They are all frantic, saying it's the end of the world. He thinks the dumb computer geeks are crazy and he just wants to go back to sleep, but then they turn on the TV news and his world changes. Zombies are running amok. There was a full-scale nuclear exchange overnight, followed up with a biological weapon attack. He just wants to get home to his family. The three of them are convinced the skills they learned playing the video game Zombie Hunter will serve them well. It quickly proves nothing like the game, and there are a lot of zombies between them and home. Kyle fights his way through the undead and other survivors, with his friends by his side. Their desire is to get back to their small home town before the zombies get their families. And then the next wave of attacks hit and the lights go out. Total Apoc Trilogy: The Horde Rises Fighting the Horde Horde Ravaged About the Author: Tom Gallier was born in Beaumont, Texas, to Texan/Cajun parents. He served 7 years in an Armored Cavalry Regiment (11th ACR Blackhorse Regiment), learning no useful skills. After the Army he went back to school to study electronics, figuring that would be a profession with job security. In 2008 he was laid off. It wasn’t the first time or last time he was wrong. But while in school, and holding down a full time job, he began writing in his spare time. In the mid-nineties he had his first short story sale and publication. He shares his life with his wife and their Yorkie American Princess. He writes Fantasy short stories and novels under “Tom Gallier” and Urban Fantasy under “TW Gallier.”

    Baba Yaga is a witch famous throughout Russia for eating children, but this Babushka Baba Yaga is a lonely old woman who just wants a grandchild?to love."Kids will respond to the joyful story of the outsider who gets to join in, and Polacco's richly patterned paintings of Russian peasant life on the edge of the woods are full of light and color." -- Booklist"A warm, lively tale, neatly mixing new and old and illustrated with Polacco's usual energetic action, bright folk patterns, and affectionate characterizations." --Kirkus Reviews

    Zvorykin left Russia after the Revolution and settled finally in Paris, where he found employment in the publishing house of H. Piazza. At some point in the 1920s, years after the Russia he knew had disappeared, he made the original of this book as a present for his employer, Louis Fricotelle. He translated four Russian fairy tales into French, writing them out in beautiful calligraphy and illustrating them on heavy vellum pages, which he then bound in red Moroccan leather embossed with Russian motifs. It was a gift of gratitude for a new life, celebrating all he valued and missed in the old.Fifty years later Andreas Brown of the Gotham Book MArt brought this luxurious manuscript to the attention of Jacqueline Onassis (who also edited In the Russian Style) and The Viking Press, where it was decided to issue the book in a format that would make it accessible to the public. All the splendid illustrations - vivid in color, detail, and not least of all, whimsy - are reproduced from the original art. The stories - The Firebird, Maria Morevna, The Snow Maiden, and Vassilissa the Fair - spiced with quintessentially Russian images and supernatural beings, are based on existing English translations that have been modified to preserve the flavor of Zvorykin's versions.

    Many play for power and fame; others play to escape the pain and loneliness of real life. One boy, paralyzed at birth, knows no other world. For Ben Shepherd, Verdia is home. The Shepherd is Verdia’s most famous and mysterious blacksmith, constructing armor and weapons for elite and wealthy players while hiding from public view. Players ponder the Shepherd’s true identity, and Ben creates his masterpieces in isolation. Ben discovers friendship in the form of an enormous white wolf - a creature unique in all of Verdia. As news of the boy and his wolf spreads, Ben becomes the target of greed, envy, and fear; Ben’s tranquil life is shattered. A band of strangers, united by compassion, will battle a perilous landscape and unrelenting enemies to deliver the Shepherd and his wolf to a new home. To succeed, they must enlist the help of an enemy - a player who is as powerful as he is hated. They will discover that a small group of friends can face impossible odds, and that a hero can hide beneath a villain’s mask.

    Will the two boys be able to work together to defeat evil and restore peace to Avantia? Whether you're already a fan of Beast Quest and/or Sea Quest or new to the books, you'll love this exciting adventure story!

    Every day Sukey wakes at dawn to work in the garden. All her step-pa ever does is watch her and yell if she so much as stops to fan herself. Sukey's ma calls him Mister Jones. Sukey prefers the name Mister Hard-Times. One day, Sukey runs away to her secret place by the ocean. There, she calls up Mama Jo, a beautiful black mermaid. Mama Jo's got a surprise for Sukey; a magical kingdom beneath the sea without time or pain. But it's also without people. Is it really better than the world above?

    He sleeps in a real bed and eats real food and only jumps into Neuroma to work. All he wanted was to log in, work and log out and live in general obscurity. Getting the attention of a CEO, meeting a stranger in real life, and forced to play in a secret game of corporations were not penciled into his calendar. While that was bad, he started to question whether Odditek was still in control, or had their complacency created the noose tightening around their neck. Bran was not yet aware of the choice before him. He could no longer stand back and watch, and he had to pick a side and fight before he lost the ability to choose. Would he recognize the inevitable in time? Was it possible to make a ‘correct’ choice, or had the lines blurred so much that hero and villain were indistinguishable? This novel is part of an Odditek series and is a LitRPG novel. I realize it’s the first Odditek series, but more are coming. This series started as a companion series to a book called Lantern Online. I wanted a way to build up the world as it now exists, and to explain what Odditek is. Neuroma and Nerves are mentioned in Lantern Online, and I felt all that information was taking away from my story and is mostly not relevant, but good to know information. I took a lot of it out and added it to this series. Anyway, out of that came Office Wars. I hope it's different than most LitRPG you will read, and brings another dimension to the genre. Explicit language! I will not lie, there is a satirical nature to this story, and a lot of the language and scenarios are morally questionable on purpose. In this story and I use a lot of curse words and controversial commentary. Just look on Facebook or any half a dozen social media sites, and you will see similar language, conversations, and other nonsense. If we all moved into a digital world, this is how I view that world.

