Ten-year-old Julia Gillian knows everything about her quirky neighbors, her Minneapolis neighborhood, even the inscrutable "claw machine" in the back of the corner hardware store. The one thing Julia Gillian doesn't know is how the book she's reading is going to end. It doesn't seem as if it's going to have a happy ending, and that scares her. But Julia learns a little something about fear: sometimes you just have to work through it. And though bad things do happen sometimes, having good friends and family around you makes life a bit less scary - and much more fun.

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It's just ten days before kindergarten, and this little girl has heard all there is to know--from a first grader--about what it's going to be like. You can't bring your cat, you can't bring a stuffed animal, and the number one rule? You can't ask anyone for help. Ever. So what do you do when your shoes come untied, if you're the only one in the class who doesn't know how to tie them up again?
Told with gentle humor by Alison McGhee and brought to exuberant life by New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss, this lighthearted take on pre-kindergarten anxiety will bring a smile to the face of every child--and parent--having first-day jitters.
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Clara first spies him through the crack in the stained-glass window of her church, lighting a string of handmade lanterns in the Adirondack woods. A lone old man, Georg Kominsky moves stealthily among the shadow world of his hanging, glittering creations.

In Alison McGhee's stunning novel Shadow Baby, eleven-year-old Clara is struggling to find the truth about her missing father and grandfather and her twin sister, dead at birth, but her mother steadfastly refuses to talk about these people who are lost to her daughter. When Clara begins interviewing Georg Kominsky for a school biography assignment, she finds that he is equally reticent about his own concealed history. Precocious and imaginative, the girl invents version upon version of Mr. Kominsky's past, just as she invents lives for the people missing from her own shadowy past.

The journey of discovery that these two oddly matched people embark upon is at the heart of this beautiful story about friendship and communion, about discovering what matters most in life, and about the search to find the missing pieces of ourselves. McGhee's prose glistens with shrewd truth and wild imaginings, creating a fine novel that will reverberate in the hearts and minds of readers long after the book is finished.


From the Hardcover edition....

I am the keeper of the castle. This castle...

Always...

How deep is the bond between a child and a beloved dog? And how far will a pet go to protect his dear friend? To the ends of the Earth...always.

Alison McGhee gives voice to the devotion that knows no bounds in this gentle and poignant picture book about friendship, loyalty, and most of all, love....

From the duo of Alison McGhee and Scott Menchin comes a hilarious
tale of a first recital — and a charming ode to chutzpah and creative flair.

Practice makes perfect. And for a little girl facing her first recital of "Dance of the Wood Elves," so do artistry, imagination (those wood elves sure love to dance!), and lucky underwear for good measure. Is she nervous as she waits and waits for her turn on stage? Hoo boy, no! She’s as cool as a cucumber! Every child who has felt the pressure of the spotlight will smile at this comical tale of bravado that turns a onenote performance into an improvisation worthy of a standing ovation. Splendissimo!...

A sensitive girl comes to terms with loss – and learns something about lasting ties – in this genuine, gracefully told story.

"Name: Edwina Stiles Beckey. Nickname: Eddie. Age: Eleven. Hometown: North Sterns, New York, in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains. Best Friend: Sally Hobart. Favorite Activity: Making lists."

Eddie Beckey makes lists for just about everything and everyone in her life. And for matters of real importance, she wears (and snaps) an array of colored rubber bands on her wrist. Unfortunately, the world is not always so orderly and knowable. No list can help her cope with what’s happening to her best friend, Sally — or change the course of things for Sally’s grandmother, whom Eddie has grown to love and depend on as well. With subtlety and insight, novelist Alison McGhee tells the story of a young girl’s first encounter with grief, and of the enduring power of friendship....

On the far side of town in a big dark house lives a brave little witch. She has heard lots and lots about that very human holiday Halloween, and even though she thinks she knows what humans are like, she has never, ever seen Halloween for herself.

Until one very special Halloween comes along . . ....

You are stronger than you know.
You are wilder than you know.
You are braver than you know.
And you are capable of more than
you could ever imagine.

Life is full of surprises, big and small, both along the roads we take and where these winding paths eventually lead us. So Many Days will remind you to notice all the joy and love along the way, because it's all there, helping to bring out the strongest, wildest, bravest YOU....

On the far side of town in a big dark house lives a brave little witch. She has heard lots and lots about that very human holiday Halloween, and even though she thinks she knows what humans are like, she has never, ever seen Halloween for herself.

Until one very special Halloween comes along . . ....

Eleven-year-old Edwina confronts old and new challenges when her longtime best friend Sally faces the inevitable death of the grandmother who raised her....

A mother's love leads to a mother's dream -- every mother's dream -- for her child to live life to its fullest.

A deceptively simple, powerful ode to the potential of love and the potential in life, Someday is the book you'll want to share with someone else...today. The perfect gift for Mother's Day, Graduation Day or Any Day - share a copy with every special person in your life....

The simple playthings, the everyday moments, picking up that hundredth rock -- all of these are brimming with possibility...if you slow down and let the future begin with the small moments of today. Because everything depends on letting a little boy...be a little boy....

There it is.
Over there.
The big bed...
Am I ready?

#1 New York Times best-selling author Alison McGhee tells the tale of a child's first rite of passage - from the crib to the big bed. Ross MacDonald's glowing illustrations will comfort, amuse, and inspire toddlers and even their parents as they take this first big step together....

Eddie Becky makes lists for just about everything and everyone in her life. And for matters of real importance, she wears (and snaps), an array of coloured rubber bands on her left wrist. Unfortunately, the world is not always so orderly and knowable - and when a change befalls Eddie's best friend, Sally, Eddie is left to question everything she knows about life, friendship, and the future....