title: Hunter's Best Friend at School
author: Laura Malone Elliott
description: Best friends and school join in Elliott's (Under a War-Torn Sky) tale for a kid-pleasing combination and Munsinger's (The Teeny Tiny Ghost) comical, sometimes poignant illustrations give this picture book a double draw. Young raccoons Hunter and Stripe are fast friends who like "all the same things" and display contagious smiles as they make the rounds at recess, share a beloved book and munch on their mutually favorite lunch of crawfish sandwiches, huckleberries and milk. But one day Stripe comes to school "in a mischief-making mood" and goads Hunter into following his bad example. When Hunter's mother finds out from her son that he felt compelled to follow his pal's lead since "We do everything together," she delivers the tale's gentle moral: "Being a best friend doesn't mean always following along. Sometimes being a best friend means you have to help your friend be his best self." The following day, Hunter takes her advice and successfully demonstrates a positive role model for his pal. Adults will surely appreciate the message about resisting peer pressure, but Stripe snaps into good-behavior mode a bit too speedily to be entirely credible and the story winds up on a sticky-sweet note. Ages 4-7.<br />Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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  Home with You
  
  
  Hunter J. Keane
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Home with You
  
  
  Perfect for fans of Bella Andre, Susan Mallery, and Melissa Foster, Home with
  You is a redeeming story about finding the power to love again when you’ve
  lost everything, including yourself.
  
  
  Emery Scott thought that losing her fiancé was the worst thing that would ever
  happen to her. Then, just six months after his death, she learns that their
  entire relationship was built on a lie. Suddenly, she can’t make it through
  the day without being reminded of the life she wants to forget. Taking a leap
  of faith, she packs up her car and heads to Starlight Valley.
  
  
  Lucas Cooper has been in love with Emery for years. When she agreed to marry
  her long-time boyfriend, he gave up hope that they would ever be together.
  Then, out of the blue, his phone rings and he has reason to hope again. This
  is the chance he’s been waiting for, but is Emery ready to open her heart?
  
  
  Emery knows that Luke is everything her fiancé wasn’t– 