A short story about a young man sitting at home babysitting a little kid who is sick.A story told by Astor Court the building in New York City that Mia lives. Mia is an imaginative and grown-up fifth-grader. One snowy day she offered to help her neighbor, an old lady, Mrs. Goldenrod who was struggling, carry her shopping bags home. Mrs. Goldenrod invited Mia in for tea and they learned delightful things about one another. While Mia was there she became fascinated by a statue of a black dog. That statue was Mister Pepper and was given to Mrs. Goldenrod by an actress friend. Mister Pepper was to be given as a gift to the courtyard garden. Mia left to take her dog Bubbles for a walk. When Mia and Bubbles returned the found Angelina in the courtyard garden deciding the placement of Mister Pepper. Angelina, who was Mrs. Goldenrod's niece had taught Mia so much about animals. Angelina gave Mia a magic red collar and instructed Mia to place it around Mister Pepper's neck. Then Mister Pepper could tell Mia and Bubbles his secret.The day of the annual courtyard barbeque Mia did as Angelina had instructed. She and Bubbles learned why Mister Pepper was now of stone. He was happy in the garden where he "wants everyone to think of him as a friend - the friend who will be waiting for them no matter what. "The building, Astor Court ends the story saying that Mrs. Goldenrod was right in that if people would be polite to their friend as well as their enemies, the world would bea better place. And he would like to add - "polite to the things of the world that don't breathe or move. One never knows how a little polite attention can make all the difference to that brick, or furniture, or statue..."

"Claude works as a security guard at the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto), and he becomes fascinated with the Henry Moore sculptures on display in the gallery. Then entranced, then possessed with an incredible connection with the personality of each sculpture, then convinced that there is an entity trapped within each sculpture..." From the Challenging Destiny review by James Schellenberg."Claude works as a security guard at the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto), and he becomes fascinated with the Henry Moore sculptures on display in the gallery. Then entranced, then possessed with an incredible connection with the personality of each sculpture, then convinced that there is an entity trapped within each sculpture..." From the Challenging Destiny review by James Schellenberg.Schellenberg says of the stories in this collection, using Claude as an example: "I liked these stories a great deal. In particular, Wolf does a good job with endings. Since we get a lot of detail about the internal life of the characters, the structure that leads to the ending is most often an epiphany, a moment where all those internal musings or developments come together in a rush, like a plateau before the next ascent begins. Not an “I feel ripped off” artsy ending, but an artsy ending that the story is nicely tailored for." https://www.challengingdestiny.com/reviews/findingcreatures.htm(A short story selection from the collection Finding Creatures & Other Stories by C. June Wolf, published by Wattle and Daub Books, 2008.)

Three weird short stories: featuring,in the first, the owner of an auto parts junkyard; in the second, immigrants of Romanian descent; and in the third, the inhabitants of a crawl space.A Junkyard Tradition opens with the dismembering of a cat and progresses through to the murder of a thieving wife. The Immigrants follow, with the police investigating the savage killing of an investment counselor, culminating in the detectives assigned to the case awaiting the next full moon. In Under the Master Bedroom, a newly purchased house has some gruesome history that becomes reality for its new owner.

Episode 17, Nanotroopers. Red Hammer has seized several UNIFORCE killsats. Millions are threatened. Quantum Corps must assault the cartel’s base but the assault must be done underground, using a geoplane. Tests show the geoplane works but subterranean ops are risky. Follow Lieutenant Winger and his troopers as they take back control of the killsats, from below ground.Episode 17, Nanotroopers. Red Hammer has seized control of several UNIFORCE killsats. Millions are threatened and nations scramble to comply with the cartel’s demands. Quantum Corps has to assault the base where the killsats are controlled and put it out of commission, but the only way to do this is from below ground, using a new vehicle called a geoplane. Tests show that the geoplane works but subterranean ops are risky. Follow Lieutenant John Winger and his nanotroopers in the Tectonic Sword mission, as they try to take back control of the killsats, from below ground.