    She isn’t the best at school or at sports, and her most remarkable talents are squeezing into tight places and touching her nose with her tongue. This is why Poppy never expects that on her 12th birthday, she will learn something perfectly extraordinary. She is a genie!But genie privileges, such as living in a bottle and granting wishes, don’t come automatically. Poppy must pass all of her classes at Tweenie Genie School—and manage to keep her new identity a complete and total secret. Training to be a genie is hard work. Can Poppy do it?

    In the end they burned the people. Karen was only nine when it started. Five years later she is watching the smoke rise from her parent's cremation with her younger brother and sister. She needs to find them somewhere safe. It won't be easy. Food is scarce. Militias round up the survivors to take them to death camps. Helicopters and drones patrol the sky on search and destroy missions. Rebels roam the countryside pillaging from the innocent for the supposed greater good, and vile opportunists prey on the weakest of the survivors. She has to get them off the mainland to a place the Loop hasn't touched. She knows where to go. It's a five hundred mile journey. It seems impossible. She doesn't know if they can make it. She calls it Shetland.

    Ella had sworn to watch over her father and care for him. But then her father had married anew. Her stepmother and two stepsisters took sharp delight in causing Ella grief from morn to eve. They bullied her, called her Cinderella, and treated her as little more than a slave in her own home. It took all of Ella's courage to swallow the insults and to honor her word. Now the crown prince had returned home from the battlefront, and a ball was announced to celebrate his arrival. All eligible young women from the entire kingdom were invited to attend. Ella had but one desire left. To see the king's gardens one last time before she fled home. It would be a final way to commemorate her beloved mother before considering her vow's terms to be complete. She had no idea what waited her on that arched stone bridge ... * * * Cinderella - A Retelling with Strength and Courage is Book 1 of a gently cliff-hangered short story series. The series honors the original intention of the Grimm Fairy Tales - to present women of strength and courage tackling challenges which seemed insurmountable. With each new book a new heroine is interwoven into the story. The series sequence leads up to a happily ever after ending. The series is clean romance and is suitable for teens and up. Half of all author's proceeds benefit battered women's shelters. I publish my books one at a time to get feedback and suggestions as I go. If you prefer to read your stories complete, you are welcome to wait until the sequence is complete and then buy the box set. Either way, you support the cause! I have been working on these stories for many years. As fairy tales are so integral to so many young girls' lives, it was critical for me to do my very best to present each heroine in a way which honored her strength and showcased her ability to stand on her own. I feel strongly that no woman should ever sit around waiting for a man to "rescue" them. They should not endure abusive behavior in the hopes that a man will change or magically become that prince. Be the change you wish to see in the world. I have a library of over 300 books running the gamut from medieval romance to cozy mystery, from mythology to fairy tale to Biblical retellings. Most of my series benefit battered women's shelters. Please contact me with any questions!

    A collection of Bengali folk tales with 32 color illustrations by Warwick Goble.

    . . for better or for worse.WANTED: The most evil, wicked, abhorrent, vile villain to ever curse this world . . . or any others. A villain acting vile is merely part of the job description . . . but which of Disney’s famed scoundrels is the evilest of them all? Dive into the devilish thoughts of The Evil Queen, Jafar, Ursula, and more as they recall their most wicked achievements. With gatefolds and lift-the-flaps, readers can dive into minds of the best of the worst in this fun read for Disney fans of all ages.Villains Include... Evil Queen (Snow White) Jafar (Aladdin) Mother Gothel (Rapunzel) Lady Tremaine (Cinderella) Ursula (The Little Mermaid) Scar (Lion King) Cruella De Vil (101 Dalmatians) Gaston (Beauty and the Beast) Malificent (Sleeping Beauty) Queen of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland) Captain Hook (Peter Pan) Hades (Hercules) Dr. Facilier (The Princess and the Frog)

    The Goon Squad 2014 Summer Special contains an introduction to the Squad, and four short stories: "Red Wolf, Red Wolf, Does Whatever a Red Wolf Can," "Changes," "No-No Dojo," and "Tale of Terror." Join Puppet Girl, the Revenant, Red Wolf, and Talos as they protect the fairly innocent, are sharply critical about modern newspapers, talk to a door in Salford, and recount the day the city nearly blew up.

    It is based on Oxford Reading Tree which is used in 80% of primary schools. Read With Biff, Chip and Kipper Level 2 Phonics storybooks have been specially written to allow children to practise their letters and sounds as they do at school. Fun plots, familiar characters and carefully levelled text create the perfect combination to build children's confidence and enjoyment of reading. Level 2 practises single letter sounds like 'f' and two letters that make one sound such as 'ff' and combining those sounds to read simple one and two syllable words. These sounds are introduced at Level 2: s a t p i n m d g o c k ck e u r h b f ff l ll ss j x y z zz. Each book includes two stories as well as practical tips and ideas for you to use when you reading with your child and fun activities. Visit the Oxford Owl website for practical advice, all you need to know about phonics and lots of fun activities and free eBooks. With plenty of support available inside the book and online phonics practice at home has never been so fun or so easy!

    (Previously published in 2011 Anthology - Every Witch Way But Wicked)