James R. Hannibal presents a thrilling adventure through history, complete with mysteries, secret items, codes, and a touch of magic in this stunning middle grade debut.Thirteen-year-old Jack Buckles is great at finding things. Not just a missing glove or the other sock, but things normal people have long given up on ever seeing again. If only he could find his father, who has disappeared in London without a trace. But Jack's father was not who he claimed to be. It turns out that he was a member of a secret society of detectives that has served the crown for centuries—and membership into the Lost Property Office is Jack's inheritance. Now the only way Jack will ever see his father again is if he finds what the nefarious Clockmaker is after: the Ember, which holds a secret that has been kept since the Great Fire of London. Will Jack be able to find the Ember and save his father, or will his talent for finding things fall short?

In the opening years of the Vietnam War, a small group of American military advisors and their South Vietnamese allies were facing down the Viet Cong. The confident Americans were there to do what seemed elementary: help the South Vietnamese army defeat a ragtag guerrilla enemy. They were assured of swift success. But one officer, John Paul Vann, saw darker omens for the future—and in the Battle of Ap Bac, the Viet Cong proved him correct.Encapsulating the great terrors, mistakes, ironies, and courageous acts of the Vietnam War, "The Battle of Ap Bac" recounts the clash in which the Viet Cong first won their spurs. It is an exciting, terrifying, fast-paced portrait of close-contact warfare in the rice paddies, the story of John Vann's attempt to singlehandedly change the terms of battle and avoid the relentless killing grounds of Vietnam that lay ahead. A key selection from Neil Sheehan's masterpiece, A Bright Shining Lie—which remains the preeminent history...

Shark-tastic! Stink gets to sleep with the fishes after his parents win an aquarium sleepover. But wait—what's that lurking beyond the KEEP OUT sign? When Stink's parents win tickets for the whole family to sleep over at the aquarium (along with Stink's two best friends), it sounds like a science freak's dream come true. Stink loves the sea-creature scavenger hunt (Bat ray! Brain coral!), the jellyfish light show, and the shiver of sand tiger sharks with razor-sharp teeth. And of course Stink is nuts about gross stuff, but after some spooky stories around the virtual campfire, can he manage to fall asleep thinking about the eating habits of the vampire squid? Especially Bloody Mary, the mutant, glowing Frankensquid that's supposed to be on the prowl?

New York Times bestselling author Maria Dahvana Headley presents a modern retelling of the literary classic Beowulf, set in American suburbia as two mothers—a housewife and a battle-hardened veteran—fight to protect those they love in The Mere Wife. From the perspective of those who live in Herot Hall, the suburb is a paradise. Picket fences divide buildings—high and gabled—and the community is entirely self-sustaining. Each house has its own fireplace, each fireplace is fitted with a container of lighter fluid, and outside—in lawns and on playgrounds—wildflowers seed themselves in neat rows. But for those who live surreptitiously along Herot Hall’s periphery, the subdivision is a fortress guarded by an intense network of gates, surveillance cameras, and motion-activated lights. For Willa, the wife of Roger Herot (heir of Herot Hall), life moves at a charmingly slow pace. She flits between mommy groups, playdates, cocktail hour, and dinner parties, always with her son, Dylan, in tow. Meanwhile, in a cave in the mountains just beyond the limits of Herot Hall lives Gren, short for Grendel, as well as his mother, Dana, a former soldier who gave birth as if by chance. Dana didn’t want Gren, didn’t plan Gren, and doesn’t know how she got Gren, but when she returned from war, there he was. When Gren, unaware of the borders erected to keep him at bay, ventures into Herot Hall and runs off with Dylan, Dana’s and Willa’s worlds collide.

SUMMARY: Donna Leon has topped European bestseller lists for more than a decade with a series of mysteries featuring clever Commissario Guido Brunetti. Always ready to bend the rules to uncover the threads of a crime, Brunetti manages to maintain his integrity while maneuvering through a city rife with politics, corruption, and intrigue. In A Noble Radiance a new landowner is summoned urgently to his house not far from Venice when workmen accidentally unearth a macabre grave. The human corpse is badly decomposed, but a ring found nearby proves to be a first clue that reopens an infamous case of kidnapping involving one of Venice's most aristocratic families. Only Commissario Brunetti can unravel the clues and find his way into both the heart of patrician Venice and that of a family grieving for their abducted son.

