41 Japanese, Scandinavian, and Sicilian tales: "The Snow-Queen," "The Cunning Shoemaker," "The Two Brothers," "The Merry Wives," "The Man without a Heart," and more. 69 illustrations.

When Rachael's mom disappears and she finds out that her second-grade classmate Raul might know something about it, she follows him into a trap and is kidnapped onto a mysterious ship along with a group of kids who can turn into magical animals--Exotics. She has to find a way to escape the ship and rescue the Exotics who are waiting to be sold as pets...or are they?“Promises mean nothing on this ship. Tell me the password.”Nobody knows what really happened when Rachael Baptiste’s mom disappeared a week ago. So when Rachael’s second-grade classmate Raul tries to break into her mom’s computer only to be chased away by giant talking dogs, she follows him into the night and discovers that he—and her mom—have caught a magical sickness that lets them turn into magical animals, or Exotics.A group of evil Exotics, the Shadow Dogs, kidnap Rachael and Raul to a mysterious ship and try to force them to tell them her mother's secrets...but Rachael's not talking. Instead, she's trying to find a way to escape the ship and rescue the Exotic kids trapped on board, waiting to be sold as pets...or are they?

13 year-old Dexter is thrust onto Pozzelby's throne after his family is murdered by unknown conspirators. With only a handful of people he can trust, Dexter must unravel and stop the conspiracy, before he becomes its next victim. 'Dexter of Pozzelby' is a YA fantasy combining humor with serious fantasy adventure.In one horrible night, 13 year-old Dexter's family is murdered and he is forced to assume the throne of Pozzelby. He's whisked away in the night and taken to Pozzelby Castle, an ancient structure so large that most of it has been sealed off and forgotten for centuries. With only a handful of people whom he can trust, Dexter must unravel the conspiracy responsible for the deaths of his family members, before becoming its next victim. 'Dexter of Pozzelby' is a YA fantasy that combines humor with serious fantasy adventure.

Written over the course of one night, Carey tells the story of a man becoming truly lost.Written in one night and, since, unedited, Carey tells the story of a man becoming lost. Within The Desperate Light, he captures the spirit of the truly desperate man, the embodiement of a soulless thing searching for something he is destined never to find. Once again, Carey eschews simple exposition in favour of a character's madness. A short story from the writer of Adjective Narcissism and God Metaphor.

How long would humanity survive a zombie apocalypse? How prepared are we as a society for even the simplest of disasters? Take a few moments to ponder that as you read this short account.She wanted her life to change... he wanted his to stay the same.Best friends share everything with each other. Or do they? Seventeen-year-old Ashlyn Frances Lanski is tired of her boring, single life. Spending time with her best friend Tatiana, dreaming about kissing Tatiana's twin brother Fin, and swimming competitively are her only sanctuary. The girls plan to leave their drab lakeside town far behind for college. But when Tatchi fails to return home after a family emergency, and no one knows where the family has gone, Ash chooses to do something drastic to find them. Ashlyn is about to discover what she'd thought to be true her whole life, wasn't, and the truth, too fantastical to imagine. Secrets lurk beneath the deep blue waters of Lake Tahoe, secrets that will change Ashlyn's life forever.

The December Awethology - Light Volume is a mixture of stories written by #Awethors. Each and every story is unique, some fun, others a surprise all relating to the month of DecemberBecause one voice in your head isn't enough, here are so many more, as the Awethors chime together with another collection, this time of December themed stories and poetry to make you laugh, and cry.The December Awethology - Dark Volume is a mixture of stories written by #Awethors. Each and every story is unique, some chilling, others a surprise all relating to the month of DecemberBecause one voice in your head isn't enough, here are so many more, as the Awethors chime together with another collection, this time of December themed stories and poetry to make you laugh, make you cry and make you feel alive. We are the Awethors and these are our words to you.