A story about the ripple effects in a family torn apart by their parent’s greed. Adenizen is the perfect school in every sense except for one thing. On the outskirts of its campus, there is a student villa where the female residents are fair game for any man who can pay the price. Madam Ofilia runs the villa and will go to any length to take the most promising girls under her wings.A story about the ripple effects in a family torn apart by their parent’s greed. Adenizen is the perfect school in every sense except for one thing. On the outskirts of its campus, there is a student villa where the female residents are fair game for any man who can pay the price. Madam Ofilia runs the villa and will go to any length to take the most promising girls under her wings, as long as they live up to their side of the bargain. But when the ladies of A16 at Noble Hall become her next target, events take an unexpected turn. With each of these girls running her own agenda, it seems Madam Ofilia has bitten off more than she can chew. As things go awry, she is brought face to face with a buried past that might eventually cause her to meet her waterloo.

Agents 32 & 33 of the nebulous psecret psociety venture to the Eel River town of Fortuna in Northern California via bus on a splendid spring Saturday. While in a local eatery, they get directed to a museum, where more clues are taken in. On a bridge going back, more clues are leaked out.Approx. 1600 words.If this tale were a film, it would most likely be rated PG-13 (psychoactive references).Agents 32 and 33 of the nebulous psecret psociety venture to the Eel River town of Fortuna in Northern California via bus on a splendid spring Saturday. While in a local eatery, they get directed to a museum, where more clues are taken in. On a bridge going back, more clues are leaked out.Approx. 1,600 words.If this little tale were a movie, it would most likely be rated PG-13 (psychoactive references).

This Book which has 50 differently titled Poems , is actually Part 5 of the Book titled - You die; I die - Love Poems ( 1600 pages ) .Poems symbolizing the immortality of love and at times its fickleness. Parekh takes the reader through a paradise naturally embellished with the ingredients of eternal romance and its sporadic failures. As they say life and death are two sides of the coin, similarly with every true anecdote of love there also comes fretful divorce—a thing which has been most sensitively described throughout this great collection of poems for the heart. Written and dipped in each ingredient of his passionate blood, Parekh comes out with startling revelations about the truest of love stories and their failures. Each verse has been delicately intertwined with a boundless aspects of relationships, romance, cheating, betrayal and goes on to prove that Immortal Love towers over every shattered heart. A start to finish with some of the most heart-rendering love poems ever, this makes a great collection for every true lover breathing and desiring to be loved on earth and beyond. This collection of poems aims at perpetually uniting every heart on this Universe in the spirit of Immortal love and friendship. Because these are the two quintessential ingredients to lead life till its last breath. Irrespective of whatever color, faith or religion, it is only the rainbow of love which can transform the ghastliest monsters and perpetrators of humanity into peaceful lovers. Therefore this book inexhaustibly endeavors to speak and preach the language of love even after its last embossed alphabet .

When Kate awakens in Prince Quallen’s secret cave, she’s sure she’s dreaming. Events unfold and adventure follows as Quallen promises to help her get back. Is she really in Kallaryn and if that's the case, will she ever be able to get back home?If there’s one thing fifteen-year-old Kate loves, it’s a good book. Her new favorite series, Quallen’s Quest, follows the Faerie prince in the land of Kallaryn as he goes from one adventure to another. When Kate awakens in Prince Quallen’s secret cave, she’s sure she’s dreaming. Events unfold and adventure follows as the handsome prince promises to help her get back. Is she really in Kallaryn and if that’s the case, will she ever be able to get back home?

Five interconnected, sequential narratives, set in the years from 1960 to 1999. Each story is deeply rooted in the sixties, and each is haunted by the Vietnam War. Stephen King, whose first novel, Carrie, was published in 1974, the year before the last U.S. troops withdrew from Vietnam, is the first hugely popular writer of the TV generation. Images from that war -- and the protests against it -- had flooded America's living rooms for a decade. Hearts in Atlantis, King's newest fiction, is composed of five interconnected, sequential narratives, set in the years from 1960 to 1999. Each story is deeply rooted in the sixties, and each is haunted by the Vietnam War. In Part One, "Low Men in Yellow Coats," eleven-year-old Bobby Garfield discovers a world of predatory malice in his own neighborhood. He also discovers that adults are sometimes not rescuers but at the heart of the terror. In the title story, a bunch of college kids get hooked on a card game, discover the possibility of protest...and confront their own collective heart of darkness, where laughter may be no more than the thinly disguised cry of the beast. In "Blind Willie" and "Why We're in Vietnam," two men who grew up with Bobby in suburban Connecticut try to fill the emptiness of the post-Vietnam era in an America which sometimes seems as hollow -- and as haunted -- as their own lives. And in "Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling," this remarkable book's denouement, Bobby returns to his hometown where one final secret, the hope of redemption, and his heart's desire may await him. Full of danger, full of suspense, most of all full of heart, Stephen King's new book will take some readers to a place they have never been...and others to a place they have never been able to completely leave.

