Kirjahaku

Riley has plenty of ways to play; like lining up dolls and stuffies by size and shape. Tearing up newspapers and making piles into mountains, using sharp crayons to draw big swirly patterns. But bossy cousin Emma thinks those ways are wrong, wrong, and wrong. And she makes no bones about letting Riley know exactly what her opinion is. Fortunately, Charlie the dog is on hand to help with a breakthrough demonstration that there are MANY ways to play; and all of them are right. Based on experiences that Lyn Miller Lachman had growing up as an Autistic child and illustrated with the humor, tenderness and understanding that perhaps only an artist like Gabriel Alborozo, himself an Autistic creator, could bring, here is an empowering validation of the value of individual expression. And a whole lot of fun.P R A I S E ? "Inspired by her own childhood, Miller-Lachmann, who is autistic, is keenly aware that there are many ways of having a good time, and the straightforward, spare first-person narration centers Riley's experience. Although it's never explicitly mentioned that Riley has a diagnosis, it seems likely the child is, like the author, autistic, and many neurodivergent children will feel seen and affirmed."-Kirkus(starred) ? "The poignant text teams together with ebullient drawings, delivering a welcome and heartwarming message for all young readers. Many libraries will find this picture book appealing, especially if their collection of stories needs a new and welcome addition with respect to children of all abilities."-School Library Journal (starred) "Cousins find common ground through play in a simple story with an instructional thrust from an autistic creative team."-Publishers Weekly

Three teens struggle to carve out futures for themselves under a totalitarian regime. Czechoslovakia, 1969 Seventeen-year-old Pavol has watched his country's freedoms disappear in the wake of the Soviet Union's invasion. He's seen his own dreams disappear too. In a desperate, fatal act of protest against the oppressive new government, he sets himself on fire in public, hoping to motivate others to fight for change.Instead, Pavol's death launches a government investigation into three of his closest friends. Stěp n finds his Olympic hockey ambitions jeopardized and must conceal his sexual orientation from authorities who could use it against him. Tom s has already been accused of "antisocial" behavior because he struggles to follow the unwritten rules of everyday interactions, and now he must work even harder to meet the expectations of his father, the regional leader of the communist party. And aspiring film director L da, Pavol's girlfriend, is pregnant with his child, which brands her a traitor by association and upends all her plans. With their futures hanging in the balance, all three must decide whether to keep struggling to survive in the country Pavol died hoping to save . . . or risk a perilous escape to the other side.

Lyn Miller-Lachmann's novel, Dirt Cheap, is an eco-thriller that will strongly appeal to anyone interested in ecology and the crime novel genre. In this suspenseful novel, Nick Baran, a middle-aged professor, pursues the chemical company that he believes gave him leukemia and contaminated his suburban neighborhood. His wife feels isolated, exhausted and frightened by her husband's obsessive pursuit, and ultimately begins an affair with a powerful local attorney who opposes her husband's efforts. When Sandy (the idealistic teacher of Nick's son) joins Nick's crusade, she allows herself to be drawn into a retaliatory affair and into his messy and tragic life. Told from multiple points of view, Dirt Cheap explores the loss of innocence, the nature of courage, the price of material comforts, the place of faith and community, and the power of the individual to change lives.