But the wilderness conceals more than one perilous mystery. Where in Wisconsin's Northwoods did the notorious gangster John Dillinger hide $210,000 following a violent FBI shootout? And why do the local timberwolves incite so much rage among Natalie's neighbors? As predators circle and howl in the dark, Ginger, the bartender at the nearby Star Lake Saloon, draws Natalie deep into the secrets not only of Dillinger but of the ecologies of family, forest, and heart. With the reluctant support of her granddaughter and advice from a handsome wolf biologist, Natalie is forced to choose between adversity and adventure. Sara Rath continues her popular Northwoods saga in this affirming and often humorous tale of romance, betrayal, and danger.

    How it was lost is a mystery that Ren has been trying to solve for his entire life, as well as who his parents are, and why he was abandoned as an infant at Saint Anthony’s Orphanage for boys. He longs for a family to call his own and is terrified of the day he will be sent alone into the world. But then a young man named Benjamin Nab appears, claiming to be Ren’s long-lost brother, and his convincing tale of how Ren lost his hand and his parents persuades the monks at the orphanage to release the boy and to give Ren some hope. But is Benjamin really who he says he is? Journeying through a New England of whaling towns and meadowed farmlands, Ren is introduced to a vibrant world of hardscrabble adventure filled with outrageous scam artists, grave robbers, and petty thieves. If he stays, Ren becomes one of them. If he goes, he’s lost once again. As Ren begins to find clues to his hidden parentage he comes to suspect that Benjamin not only holds the key to his future, but to his past as well.

    It's a place where the famous come to party like locals, the locals party like rock stars behind velvet ropes, and the press is savvy enough to know what not to report. Rachel Baum is a sheltered, career-oriented everygirl when she moves to South Beach from her quiet Miami suburb, searching for a life less ordinary. Quickly making friends among SoBe's most exclusive scenesters, she spends her days building a career and her nights building a reputation. But in a town where friends become enemies faster than highs become hangovers, the life less ordinary turns into more than Rachel bargained for. As she pursues the endless party in penthouses, dive bars, after-hours clubs, and cocaine speakeasies, Rachel struggles to balance her goals and ambitions with the decadence and excess -- especially her drug-fueled, on-again off-again relationship with Yale-graduate-turned-addict John Hood -- that threaten to destroy everything she's always worked for. With tremendous wit and razor-sharp insight, Diary of a South Beach Party Girl portrays the innermost sanctums of South Beach's privileged Beautiful People through the eyes of a no longer innocent heroine.

    Gordo) Stevens is at a new school, trying to make friends and struggling to come to terms with his parents' divorce -- and his father's new girlfriend. (Her name is Amie and she's a lot younger than Gord's dad.) It's not surprising that Gord is in no mood for a week-long school trip to a remote island marine teaching station, especially when his new "friends" plot to catch him in the old "hand-in-warm-water-pee-the-bed" trick and his mom packs his old teddy bear. But there are bigger problems on the horizon for Gord -- like the fact that the marine biologist who runs the school suddenly has to leave the island. Or the fact that their radio, the only link to the mainland, expires. Or that a pod of pilot whales is beached on the island and about to die -- unless someone can help them get back to sea.In a story that weaves action, adventure, an environmental mystery, a ghost tale, and a budding romance into one terrific read, Eric Walters also addresses with subtlety and savvy the important pre-teen issues of belonging and self-confidence, friendship and change. With its natural, realistic dialogue, believably drawn characters and exciting -- and plausible -- climax, Stranded is another kid-pleasing story from an author whose career is on a dizzying ascent.

    At seven levels, from Starter to Advanced, this impressive selection of carefully graded readers offers exciting reading for every student's capabilities. Journalist Kate Jensen is shocked when her friend Max is found murdered in Amsterdam. She goes there to search for her friend's killer and starts asking questions at the football club he owned. It soon becomes clear that someone doesn't want her to get any answers and Kate discovers that football can be a very dangerous game indeed.Paperback-only version. Also available with Audio CDs including complete text recordings from the book. Contains adult material which may not be suitable for younger readers.

    Even Trevor himself begins to doubt when his "pay it forward" plan seems to founder on a combination of bad luck and the worst of human nature.In the end, Pay It Forward is the story of seemingly ordinary people made extraordinary by the simple faith of a child. In the tradition of the successful and inspirational television show Touched by an Angel, and the phenomenally successful novel and film Forrest Gump, Pay It Forward is a work of charm, wit, and remarkable inspiration, a story of hope for today and for many tomorrows to come.

    But the thirteen chapters, each a short story in its own right, create an exquisitely observed world that is anything but sleepy. A world of Kissingeresque realpolitik enacted in boys’ games on a frozen lake; of “nightcreeping” through the summer backyards of strangers; of the tabloid-fueled thrills of the Falklands War and its human toll; of the cruel, luscious Dawn Madden and her power-hungry boyfriend, Ross Wilcox; of a certain Madame Eva van Outryve de Crommelynck, an elderly bohemian emigré who is both more and less than she appears; of Jason’s search to replace his dead grandfather’s irreplaceable smashed watch before the crime is discovered; of first cigarettes, first kisses, first Duran Duran LPs, and first deaths; of Margaret Thatcher’s recession; of Gypsies camping in the woods and the hysteria they inspire; and, even closer to home, of a slow-motion divorce in four seasons.Pointed, funny, profound, left-field, elegiac, and painted with the stuff of life, Black Swan Green is David Mitchell’s most subtlest and effective achievement to date.

