Cynthia C DeFelice

This retelling of a Chinese folktale pays tribute to the author's Irish heritage, and to the joys of an old marriage, new friendships, and the impulse to share. Using pen and gouache, the artist shows the "simple" characters in all their winning complexity. A very poor, humble couple live so simple a life they share everything, until the husband discovers a pot with magical powers buried under the very last potato in the garden. Mr. and Mrs. O'Grady...

Allie knows it's not her imagination when she hears a voice and sees in her mind's eye the face of a girl who seems to be seeking her help. Allie knows it's not her imagination when she hears a voice and sees in her mind's eye the face of a girl who seems to be seeking Allie's help.

Hindered by a fight with her friend Dub and a series of mysterious fires, eleven-year-old Allie investigates the fire seventeen years earlier which claimed the lives of the husband and infant son of a school cafeteria worker, as well as the handsome young man whose ghost asks Allie for help.