Before Midnight revisits Cinderella's story in France, Golden puts a new spin on Rapunzel's romance, and Wild Orchid reimagines the Chinese tale of Mulan. With so much real-life drama in today's busy world, Once allows readers to escape into whimsical realms where every story has a happily ever after.

    Rock-climbing walls on the playground and golden bowls of candy on every desk? Gourmet meals in the cafeteria, served by waiters? Optional homework and two recess periods a day? It's every kids's dream.But Lorelei and her new friend Andrew are pretty sure it's too good to be true. Together they uncover a sinister mystery, one with their teacher, the beautiful Ms. Morrigan, at the very center.Then Andrew disappears. Lorelei has to save him, even if that means facing a past she'd like to forget – and taking on a teacher who's a real witch.What Lorelei and Andrew discover chills their bones – and might even pick them clean!

    Tinker Bell and the other fairies have always known it was dangerous to venture into the Winter Woods. But what happens when Tink's curiousity gets the best of her? Girls ages 8 to 12 can find out by reading this Junior Novelization, complete with eight pages of full-color movie stills.

    . . and a terrible spell.Princess Meriel’s brothers have been cursed. An evil enchantment cast by their conniving new stepmother has transformed the handsome princes into swans. They now swim forlornly on a beautiful heart-shaped lake that lies just beyond the castle walls.Meriel will do whatever it takes to rescue her beloved brothers. But she must act quickly. If Heart Lake freezes, her brothers will be forced to fly south or perish.With help from her newfound friends Riona and Liam—a beautiful half-witch and her clever brother—Meriel vows to finish a seemingly impossible task. If she completes it, her brothers may be saved. But if she fails . . . all will be lost.

    M. Barrie's beloved novel. Far from it. It's a defense of the world's most famous pirate, told by the man himself.Captain Hook has reason and wit behind his hatred for Peter Pan. If only someone would listen.

     But that's not what happens. Mom and dad take off on their own, leaving Alex and Katie in a creepy old house with their weird Aunt Karina. Alex is upset and disappointed and thinks that his summer is ruined. But then, he and Katie discover Aunt Karina's magical library and an old fireplace. At the back of the fireplace is a secret door, a portal into the magical world of the Firebird. Ready for some excitement, Alex and Katie jump through the portal and ran off into the meadow looking for the Firebird and fun adventures. Instead, they find Baba Yaga, the Russian witch. Or, rather, she finds them as they lose their way in the dark forest. "We got a little lost," Alex says to Baba Yaga. "And now you may get a little eaten!" Baba Yaga responds and takes a step closer...

    One wish. Unimaginable consequences.Not all fairytales are for children.Antoinette and Jacqueline have little in common beyond a mutual antipathy for their paranoid, domineering mother, a bond which has united them since childhood. In the aftermath of a savage betrayal, Antoinette lands on her sister’s doorstep bearing a suitcase and a broken heart. But Jacqueline, the ambitious would-be manager of a trendy Melbourne art gallery, has her own problems – chasing down a delinquent painter in the sweltering heat of a Brisbane summer. Abandoned, armed with a bottle of vodka and her own grief-spun desires, Antoinette weaves a dark and desperate magic that can never, ever be undone.Their lives swiftly unravelling, the two sisters find themselves drawn into a tangle of lies, manipulations and the most terrible of family secrets.The Aurealis and Australian Shadows award-winning novel by the author of Madigan Mine and Caution: Contains Small Parts.

    She’s endured the stares and whispers by shutting everyone out. No one really knows what happened that terrible day eight years ago, Gianna barely believes it herself. However, when her childhood friend, Hunter, returns he starts dredging up old memories…and emotions.Not everyone is happy the two friends have found each other and memories of their tragic past only threaten to drive the two further apart. Can Gianna trust someone who so easily forgot about her once before? But as Hunter’s memories begin to resurface they realize things may have been better where they were…in the past. Could the childhood fairy tales be real?Twisted is the first installment in A Twisted Fairy Tale Novella Series.

    Cooney does. In this collection of seventeen poems - four never before published! - you'll find goblins, crones, robber brides, coyotes, and even a sea king. Cooney draws from folklore and myth to create something entirely her own, something glimpsed only in Faerie. From the raucous and bawdy to the sorrowful dirge, these poems will work upon you like a spell. But don't take the publisher's word for it! Hearken to the words of JANE YOLEN, winner of the Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction/Fantasy Poetry Association: "Cooney is drunk on words, and we readers drink a toast to her as well." Or perhaps you prefer to heed SHARON SHINN, author of THE SHAPE-CHANGER'S WIFE: "C.S.E. Cooney piles up words and rhymes and glittering images like so much sea glass on the shore. Sublime, sublime-o." Or maybe DELIA SHERMAN, author of THE FREEDOM MAZE: "This is a poetry collection like no other I've ever read." If those folk can't convince you, then you'll just have to read the book yourselves.

