Wayland YA Booklists: Dealing with Grief & Loss

Afraid that she is crazy, thirteen-year-old Mia, who sees a special color with every letter, number, and sound, keeps this a secret until she becomes overwhelmed by school, changing relationships, and the loss of something important to her.

With insight and a light touch, best-selling, Newbery Honor-winning author Gary D. Schmidt tells two poignant, linked stories: that of a grieving girl and a boy trying to escape his violent past. Following the death of her closest friend in summer 1968, Meryl Lee Kowalski goes off to St. Elene's Preparatory Academy for Girls, where she struggles to navigate the venerable boarding school's traditions and a social structure heavily weighted toward students...

After losing her mom. Willa is grieving and having a hard time living with her dad and his new family on an island off the coast of Washington State. Her dad tries to cheer her up by taking her whale watching, something Willa's mom used to do. While all the passengers are on one side of the boat, Will encounters a humpback whale on the opposite side. Willa feels so lonely that she starts to talk to the whale--and the whale talks back! The whale, named...

"A moving middle grade story...about the enduring bond between twins: Anders, who has recently died, and Lily, who has to balance her grief and confusion with a brother who isn't quite gone--and how to navigate a world that is moving forward without him"--

Twelve-year-old Mischa "Ish" Love's longtime dream has been to someday live on Mars, but when she collapses on the first day of seventh grade, Ish receives a diagnosis which threatens her future plans.

Unable to celebrate the holidays in the wake of his older brother's death in a gang-related shooting, Lolly Rachpaul struggles to avoid being forced into a gang himself while constructing a fantastically creative LEGO city at the Harlem community center.

"Twelve-year-old Fella is swept away on a wild road trip by her older sister Zany to fulfill their late mother's dying wish"--

"After the death of her mother, Lydia moves in with her aunts and learns to find a new family of inspiring women and loving dogs"--

"Eleven-year-old Stella Rodriguez finds herself in possession of a strange new pet that swallows up everything in sight when a black hole decides to follow her home"--

When thirteen-year-old Safiya's mother falls into a coma, Safiya comes to terms with their complicated relationship and discovers more about herself through dreams that transport her to her mother's childhood in Kuwait.