Expectations and hopes are high for their Freshman year. Meggie wants nothing more than to experience all high school has to offer – growing freedom, hot boys, parties, make-out sessions, and did I mention hot boys? Enter Alex Aguilar. At seventeen, he is Carver High’s sports superstar and dreamy superstud. Yet, despite the hype, Alex is undeniably sweet, and Meggie is beyond smitten. But, of course, he is a SENIOR. So, ought to be completely off limits for a ninth grader, right? Age doesn’t always dictate whom you will love, though. So I’m A Double Threat is the start of their journey. Will young love survive the challenges presented them or is friendship all they can only really hope for? Backs will be stabbed, hearts will be broken, tears will be shed. But, despite this, Meggie’s strong-willed determination, loyalty, and zest for fun, will ensure the ride is a memorable one. (This book has mature content intended for older young adult audiences.)

    That is, until I met my phoenix.”Ana de Navalles has almost nothing, aside from her friends. Having always been a child of the slums, her fortunes change when she’s admitted to Galfour’s Point, the prestigious and almost-mythical academy, and the only place in the world where you can train to become a dragon rider.Just before she is set to leave, her friend Cien is murdered before her by a mob-affiliated criminal with surprising strength. But Ana does not cower. With dark magic seemingly on the rise, her hunger to make something of herself – and thirst for revenge – is revived.After mere days at the academy, Ana is beginning to feel like the odd one out. A poor slum-dweller in a school of snobbish rich kids, all eyes are on her, and if she can’t pass her entrance exams, she’ll be kicked out without so much of a glance at a dragon.So when she discovers a young phoenix, newly hatched, and quickly establishes a bond with the precocious and unpredictable creature, Ana’s suddenly the talk of the academy. If, that is, she can convince the school authorities to let them stay.As Ana and her friends – some new and some old – prepare to investigate Cien’s murder, nefarious forces within the academy, and outside in the wider world conspire against them. Can Ana and Fyrenza – her newly named phoenix - rise from the ashes, and shine bright upon a cruel world?This novel contains violence. This is a young adult fantasy novel. If you love epic phoenix-tamer fantasy, life-risking adventure, and loyal friendships, Phoenix Whisperer is for you.

    Offering an action plan and journaling space for turning your thoughts into real change, learn to take back your life.Every person has a mission and a God-given potential to impact the world, whether they recognize it or not. But life presents challenges and traps us in a helpless, hopeless loop of anxiety and fear.In Take Back Your Life, a blend of his bestselling books Through the Eyes of a Lion and I Declare War, join Levi Lusko onan interactive journey to equip yourself to become the best version of yourself. Offering forty daily challenges to help you come to terms with the reality of your internal battle, learn to take up the weapons God has given you and engage in the fight.With biblical truth and perspective, this step-by-step journaling process will help you:Get out of your own way by learning to think right so you can live rightFind purpose by discovering that God will do great things with your imperfect progressLearn that your pain is not an obstacle to being used by God but an opportunity to be used like never beforeThis is more than a book. It’s an intimate self-analysis tool that will help you recognize what’s weighing you down or holding you back. This is a journey to get back the life you know you were born for—to change your thinking so you can change your living and become the difference-maker God sees when he sees you.

    N. Goenka, poems, theoretical expositions, a question-and-answer section, and compelling essays by or about meditators confronting the end of life. With humility, tenderness, and often a smile, they learn to accept their own impermanence, suffering, and nonself. Much of this material was collected from the archives of the International Vipassana Newsletter.

    . . unless the blog happens to belong to your mom.Twin sisters Claire & Poppy are accidental social media stars thanks to Mom going viral when they were babies. Now, as teens, they're expected to contribute by building their own brand. Attending a NY fashion week and receiving fan mail is a blast. Fending off internet trolls and would-be kidnappers? Not so much. Poppy embraces it. Claire hates it. Will anybody accept her as "just Claire"? And what should Claire do about Mom's old journals? The handwritten entries definitely don't sound like Mom's perfect blog persona. Worse, one of them divulges a secret that leaves Claire wondering what else in her life might be nothing but a sham . . .

    

    When Avery Miller wakes up in her hospital room, it’s to a life she didn’t expect, want, or ever imagine for herself.She’s barely given time to mourn the death of her mother as she’s introduced to her new family—a father she never knew existed, a stepmother she didn’t want, and a brother who gave himself the job of being her enthusiastic best friend and overbearing protector before they even met.All it takes is one car accident to change the trajectory of seventeen-year-old Avery's life forever, ripping her from the brink of poverty in Pennsylvania and tossing her into a new life in a penthouse apartment in the middle of New York City.The visible marks on her skin are a tangible reminder of the pain she’s gone through, but it’s Ethan, the guy who lives one floor below and has a Shakespeare quote for every occasion, who helps her overcome loss, find herself again, and fall in love.