    because happily ever after is just the beginning of real life.Once upon a time in the quaint, forgotten coastal town of Joyce, Washington Emmy Burns existed in the middle of an inconsequential life that resembled a small-town fairy tale; days filled with caring for her daughter Avery, running her small but thriving pottery store, married to the only man she had ever loved.  But all of that changed when the fog rolled out one beautiful morning, leaving emptiness where Emmy had stood only the day before. She had seemingly and without a sound vanished into the thick misty air of the Pacific Northwest, taking with her a lifetime of secrets.In the aftermath Stephen Burns is content telling the police his wife must have simply chosen to walk away from him and their daughter. But Sidney Ruth, Emmy's closest friend, knows the truth. Sidney is the one person who had watched as the vines grew around the dark forest that was the Burn's marriage trapping Emmy inside and keeping everyone who loved her out.Years of abuse has led to this moment. As the days unfurl so do the secrets Emmy kept walled away, leaving the people of Joyce wondering: What really happened to Emmy Burns in her happily ever after?

    Inside, he encounters the Count who lives there, a strange old man who begins to talk. And as the Count does, the visitor learns of an ancient legend, of the noble family's mysterious secret, and of the curse that overshadows them...

    This title collects the issues numbered 1-50 of the hit independent series.

    But it wasn’t her curse to bear: Gray, the witch’s daughter, was meant for that lonely fate. Gray visits Zelda each day, mourning their switched fates, and falling deeper in love with the cursed girl, until one night, at the Not-There Fair, an extraordinary creature outlines a magical plan that could set both of them free. Will Gray’s love for Zelda be strong enough to survive the strange dream world of Chimera, or will Zelda remain a prisoner of the curse forever?The novella BRAIDED is the lesbian retelling of the classic fairy tale Rapunzel. It is part of the series SAPPHO’S FABLES: LESBIAN FAIRY TALES.

    There’s her first prom to look forward to, she can drive, and most important Connor Prince has finally noticed her. But unfortunately so has the school snob, Katrina Melville, who goes out of her way to make Maggie’s life a living hell. If that’s not enough, Maggie’s grandma has decided to retire, which doesn’t seem like such a big deal. That is until she finds out her grandma is a Fairy Godmother, and not just any Fairy Godmother. The Fairy Godmother, as in Cinderella, pumpkins, and mice. And she has informed Maggie that she’s next in line to become the new Fairy Godmother.At first Maggie is excited, the whole getting wings, flying (or rather trying not to crash), and a wand that lets her grant wishes. It’s like being a superhero, without all the action, explosions, and spandex. Then she gets her first assignment, Katrina Melville, her nemesis. And if that doesn’t make her want to poof herself into oblivion, she finds out that part of Katrina’s happily-ever-after is Connor Prince. Life is so unfair. Even worse, she can’t tell her two best friends about any of it and they’re getting sick of her disappearing acts. Then there are the dangerous creatures, called Grimms who will stop at nothing to keep the happy endings from being fulfilled, even if it means destroying the Fairy Godmother responsible. With time running out, Maggie has to make this wish come true or it will ruin the fates of everyone involved, and open the world to darkness beyond imagination. Maggie will soon find out what it truly means to be a Fairy Godmother—and it isn’t all about princes, gowns, and wings, but something much more.

    Faryn would rather make shoes. Shoes are predictable. They don't change shape or try to bite him. But when he awakens a feathered serpent inscribed on a golden disc, nearly losing some fingers in the process, he doesn't get a choice. After his uncle-who has a bad habit of dying-is fatally poisoned, Faryn's family packs him off to the King's Seat to learn magic and find his place as his uncle's heir. What he discovers instead is a knack for making magical shoes, that turning a girl into a goose is a bad way to make friends-and dying her bright blue only aggravates matters, sinister apples that enchant all the maidens at court, and a royal edict to undo the apples' magic if he wants to keep his head. As magic propels him onward, Faryn finds himself locked in a dungeon fashioning shoes out of the shadows so he can escape. It is then that Faryn realizes that people severely underestimate the power of shoes, and he must exploit that weakness if he's to save the kingdom.

    With the help of the eccentric, Dr. Tan, North is transported in and out of dark fairy tale worlds, through a portal in a magical amber room in a hospital. Guided by a feisty fairy, Rosie Boots, they journey through the sinister pages of Charles Perrault's classic fairy tales - The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, Little Red Riding Hood and Blue Beard. Inside these bleak, unforgiving, worlds, North must steal a series of amber treasures with ancient healing properties that can wake India from her coma. When India's condition does not improve, North realises that all is not as it seems in the twisted reality of the Amber Room, but knows that he must unravel the dark secrets within its walls if he is to save his sister and escape with his life.

