Believe

A quirky heartfelt middle-grade novel about grief and the resilience of the human spirit. Full of humor and wonder Believe explores the power and limits of the imagination - and how love both breaks and heals our hearts.Eleven-year-old Melanie knows shes special. Shes never been bored. She understands the secret language of old houses and makes jewels out of broken glass. Her imagination can do anything -- except make friends. Its 1980 and life as a fifth grader at Buckminster Experimental School is lonely at best when shes not dodging Karen the school bully. Then Melanie meets Sabrina who looks like a TV star and acts like a spy and who doesnt care what anyone thinks. She teaches Melanie how to believe in herself and soon Melanie starts living her dreams. She even lands the lead in Peter Pan!If only she could share it all with Mom. Missing her mom is like trying to breathe with one lung. Its bad. Sabrina thinks they can track her down and Melanie wants to believe but sometimes its easier to pretend. Her new life feels like a house of cards until one day it all comes crashing down and she finds herself with no choice but to face the truth... and let go.A riveting story of loss and friendship. Mathisons characters young and old are so well realized that they live on in the readers mind long after the book is closed. -- Margaret J. Anderson author of Searching for Shona.