Susan Pogorzelski

Lilac Sophia Carpenter is sixteen years old. She’s going to be sixteen years old for the rest of her life. Confined to her bed as her health declines, Lilac lives her life in daydreams, imagining her love story to her former best friend, Nathan Emery. But Lilac and Nathan haven’t talked since that fateful night—the night of her sister’s wedding, when her health worsened and his life unraveled and the already-fractured pieces of their friendship became irreparable. With the comfort of her daydreams becoming more and more elusive, Lilac must decide if reality can be greater than her own imagination when there’s little time left for living.

"Pogorzelski's exceptional debut shares the challenges, dreams, fleeting optimism, and difficulties of 15-year-old Amelia Lenelli at the turn of the millennium." - Publisher's Weekly "This book is a MUST read!" - Minnesota Lyme Association "Teens reeling with personal and national crises will find themselves in this teen girl’s voice." - Judge, 25th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards (Honorable Mention) Write one last letter. That’s what fifteen-year-old Amelia’s psychologist says when she tells him about her time capsule—a My Little Pony lunchbox she’s buried in the backyard garden after listening to the preacher on the corner shout about the end of times. One last chance to leave her mark when the world's been shaken to its core by a national tragedy not even the preacher sees coming. One last story of humanity’s ability to endure, like in all those historical disasters her mother recites like fairytales. One last reminder of her existence, when her illness has turned her into such a ghost of her former self, one more exhale is all it will take before she disappears completely. One last letter to tell the world how she’s lived and who she’s loved and what she’s trying to survive.

It’s been almost a decade since the end of the war, when the telegram first arrived at their house on Lennox Lane. Four years since the apartment on Harker Street, where food was scarce and nights were long and their mother slept away her grief. Three months since Janie was forced to leave her little brother, Brayden, and best friend, Leo, behind at Anthers Hall. Two weeks since she stole a bicycle and ran away from the new children’s home on the other side of the state. One day since she arrived in Montours City. No one knows her secrets in this small town. If Janie is going to make it back to her brother and the only place she’s ever called home, she needs to keep it that way. But when a hard-hearted widow, a boy in a boxcar, and a dog named Panda weave their way into her life, Janie begins to wonder if what she’s searching for isn't better off laid to rest.

The summer of 1979 should have been a magical time of panning for gold in the creek and catching fireflies in a jar. Instead, nothing is turning out the way 12 year old Annie expected: her best friend is away at camp, Connor Bartlett barely notices her anymore, and her parents and sister, trying to protect her from the reality of her grandmother's illness, only seem to further isolate her. Desperate to find a sense of meaning in an ever-changing world, Annie turns to an unlikely confidant: a reclusive young veteran at war with his own past. As the summer days pass and her 13th birthday draws closer, Annie discovers that growing up doesn’t always mean leaving everything behind. An award-winning, classic coming-of-age tale about the friendships we form and the memories we keep. Now revised with bonus content!