Download this short story for free.Thulani grows up in a South African village and all he wants to do is play soccer. When a scout from the big city arrives, Thulani doesn't pay much attention to the visitor and is far more interested in a special girl at school. If you liked Thulani's story, check out the youth booksGang of Losers is a coming-of-age drama set in the summer of 1983.Sixteen-year-old Theo Hanlon's main interests are drinking, girls, clothes, and most importantly playing the drums. He dreams of stardom, and can’t believe his luck when he is asked to drum for a local band on the verge of signing a record deal. But when he gets sacked in unceremonious circumstances, Theo starts a chain of events that sees him step from behind the drum kit and into the spotlight. Gang of Losers is a heartfelt and offbeat novel that captures the excitement of growing up and experiencing the intoxicating lure of music, sex, alcohol and independence for the first time.

From #1 New York Times bestselling authors Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer, OFF THE PAGE is a tender and appealing YA novel filled with romance, humor, and adventure. Delilah and Oliver shouldn’t be together. But they are together. And just as they’re getting used to the possibility that happily ever after may really, truly be theirs, the universe sends them a message they can’t ignore: they won’t be allowed to rewrite their story. Delilah and Oliver must decide how much they’re willing to risk for love and what it takes to have a happy ending in a world where the greatest adventures happen off the page.   “Off the Page is just so sweet and magical. In high school, I would have given ANYTHING to crawl inside one of my favorite books to escape the real world. I wish!”—SARAH DESSEN, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Saint Anything

Annie Proulx has written some of the most original and brilliant short stories in contemporary literature, and for many readers and reviewers, Brokeback Mountain is her masterpiece. Brokeback Mountain was originally published in The New Yorker. It won the National Magazine Award. It also won an O. Henry Prize. Included in this volume is Annie Proulx's haunting story about the difficult, dangerous love affair between a ranch hand and a rodeo cowboy. Also included is the celebrated screenplay for the major motion picture "Brokeback Mountain," written by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana. All three writers have contributed essays on the process of adapting this critically acclaimed story for film.

Jordan Buchanan is thrilled that her brother and best friend are tying the knot. The wedding is a lavish affair-for the marriage of Dylan Buchanan and Kate MacKenna is no ordinary occasion. It represents the joining of two family dynasties. The ceremony and reception proceed without a hitch-until a crasher appears claiming to be a MacKenna guest. The disheveled and eccentric professor of medieval history warns that there's "bad blood" between the couple's clans, stemming from an ancient feud that originated in Scotland, and involving the Buchanan theft of a coveted MacKenna treasure. Jordan has always led a cautious life and has used her intelligence and reason to become a successful businesswoman. So she is intrigued but skeptical of the professor's claims that the feud has been kept alive by the grave injustices the Buchanans have perpetrated over the centuries. But when Noah Clayborne, a close family friend and a man who has never let a good time or a pretty girl pass him by, accuses Jordan of being trapped in her comfort zone, she determines to prove him wrong and sets out on a spontaneous adventure to the small, dusty town of Serenity, Texas, to judge the professor's research for herself. Maneuvering through a close-knit community in which everyone knows everyone else's business, Jordan never anticipates the danger and intrigue that lie in her path, nor the threat that will shadow her back to Boston, where even in familiar surroundings, her life is at risk. A powerful thug who rules by fear, a man who harbors a simmering secret, and an unexpected romance that pierces all defenses-beloved author Julie Garwood weaves these dazzling elements into a brilliant novel of romantic suspense. Shadow Dance is a searing tango of passion and peril. "From the Hardcover edition."

Larry Niven’s bestselling Man-Kzin series continues! The kzin, formerly invincible conquerors of all they encountered, had a hard time dealing with their ignominious defeat by the leaf-eating humans. Some secretly hatched schemes for a rematch, others concentrated on gathering power within the kzin hierarchy, and some shamefully cooperated with the contemptible humans, though often for hidden motives. In war and in uneasy peace, kzin and humans continue their adventures with a  masterful addition to the Man-Kzin Wars shared universe created by Larry Niven. Stories by Jane Lindskold, Charles E. Gannon, Bud Sparhawk, and more.

Hailed upon its publication as "a classic for readers not yet born" (Philadelphia Inquirer), Birdy is an inventive, hypnotic novel about friendship and family, dreaming and surviving, love and war, madness and beauty, and, above all, "birdness." It tells the story of Al, a bold, hot-tempered boy whose goals in life are to life weights and pick up girls, and his strange friend Birdy, the skinny, tongue-tied perhaps genius who only wants to raise canaries and to fly. While fighting in World War II, they find their dreams become all too real—and their lives are changed forever. In Birdy, William Wharton crafts an unforgettable tale that suggests another notion of sanity in a world that is manifestly insane.