    Her father just died, her stepmother Evangeline is evil, her professors already hate her, and a frog named Bert keeps talking to her. Then there’s her growing attraction to the accident-prone Aiden, who tries to explain magic murdered her father and it was trying to kill her, too.Janie learns her father’s death was due to a fairy trying to restore the magic bound by Janie’s ancestors, the Brothers Grimm. Now the target of this fairy’s bid to regain power, Janie has only the protection of the mysterious Holder of the Legacy, the members of the F.A.B.L.E.S. organization, and the promises Evangeline made to Janie’s father before his death... but will it be enough?

    Bound by an invisible bond, they are thrust into a fantastical world of pirates and demons.James Benedict is a just man haunted by evil. Pushed to the edge, everything stripped from him, a new man arises . . . a man whose name strikes fear into the hearts of all who hear it: "Captain Hook".Eileen Davis was a timid woman. Through a fateful cruise she finds herself in the company of the Captain of the Mistral Thief. With his guidance, and the meddling of the local barista, she eventually finds her inner strength.Will the two of them unite through time to fulfill the promise of their ancestors or will tempers ignite leading all to failure?

    Manhattan transplant, now living in the small Vermont village of Latimer Falls. She’s got her work cut out for her when ruthless terrorists come a-calling! As the war on terror invades her idyllic Vermont village and its pastoral way of life, threatening its good citizens, Gabby refuses to surrender.... As the only female deputy in the eight-member Latimer Falls Sheriff's Department, Gabby Grimm knows how to handle men. Armed with a degree in psychology and trained in law enforcement, she's accustomed to using her head to solve the community's problems, whether it's an escaped cow, young pranksters out to have fun, or a local resident who's had a snootful. But her world is mercilessly turned upside down in less than 24 hours, starting with a killer kiss from a mysterious masked man in the woods in the middle of an unexpected shoot-out. Seasonal resident Jonathan Klarsfeld is brutally murdered at his lakeside cabin while working on an antiterrorist software program for Ramparts Manufacturing, his family taken hostage. Sent to the Klarsfeld cabin to check out a report of suspicious activity, Gabby and her cohort, Woody, are just in time to witness a powerful explosion and discover the body. Enter Sam Hogan, Army counter-terrorism specialist. He shakes, rattles, and rolls his way into her world with a flash bang! With gumption and guts, she and her colleagues join forces with Sam and the Vermont State Police to wage their own campaign on the bad guys, hoping to rescue the Klarsfeld family in time. In the breathless blink of an eye, the wild chase is on and all bets are off on what happens next!

    Each sepia-tinted story follows Allister, a mustachioed adventurer/wanderer/philosopher, on his journey through the early 20th century. He enlists in World War I, witnesses the awe and terror of the first escalator, becomes the most subtle of anarchists, dances with a bronze statue of Joan of Arc and even meets Winston Churchill (but not the Winston Churchill you may be thinking of-if, indeed, you think of Winston Churchill). All the while, Allister is on a constant search to find the simple answers to the big questions and the complex answers to the small.For more about Allister's world, including historical assumptions and audio stories scored by an eclectic mix of independent musicians, check out the official website: http://www.fairweatherbelle.com

    Though they, themselves, soon start dropping like flies, as rumors spread on the suspicious whispers of the people. Mrs. Deedly and Mrs. Dummley – who are absolutely not sisters – just want to find what their long, unwieldy scarf has snagged during their walk through Lower Rung. It's a boot, attached to a foot, attached to a dying man in the cemetery. At the same time, Bogart Bugly of Rainbow Tower has found himself a young, injured, gem of a girl, and he's going to make gold on this one. In the Palace, the newly promoted Lord Septimus has his own ideas about the future of the city and its Queen.Mystery, murder, and mayhem all abound in The Eternal Queen, which follows a young girl named Red, a mischievous rogue named Wolf, and the determined new Lord who calls himself Hunter. As Red opens her eyes to a world she can't quite understand, she must come to terms with the Queen, the city, and the precarious relationship the two have shared for centuries.

    Most girls spend their whole lives trying to be beautiful, Calla already is…and she hates it.When she is shipped off one summer to live with family friends in their dilapidated Mississippi plantation, Calla is faced with the prospect of living with strangers and their teenage son. This is annoying because, like any other boy, he is sure to fall in love with her on sight. However, Griffin Davenport is not your typical teenage guy. With his hot temper and half of his face severely scarred, “hate at first sight” is closer to what she finds.Though the two teens try to stay out of each other’s way, an odd attraction to each other makes staying away anything but easy.Now, Calla must deal with growing feelings, her own prejudices, and finding the secret to Griffin’s past. As hate turns to friendship and friendship becomes something more, Calla learns a startling truth: God uses even how we look in His plan for our lives.

