Alice has mixed feelings about her surprising transformation.On the plus side: Chris Thompson, the hot college guy she has a crush on, talks to her.On the minus side: Her dad's creepy friend, professional athlete Karl Bell, lets his eyes, and his hugs, linger too long.After a disturbing encounter in a dark hallway, Alice realizes the response some men have to her new body isn’t just disgusting, it’s dangerous. Her life is further complicated by her parents’ crumbling finances and the family’s entanglement with Karl.Set in Pittsburgh in 1992, Wasted Pretty is about a girl determined to protect her body, her future, and her heart.

    You’re supposed to have faith.Not a lot is going right for Taran Sharma. First, he stole his annoying brother’s necklace and ran off into the night. Then, his family got taken hostage by spindly creatures of the dead. And to top it all, he’s just been charged with a mission by Lord Ganesha himself! Now, in order to rescue his family from the hands of the preta, he has to undertake a journey more fantastical than he can begin to comprehend.As Taran embarks on an epic voyage that may lead to disastrous consequence, he realizes that having faith, especially in himself, might be harder than he was led to believe.Dive into this riveting adventure to the Veiled Lands, replete with evil Naga armies, mythical creatures and a supervillain who will stop at nothing to reach the elusive Gateway of Moksha.

    Where Stella's family struggle to make ends meet, Charlie can have anything he wants, and that includes Stella, who is rapidly falling for him. Then Stella discovers she is pregnant. Suddenly Charlie is gone, and Stella is left with only the bracelet he gave her. Stella's devoutly religious mother, horrifed by the scandal, sends her errant daughter to a Magdalene Laundry convent, miles from home, where in return for daily and rigorous and endless chores, Stella will be able to have her baby in secret. The convent is bleak and austere, the nuns themselves cruel and lacking compassion. When Stella's baby girl is born, it will be taken from her for adoption, the only answer is to run away with her child. But Stella didn't expect the struggle and pain of being a single mother - with her family turning against her, who can she rely on for help. Out of the blue, comes support and love from an unexpected quarter, to finally make Stella's story a happy one.

    Steven’s story inspires and exemplifies the goodness and strength within the human spirit. The trauma experienced by the family is shared, giving insight of the impact on the marriage, children, and friends. Whether in abuse or abduction, From Victim to Hero portrays the grooming, lying and strategies used by predators to convince and coerce their victims into compliance. This book reiterates the three principles victims must realize – 1. Nobody has the right to hurt you. 2. It’s not your fault. 3. You don’t have the right to hurt others. Buy this book. Share it with your children. Keep them safe.Ed Smart (father of kidnap victim Elizabeth Smart)President, Surviving Parents CoalitionIn this book, From Victim to Hero, Jim Laughter expresses Steven’s heart and brings to light the extraordinary spirit of a young man that endangered himself because he believed rescuing Timmy White was the right thing to do.Diane L Brown, Founder/DirectorSafety Kids, Inc.

    It's beautiful, with its shiny scarlet cover and its blank pages full of promise. But Scarlet is absolutely not in the mood for a peace offering. Does Mum really think she can tear their family apart and expect Scarlet to be happy about it? And it's Dad's fault too. Why didn't he fight to keep them all together? Now Scarlet has to start a new life, and none of it was her choice. Scarlet decides there's only one thing she can write in the notebook. The truth, about everything...

    Some people believe it only moves in one direction— forward.But others think time moves forward and backward simultaneously. Of course, no one really knows the answer.No one, that is, until Liam is killed by a falling speaker at a Battle of the Bands contest. Suddenly Liam travels back in time and soon finds himself in the middle of his teenaged parents' band rehearsal, and an unseen observer of a love triangle between bandmates.Would his mother be happier ending up with the drummer instead of his father? Would that choice save the drummer from a fatal accident that is about to end his life? And if Liam helps them along, will he be canceling out his own existence? If only he can figure out how to use time to his own advantage.

    At his office, a doctor tries to find out who he is and where he comes from. The child says the name of a far off galaxy. Could he be from another world?