    When forced to work together, they discover they have more in common than they ever imagined ...

    There's no time to whinge about ruined plans - Lola has to just unpack her bags and act like an adult by taking over her dad's cafe.Finding a new chef and working seven days a week is not the gap year Lola had in mind. But then she meets Sam, a hot backpacker and cook extraordinaire with a tragic secret past.In a whirl of perfect pastries and delicate cupcakes, Lola and Sam start to realise that it's not just the kitchen warming up. But can their romance handle the heat?

    With just twenty dollars to her name, she begins a new life in Jackson Beach, Florida, washing dishes at Thelma's Open 24-Hour Café and sneaking into the cineplex at night to sleep. Eventually she saves up enough money to rent a cheap motel room. There she gets to know Effaline, and comes to see that here's a girl who is more alone and lost than she is. Jody is going to save her. And in trying to do so, Jody might just save herself.At turns heart-wrenching and funny, Valerie Hobbs's latest novel introduces readers to an unforgettable and surprising young woman who manages to break free of an abusive relationship and finds true strength and her "self of steam."

    He joined a gang at the age of thirteen and by age sixteen he had dropped out of school and had been incarcerated several times. Having witnessed the tragic murder of his best friend by gang rivals, Victor hit a critical juncture in life at which point he made the decision to transform. With the support of educators and mentors, Victor redirected his attitude towards life, and returned to school to eventually acquire a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Rios uses his personal story, and 10 years of research experience, to discuss how personal and institutional "illusions" contribute to academic failure. He speaks about how society gives young people little choice but to use their "attitude" to solve their problems and how this strategy often leads to detrimental consequences. He discusses practical pathways to transformation relevant to the lives of students. Dr. Rios speaks about his own personal transformation by taking advantage of the support that teachers and programs provided him and discusses how these efforts can be replicated. This book is written to speak to a young adult audience-those young people who live on the margins, who are often assigned texts that do not represent their lived reality, their struggles, or their experiences. Educators and youth workers can use each of the short chapters in this book as tools for discussing complicated social issues like abuse, youth violence, delinquency, fatalism, opportunity, stratification, poverty, resilience, college, positive role models, healthy choices, and personal transformation.

    In the summer of 1972, an innocence was lost when twenty-six young boys in a small rural town set out to accomplish something bigger than themselves. Their journey of nearly 1,400 miles would take them through eight states, crossing over the Great Smoky Mountains. It was a tremendous achievement--one that would be hailed as the longest organized bike hike in the history of Scouting.

    Told from alternating viewpoints, one black and one white, Surviving the Fatherland author Annette Oppenlander delivers another stunning historical tale set against the epic backdrop of the American Civil War—a breathtaking examination of the power of hope and friendship, and the endurance of the human spirit to find a way home.Tennessee, 1861. Fifteen-year-old farm boy Adam Brown would do anything to protect his friend Tip, a slave at the neighboring plantation—even if it means fighting Nathan Billings, the rich and obnoxious landowner’s son. But when it seems his attack has killed Nathan, Adam has no choice but to run away and join the Union Army under an assumed name. Together with Wes, a chatty soldier with a few secrets of his own, Adam embarks on a traumatic odyssey through the war-torn Midwest. As his soul darkens with the atrocities of war, all he wants is to go home. But in order to do that—if he survives—he must face his past. Unbeknownst to Adam, sixteen-year old Tip is sold to a farmer who takes drunken pleasure in torturing his slaves. Tip quickly realizes that if he wants to survive he must run. Ahead lie hundreds of miles of unknown country, infested by slave owners, traders, starvation and cold. And so begins a journey of escape and recapture, of brutal attacks and unexpected kindness. When a rescue by the Underground Railroad goes terribly wrong, Tip finds himself caring for a pregnant runaway, his journey seemingly at an end. They have reached the Ohio River, a vast watery expanse impossible to cross. It is only a matter of time before roaming slave traders will pick them up—he will never see his mother and his best friend again.

    However, he has discovered that "being successful" is only part of life's challenge. Success is very often a short-lived high. People arrive at the goal line in life, look into the end zone and discover that it contains many of the things that money will buy, but it contains very little of what money won't buy. Zig believes that yes, success is worth it, but it is not enough. The next step is to move from success into significance. In A View from the Top Zig will teach you: to bring in spiritual dimention in all areas of your life the power of giving others a hand up, not just a hand out to make radical changes with minute steps to develop a wall of gratitude to combine your mission and your vision A View from the Top will help you achieve success and significance, so when you reach the top you'll find the view simply magnificent.

    A. Salvatore was born in Massachusetts in 1959. His first published novel was The Crystal Shard. He has since published more than a dozen novels, including the New York Times bestsellers The Halfling's Gem, Sojourn, The Legacy, and Starless Night. He makes his home in Massachusetts with his wife, Diane, and their three children. "From the Paperback edition."