Szrapnel to osobista opowieść o wojnie widzianej oczami osiemnastoletniego żołnierza. Druga wojna światowa dla Williama Whartona jest pasmem udręk, w którym nie ma miejsca na bohaterstwo. Szrapnel to swojego rodzaju spowiedź autora, zbiór opowieści, którymi nigdy nie dzielił się nawet z najbliższymi. Opowieści śmiesznych, choć i tragicznych, zmuszających do zastanowienia się nad absurdalnością wojny. Wharton jak zwykle pisze ciepło, po ludzku, przemawiając prosto do serc czytelników. [wyd.Salamandra, 1996]

Unleashed by ancient geologic forces, a magnitude 8.25 earthquake rocked San Francisco in the early hours of April 18, 1906. Less than a minute later, the city lay in ruins. Bestselling author Simon Winchester brings his inimitable storytelling abilities to this extraordinary event, exploring the legendary earthquake and fires that spread horror across San Francisco and northern California in 1906 as well as its startling impact on American history and, just as important, what science has recently revealed about the fascinating subterranean processes that produced it—and almost certainly will cause it to strike again.

In 1588 the Spanish Armada had been defeated in the English Channel and the whole of Elizabethan England was alert for the revenge that surely had to follow. Men like John Killigrew, commanding a key position on the Cornish coast, were vital to the survival of the country, and it is through the eyes of his eldest son, Maugan, that the story unfolds. Rich in action, it is also crowded with unforgettable characters, many of them based on actual historical figures. Maugan Killigrew himself emerges, through his loneliness and his love, his physical suffering in a Spanish gaol, as a touchingly honest and believable character who is, above all things, a man of his time.

The acclaimed novelist recalls the most difficult year of his life, with all its mistakes, triumphs, sadnesses, and joys: a tale about how hard it is to grow up and how the experiences of childhood shape the adults we become. At twelve, Kevin is ready to become a different person—not the boy he has always been, who cries too easily and laughs too easily, living in an otherland of sparkling daydreams and imaginary catastrophes, but someone else altogether. A Few Seconds of Radiant Filmstrip follows him over the course of a single school year as he sets out in search of himself: losing old friends and gaining new ones, happening into his first kiss, writing plays and stories, dressing as Dolly Parton for Halloween, booby-trapping his lunch to deter a thief. With the same deep feeling and oddly dreamlike precision that are the hallmarks of his fiction, Brockmeier now explores the dream of his own past, recovering the person he used to be, the friends he had, the hopes he nurtured, the doubts he hid, the secrets he kept, the books he read—everything that was once his life. He has written a singularly candid, daring, and open-hearted memoir that unfolds with the immediacy of a novel and richly recreates a particular time, place, and consciousness, one that every reader will recognize.

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Daring Debutantes, Book 1...Victoria Barclay is determined to make a difference in the world, she becomes a highwayman, robbing the rich and donating to the poor.Phineas Dartwell, Earl of Leyburn, suspects Victoria is up to no good. When she refuses to confide in him, he severs the friendship out of wounded pride and a wounded heartDaring Debutantes, Book 1...When Victoria Barclay, privileged daughter of the Viscount Grantham, has a life-altering experience as a young girl, it sets the course for the rest of her life. She is determined to make a difference in the world, no matter the consequence, and becomes a highwayman—or woman, as it were—robbing the rich and donating her pilfered gains to the poor.Life-long friend and neighbor, Phineas Dartwell, Earl of Leyburn, suspects his dear friend is up to no good. She’s become evasive, and even worse, he cares that she’s become evasive. When she refuses to confide in him, claiming it’s for his own good, he severs the friendship out of wounded pride and a wounded heart.But when Victoria’s activities are brought to light in the eyes of the magistrate, Phineas must find a way to acquit his friend—and dare he hope, future wife?—of the charges.

Union soldier Lieutenant Hixson Morris is dying on the battlefield, gut shot. But instead of dying he finds himself in the care of beautiful, mysterious Sarah Westbay who has a miraculous gift. Sarah's tragic and troubled history is turned toward a new hope and a new beginning. In saving Hixson she saves herself. Hixson learns that he can offer Sarah something that no one else can.Union soldier Lieutenant Hixson Morris is dying on the battlefield, gut shot. But instead of dying he finds himself in the care of beautiful, mysterious Sarah Westbay who has a miraculous gift. Sarah's tragic and troubled history is turned toward a new hope and a new beginning. In saving Hixson she saves herself. Hixson learns that he can offer Sarah something that no one else can.This book contains mild sexual situations and a reference to violence, but is not extremely explicit.

Martin West thinks the world is against him. His parents are furious with him for fighting in school and leave him with his bible-quoting youth pastor for four days! Martin’s anger soon reaches the boiling point, and he takes it out on everyone around him. The message of God’s love challenges Martin to consider his choices, but will it be enough to stop him from taking revenge?Martin West is an angry teen living in the quiet city of Logoria. He gets away with a lot of bad behavior, but after starting a fight in his high school’s cafeteria, his parents have had enough. They send him away during his week of suspension, and Martin has to deal with the consequences of his out of control behavior. Guided by the cautious words of his youth pastor and the prayers of his parents, Martin finally comes face to face with his true self. Brought to a turning point in his life, Martin has to decide between forsaking the path of his past and embracing a new way. His predicament leaves him with two painfully conflicting decisions: either give in to the flesh or submit fully to God.

Gabrielle Décarie was over arrogant men – but that didn’t mean she couldn’t have a little fun with one. When she took a chance on Alex Blake, it was supposed to be a one-night deal. He was too cocky, too flirty and too complicated. Sand Jewels is the story of why she fell madly in love with him anyway.