    This new series takes place in the Stars Realm’s Universe and has some of the species from the Annihilation Series. With new Characters and powerful enemies, the series will hook you from the start.The powerful advance of aggressive civilizations has taken a toll on thousands of peaceful civilizations and the Realm is losing ground. With the loss of psychic abilities, there is no one to fly the most powerful warships of the Realm and many of the enemies possess more advanced technologies. A psychic species that kills everything it touches has killed all life on thousands of planets and are expanding into the Realm. Three infants are the only ones to ever survive a Dremor attack and no one knows why they weren’t killed. These three brothers will play an important role in determining the possible survival of the Realm. The three know they share a common destiny but first they must don the armor of a Life Warrior.The action continues in Life Warrior as the Bristone Realm continues the struggle to survive a tsunami of enemy warships led by a species that has never tasted defeat.

    Determined to stop the thief, Angus uses everything he’s got and more. This fast paced story will have you running alongside him right up until the surprise ending that you won’t see coming.(A Christmas short-story for kids 9-12 years.)

    Usually when I tell people that they laugh and ask me what my real name is. I just look them dead on and repeat, 'Free.' I left my old name behind with my old life; shed both of them like a useless layer of skin. When I stepped free of that world, I took the name Free. It is my real name. I picked it myself. What could be more real than that?"Since leaving home at the age of 18, Free has traveled the country searching for home. Her travels afford a variety of experiences, from following the Grateful Dead to waitressing in Chicago to selling jewelry in New Orleans' French Market, but nothing seems to quell her sense of unrest. All the while her estranged brother Alfie is in her thoughts. Once she finds him, perhaps she'll finally feel at home. But her world is filled with bad choices and unsavory characters, and she finds that freedom sometimes comes at a cost. The reader will feel as if they are traveling right alongside Free in this moving coming-of-age story.

    Children receive a double dose of Dahl with these two delightfully wicked tales where things are not always as they seem, delivered by the master storyteller himself.

    Fleeing from pirates, Robinson Crusoe is swept ashore in a storm possessing only a knife, a box of tobacco, a pipe-and the will to survive. His is the saga of a man alone: a man who overcomes self-pity and despair to reconstruct his life; who painstakingly teaches himself how to fashion a pot, bake bread, build a canoe; and who, after twenty-four agonizing years of solitude, discovers a human footprint in the sand... Consistently popular since its first publication in 1719, Daniel Defoe's story of human endurance in an exotic, faraway land exerts a timeless appeal.

    You might have heard the rumours—whispers of an evil plot involving time travel, dangerous experiments, a secret fortress, a terrible book, famous authors and, regrettably, murder. You might also have heard of heroes who were caught up in this plot, fighting to do the right thing. That sounds a lot more impressive than it actually was. My name is Boone Shepard. I’m here to set the record straight.”Boone is taking a break from writing for The Chronicle newspaper to hunt down and destroy every last copy of a very rare, very dangerous book. But then his editor calls to demand he investigate a missing persons case deep in the Scottish Highlands—in the company of his rival, photographer Promethia Peters—and he is forced to abandon his personal goals and get back to work. Restless and begrudging, Boone is unprepared when this hunt leads him back to the one story that won’t stop chasing him—his own. Boone Shepard is the first in a series of young adult novels following the adventures of an Australian expat, errant journalist and accidental hero.

    Adam is living a very ordinary life until he becomes aware of the link between the worlds and discovers that, as a Daydreamer, he is one of the very few people who can travel freely between the two and achieve impossible things. You would think that being in control of your dreams would be fun. But when both worlds are threatened by a new and growing danger and when Nightmares not only roam the dream world but also start chasing him even while he is awake, Adam realises that he will need all of his new found powers just to survive the night. With the help of a very unusual band of friends Adam now has to save both worlds, discover more about his past and, if he can, try and avoid yet another detention.The Boy who Dreamt the World is the first book in the Daydreamer Chronicles series.

    For Wu Ying, this peaceful interlude is interrupted by a new assignment that pits him against the mortal world’s conventions of class and privilege.A short story in the world of A Thousand Li by Tao Wong.