Karen Hesse has achieved many honors for her more than twenty books over the course of her award-winning career: the Newbery Medal, the Scott OÕDell Historical Fiction Award, the MacArthur Fellowship ÒGeniusÓ Award, and the Christopher Medal. Her novels burn with intensity, and keenly felt, deeply researched, and are memorable for their imagination and intelligence.

So it is with great pride and excitement that we present Karen HesseÕs first novel in over five years: Brooklyn Bridge.

ItÕs the summer of 1903 in Brooklyn and all fourteen-year-old Joseph Michtom wants is to experience the thrill, the grandeur, and the electricity of the new amusement park at Coney Island. But that doesnÕt seem likely. Ever since his parentsÑRussian immigrantsÑinvented the stuffed Teddy Bear five months ago, JosephÕs life has turned upside down. No longer do the MichtomÕs gather family and friends around the kitchen table to talk. No longer is Joseph at leisure to play stickball with the guys. Now, Joseph works. And complains. And falls in love. And argues with Mama and Papa. And falls out of love. And hopes. Joseph hopes heÕll see Coney Island soon. He hopes that everything will turn right-side up again. He hopes his luck hasnÕt run outÑbecause you never know.

Through all the warmth, the sadness, the frustration, and the laughter of one big, colorful family, Newbery Medalist Karen Hesse builds a stunning story of the lucky, the unlucky, and those in between, and reminds us that our livesÑall our livesÑare fragile, precious, and connected.

Brooklyn Bridge is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.