cari ouweneel

(Middle Grade/Coming of Age)

When good girl Lucy Montone, or Peaches-n-Cream as her family likes to call her, is shocked by the sudden announcement of her parents' divorce, she starts sixth grade with her world turned upside down. Peaches, desperately wants things to be like they used to.  This seems impossible when she learns that her best friend has just dropped her for someone else and that the certified school creep considers her his favorite target.  Worst of all, she will be forced to decide between her parents in a heated custody battle.  On the edge of thirteen, Peaches discovers that life can take an unpredictable course and that sometimes breaking the rules and letting go are part of growing up and making the unthinkable choice.

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(Middle Grade/Between #2)

Peaches thought that turning thirteen and becoming a teenager would mean that she'd finally have it all figured out. She's got a new boyfriend, a year of middle school under her belt and is moving on about her parents' divorce. What she's not ready for is her dad remarrying and moving out-of-state. How is she supposed to spend a magical summer with her boyfriend if they're apart? And if that's not enough, back at school Peaches is asked to tutor Joey McGregor in order to fulfill her volunteer hours for JHS. And not that she's obsessing about it or anything but isn't there someone else who can do it? In a new year full of changes, Peaches learns that absence can make the heart grow stronger!

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(Young Adult/Contemporary Romance)

A terrible accident leaves Chicago native Liam Miller homeless and without his family. When he moves to the middle of Indiana Amish country to serve probation for drug possession, the last thing he expects is to fall in love with the innocent Sarah Yoder, a heartfelt Amish teen beginning to question her faith in the midst of rumspringa- when Amish youth are permitted to relinquish the strict rules of the Ordnung, in an attempt to find their mates. Sarah finds herself irresistibly drawn to the wild, free and naturally artistic punker. But Liam is hardly the young man Sarah's parents had in mind for her, during her running around years and the recent Amish hair-cutting hate crimes are linked to his presence in the community.

Despite their very different backgrounds, Liam and Sarah meet at the crossroads of their journeys, and what seems to be a chance encounter between the two, might just be the answer they've both been seeking. However when Liam's drug troubled past comes back to haunt him, the discord from their two worlds collide, escalating into tragedy where both must decide where they each belong.

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