New Releases by Liz Rosenberg

Insightful, exciting, and deeply moving, Liz Rosenberg’s distinctive portrait of the author of Little Women reveals some of her life’s more complex and daring aspects. Moody and restless, teenage Louisa longed for freedom. Faced with the expectations of her loving but hapless family, the Alcotts, and of nineteenth-century New England society, Louisa struggled to find her place. On long meandering runs through the woods behind Orchard House, she thought about a future where she could write and think and dream. Undaunted by periods of abject poverty and enriched by friendships with some of the greatest minds of her time and place, she was determined to have this future, no matter the cost. Drawing on the surviving journals and letters of Louisa and her family and friends, author and poet Liz Rosenberg reunites Louisa May Alcott with her most ardent readers. In this warm and sometimes heartbreaking biography, Rosenberg delves deep into the oftentimes secretive life of a woman who was ahead of her time, imbued with social conscience, and always moving toward her future with a determination that would bring her fame, tragedy, and the realization of her biggest dreams.

An affecting biography of the author of Anne of Green Gables is the first for young readers to include revelations about her last days and to encompass the complexity of a brilliant and sometimes troubled life. Once upon a time, there was a girl named Maud who adored stories. When she was fourteen years old, Maud wrote in her journal, “I love books. I hope when I grow up to be able to have lots of them.” Not only did Maud grow up to own lots of books, she wrote twenty-four of them herself as L. M. Montgomery, the world-renowned author of Anne of Green Gables. For many years, not a great deal was known about Maud’s personal life. Her childhood was spent with strict, undemonstrative grandparents, and her reflections on writing, her lifelong struggles with anxiety and depression, her “year of mad passion,” and her difficult married life remained locked away, buried deep within her unpublished personal journals. Through this revealing and deeply moving biography, kindred spirits of all ages who, like Maud, never gave up “the substance of things hoped for” will be captivated anew by the words of this remarkable woman.

The riveting story of one brave young woman''s struggle to free herself from a web of deceit. For misfit Libby Archer, social expectations for young women in Rochester, New York, in the mid-1950s don''t work. Her father has died, leaving her without parents, and her well-meaning friends are pressuring her to do what any sensible single girl must do: marry a passionate, persistent hometown suitor with a promising future. Yet Libby boldly defies conventional wisdom and plans to delay marriage--to anyone--by departing for her uncle''s Belfast estate. In Ireland, Libby seeks not only the comfort of family but also greater opportunities than seem possible during the stifling McCarthy era at home. Across the Atlantic, Libby finds common ground with her brilliant, invalid cousin, Lazarus, then puts her trust in a sophisticated older woman who seems to be everything she hopes to become. Fraught with betrayal and long-kept secrets, as well as sudden wealth and unexpected love, Libby''s journey toward independence takes turns she never could have predicted--and calls on courage and strength she never knew she had.

A funny, heartfelt, perfectly pitched story about misunderstandings and the importance of true friendship. When a little girl thinks that her best friend James has been saying bad things about her behind her back, she takes action in the form of the silent treatment. As they go about their day and James tries harder and harder to get her to talk to him, they both realize that true friendship surpasses any rumor... or misunderstanding. A classic childhood situation is brought to life with humor and poignancy with energetic illustrations by Matt Myers and a simple, telling text by Liz Rosenberg. A Neal Porter Book

Nicole, airy and beautiful, discovers that her body is betraying her, and in her despair she appeals to her cousin Ari for the blood supply that he''s been banking for his own children. Denied access to the blood, Nicole and Ari enter into a legal battle that Solomon Richter, state Supreme Court justice, must decide as his last case before retirement. The bonds of family are tested in the ensuing court case.

EVERYBODY''S GOING TO FALL IN LOVE WITH NOBODY, George''s imaginary friend. When they decide to fix breakfast together, Nobody suggests chocolate meat loaf, but they settle on pancakes, and cook up a storm . . . and a mess. Eventually order is restored, and pancakes are served. And Nobody eats more than anybody. Filled with clever wordplay that tells a story true to so many children’s experience, NOBODY will soon have many friends.

THE PERFECT GIFT FOR ANY NEWBORN AND THEIR FAMILY The wind leads readers and listeners through the pages of this poetic tale of two mothers—one human, one mouse— recounting the story of giving birth to their children. Lyrically and rhythmically, the repeating chorus “This is the wind that blew on the farm on the night you were born…” guides us through the text as each page adds a continuing line to a song of new life. Gorgeous illustrations show the human world and the tiny mouse world, both under the same lush moonlight. A treasure for any mother-to-be or new parent.

"Wherever Liz Rosenberg''s poetry goes, it goes as a deeply felt perfected instrument not of any ̀created'' or ̀willed'' thing whatsoever, but of a natural and revealing instinct-searcing, discovering, pausing with remarkable precision and the touch of a bold true poetic imagination. These poems are altogether a way of being, charged with beauty, bravery and luminous renewal."---Jason Shinder, Author of Among Women and Editor of Howl: The Poem That Changed America --Book Jacket.

The teenage years are filled with sadness, madness, joy, and all the messy stuff in between. This collection includes poems by Charles Bukowski, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, T.S. Eliot, Edgar Allen Poe, W.B. Yeats, Dorothy Parker, and many more, including teenage writers.

Can Santa find you even if you are stuck in a motel room on Christmas Eve? A room without a chimney or a mailbox with your name on it? A winsome story, marvelously detailed illustrations and just a touch of magic make this handsome book ideal for sharing at holiday time.

Seventeen-year-old Stephanie journeys from fall to spring and from childhood to womanhood as she experiences first love and deals with her fear of inheriting her mother''s mental illness.

When his family leaves their war-torn country to come to live in America, a young boy has trouble adjusting, until his grandfather helps him find what he had missed most.

Two sisters find that the horses of a broken carousel have come alive in the rain.

With the help of his magician uncle, a young boy finds his special elephant toy.

Relates how Grandmother, accompanied by a mischievous shadow, emigrated from Russia to the United States.

A young girl relishes the magical atmosphere of the beach at night when she goes for a moonlit stroll with her older cousin.

Patrick Edward''s fierce monster mother helps him deal with some obnoxious bullies.