During the Depression, a 10-year-old boy befriends a carnival stuntman and his lion cub and learns about the meaning of family, loyalty, love, and survival.

This is an evocation of the woman who married Chairman Mao and fought to succeed him. The unwanted daughter of a concubine, she refused to have her feet bound, ran away to join an opera troupe and eventually met Mao Zedong in the mountains of Yenan.

A father frantically prepares for his daughter's birthday party only to come across a stumbling block that threatens to ruin the day. A short story by Scott Semegran.Horrified by the violence following Iran's 2009 contested presidential elections, the author, Mojdeh Marashi is reminded of her parents’ ordeal during another disheartening event for Iranian people, the 1953 coup d'état. Saboteur, the first of a series, is told by a pair of white doves who in the tradition of old Persian storytellers recount the event in a hot summer afternoon when a sea of men inThis is a fictional memoir by Mojdeh Marashi, a writer, translator, artist and designer who is deeply influenced by the ancient and modern history of Iran. This story merges the world of magical realism in Persian literature that Mojdeh grew up reading, the reality of the world she lives in today, and the utopia she dreams about.Mojdeh is the translator (from Persian, with Chad Sweeney) of The Selected Poems of H. E. Sayeh: The Art of Stepping Through Time (White Pine, 2011). Her fiction was published in the anthology Let Me Tell You Where I’ve Been: Women of the Iranian Diaspora (University of Arkansas, 2006). She was born in Tehran, Iran and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1977, and now lives and work in Palo Alto, California. She is the Managing Partner at Blurred Whisper, an Idea and Design studio in Palo Alto, California, which she co-founded in 2002.Mojdeh studied at California College of Arts (CCA) and later at San Francisco State University where she earned her M.A. in Interdisciplinary Arts and an M.A. in Creative Writing.

In 1933, C.L. Moore published her most famous short story, Shambleau. This is an homage to that immortal story. When an ancient Earthman arrives back on Mars after decades away, he finds things have changed....more than he could have imagined.Lt. Edward Philips is a Pyrrianaut, one of the elite soldiers used by ColAdmin to guard their off-world colonies.And he has a problem; well, two problems:At 22 he's getting too old, and his mind too set in it's ways, for the neural link to his armour, and he's going to have to retire soon, and he's not sure what to do, but that's going to have to wait until he resolves the more immediate problem: a gigantic alien pseudo-dinosaur is about to fly into his colony, and he's going to have to stop it.

A collection of eight short stories themed on love, death and the boundaries between. Previously published and new unpublished stories exploring aspects of human dying from the murdered to the beautiful. The stories cover tragedy, horror, humor and poetry.A collection of eight short stories themed on love, death and the boundaries between. Previously published and new unpublished stories exploring aspects of human dying from the murdered to the beautiful. The stories cover tragedy, horror, humor and poetry. Some extracts: 'Art is not about harsh reality; it's about embellishment, hiding the truth. And eternity. Once painted a flower remains forever in bloom, a cornfield forever in sun. A woman's face forever beautiful.' 'He wasn't lying right. As he fell his right arm had twisted behind and caught underneath making him lop-sided. Sliding my surgical gloves on my hands I pulled his arms out so they spread in the usual position. Like Jesus on the cross the Standard had described a previous body, but it wasn't. These guys got nowhere near a cross. They were meat on the slab.''The boy stands and Jani's finger tightens on the trigger ready for the kill. But once upright he doesn't move, standing stock-still, arms by his sides. Jani once again trains the cross hairs on the face. The eyes are filled with defiance now, chin up. The boy slides his feet together then, slowly, lifts his arms out from his side, holds them wide and open, palms forward. A smile breaks on his face and he lifts closed eyes to the black sky. ''Daily I have visualized Cameron in front of me, tasted the saliva building in my mouth as my finger pulls the trigger. I watch him hit the ground, limbs splaying at odd angles, the plastic smile on his face, gone forever. They grab me, those around him, wrench the gun from my hand and wrestle me to the ground. I stay calm among the panic. My task done.''My name is Finn McIntyre. Finn, short for Finnegan. My eyes are different, the left one green, the right, a soft speckled brown, the color of walnut cake. From the age of twelve I read poetry and science journals and held a recorded IQ of 141 - the same as Benito Mussolini. Smart but weird, that's what kids at school used to say of me. Smart, but too goddamn weird. They only knew the half. ''When his world changed, Archie Middleman was sitting quietly on a garden bench thinking about petunias. The sun bathed his face, a breeze cooled his skin, a bird-feeder in the tree above swung gently under the force of a departing sparrow. A brief heaven for a weary gardener. As he looked up at the flight of the bird the summer sky exploded filling the air with bright vanilla light and a soft familiar two-word greeting fell like an axe through his skull.'