Plump Susan Brid is desperate for a job before her friend and co-apartment mate gets the idea she's a welfare case that needs her constant attention. Susan would rather have a handsome, sultry husband and a life of her own, but life leads her to apply for a window washer job at one of the largest corporations in town. The gruff boss isn't impressed by her ample features, but one sensual young man leaves her breathless in the elevator. Fate interferes with her job plans and sweeps her into his arms for a delightful one-on-one interview.** Billionaire Seeking Bride #3 is a stand alone, steamy romance with no cliffhanger. **

The New York Times bestselling author of Bared to You, Sylvia Day, draws us into the shadows of a seductive underworld where lycans, vampires and angels vie for supremacy… Elijah Reynolds is the most dominant of lycans, a rare Alpha whose skill on the hunt is surpassed only by his primal sexuality. When the lycans revolt due to the iron fist of angelic rule, he steps into command, becoming both enemy and coveted ally in the conflict between vampires and angels. Vashti is the second most powerful vampire in the world, a lethal beauty with a path of devastation in her wake. Tasked with proposing an alliance between vampires and the lycans who killed her mate, Vash approaches Elijah, whose need to avenge a friend demands Vash’s death even as his passion demands her surrender. Soon, their enmity erodes beneath an all-consuming desire. Elijah has never encountered a woman whose warrior spirit and fierce sexual appetite rivals his own, while Vash is faced with the one man strong enough to be her equal. But as war looms, each must decide where their loyalty lies—with their own kind or with the enemy lover they can no longer live without.  

An angel is sent to Earth on a mission. But falling in love is not part of the plan. Three angels – Gabriel, the warrior; Ivy, the healer; and Bethany, the youngest and most human – are sent by Heaven to bring good to a world falling under the influence of darkness. They work hard to conceal their luminous glow, superhuman powers, and, most dangerous of all, their wings, all the while avoiding all human attachments. Then Bethany meets Xavier Woods, and neither of them is able to resist the attraction between them. Gabriel and Ivy do everything in their power to intervene, but the bond between Xavier and Bethany seems too strong. The angel’s mission is urgent, and dark forces are threatening. Will love ruin Bethany or save her?

Following The Black Elfstone, the second book of the epic four-part conclusion to the Shannara series from one of the acknowledged masters of the fantasy genre. Tensions in the Four Lands are high. The mysterious force that laid waste to Paranor has revealed a more human face. While some gain a new understanding of the invaders and what they are after, others continue their existing quests even as the peril rises. For what looked to be a formidable invading force proves only the forerunner of a much vaster army--one that is now marching against the Four Lands in all its fury.

Ares, god of war, is leading the other dying gods into battle. Which is just fine with Athena. She's ready to wage a war of her own, and she's never liked him anyway. If Athena is lucky, the winning gods will have their immortality restored. If not, at least she'll have killed the bloody lot of them, and she and Hermes can die in peace. Cassandra Weaver is a weapon of fate. The girl who kills gods. But all she wants is for the god she loved and lost to return to life. If she can't have that, then the other gods will burn, starting with his murderer, Aphrodite. The alliance between Cassandra and Athena is fragile. Cassandra suspects Athena lacks the will to truly kill her own family. And Athena fears that Cassandra's hate will get them all killed. The war takes them across the globe, searching for lost gods, old enemies, and Achilles, the greatest warrior the world has ever seen. As the struggle escalates, Athena and Cassandra must find a way to work together. Because if they can't, fates far worse than death await.

If Naomi had picked tails, she would have won the coin toss. She wouldn't have had to go back for the yearbook camera, and she wouldn't have hit her head on the steps. She wouldn't have woken up in an ambulance with amnesia. She certainly would have remembered her boyfriend, Ace. She might even have remembered why she fell in love with him in the first place. She would understand why her best friend, Will, keeps calling her "Chief." She'd know about her mom's new family. She'd know about her dad's fiancée. She never would have met James, the boy with the questionable past and the even fuzzier future, who tells her he once wanted to kiss her. She wouldn't have wanted to kiss him back. But Naomi picked heads. After her remarkable debut, Gabrielle Zevin has crafted an imaginative second novel all about love and second chances. Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac is a 2008 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

This revised and expanded edition of The Essential Rumi includes a new introduction by Coleman Barks and more than 80 never-before-published poems. Through his lyrical translations, Coleman Barks has been instrumental in bringing this exquisite literature to a remarkably wide range of readers, making the ecstatic, spiritual poetry of thirteenth-century Sufi Mystic Rumi more popular than ever. The Essential Rumi continues to be the bestselling of all Rumi books, and the definitive selection of his beautiful, mystical poetry.

