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Young Yu is only four years old when she takes an airplane from Korea to California, feeling she is only “a step from Heaven.” Her narration subtly matures as she grows into a capable young woman, ready to go off to college in this sophisticated, moving first novel. Winner of the “Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature” in 2002.
Stephan Pastis is a lawyer-turned-cartoonist, the creator of the comic strip Pearls Before Swine, and the author of the New York Times best selling Timmy Failure chapter book series for middle school kids.
Timmy Failure follows the exploits of the young “defective” detective and his polar bear friend, Total, as they solve crimes in their neighborhood. “I have an unreliable narrator,” Pastis says of the title character. “I have to remind myself every chapter: He gets everything wrong.”
