Richard Peck

A year down yonder

Ghosts I Have Been

A boy in Illinois remembers the homefront years of World War II, especially his two heroes--his brother in the Air Force and his father, who fought in the previous war.

On the wings of heroes

Trav, Kate, and Buck make up a trio during their freshman year in high school, but their special friendship may not be enough to save Trav as he pressures himself relentlessly to succeed, in his own eyes as well as in the eyes of his parents and the world. A strong friendship between 2 boys & a girl is destroyed when one of them commits suicide. How well do we know our best friends? They were the best of friends. Sixteen-year-old Buck Mendenhall first met Kate Lucas the summer before seventh grade. In eighth grade they made friends with the brilliant and wealthy newcomer, Trav Kirby. They didn't seem to need anyone else. Mostly they looked forward to the good times shared at Kate's house. It didn't matter if their classmates wondered about them; no one could unravel their binding ties. At least that's what they thought. When one of the trio finds the future too great a threat, the other two can only wonder: "How well did we know our best friend?" "With humanity, wit, and a quiet intensity, Peck's novel depicts suicide as a turning point inward of the pressures in an alienated and violent society."

Remembering the good times

A boy recounts his annual summer trips to rural Illinois with his sister during the Great Depression to visit their larger-than-life grandmother.

a novel in stories

A long way from Chicago

Todd, 15, thinks life in the quality community of Walden Woods is perfect, until Laurel, his dream girl, comes to babysit for his sister and reveals the forces of fundamentalism and censorship at work in the town.

The Last Safe Place on Earth

A seventeen-year-old boy trying to recover from the loss of his girlfriend meets an unusual girl.

Richard Peck

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