, though, if one day their paths should cross again?

My Name Is Anton

August Shroeder, a burned-out teacher, has been sober since his 19-year-old son died. Every year he's spent the summer on the road, but making it to Yellowstone this year means everything. The plan had been to travel there with his son, but now August is making the trip with Phillip's ahses instead. An unexpected twist of fate puts August with two extra passengers on his journey, two half-orphans with nowhere else to go.

Take me with you

A gay teenage boy and a fragile teenage girl meet while living on the streets of New York City and eventually decide to take a road trip across America to discover whether or not the world is a beautiful place.

Becoming Chloe

Ask Him Why

Sometimes a child knows better... GRACE Ten-year-old Grace knows that her mum loves her, but her mum loves drugs too. And there's only so long Grace can fend off the 'woman from the county' who is threatening to put her into care. Her only hope is... BILLY Grown-man Billy Shine hasn't been out of his apartment for years. People scare him, and the outside world scares him even more. Day in, day out, he lives a perfectly orchestrated silent life within his four walls. Until now. . . THE PLAN Grace bursts into Billy's life with a loud voice and a brave plan to get her mum clean. And it won't be easy, because they will have to confiscate the one thing her mum holds most dear . . . they will have to kidnap Grace.

Don't Let Me Go

Sixteen-year-old Elle falls in love with Frank, the neighbor who helps her adjust to being on her own in a big city, but learning that he is transgendered turns her world upside-down.

Jumpstart the World

"Hyde is a remarkable, insightful storyteller, creating full-bodied characters whose dialogue rings true, with not a word to spare."-Library JournalFourteen-year-old Angie and her mom are poised at the edge of homelessness... again. The problem is her little sister, Sophie. Sophie has an autism-like disorder, and a tendency to shriek. No matter where they live, home never seems to last long.Until they move in with Aunt Vi, across the fence from a huge black Great Dane who changes everything. Sophie falls in love immediately, and begins to imitate the "inside of the dog," which, fortunately, is a calm place. The shrieking stops. Everybody begins to breathe again. Until Paul Inverness, the dog's grumpy, socially isolated owner, moves to the mountains, and it all begins again.Much to Angie's humiliation, when they're thrown out of Aunt Vi's house, Angie's mom moves the family to the mountains after Paul and his dog. There, despite a fifty-year difference in their ages, Angie and Paul form a deep friendship, the only close friendship either has known. Angie is able to talk to him about growing up gay, and Paul trusts Angie with his greatest secret, his one dream. When the opportunity arrives, Angie decides to risk everything to help Paul's dream come true, even their friendship and her one chance at a real home-the only thing she's dreamed of since her father was killed. A place she can never be thrown out. A place she can feel she belongs.By the bestselling author of DON'T LET ME GO, WHEN I FOUND YOU, and WALK ME HOME, WHERE WE BELONG is a poignant, heartfelt, and uplifting story about finding your place in the world, no matter how impossible it seems."Hyde has a sure touch with affairs of the heart."-Publishers Weekly

Where We Belong

Leaving Blythe River

Unlikely road trip companions form an unexpected bond in an uplifting novel about the past--lost and found--by the New York Times and #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author. Lewis Madigan is young, gay, out of work, and getting antsy when he's roped into providing end-of-life care for his insufferable homophobic neighbor, Chester Wheeler. Lewis doesn't need the aggravation, just the money. The only requirements: run errands, be on call, and put up with a miserable old churl no one else in Buffalo can bear. After exchanging barbs, bickering, baiting, and pushing buttons, Chester hits Lewis with the big ask. Lewis can't say no to a dying wish: drive Chester to Arizona in his rust bucket of a Winnebago to see his ex-wife for the first time in thirty-two years--for the last time. One week, two thousand miles. To Lewis, it becomes an illuminating journey into the life and secrets of a vulnerable man he's finally beginning to understand. A neighbor, a stranger, and a surprising new friend whose closure on a conflicted past is also just beginning. So Long, Chester Wheeler is an uplifting novel about looking deeper into the heart and soul to form bonds with the last people we'd expect--only to discover that they're the ones who need it most.

So Long, Chester Wheeler

"A fantastic read which will have people talking about it for many weeks and months to come." -Sarah of Sarah's Book Reviews By the bestselling author of DON'T LET ME GO, WHEN I FOUND YOU, SECOND HAND HEART, and PAY IT FORWARD, WHEN YOU WERE OLDER is the poignant, uplifting, and thought-provoking story of two very different brothers who try to build a new life together, against the backdrop of an uncertain and uneasy time in our shared history. Russell Ammiano works on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center. On the morning of September 11, 2001, the phone rings while Rusty is rushing to work. The news is devastating: Rusty's mother has died of a stroke, leaving his brain-damaged older brother Ben alone. This news also saves Rusty's life. He's still at home when two planes hit the World Trade Center--and only one of his friends and colleagues survives. In a single day, the life Rusty built in New York crumbles to the ground. Rusty returns to his tiny hometown and the brother he was more than happy to leave behind. Ben hasn't changed a bit, but the town has. Tensions are running high in the wake of the terrorist attack, while Rusty struggles to put the the past behind him and care for the exasperating brother he loves. He finds refuge drinking coffee in the early morning with beautiful Egyptian-American Anat in her father's bakery. Rusty is beginning to get his life back...until one awful night threatens to take it all away again. "...and the award for the amount of humanity woven into a book goes to Catherine Ryan Hyde." -Ivana of Willing to See Less

When You Were Older

"In this uplifting, poignant novel about friendship, trust, and facing your fears, Faith, a woman escaping her husband's abuse, befriends Sarah, a fourteen-year-old on the run from her father and reeling from her mother's sudden and suspicious death, as they follow after Midnight, the prized black mare that Sarah's father sold out from under her"--

Catherine Ryan Hyde

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