I doubt there is any concept more frequently affirmed in principle and more frequently violated in practice than 'Equality'.The poems collected in this book belong in what is called "Poetry of Witness", and we believe that this is a task that all of us have a moral obligation to pursue, because we can't accept to live in a world where extreme poverty is so widespread and inequality is the norm.I doubt there is any concept more frequently affirmed in principle and more frequently violated in practice than 'Equality'.This is exactly what Oxfam, in its report ''An Economy for the 1%'', shows us. And although world leaders have increasingly talked about the need to tackle inequality, the gap between the richest and the rest of mankind has widened dramatically in 2015. Such an 'explosion' in the wealth of the super-rich has come at the expense of the majority and particularly the poorest people.Today, just 62 ultra-rich people have as much wealth as the bottom 50% of humanity.''Instead of an economy that works for the prosperity of all, for future generations, and for the planet, we have instead created an economy for the 1%,'' (from Oxfam report).What we want to get, through this poetry compilation, is to add our voice to those other unequivocal voices that denounce such an absolute lack of equality in our society, and make all such voices resonate in the conscience of all people of goodwill.The poems collected in this book belong in what is called "Poetry of Witness", and we believe that this is a task that all of us, as poets, have a moral obligation to pursue, because we can't accept to live in a world where extreme poverty is so widespread and sheer inequality is the norm.

Inspired by Pokémon Go, four authors riff on themes of augmented reality, where virtual desires blend with real needs. One topic, four authors, four very different stories.Inspired by Pokémon Go, four authors riff on themes of augmented reality, where virtual desires blend with real needs. One topic, four authors, four very different stories:Sean Crawley - Sean's In Tendo Capital takes us to a grim future where citizens must fight for what's real. Lydia Trethewey - Synthesis deals with post war trauma for soldiers who see chemical in colour. Jeanette Stampone - Mother and child cope with loneliness and anxiety in different waysAndrew Szemeredy - Love finds a way of breaking down barriers in Microepisode of Major Love

A book of poetry about domestic violence, mental illness, love and desire from a young Egyptian women's perspective.A book of poetry that is meant to both document and honor the author's childhood and teenage days. A reflection of self-growth, struggle with mental illness and a never-ending quest to find family and love. Lifting Dims is an intention to be heard.The first part of the book voices the poet's dark emotions toward a cruel father and a prejudiced society, and addresses the mental turmoil that accompanies her strife. The second part, on the other hand, attempts to reveal the false liberties and profound desires found in love. Poems in Lifting Dims are infused with imagery and melodies designed to make a statement rather than merely exist for a literary purpose. They will lead the way to manifest tenors of anguish, desire, hope and mystery that is life.

**Swan Song **Like the rest of his family, Louis is a trumpeter swan. But unlike his four brothers and sisters, Louis can't trumpet joyfully. In fact, he can't even make a sound. And since he can't trumpet his love, the beautiful swan Serena pays absolutely no attention to him. Louis tries everything he can think of to win Serena's affection -- he even goes to school to learn to read and write. But nothing seems to work. Then his father steals him a real brass trumpet. Is a musical instrument the key to winning Louis his love?

When Daily Telegraph correspondent Tim Butcher was sent to cover Africa in 2000 he quickly became obsessed with the idea of recreating H.M. Stanley's famous expedition - but travelling alone. Despite warnings that his plan was 'suicidal', Butcher set out for the Congo's eastern border with just a rucksack and a few thousand dollars hidden in his boots. Making his way in an assortment of vessels including a motorbike and a dugout canoe, helped along by a cast of characters from UN aid workers to a campaigning pygmy, he followed in the footsteps of the great Victorian adventurers. Butcher's journey was a remarkable feat, but the story of the Congo, told expertly and vividly in this book, is more remarkable still.