    Prehistoric landscapes blend with genuine and imaginary anthropology; the real world becomes distorted through the dark mirrors of folktale and myth; fraudsters, liars, and con-men lurk perpetually in the shadows. This panorama is emotional, too, most vividly in the collection's centrepiece: the sequence 'Vaisala and Sinuhe', charting an astronomy professor's infatuation with one of his postgraduate students, who may or may not be a werewolf. Pared-down, playful and often very funny, Clegg's poetry keeps faith with what is tactile and tangible (moss, leather, bone), distilling plainspoken diction, luminous imagery and a unique worldview into lines which remain in the head for a long while after the book has been closed.

    But then a night-club singer warned me that my father was going to disappear—and the next day he did, leaving my apartment trashed and full of poisonous dog-demons that nobody but my brother & I could see. That’s not even the weird part. What’s weird is the boy from my French class who first tried to drown me, and then saved my life. What’s weird is the Rose Queen, a real-life fairy queen with the hots for my dad and who wants to destroy the world. What’s extra-oh-my-god-seriously? weird are the dozens of fairy tale characters who are A) real and B) not as innocent as I remember. Now I’m being chased by demons and wicked princes and racing to meet a deadline set a thousand years ago.Welcome to my life. My name is Kat Finnegan, I’m 17, and this is the part where the chaos begins.

    The sun never sets in the realm of the fairies. When the young fairy Serina looks into her sister’s eyes, she sees darkness for the first time. After her mother is murdered, Serina defies fairy law to follow her sister to the human realm. There she discovers the strength of a bond, the weight of a promise, and the darkness in her own heart. Scales is part of the three-novella collection, Bonded by Michelle D. Argyle and is no longer available as an individual title.

    From mermaids and sea serpents to deadly pin pricks and crying icons, these 13 stories stretch the boundaries of reality while exploring the search for answers where there are none. Experience sorrow and disappointment as the title story, "A Floating World" inverts the "The Little Mermaid" through a woman born without feet whose relationship with a surgeon has unexpected consequences. Imagine the conflicted feelings of a seamstress who dissects wedding gowns when she is given a magical dress almost too beautiful to destroy in "Violets, Covered in Snow." Explore abandonment, when, in "Eternity in Ice" a young girl's lover deserts her for a mysterious woman with blue hair, and the anticipation and wonder of a woman who travels to Iceland to admit her adultery, only to find herself enchanted by fields of floating garbage and tales of sea serpents. Revisit "Sleeping Beauty" with the story of a young man who drugs his girlfriend in an effort to act out the fairy tale. And follow a beautiful model who risks her life to retrieve a family artifact from Chernobyl in "Our Lady of Wormwood" as she is stalked by corrupt soldiers and mysterious shadows. Best's final offering to the reader, her essay "Once Upon A Time," wraps up the reader's journey by exploring the uses of Fairy Tale elements in modern fiction. A Floating World entrances with wonder, unexpected beauty and a passionate belief in the magical -- and haunts with longing, entrapment, and an unfulfilled search for meaning.

    Readers from ages 8 to 12 can relive all the magic of Disney'Cinderella—the most celebrated Disney Princess movie of all time! This junior novelization retells the whole fantastic fairy tale and features full-color scenes from the film.

    You're lying if you don't. Fourteen year old Piper has tried to keep her secret hidden. Everyone who finds out always winds up dead. Only the man in the dark suit knows the truth. A man she only met once. The man who made her what she is today. The man who bit her.But that's all about to change.Piper Glendale is on the run from the moon as her secret Sister Wolf wars with her. Fighting for control, Piper tries to keep her buried deep inside. But sometimes her sister breaks free.Escaping from an institution, The Sister Wolf claws her way out. On the run her powerful body runs dry. The sun has finally risen. Piper has regained control.Awaking in a cemetery, she prowls through the grave stones in search for food and shelter. Overlooking a hill, Piper sees a boy. A boy who is about to change her life. A boy in a faded red hood.Based on the beloved children's classic Little Red Riding Hood, Ryder is a modern retelling with a twist.

    When a farm-girl of uncommon beauty becomes queen, a hag of unrelenting spite conspires to take everything from her: her husband, his kingdom and the baby daughter she so desperately desires.This is an expanded retelling of the all-too-short version of Snow White by the Brothers Grimm, keeping the spine of the classic tale and told with the same macabre spirit.Suitable for adults and children alike!