Rachael Hanel

Rachael Hanel’s name was inscribed on a gravestone when she was eleven years old. Yet this wasn’t at all unusual in her world: her father was a gravedigger in the small Minnesota town of Waseca, and death was her family’s business. Her parents were forty-two years old and in good health when they erected their gravestone—Rachael’s name was simply a branch on the sprawling family tree etched on the back of the stone. As she puts it: I grew up in cemeteries. And you don’t grow up in cemeteries—surrounded by headstones and stories, questions, curiosity—without becoming an adept and sensitive observer of death and loss as experienced by the people in this small town. For Rachael Hanel, wandering among tombstones, reading the names, and wondering about the townsfolk and their lives, death was, in many ways, beautiful and mysterious. Death and mourning: these she understood. But when Rachael’s father—Digger O’Dell—passes away suddenly when she is fifteen, she and her family are abruptly and harshly transformed from bystanders to participants. And for the first time, Rachael realizes that death and grief are very different. At times heartbreaking and at others gently humorous and uplifting, We’ll Be the Last Ones to Let You Down presents the unique, moving perspective of a gravedigger’s daughter and her lifelong relationship with death and grief. But it is also a masterful meditation on the living elements of our cemeteries: our neighbors, friends, and families—the very histories of our towns and cities—and how these things come together in the eyes of a young girl whose childhood is suffused with both death and the wonder of the living.

Memoir of a Gravedigger’s Daughter

We'll Be the Last Ones to Let You Down

Geoff Herbach

Kassandra Duthie

"A collection of short, true stories by well-known and up-and-coming YA authors on the teenage experience"--

A Collection of True, Tortured, Wild, Hilarious, Concise, and Intense Tales of Teenage Life

Love & Profanity

"Describes the fight for survival during a major earthquake"--Provided by publisher.

An Interactive Survival Adventure

Can You Survive an Earthquake?

Introduces penguins, discussing the different species, physical characteristics, eating habits, behavior, habitats, mating rituals, and efforts being made to ensure their future.

Penguins

Introduces tigers, discussing the different species, the physical characteristics, habitat, life cycle, and predatory behaviors of the animal and the efforts being made to ensure their future.

Tigers

Describes what global warming is and the problems it poses, discusses different strategies being used to raise awareness of the problem and reverse or mitigate its effects, and provides suggestions for how everyone can help.

Stopping Global Warming

Climate Fever

Discusses the lives of samurai warriors and how they fought at the command of their masters for control of land and territory.

Samurai

Erin L. McCoy

As internet use and global connectivity have skyrocketed, so too has identity theft. Even though hundreds of millions of people are affected every year by this crime, it remains unclear whose role it is to promote cybersecurity and investigate and prosecute identity theft in the United States. This book explains how identity theft, data breaches, and fraud occur, how to protect oneself against these threats, and what obstacles U.S. law enforcement faces as it seeks to fight back. Full-color photographs, a glossary, and sidebars help readers comprehend this complex issue, which is more pressing than ever for children and young adults.

Rachael Hanel

Books

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