Multibillionaire Goddard Moss has a vision: a city rising tall on the South Dakota prairie dedicated to Art. Not art of the staid, traditional, edifying, entertaining variety, but the Modern—modern painting, modern theater, modern sculpture, modern dance, all as obscure, pretentious, and offensive as its creators can make it (and with luck, government-funded). As Culture City rises from the grassy fields, playwrights, performers, and artists prepare for the gala opening week. Gregory Lubin's expansive stage re-creation of the Tower of Babel story is awaited with particular anticipation. But revolution is brewing just yards beyond the city walls and as far away as rural Maine. Despite the money being lavished on it, it becomes doubtful that "the Artland in the Heartland" will survive past its premiere.

    Without hope, a horse, or even a pistol, Edgar gambles on a chance meeting with someone that will turn things around. Fortunately, luck smiles on him when he is assigned with the simple task of accompanying a cattle baron's livestock to another town. Little does he know that amongst the cattle there is a cargo much more valuable, that will get him into trouble and will put his life in grave peril. What will Edgar be willing to risk in order to accomplish a mission that isn't as innocent as it first seemed? Will he manage to protect the valuable shipment and defeat a murderous gang that disperses fear in its wake?While Edgar is running for his life, he crosses paths with his boss's daughter, who, determined to prove her worth, disguises herself and jumps on the same train with him. When Edgar discovers her true identity, he will do whatever it takes to protect her from the vicious outlaws who have invaded the train. The more time they spend together, the more he realizes that her braveness and wit have made him lose his mind. But as long as criminals are after them and his life is at stake, he has no time for love. Will Edgar help Rose survive the treacherous journey? Will he manage to get out of this train safe and sound, despite the endless challenges he encounters?Fierce crossfires and an unprecedented hide and seek, take Edgar and Rose on an adventure that will remain indelible in their minds. Will they endure the wild ride across the frontier west? Or will overpowering forces ruin their chance at happiness once and for all?A pulse-pounding drama, which will make you turn the pages with bated breath until the very last word. A must-read for fans of Western action and romance."Menace in the Mysterious Train" is a historical adventure novel of approximately 60,000 words. No cliffhangers, only pure unadulterated action.

    It's nothing like the suburb you might live in . . . Unless, that is, an insane, Listerine-guzzling Realtor sold you your house? Or perhaps your postman happens to have a disturbing relationship with his claw hammer? A grieving Dan LaBarbara knows something is different in Helltown as soon as he comes back home. Yeah, sure, the town always been a little off. You can feel that about the place, like if you stepped into a house whose only occupants were freshly murdered corpses in an upstairs bedroom. But this is something else entirely. Standing in his little brother Barbie's basement workshop, holding one of those dioramas Barbie's been building since the accident, the ones that seem to move when you hold them, Dan can feel Barbie's terror. Barbie must know something is coming, something big, something evil. He's trying to warn Dan in the only way he knows. Why else would Barbie build a diorama depicting a man-sized version of a cartoon rabbit with bloody teeth about to devour a trembling teenager? Why else would he spend so much time crafting an intricate model of Death standing over a pimply teenager in the school library? And let's not even talk about that little model of the mob of undead surrounding the massive tower of vicious black spines behind the high school. Hilltown has a story to tell, and the lonely brain-damaged man who builds magical dioramas in his basement workshop has been telling it all along. As the evil closes in around them, Dan and his new love interest Jessica must do the impossible: save everyone one in Hilltown before it's too late.

    . . a real page turner' Sheila Newberry 1860s London Orphaned at a young age, Rosa has always looked out for her younger sister, Grace, protecting her from the dangers and bullies of the workhouse.So when Grace is suddenly faced with a world without Rosa, she finds herself alone and forced to make difficult decisions about her future. Can she really walk away from everything she has built to protect the children Rosa has left behind?Returning to the gang-ruled streets of south-east London, Grace is determined to build a better future for herself and for the children of Bell Lane - no matter what the cost . . .

