Marilyn Sachs: 10 books

Jeff Lyons can’t stand Ellen de Luca, the fat girl in his ceramics class. She’s huge, clumsy, can’t throw a pot to save her life, and stares at Jeff all the time. But he’s a "nice guy" and feels terrible when Ellen overhears his hurtful remarks about her. The "crumbs of kindness"...

Veronica Ganz is a bully. She has beaten up everybody in all her classes and has never been challenged…until little Peter Wedemeyer, who only comes up to her shoulder, moves into the neighborhood. Taunting, teasing and always one step ahead of her mighty fists, Veronica must find a way to teach him...

Nicole Nieman had never really thought about being Jewish. Now, with the Nazis occupying France, refugees escaping to the border with Switzerland frequently stay with her family. Should they go, too? Then came the day when Nicole returned home to find her parents and sister gone, and the Nazis were looking...

Mary Rose was proud to be named after her aunt, because her aunt had been a heroine, saving the lives of everyone in the apartment building—before dying in the fire. But not everyone thought the first Mary Rose was a heroine. Young Mary Rose overheard her uncles remembrance of the events of that dramatic...

Orphaned eleven-year-old Izzy is shipped off to San Francisco, to stay with an uncle and his wife who plan to send her to boarding school. Izzys memory about her past is dim. Why did her father hate her uncle so much? How did her mother die? And what happened to the little dog, Gus, she had once loved?...

Peter Wedemeyers former enemy, Veronica Ganz, became his best friend. Together they explored their neighborhood on rollerskates and challenged each other to do crazy things. Peters mother called Veronica a troublemaker and his friends thought he was nuts to be her friend, but Peter defended Veronicauntil...

Molly and her sister were raised by different families after their parents died in a car crash. After eight years apart, Beth comes to visit and claims to have a secret memory about their past. Instead of the pleasure Molly expected from Beths arrival, Molly finds herself angry at Beths mysterious rudeness...

" I read on. And then it happens. On page 89. Mary is humiliated, and I know I have to step in. There she is, in an ill-fitting, wine-colored gown that doesn't do anything for her mousy complexion, gathering up her music, when I pass by, and spill my glass of punch right on her dress. I turn,...

Everyone in Miss Thompsons fourth grade class loves The Bears HouseFran Ellen Smith most of all. When Fran Ellen goes into The Bears House, she can forget about how awful things are at home. At the end of the term Miss Thompson is giving the house away, but Fran Ellen knows it wont be to her. How is...

For a century now, scholars have searched for the “source” of Marcel Proust’s startlingly innovative novel À la recherche du temps perdu. Some have pointed to Henri Bergson, Sigmund Freud, or Paul Sollier. Others have referenced the novels of Henry James. But no one has focused on the more...