Ancient China, Han Dynasty. A slave girl saves the life of an ageing dragon and escapes her brutal master. Pursued by a ruthless dragon hunter, the girl and the dragon begin an epic journey across China. They carry with them a mysterious stone that must be protected. Dragonkeeper is the story of a girl who believes she is not worthy even of a name, but finds within herself the strength and courage to make this perilous journey – and do what must be done.Dragonkeeper is the first novel in the internationally bestselling and award-winning Dragonkeeper series from Australian author Carole Wilkinson. This gripping junior fiction fantasy is the perfect read for secondary school age children. Continue the story with the other books in the series: Garden of the Purple Dragon (Book 2), Dragon Moon (Book 3) and Blood Brothers (Book 4). Carole can be found online at: carolewilkinson.com.au

A fiercely independent divorce lawyer learns the power of family and connection when she receives a cryptic message from her estranged mother in this bittersweet, witty novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Someone Else’s Love Story and gods in Alabama—an emotionally resonant tale about the endurance of love and the power of stories to shape and transform our lives Born in Alabama, Paula Vauss spent the first decade of her life on the road with her free-spirited young mother, Kai, an itinerant storyteller who blended Hindu mythology with southern oral tradition to reinvent their history as they roved. But everything, including Paula’s birth name, Kali Jai, changed when she told a story of her own—one that landed Kai in prison and Paula in foster care. With the two of them separated, each holding her own secrets, the intense bond they once shared was fractured. These days, Paula has reincarnated herself as a tough-as-nails divorce attorney with a successful practice in Atlanta. While she hasn’t seen Kai in fifteen years, she’s still making payments on that karmic debt—until the day her last check is returned in the mail, along with a mystifying note: “I am going on a journey, Kali. I am going back to my beginning; death is not the end. You will be the end. We will meet again, and there will be new stories. You know how Karma works.” Then Kai’s most treasured secret literally lands on Paula’s doorstep, throwing her life into chaos and transforming her from only child to older sister. Desperate to find her mother before it’s too late, Paula sets off on a journey of discovery that will take her back to the past and into the deepest recesses of her heart. With the help of her ex-lover Birdwine, an intrepid and emotionally volatile private eye who still carries a torch for her, this brilliant woman, an expert at wrecking families, now has to figure out how to put one back together—her own. The Opposite of Everyone is a story about story itself, how the tales we tell connect us, break us, and define us, and how the endings and beginnings we choose can destroy us . . . and make us whole. Laced with sharp humor and poignant insight, it is beloved New York Times bestselling author Joshilyn Jackson at her very best.

The Guns of Navarone and its three sequels, in which the same characters are sent on other wartime missions, together in one volume for the first time to mark the 50th anniversary of the original book . THE GUNS OF NAVARONEMallory, Miller and Andrea are united into a lethally effective team. Their mission: to silence the impregnable guns set in the tall cliffs of Navarone. On their success or failure rests one of the most critical offensives of the Second World War. FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONEAlmost before the last echoes of the famous guns have died away, the three Navarone heroes are parachuted into war-torn Yugoslavia to rescue a division of partisans and fulfil a secret mission, so deadly that it must be hidden even from their own allies. STORM FORCE FROM NAVARONEThe surviving commandos are sent on a perilous journey through the Pyrenees to disable the greatest threat to the impending D-Day landings: the 'Werwolf' U-boats. But their Basque guides declare it mission impossible -...

"[Wolitzer] writes in warm, specific prose that neither calls attention to itself nor ignores the mandate of the best books: to tell us things we know in ways we never thought to know them... [She] is an infinitely capable creator of human identities that are as real as the type on this page." -The New York Times Book Review"Equal parts cotton candy and red meat, in the best way." -People From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Interestings, an electric, multilayered novel about ambition, power, friendship, and mentorship, and the romantic ideals we all follow deep into adulthood, not just about who we want to be with, but who we want to be.To be admired by someone we admire - we all yearn for this: the private, electrifying pleasure of being singled out by someone of esteem. But sometimes it can also mean entry to a new kind of life, a...