    All the humans outside the Compound have either been killed or turned. Those living inside are starving. Everything else lies in ruin. The future has changed. And so has Eve. Will she be strong enough to stop Victor and Kael before they destroy them all? Or will she become the monster foretold in the past, and singlehandedly usher in a new age of terror?

    It also shows some insight into the problems of immigrants and racial issues in the United Kingdom through the eyes of Ifemelu’s first boyfriend, Obinze. The book also deals with the economic problems in Nigeria due to corruption and the lack of will of the government and the wealthy people to bring about change. Ifemelu is a Nigerian girl who gets tired of the constant strikes in her university and goes abroad to complete her education. Her experiences in both Nigeria and the United States form the basis of the book.   A Brief Look Inside: EVERY GOOD BOOK CONTAINS A WORLD FAR DEEPER than the surface of its pages. The characters and their world come alive, and the characters and its world still live on. Conversation Starters is peppered with questions designed to bring us beneath the surface of the page and invite us into the world that lives on. These questions can be used to.. Create Hours of Conversation: • Foster a deeper understanding of the book • Promote an atmosphere of discussion for groups • Assist in the study of the book, either individually or corporately • Explore unseen realms of the book as never seen before Disclaimer: This book you are about to enjoy is an independent resource to supplement the original book, enhancing your experience. If you have not yet purchased a copy of the original book, please do before purchasing this unofficial Conversation Starters. Download your copy today for a Limited Time Discount: $3.99 ($4.99) Read it on your PC, Mac, iOS or Android smartphone, tablet and Kindle devices.

    Join the entire Ransom gang as they invade Vegas for the wedding none of them ever expected to happen—and plenty of Christmas surprises!

    On the contrary, she's the total opposite. Zoe’s life has been an uphill battle for as long as she can remember. Raised by crack addict parents, life has already dealt her a bad hand and she has to do everything she can to survive – even if some of the tricks up her sleeve can land her in hot water. But twenty years old and headstrong as ever, Zoe is hell-bent on following her boyfriend Sensei – a jack boy who landed himself behind bars after being caught with stolen work - through fire and brimstone. When it comes to Sensei, Zoe is just a naïve young girl in love and she swears to hold him down. But when her boyfriend’s irresistible older brother Verse enters the scene, she is helpless against his charms and falls for him hard and fast, the other brother soon forgotten. At 38, Verse is everything Sensei wishes he was - including the boss of H-town. Although he idolizes his brother, will things change now that Verse has stolen his girl? Will Sensei still aspire to follow in Verse’s footsteps when he gets out of prison to find that Zoe’s keeping time with him? And can Zoe finally get herself together and change for the better? Find out in “Zoe and Verse”, the first volume of this epic and unforgettable Houston-based story of love, passion, betrayal, and reckoning! THIS IS A COMPLETED SERIES.

    

    Although the sisters are as different as night and day, they were taught by their father that it's always family over everything. Diem, the foul-mouthed tycoon and oldest of the three, can't seem to balance her multimillion-dollar business and personal life at the same time. Never one to back down from a challenge, her world is flipped upside down when the brother of a close friend unexpectedly catches her attention and has her questioning whether it's possible to have a romantic relationship while managing an already chaotic life. Drea has always had a thing for hot boys with big toys, especially since she totes one of her own. Whether she's at her flower shop making beautiful floral arrangements or at the gun range perfecting her skills, this quiet storm never misses her mark. That is, until a mysterious and sexy ally comes into her place of business and knocks her off her square. Ophelia loves only three things in this world: her family, her bikes, and the club. Nothing or nobody has ever come between them. She has a temper known to go from zero to one hundred in a matter of seconds, but riding and restoring bikes help to ease her mind. The two pastimes easily turn into three when a restoration job goes from strictly business to extremely personal. These ladies demand respect, not only for themselves, but for their club as well. When enemies start to surface, personalities will clash, and family motives will be questioned. Will the pressure cause these Angels to fall, or will they rise to the occasion like they've done time and time again?

    It is the late 1960s and the family enjoy an idyllic life in the Vale of Kashmir, despite the area being riddled with conflict and poverty. But after a devastating earthquake wipes out her entire family, Jaya is taken into the care of relatives in Delhi, who attempt to marry her off and keep secret from her the possibility that Tahir, her younger brother, has survived the earthquake. After escaping from the arranged marriage Jaya is put through medical training in Scotland, as she had always dreamed, and where she develops feelings for her foster family’s eldest son, Alastair, who is engaged to someone else. In the meantime, Tahir has been abducted by a band of Kashmiri freedom fighters, who have made him one of their own. Jaya finally returns to her troubled homeland to find him and come to terms with the loss of her family. Alastair, who arrives in Kashmir to announce his love for Jaya, is kidnapped by the freedom fighters, forcing her to risk everything to get him back.

    But Esther Ka’awai, a psychic and gifted wise woman is of the ancient culture. She has seen the future and knows of the devastation that will come to the island. She has warned those she loves; now all she can do is pray. As she struggles to accept this gift of knowing, Esther discovers that even the most wonderful gift can sometimes break your heart. A story of love, faith and a belief in the future.