Melissa wants to be a model—she’s beautiful, popular, and talented. There’s just one small problem—Melissa thinks she’s pregnant, and she wants Jaime’s help. But there’s not much Jaime can do. Melissa refuses to tell her parents; Jaime refuses to be the same old reliable doormat. She’s got a lead in the school play and a new friendship with Zach. Jaime is changing, too. And she’s sick of being stepped on!Fifteen-year-old Kelly McWilliams’s debut novel is an inspiring story about friendship, choices, and learning how to shine.From the Hardcover edition.

    Each story is unique, yet universal.In this book, the impact of wildfire, a wayward priest, or a mysterious disappearance ricochet across communities, threading through stories. Here, ordinary actions such as ice skating or going to church reveal hidden truths. One choice threatens a lifelong friendship. Siblings save each other. Rescue and second chances are possible, and so is revenge.On the surface, it seems that nothing ever happens in these towns. But Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock shows that underneath that surface, teenagers' lives blaze with fury, with secrets, and with love so strong it burns a path to the future.

    This book is Rated R: Adults Only. Some may find the themes addressed disturbing. Content includes child abuse, rape, suicide, murder and violence.This dark fiction collection contains 12 short stories:Skeleton in the Closet and Childlike Bride - What happens to the vulnerable when they are taken advantage of then abandoned?A Friend – A lonely ghost bears witness to a Halloween prank that ends in tragedy.Frozen and Frozen in Reverse – Parallel stories detailing an attack in the words of the victim and then the rapist.Ready or Not – What’s your idea of hell?Justice – The lengths the heartbroken will go to for justice... or revenge.Forever Young – Sometimes regrets come too late.Peace, Deals, A Great Day, A Little Girl in my Room – Four offerings of the supernatural kind.

    The night of January 5th begins; the air seems heavier, the real and the imaginary is blurred. However, what is really happening?Five teenagers head for a summer vacation to Cabo Rojo and they will be confronted with a presence more terrifying than death itself...a hideously and powerful luminescence that terrorizes and kills everything in its way.These five friends will face a storm of epic proportions, an old legend, a mysterious red light, and as if that were not enough, they must do it in a wood cabin away from any connection with civilization.A threat that looms over reality in a terrifying nightmare.All condiments for an exciting novel of horror and mystery that you will cannot stop reading.

     All come together in Beginnings and Endings, a trilogy of short stories that will bring a lump to the throat. Grits Girl explores the beginning of a lifetime of love over a favorite bowlful of breakfast. The Accident is an ironic story of how life can change in the blink of an eye. In The End of Summer, two men come to terms with their past through an unexpected detour and the innocent joy of a child. Each story is layered with unexpected twists and turns, and there’s a bonus flash fiction, Pick Me, to bring you a smile that will last the day.

    It is not an easy task, for many dangers threaten the bridge builders, from nomad raiders to Free Magic sorcerers. Despite the danger, Morghan wants nothing more than to join the Bridge Company as a cadet. But the company takes only the best, the most skillful Charter mages, and trains them hard, for the night might come when only a single young cadet must hold the bridge against many foes. Will Morghan be that cadet?Also included in this collection are eighteen short stories that showcase Nix’s versatility as he adds a fantastical twist on an array of genres including science fiction, paranormal, realistic fiction, mystery, and adventure.

    in this diverse and original collection of short stories, ten well-known writers, including Mo willems, walter Dean Myers, ron Koertge, rene salda?a, Jr., David levithan, and David lubar, share their stories about the trials and tribulations of being a guy. sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and always honest, each story portrays the reality of being an everyday guy who gets a few life lessons and still manages to come out on top.

    Tales of everyday people caught up in indomitable situations. Dread-inducing moments with an air of plausibility—while you hope to god they aren’t actually true. Urban legends, modern folklore, or creepypasta. Whatever you call them, they represent shards of our deepest anxieties as individuals, as a society.Corpse Cold: New American Folklore evokes the spirit of the campfire tales you heard as a kid. This 20-story anthology offers refreshing, mature reinterpretations of time-tested stories, and wholly original legends that explore the twisted labyrinth of modern myth. Each tale is brought to life and made all the more unsettling by the striking, grisly illustrations of artist Chad Wehrle.

