TEENS

Freelance carpenter Shay Bourne was sentenced to death for killing a little girl, Elizabeth Nealon, and her cop stepfather. Eleven years after the murders, Elizabeth's sister, Claire, needs a heart transplant, and Shay volunteers, which complicates the state's execution plans. Meanwhile, death row has been the scene of some odd events since Shay's arrival—an AIDS victim goes into remission, an inmate's pet bird dies and is brought back to life, wine flows from the water faucets.

Empire Grill manager Miles Roby is an intelligent, mild-mannered, long-time resident of the past-its-prime Empire Falls. Led with the author's bittersweet humor, Miles tackles the memory of his mother (who wanted him to get out of Empire Falls); his everpresent, irresponsible father; his ex-wife and her new fiancee; and the oppressive owner of the Empire Grill and much of Empire Falls, Mrs. Whiting, with a relentless hold on the town. ...all while guiding his bright teenage daughter, Tick, toward adulthood.0375726403

Eleven-year-old Reuben Land, an asthmatic boy obsessed with cowboys, living in 1960s Minnesota, tells the story of his family's cross-country search for his outlaw older brother, who has been charged with murder

After a smoky fire at a pharmaceutical factory, the panic-stricken townspeople of Clarence fall under the spell of a strange and powerful drug that unlocks their memories. Beautifully rendered with a light comic touch, this bittersweet first novel introduces the original talents of an exciting new writer.

Helen Knightly spontaneously murders her mother, who is suffering from severe dementia. Over the next twenty-four hours, Helen recalls her childhood, youth, marriage, and motherhood. As she tries to conceal her crime, she accidentally pulls her ex-husband into the conspiracy.

Charlie lost his beloved younger brother, Sam, when they were young. Thirteen years later, Charlie still plays baseball with Sam every night, as Charlie has the ability to see ghosts. Then Charlie meets Tess, a young woman who had been missing, and his connection to spirits comes into play in a new way.