A Blandings novel Unwelcome guests are descending on Blandings Castle - particularly the overbearing Duke of Dunstable, who settles in the Garden Suite with no intention of leaving, and Lady Constance, Lord Emsworth's sister and a lady of firm disposition, who arrives unexpectedly from New York. Skulduggery is also afoot involving the sale of a modern nude painting (mistaken by Lord Emsworth for a pig). It's enough to take the noble earl on the short journey to the end of his wits. Luckily Clarence's brother Galahad Threepwood, cheery survivor of the raffish Pelican Club, is on hand to set things right, restore sundered lovers and even solve all the mysteries.

Romance stars Lisa Kleypas, Lorraine Heath, Megan Frampton, and Vivienne Lorret prove in this collection of stories that love is the most magical during Christmas… I Will by Lisa Kleypas To be reinstated into his father’s will, Andrew, Lord Drake, must court a respectable woman-his friend’s spinster sister, Miss Caroline Hargreaves. After he blackmails Caroline into helping him, the charade begins-but is it really a charade once love takes hold of their hearts…? Deck the Halls With Love by Lorraine Heath Alistair Wakefield, the Marquess of Chetwyn, devastated Lady Meredith Hargreaves when he proposed to another. But when he becomes free to pursue her, it’s too late for she’s on her way to the altar….. As Christmas approaches, Chetwyn vows to lure Lady Meredith back into his arms. No Groom at the Inn by Megan Frampton James Archer detests his mother’s matchmaking ways. When ordered to attend a Christmastime house party filled with simpering maidens, he produces a fiancée-Lady Sophronia Bettesford. James and Sophronia pretend to be in love for one month. But their pact soon turns into love. The Duke’s Christmas Wish by Vivienne Lorret To the Duke of Vale, science solves everything-even marriage. When the impulsive Ivy Sutherland makes him question all of his data, he realizes that he’s overlooked a vital component in his search for the perfect match: love.

When sixteen-year-old Amal decides to wear the hijab full-time, her entire world changes, all because of a piece of cloth... Sixteen-year-old Amal makes the decision to start wearing the hijab full-time and everyone has a reaction. Her parents, her teachers, her friends, people on the street. But she stands by her decision to embrace her faith and all that it is, even if it does make her a little different from everyone else. Can she handle the taunts of "towel head," the prejudice of her classmates, and still attract the cutest boy in school? Brilliantly funny and poignant, Randa Abdel-Fattah's debut novel will strike a chord in all teenage readers, no matter what their beliefs.

These days, Frank McCourt would seem to have cornered the market on lyrical depictions of Celtic poverty. But never fear, Sebastian Barry--the brilliant Irish playwright, poet, and prose-wrangler--is here. His new novel, The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty recounts the odyssey of a small-town innocent, who grows up in circumstances more bucolic, but no less threadbare, than McCourt's. It's clear from the very first paragraph, however, that Barry means to take a wide-angle view of his Irish urchin: "In the middle of the lonesome town, at the back of John Street, in the third house from the end, there is a little room. For this small bracket in the long paragraph of the street's history, it belongs to Eneas McNulty. All about him the century has just begun, a century some of which he will endure, but none of which will belong to him." Having handily survived his Sligo childhood, Eneas joins the British Army in time for World War I--and upon his return home, finds himself shunned as a collaborator. Tarred with this very Britannic brush, he goes one better and enlists in the Royal Irish Constabulary. Alas, this move only cements his fate as a marked man, and his father is soon issued a warning: "Let your son keep out of Sligo if he wants to keep his ability to walk." With a price on his head, Eneas commences a life of wandering, from Mexico to Africa to Nigeria (which the moonlight, he notices, "brings closer to Ireland.") From time to time he sneaks back to Sligo and is promptly expelled. In another author's hands, this epic of dislocation could well be a bitter one. Yet the stoical and simple-minded Eneas is surprisingly free of anguish, and even his constant fear "has become something else, could he dare call it strength, a privacy anyhow." And the reader, at least, has the delightful distraction of Barry's prose, in which the occasional Joycean notes are entirely subsumed by the author's own colloquial brilliance. In the end, The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty is less a novel than an exhibition of bardic fireworks--a latter-day Aeniad that's actually worthy of the name. --James Marcus