Tearjerkers

I know we are in the "most wonderful time of the year," according to some, but everyone still needs a good cry every now and again. Here are some great stories to help you with all of your crying needs.  

Just a warning, though, you may want to have a box of tissues close by while enjoying these stories. 



P. S., I Love You by Cecilia Ahern         FIC AHERN

Holly never believed that she could live without her husband, Gerry, having known him since high school and considering him the other half of herself. Then Gerry succumbs to a terminal illness, and Holly doesn't have a choice. They had both joked about his making a "list" for her of things to do if she lost him, but soon after his death, Holly finds out from her family that Gerry created the list, in the form of letters, in order to keep her occupied during the first year after his death and to help her move on. As everyone would imagine, it is a very hard process, but with the support of the letters and the craziness of her friends and family, Holly finds the strength to continue on. 

Note: Unlike the movie, the main characters are in Ireland (and are Irish). The movie is located under DVD PS.   



The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards         FIC EDWARDS

On a terrible winter's night in 1964, Dr. David Henry is forced, by a blizzard, to deliver his own twins. His son comes out just fine, but he discovers that his daughter is born with Down's Syndrome. Deciding that he needs to protect his wife from this development, the doctor decides to tell her that the baby died. He gives the little girl to his nurse, Caroline, to take to an institution. Caroline, however, falls in love with the little girl and decides to become her mother, leaving town to hide the secret. Neither the doctor or nurse know just how much their decisions will impact the lives of everyone around them. 

Note: This book was also made into a Lifetime Movie, located under DVD MEMORY.


The Fault in Our Stars by John Green                               YP FIC GREEN

Hazel knows that her lungs don't work right and that her thyroid cancer is terminal. Then she meets Augustus Waters during a Cancer Kid Support Group meeting. Augustus is in remission, but he is very taken with Hazel and completely determined to ignore her attempts to "save" him from her death. Can they both deal with a relationship that has an expiration date?

Note: This book is also in audio format under YP AD FIC GREEN, and we have it in e-book format.


Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston               FIC HURSTON

Janie Crawford has been told how to live her life by so many people and never gets to make choices for herself. Returning home to Eatonville, Florida, after having run away from it two years earlier with a love affair, she tells her life's story to best friend, Pheoby. It is a look into the life of an independently minded woman having to make some hard choices (or have them made for her) during the 1930s and 40s, dealing with poverty, abuse, and even a hurricane. 


Note: This book is also available in audio under AD FIC HURSTON and in video under DVD THEIR.




Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer             B MCCANDLE

In April of 1992, Christopher Johnson McCandless decided to give his savings (of over $20,000) to charity, get rid of most of his other possessions, and travel (by walking and hitchhiking) up to the wilderness a little north of Mt. McKinley in Alaska. He was seeking a knew life and a new way of thinking. Unfortunately, what he utimately found up there in the wilderness was his death.  Jon Krakauer, a contributing editor to Outside and Men's Journal, retraces McCandless' steps on his journey, and by looking at his diary, letters, and some notes that McCandless left behind, he seeks to solve the mystery that was McCandless' goals and, ultimately, his demise.

Note: This book is also available in audio under AD B MCCANDLE and in video under DVD INTO.




Atonement by Ian McEwan                  FIC MCEWAN

It is summer of 1934, and an 13-year-old girl, Briony, witnesses a completely innocent act by her sister, Celcilia and a servant's son, Robbie. When a great act of violence is committed, Briony blows everything out of proportion, accussing Robbie of the crime, and in doing so, instigates a great wrong against two people who mean a lot to her. Unfortunately, her choices also lead to great suffering by these two, and her need for "atonement" from them both.

Note: This book is also available in large print LP FIC MCEWAN, and we also have the movie under DVD ATONEMEN.



The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow            B PAUSCH

There are many professors who give their "last lectures" to their classes, wanting to impart some final wisdom to their students before moving on, but for Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon University, learning that he had terminal cancer meant that it really would be his last lecture. So he wrote his last lecture on "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," intending to inspire his students, and many others, to live their lives to the fullest and make sure to help further the dreams of others.  

Note: This is also available in audio under AD B PAUSCH.




All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque            FIC REMARQUE

Paul Baümer is just 19 years old when he and his fellow classmates enlist in the German army at the beginning  of World War I, but no one expects the carnage and suffering that will take place in the trenches.  As the war drags on, many of these young soldiers wonder whether they can survive the conflict, and if they do they, whether they will ever be the same again.

Note: This is also a movie under DVD ALL. 





The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
FIC STEIN

Enzo knows that he is not like other dogs and does not seem to think in the same ways that they do. Hoping that he will be human in his next life, he decides to educate himself about humans by watching television and listening to his owner, race car driver, Denny Swift. 


Note: This book is also available in e-book format.




The Color Purple by Alice Walker   FIC WALKER


Celie pours out her feelings into a series of letters (to God and her sister) about the abuse (sexual, physical, and verbal) that she suffers at the hands of the men in her life (her father and her husband), her separation from the sister she tried so hard to protect, and many other hardships. These "letters" are the only ones that hear her thoughts and feelings, as she tries to show that she is a person and deserves to be heard. 

Note: This is also available as a movie under DVD COLOR.  





You can find more tearjerkers here on the bibliography. There are some copies of the bibliography available to take with you next to the catalog computers. Happy reading!