The Memory Bank, written by Carolyn Coman, illustrated by Rob Shepperson, Arthur A. Levine, $16.99, ages 9-12, 288 pages. A brave girl named Hope scours her dreams for her lost sister Honey in this heart-swelling tale by Newbery Honor-winner Coman. If Hope Scroggins weren't so aptly named, she might never have trusted that she'd find little Honey again or trusted anyone for that matter after their parents did the unthinkable. They pushed Honey out of the family car onto the roadside and drove away, all because Honey broke a family rule against laughing, then they tried to make Hope forget Honey ever existed. Unable to speak or fathom what just happened, Hope slips into despair. She quits her life and tries to sleep away her sadness in their garage, where her deadbeat parents now make her sleep on a cot. But there in her sleep, Hope's life takes an extraordinary turn: she finds a reason to believe she'll see Honey again.