From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Ten-Year Nap, a funny, provocative, revealing novel about female desire. When the elliptical new drama teacher at Stellar Plains High School chooses for the school play Lysistrata-the comedy by Aristophanes in which women stop having sex with men in order to end a war-a strange spell seems to be cast over the school. Or, at least, over the women. One by one throughout the high school community, perfectly healthy, normal women and teenage girls turn away from their husbands and boyfriends in the bedroom, for reasons they don't really understand. As the women worry over their loss of passion, and the men become by turns unhappy, offended, and above all, confused, both sides are forced to look at their shared history, and at their sexual selves in a new light.As she did to such acclaim with the New York Times bestseller The Ten-Year Nap, Wolitzer tackles an issue that has deep... SUMMARY:From the New York Times-bestselling author of The Ten-Year Nap, a funny, provocative, revealing novel about female desire. When the elliptical new drama teacher at Stellar Plains High School chooses for the school play Lysistrata-the comedy by Aristophanes in which women stop having sex with men in order to end a war-a strange spell seems to be cast over the school. Or, at least, over the women. One by one throughout the high school community, perfectly healthy, normal women and teenage girls turn away from their husbands and boyfriends in the bedroom, for reasons they don't really understand. As the women worry over their loss of passion, and the men become by turns unhappy, offended, and above all, confused, both sides are forced to look at their shared history, and at their sexual selves in a new light. As she did to such acclaim with the New York Times bestseller The Ten-Year Nap, Wolitzer tackles an issue that has deep ramifications for women's lives, in a way that makes it funny, riveting, and totally fresh-allowing us to see our own lives through her insightful lens.

The city of Skyvale is in trouble. Magic use is rampant. Crime is spreading. Told from the perspective of Tobiah, the crown prince with a dangerous secret, and set two years before the heart-racing action of The Orphan Queen, this 100-page digital novella brings to life one of Jodi Meadows's most beloved characters. Tobiah Pierce knows he is a spoiled, sheltered prince, and he's tired of it. His only chance for freedom is if his cousin, James Rayner, passes the trials to be one of his bodyguards. But when Tobiah takes a rare opportunity to escape a courtly celebration and he witnesses a horrible—and magical—crime, he must make a momentous decision: return to the ignorance and comfort of the palace, or risk everything to discover the truth? The Hidden Prince is the first of four prequel novellas that offer existing fans a deeper insight into a favorite character and the complex city of Skyvale, while new readers will find a stunning introduction to this...

A friendship between the lost and lonely Caroline, and the unhappy Sebastian, leads to an illicit love that threatens them both.Caroline Wilson is trapped in a cold and loveless marriage with an older man. When her husband finally wins a long sought-after promotion, Caroline feels she has little choice but to follow him to a new home in San Diego. There she meets Sebastian, a young man of 17. For an all too brief summer, their happiness blooms. But external pressures begin to bear down, not least from the overbearing David, and Sebastian’s parents begin to suspect that their son has a secret. Even Caroline’s new friend, Donna, realises that dark passions exist below the serene surface.

