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STAINED book cover

STAINED is from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (Nov 19, 2013).

HUNTED book cover

HUNTED is a teen novel from WestSide Books (December 15, 2011).
Caitlyn, a telepath on the run from government troopers, must choose between saving herself or saving the world.

SCARS book cover

SCARS is an edgy realistic teen novel from WestSide Books (March 24, 2010).
Kendra must face her past and stop hurting herself--before it's too late.

SkinWalkers: Walking Both Sides book cover

SkinWalkers: Walking Both Sides is a hi-lo (high interest, low vocabulary) fantasy for teens and fantasy lovers from HIP Books (May 2011).
When angry villagers attack the Skinwalker camp, Claire has to make a difficult choice. Whose side is she really on?

The Last Dragon (Dragon Speaker, 1) book cover

The Last Dragon (Dragon Speaker, 1) is a hi-lo (high interest, low vocabulary) fantasy for teens and fantasy lovers from HIP Books (Sept. 2009).
A boy who speaks with birds is the only one who can save the last dragon....

Dear Teen Me: Authors Write Letters to Their Teen Selves book cover

My Dear Teen Me is published in an anthology by Zest Books (Dear Teen Me: Authors Write Letters to Their Teen Selves).

Fried! Fast Food, Slow Deaths book cover

My edgy realistic short story Comfort Food is published in an anthology by Graveside Tales ( Fried! Fast Food, Slow Deaths).

The Horrors Terrifying Tales: Book Two book cover

My paranormal-suspense story The Healer is published in an anthology by Red Deer Press (The Horrors Terrifying Tales: Book Two).

STAINED book cover

STAINED is from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (Nov 19, 2013).

See Previous Book

Teen Books That Have Something to Say


From Anna

Review

From Anna
by Jean Little
HarperCollins (reissue),(1991)
ISBN-10: 0064400441

My rating:



Anna Solden is clumsy and awkward. Her brothers and sisters tease and disparage her about it, and she knows her mother does not love her the way she does her other children. Anna's teacher thinks she is lazy and stupid, and Anna thinks she must be, because she can't read. The only person she feels loved by is her father.

Then her father announces that they are going to move from their home in Germany to Canada--and will all have to speak English. Anna is devastated. But once they arrive in Canada, things take a turn for the better. Anna, like all the others, is taken to a doctor for an examination—and the doctor, who Anna immediately likes, discovers that she is almost blind! Everything makes so much sense, why Anna was so clumsy, why she couldn't do things the other girls could, like sew, and why she couldn't read—she could hardly see.

Anna gets a strong pair of new glasses, and is sent to a special sight-saving class that she is afraid she will hate—but through the kindness of her teacher and the doctor, Anna blossoms. Everyone notices the change...and Anna realizes that she isn't stupid or all that clumsy—she's just different. A powerful, heart-warming story about how deeply negative messages can affect us—and the power of kindness.

The main character is younger in age, but don't let that stop you from reading this wonderful book.


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