Bøger i S.P. Somtow's Young Adult Nove serien

A powerful book about a young boy who goes on a mysterious journey to find the reason for his brother's suicide. Set in the 1980s, before social media and ubiquitous internet, the idea of the dead brother reaching out through computer messages is exotic. The odyssey from Kansas to California and back to the Starry Havens cemetery is emotionally wrenching yet full of humor and irony. One of S.P. Somtow's few young adult novels, this book one the Iowa University's "Outstanding Book of the Year" Award.

S.P. Somtow's novel The Stone Buddha's Tears was inspired by a real-life incident in 1991 in which the city of Bangkok, about to host an international conference, decided to throw up a corrugated iron fence around a slum in order to conceal it from the passing delegates. In this fantasy novel of innocence and hope, the lives of two boys from opposite ends of the social spectrum intersect because of the wall. The protagonist, a beggar known only as "Boy", meets a novice monk whose father, a corrupt politician, has sent him to a monastery in order to provide a picture-perfect photo-op for his election campaign. Between them the two boys concoct a team of street kids, tazi drivers and elephant herders in a wild plan to bring down the adult world's dark alliance between organized crime and politics. The Stone Buddha's Tears is a powerful story about friendship, class and society, and the power of children of speak the truth in a world in which adults have forgotten how.

When Johnny's family moves to California, he finds it hard to fit in at his new school until Rebecca, the half-human daughter of a vampire, begins to attend Johnny's school and the two of them become close friends, each facing their own personal demons.