To the outside world, Siena McMahon has a fairytale life. Born into a great Hollywood dynasty - granddaughter of forties movie legend Duke McMahon, daughter of billionaire producer Pete McMahon - she is blessed with beauty, brains and wealth, a proverbial princess.But behind the wrought iron gates of the McMahon's sprawling Hollywood mansion, life is far from happy. The McMahons are bound together not by love, but by ambition, greed and intrigue. When a gold-digging English aristocrat worms her way into their lives and their home, the fault lines in the feuding family are blown right open. In an effort to protect Siena from the fall-out, her parents pack her off to an English boarding school. But Siena has a burning ambition - she is determined to become a Hollywood star, just as her grandfather said she would be. One way or another, Siena McMahon is going to return to LA and take the City of Dreams by storm. And woe betide anyone who gets in her way...From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. Glamour, fashion, gossip, scheming—they're all here in a page-turning debut starring Siena McMahon, feisty granddaughter of Hollywood movie legend Duke McMahon. In the tradition of Jackie Collins and Danielle Steel, Bagshawe strews Sienna's path to stardom with bumps aplenty. Family trouble began before Siena was born, when Duke decided his mistress should move in with his wife and kids, but Siena, born in 1981, had a pretty cushy childhood as a granddaughter of the wife—at least until she finds her beloved grandfather dead in the family's Hollywood manse. Siena's father, jealous of the attention Duke lavished on Siena, cows his wife into packing their outspoken 10-year-old to an English boarding school, and when Siena later defies her father's plans for her (Oxford med school) to become a supermodel (and thus kick-start an acting career) he disinherits her. Bagshawe nimbly captures Siena's fierce ambition, and like her glam novel predecessors, she keeps the pages flying with steamy sex and keen behind-the-scenes takes on the fashion, movie and television businesses. Secondary characters, such as British director wannabe Max De Seville, Sienna's on again/off again love interest, shine almost as brightly as Siena, and Bagshawe nips in an entertaining side plot about Max's half-brother's struggle to keep his 16th-century Cotswold farm from the hands of a dodgy Cockney developer. This is one of those big, juicy summer beach reads—not too deep, just wildly entertaining. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistBagshawe set out to write a book that broke free from the chick-lit mold. She succeeded in producing an epic romance with ultraglamorous characters--no Bridget Jones here. The book opens with the story of philandering movie star Duke; his coolly detached wife, Minnie; and their decidedly untraditional home--Duke's mistress shares quarters with his true family. After Duke's death, Bagshawe follows the lives of his granddaughter, Siena, and his illegitimate son, Hunter. The two have reunited just as they're both becoming Hollywood stars. But when Hunter's best friend, Max, betrays Siena, their refashioned family is split once again. Siena then becomes involved with a hotshot producer until a violent incident leaves her forever changed. Although the lengthy novel could have done with some judicious editing, the Hollywood setting and the volatile relationships will keep readers enthralled. Recommend it to fans of Danielle Steele and Nora Roberts. Aleksandra KostovskiCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

President Timothy Kegan is assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Philadelphia; a single shooter is caught and convicted. Fourteen years later, the slain President’s brother, Nick, hears a deathbed confession that upends everything he thought he knew about his brother’s death. In a desperate rush to find the real killer, Nick must navigate the murky waters of a conspiracy that involves the CIA, oil barons, the police force, movie stars, and people at the highest level of government. A gripping political thriller, this book contains disturbing echoes of the Kennedy Assassination. Rife with political intrigue, it addresses many mysteries that remain unsolved in the real life JFK case—and it’s sure to keep you turning pages. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Richard Condon (1915-1996) is a political novelist from New York who wrote over 26 satirical thrillers throughout a prolific career—dealing with themes of political corruption, greed, and abuse of power. Before his career as a novelist, Condon served in the US Merchant Marines and later became a Hollywood publicist, agent, and advertising writer. Condon’s best-selling works include The Manchurian Candidate and the Prizzi series, dealing with the life of a crime family in New York. The Manchurian Candidate was made into a movie twice, once in 1962 and again in 2004. The 1962 movie starred Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury, who was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her role.From the Publisher7 1.5-hour cassettes About the AuthorRichard Condon was born in New York City and worked in the movie business for twenty years before he started writing novels. In addition to THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE his bestsellers include PRIZZI'S HONOR. He died in 1996.

With nearly 2 million books in print, this Little Apple series is H-O-T, hot. The SECRET is out — DROON is the series that kids, parents, and teachers are talking about! There's no place like home! Eric and his friends have finally restored the Rainbow Stairs, but that was the easy part. Now Gethwing is loose in the Upper World, and the Moon Dragon is causing big trouble. Eric, Julie, and Neal have to protect their town, but they're up against mysterious creatures, strangely-behaving parents, and powerful magic. Can the kids stop Gethwing before he destroys the Upper World — for good?