Francie lives with a violent, alcoholic father and a manic depressive, suicidal mother. The pressure on Francie to grow up are immense. When his mother commits suicide and his friend, Joe, goes off to boarding school, Francie sinks ever deeper into paranoia thanks mainly to his nasty neighbour Mrs. Nugent. He begins to have a fantasy where he has visions of the Virgin Mary. After his father dies, Francie's becomes more despondent, culminating in the...

When Laura Trujillo's mother jumps off a ledge in the Grand Canyon and falls to her death, Laura sets out to discover what drove her mother's actions, and begins to explore the painful secrets they shared. As a young girl, Laura was happy that her mother, divorced and remarried, seemed happy again, and so she hides it when her stepfather begins to abuse her. Now grown up with a family of her own, after her mother dies, Laura goes in search of the...

Olympic runner, actress, filmmaker, and writer Alexi Pappas shares the touchstone moments in her life that helped her learn about confidence and self-reliance, compassion and forgiveness, and loss and hope. Adapted for young readers from Bravey: Chasing Dreams, Befriending Pain, and Other Big Ideas (The Dial Press; 2021).