    It takes him from the Hasinai Caddo villages of eastern Spanish Tejas to the Rocky Mountains and parts in between. Along the way, he encounters colorful and unsavory frontiersmen, hostile and friendly Indians as well as struggles with wild nature. But he also finds loyal friends and unconditional love.

    She’s thrilled when she’s asked to help with the Christmas program the Amish school is putting on—even more so when she finds Lucas Wickey has also volunteered to help. Despite being “slow,” Lucas can sing better than anyone in Swan Creek Settlement. As her feelings for him grow, she must decide what’s more important—what everyone else thinks, or what she’s hearing from her heart. Approximately 22,000 words

    At the turn of eighteenth-century England, a spirited young woman copes with the suit of a snobbish gentleman as well as the romantic entanglements of two of her four sisters.

    Drawing on Michael Morpurgo’s own childhood experience of first seeing his real father on television, My Father Is a Polar Bear tells the story of two young brothers rediscovering their birth father in the most unlikely of places – and in an entirely unexpected guise! A warm and delightful tale of family bonds and love told by a master storyteller and beautifully illustrated by a talented new artist.

    Having mastered the first day of school, the two are embarking further on the perilous journey of life. Like all of us, they encounter many FORKS IN THE ROAD and UPHILL BATTLES—but they also find that there’s no better time than right now to REACH FOR THE STARS and SHOOT FOR THE MOON. And just as with his Butterflies in My Stomach, Bloch’s witty art—a wonderful mix of whimsical line drawings and photography—will delight, charm, and inspire.

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    An ugly duckling spends an unhappy year ostracized by the other animals in the barnyard before he grows into a beautiful swan.

    She gets squashed between her siblings when they argue. She never gets called "big and sensible" or "cutesy-wootsy." Sometimes she even feels invisible. One day she gets so fed up, she decides to run away. Luckily, Martha meets a wise frog who points out that the middle is the best bit — the tasty seeds in the sunflower, the sweet peas in the pod, the juiciest part of a watermelon. With beguiling warmth and humor, Jan Fearnley reassures children that being in the middle of things is a choice spot after all.

    Large, beautiful and rather lonely. He tries hard to make friends but, being so high up, he appears aloof and distant. Something has got to give, and in a little time it does! Discover how Balloon ends up happier, if somewhat changed ... ---- The full cover spread illustration, of the paperback edition, is included as a bonus

    side at the top, and shot into the next hollow, twisting in the descent. A huge swell pushed up exactly under her middle, and her bow and stern hung free with nothing to support them. Then one joking wave caught her up at the bow, and another at the stern, while the rest of the water slunk 251 away from under her just to see how she would like it; so she was held up at her two ends only, and the weight of the cargo and the machinery fell on the groaning iron keels and bilge-stringers. "Ease off! Ease off, there!" roared the garboard-strake. "I want one-eighth of an inch fair play. D' you hear me, you rivets!" "Ease off! Ease off!" cried the bilge-stringers. "Don't hold us so tight to the frames!" "Ease off!" grunted the deck-beams, as the Dimbula rolled fearfully. "You've cramped our knees into the stringers, and we can't move. Ease off, you flat-headed little nuisances." Then two converging seas hit the bows, one on each side, and fell away in torrents of streaming thunder. "Ease off!" shouted the forward collision-bulkhead. "I want to crumple up, but I'm stiffened in every direction. Ease off, you dirty little forge-filings. Let me breathe!" All the hundreds of plates that are riveted to the frames, and make the outside skin of every steamer, echoed the call, for each plate wanted to shift and creep a little, and each plate, according to its position, complained against the rivets. "We can't help it! We can't help it!" they murmured in reply. "We're put here to hold you, and we're going to do it; you never pull us twice in the same direction. If you'd say what 252 you were going to do next, we'd try to meet your views." "As far as I could feel," said the upper-deck planking, and that was four inches thick, "every single iron near me was pushing or pulling in opposite directions. Now, what's the sense of that? My friends, let us all pull together." "Pull any way you please," roared the funnel, "so long as you don't try your experiments on me. I...