The idea for Dropped Threads: What We Aren't Told came up between Carol Shields and longtime friend Marjorie Anderson over lunch. It appeared that after decades of feminism, the “women's network” still wasn't able to prevent women being caught off-guard by life. There remained subjects women just didn't talk about, or felt they couldn't talk about. Holes existed in the fabric of women's discourse, and they needed examining. They asked thirty-four women to write about moments in life that had taken them by surprise or experiences that received too little discussion, and then they compiled these pieces into a book. It became an instant number one bestseller, a book clubs' favourite and a runaway success. Dropped Threads, says Anderson, "tapped into a powerful need to share personal stories about life's defining moments of surprise and silence." Readers recognized themselves in these honest and intimate stories; there was something universal in these deeply personal accounts. Other stories and suggestions poured in. Dropped Threads would clearly be an ongoing project. Like the first volume, Dropped Threads 2 features stories by well-known novelists and journalists such as Jane Urquhart, Susan Swan and Shelagh Rogers, but also many excellent new writers including teachers, mothers, a civil servant, a therapist. This triumphant follow-up received a starred first review in Quill and Quire magazine, which called it “compassionate and unflinching.” The book deals with such difficult topics as loss, depression, disease, widowhood, violence, and coming to terms with death. Several stories address some of the darker sides of motherhood: A mother describes how, while sleep-deprived and in a miserable marriage, she is shocked to find infanticide crossing her mind. Another woman recounts a memory of her alcoholic mother demanding the children prove their loyalty in a terrifying way. A woman desperate for children refers to the bleak truth as: "Another Christmas of feeling barren." Narrating the fertility treatment she undergoes, the hopes dashed, she is amusing in retrospect and yet brutally honest. While they deal with loss and trauma, the pieces show the path to some kind of acceptance, showing the authors’ determination to learn from pain and pass on the wisdom gained. The volume also covers the rewards of learning to be a parent, choosing to remain single, or fitting in as a lesbian parent. It explores how women feel when something is missing in a friendship, how they experience discrimination, relationship challenges, and other emotions less easily defined but just as close to the bone: Alison Wearing in “My Life as a Shadow” subtly describes allowing her personality to be subsumed by her boyfriend's. Pamela Mala Sinha tells how, after suffering a brutal attack, she felt self-hatred and a longing for retribution. Dana McNairn talks of her uncomfortable marriage to a man from a different social background: "I wanted to fit in with this strange, wondrous family who never raised their voices, never swore and never threw things at one another." Humour, a confiding tone, and beautiful writing elevate and enliven even the darkest stories. Details bring scenes vividly to life, so we feel we are in the room with Barbara Defago when the doctor tells her she has breast cancer, coolly dividing her life into a 'before and after.' Lucid, reflective and poignant, Dropped Threads 2 is for anyone interested in women's true stories.

(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed) Naguib Mahfouz's magnificent epic trilogy of colonial Egypt appears here in one volume for the first time. The Nobel Prize--winning writer's masterwork is the engrossing story of a Muslim family in Cairo during Britain's occupation of Egypt in the early decades of the twentieth century. The novels of The Cairo Trilogy trace three generations of the family of tyrannical patriarch Al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad, who rules his household with a strict hand while living a secret life of self-indulgence. Palace Walk introduces us to his gentle, oppressed wife, Amina, his cloistered daughters, Aisha and Khadija, and his three sons-the tragic and idealistic Fahmy, the dissolute hedonist Yasin, and the soul-searching intellectual Kamal. Al-Sayyid Ahmad's rebellious children struggle to move beyond his domination in Palace of Desire, as the world around them opens to the currents of modernity and political and domestic turmoil brought by the 1920s. Sugar Street brings Mahfouz's vivid tapestry of an evolving Egypt to a dramatic climax as the aging patriarch sees one grandson become a Communist, one a Muslim fundamentalist, and one the lover of a powerful politician. Throughout the trilogy, the family's trials mirror those of their turbulent country during the years spanning the two World Wars, as change comes to a society that has resisted it for centuries. Filled with compelling drama, earthy humor, and remarkable insight, The Cairo Trilogy is the achievement of a master storyteller. From the Hardcover edition.

Out of Print A bitter divorce from a two-timing husband leaves Sarah with no money to fend for her daughter, but she won't be beaten, so she opens The Divorce Club, a meeting place for women who want to divorce their cheating husbands, but don't know how. Soon things start to go seriously wrong. A fake client and her rising interest in him isn't Sarah's only worry; there's also the moody teenager, a stalker, and the club's personalized battle plans that start to involve more than flashing a confident smile and running a 24/7 hotline. When Sarah's ex-husband moves in without her permission in the hope to patch things up, chaos seems complete. Full-length novel. Approx. 360pp