    Each volume’s series editor selects notable works from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites. The guest editor then chooses the best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected – and most popular – of its kind.This special e-book sampler contains eleven selections from the 2011 editions.From The Best American Short Stories® edited by Geraldine Brooks:Housewifely Arts by Megan Mayhew BergmanPhantoms by Steven MillhauserFrom The Best American Essays® edited by Edwidge Danticat:Chapels by Pico IyerThere Are Things Awry Here by Lia PurpuraFrom The Best American Mystery Stories edited by Harlan Coben:A Crime of Opportunity by Ernest J. FinneyFrom The Best American Science and Nature Writing edited by Mary Roach:The Killer in the Pool by Tim Zimmermann, Jr.The Whole Fracking Enchilada by Sandra SteingraberFrom The Best American Sports Writing edited by Jane Leavy:The Surfing Savant by Paul SolotaroffNew Mike, Old Christine by Nancy HassFrom The Best American Travel Writing edited by Sloane Crosley: My Year at Sea by Christopher BuckleyMiami Party Boom by Emily Witt

    Ente Priyappetta Kathakal has created a revolution in Kerala culture breaking the usual norms of language in theme and illustration.

    It has a good jukebox, a bartender with a generous pour, and it's always open, even in terrible weather. In the raw and beautiful country that makes up Rebecca Barry's fictional landscape, Lucy's is where everyone ends up, whether they mean to or not.There's the tipsy advice columnist who has a hard time following her own advice, the ex-con who falls for the same woman over and over again, and the soup-maker who tries to drink and cook his way out of romantic despair. Theirs are the kinds of stories about love and life that unfold late in the evening, when people finally share their secret hopes and frailties, because they know you will forgive them, or maybe make out with them for a little while. In this rich and engaging debut, each central character suffers a sobering moment of clarity in which the beauty and sadness of life is revealed. But the character does not cry or mend his ways. Instead he tips back his hat, lights another unfiltered cigarette, and heads across the floor to ask someone to dance.A poignant exploration of the sometimes tender, sometimes deeply funny ways people try to connect, Later, at the Bar is as warm and inviting as a good shot of whiskey on a cold winter night.

    As a boy from a very poor neighborhood in Warsaw, he can't run away when Polish kids attack the Jews, because his legs are weak. So he learns to use his fists, his head and other weapons to defend himself and his brothers.When the family moves to Paris in 1929, everyone finds work and life improves slowly. Moshe, now Maurice, is a leather worker and a young husband. At a Jewish sports club, he takes up boxing, and becomes an amateur flyweight. But the war comes to Paris, and by 1942, the French police round up foreign Jews and the Germans deport them by the hundreds every day. They send Maurice to the death camp at Auschwitz.In the camp, SS officers sense Maurice's strength. They command him to box against a dying prisoner. Now Maurice is faced with an impossible moral dilemma: kill the prisoner or be killed by the SS for refusing to obey them. Or will he find a way out?Translated from French by award-winning author Jean-Jacques Greif, The Fighter isn't simply another book about the Holocaust. It is a book about a hero who discovers the death-defying power of his own humanity.

    C. Boyle is one of the most renowned storytellers of the modern era. This collection of fourteen stories drifts effortlessly between myth and reality, encompassing a panorama of human emotions. In “The Marlbane Manchester Musser Award,” Boyle reveals a writer’s dismay when a simple trip is turned upside down by a stranger. “Los Gigantes” tells the story of a group of giants being used to create a new breed of soldier for the military. In “The Way You Look Tonight” Boyle examines the way our perceptions of our loved ones can change on a dime with just a simple revelation. And in “Sic Transit” he shows how quickly we can become consumed with curiosity.Boyle travels the world in these and the rest of the stories, from California to Russia, Latin America to upstate New York, but his adept touch at depicting the lives of his characters never wavers.

    Enter the twisted world of the New York Times bestselling Asylum series with these three spine-tingling novellas starring supporting characters from the novels, available in a print bind-up for the first time.In The Scarlets, Cal is drawn into New Hampshire College’s twisted secret society—one with a deadly initiation.In The Bone Artists, Oliver tries to make a little extra money for college by working for a seedy organization that traffics in human bones.In The Warden, a young nurse starts a new job at the Brookline asylum, but soon becomes suspicious of its unorthodox procedures.…Be careful where you go digging in history. Sometimes the past is better off buried.This edition also includes a bonus sneak peek at Escape from Asylum, a prequel to the mind-bending novel that started it all.

    Recipe for death – Sam learns an important lesson about ticking off the lunch lady.Monitor Mayhem – There's something strange about the new baby monitor, but will Stephanie figure it out before it's too late?Free Five Chapter Extended Preview of Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb:When life gives you lemons, kill zombies—turns out lemon juice neutralizes the undead. Best friends Nathan & Misty return home to discover the military has destroyed the bridges out of their rural town & everyone's fled—except a small horde of zombies.Even with the help of the town geek, they'll need more then lemonade-powered Super-Soakers; they'll need the Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb. These stories are not recommended for kids under 8.