Newbery Award–winning author Marguerite Henry’s beloved novel about a boy who would do anything to paint is now available in a collectible hardcover gift edition. Benjamin West was born with an extraordinary gift—the gift of creating paintings of people, animals, and landscapes so true to life they “took one’s breath away.” But Benjamin is part of a deeply religious Quaker family, and Quaker beliefs forbid the creation of images. Because Benjamin’s family didn’t approve of his art, he had to make his own painting supplies. The local Native Americans taught him how to mix paints from earth, clay, and plants. And his cat, Grimalkin, sacrificed hair from his tail for Ben’s brushes. This classic story from Newbery Award–winning author Marguerite Henry features the original text and illustrations in a gorgeous collectible hardcover edition.

The Sequel to Boundary. Space Adventure by a New York Times Best-Selling Author and a New Star of Science Fiction. When the strange fossil she'd discovered had ended up giving her a trip to Mars, Helen Sutter thought she'd gone about as far as any paleontologist would ever go in her lifetime. But when you've also married A.J. Baker, overconfident super- sensor expert for the only private agency in space – the Ares Corporation -- and your best friend Madeline Fathom Buckley is a former secret agent who's just signed on as the chief of security for the newly created and already embattled Interplanetary Research Institute of the United Nations, there's always somewhere farther to go. The newest discoveries will take her, A.J., and their friends Jackie, Joe, and Madeline to the mysterious asteroid Ceres – and beyond, in a desperate race to Jupiter's perilous miniature system of radiation- bombarded moons. The next gold rush is on – for alien technology, hidden in lost bases around the system. And there are people willing to do anything to get it – even plan the first interplanetary war, four hundred million miles from home!

Zombies- as if that wasn’t enough to ruin any girl’s dream of a happily ever after. Reagan said goodbye to love when she was forced to run her high school boyfriend over with her mom’s car just to keep him from eating her for dinner. Now, two years later, and in need of a serious shower, she’s just over the entire concept of a soul mate- or really, any kind of mate. Well, mostly anyway. When she runs- literally- into a group of boys holed up in a relative utopia of peanut butter and bottled water, maybe all hope in the love department is not lost. But at the end of the world, nothing can be simple. And with a horde of Zombies after her, Reagan is going to have to schedule falling in love between hunting and surviving. Hopefully she can last long enough find out if true love can still exist when everything else has started to fall apart. Love and Decay, Episode One, the first in a novella series in a Dystopian Romance about Zombies, the end of the world and finding someone to share it with. This story takes place over multiple episodes, with a release date every two weeks. Approximately 20,000 words.

Furgul is a puppy born in a slave camp for racing greyhounds, and he has a terrible secret--he is himself only part greyhound. When the cruel owner of the camp recognizes Furgul's impure origins he takes Furgul to be killed, but Furgal manages a spectacular escape. Now Furgul must confront the indifference, complexity, warmth, and ferocity of the greater world, a world in which there seem to be two choices: live the comfortable life of a pet and sacrifice freedom or live the life of a free dog, glorious but also dangerous, in which every man will turn his hand against you. In the best tradition of The Call of the Wild and Watership Down, novelist Tim Willocks offers his first tale for young adults, an allegorical examination of human life through a dog's eyes, infused with heart, heroism, and the mysteries of the spirit. From the Hardcover edition.

Book THREE in the epic vampire series Dark Secrets.A love so strong fire and torture could not break it. A heart so pure neither death nor hate could taint it. But, left alone in a world of lies and secrets, Ara will find herself down the road of treachery, walking very dangerous ground, while those closest to her fight to keep her safe from dangers unseen.The boundaries between friends and enemies will blur, and the return of an old friend will see Ara crossing a line she can never return from.Now with bonus Jason Knight interview, by Dark Secrets reporter Trinny Boss