Has been all her life. But now as she enters college, Cindy hopes to shed her loser ways -- get some friends and maybe even (dare she think it?) get a boyfriend. Her first move out of loserdom: pledge Alpha Beta Delta.There Cindy meets Meri Sugarman. Meri is not only beautiful, she controls the sorority, a position that gives Meri more power than...well, maybe not God, but certainly any person within a one-hundred-mile radius. (How, you ask? Think of today's technology and what you could do with it if you were so (illegally) inclined. Get the picture?;-) )Meri teaches Cindy that she, too, can be perfect. She can be beautiful, sexy, and popular, influence teachers and politicians, and even have a boyfriend! But when the new Cindy crosses into Meri-only territory (hint: where there's trouble, look for boy), new -- very scary -- Meri emerges. And Cindy realizes that behind all that beauty is an evil beast that must be stopped.

    Shrouded in fog and hidden behind a curtain of redwoods, this rundown mill town is home to a peculiar cast of characters, a unique homegrown horticultural industry, and one of the last bookstores in America.No one is more surprised by the unlikely survival of the Firebreathing Dragon than Lewis Hartman, its newest owner. By the time his uncle Sy died and left the bookstore to Lewis, even the most ardent bibliophiles had abandoned printed books in favor of a charming and highly literate digital device called the Gizmo. Bookstores all over the country had closed their doors. But somehow, the Firebreathing Dragon has kept going.Lewis and his wife Emily find themselves in the unlikely position of owning one of the last bookstores in America. But how has the Firebreathing Dragon managed to survive the death of the book? And if it isn't keeping itself afloat selling books, what is it selling? Reporters, federal agents, and corporate executives out to salvage their own imperiled industries all converge on the bookstore to uncover its secrets. What they discover is a small town that has fallen under the spell of the Firebreathing Dragon's unique offerings.In this short work of fiction, bestselling author and bookstore owner Amy Stewart takes an offbeat and lighthearted look at small-town life and the future of that marvelous two thousand year-old communication device, the printed book.

    Desperate Measures serves up laughter, romance, cookies, tea - and a whole lot of love. Aimee: A housewife left in the dust by her philandering husband, with an outdated high school education but a serious talent when it comes to confections...Elizabeth: An accountant tired of crunching numbers for hundreds of clients with more money than they know what to do with...Kiki: An exotic dancer who wants nothing more than to get out of the game...Content warning: Due to sexy situations and content, this book is definitely not appropriate for younger readers.A message from Elle about this book: Being a huge bookworm myself, the idea of writing a story about friends finding one another through books was really appealing to me. One thing I’ve learned about people who love books is that they come in all shapes and sizes and from all backgrounds and places, but the common ground of literature somehow makes everything work. When I was younger, I was the only bookworm I knew. Now that I’m an adult, I’ve found the joy of seeking others out and spending time with them. It’s like a whole new world has opened up to me, and so of course I wanted to write about it! Not that I have a former stripper in my book club or anything…

    Books 1-10 Hardbacks in a cardboard slipcase.

    

    

    I don't know when my birthday is, and nor does my father, but I do know that I am nine years old.Young Rubina is a one-in-a-million star. Plucked from among five hundred slumkids who auditioned for Danny Boyle's multi-Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire, she saw her fairy-tale dream of stardom come true. Now that she has stepped into the limelight, what will life hold for a young girl from the Mumbai slums?Rubina tells her own incredible story, bringing to life a world of wastelands and rat-infested shanty dwellings, where she played marbles with her friends beside the sewers of Garib Nagar. She introduces her beloved father, a hardworking rickshaw puller, and her siblings. And then Rubina tells of the kindness of Danny Boyle and of the time she spent on the film sets--including the hilarious incident when her costar came to be covered in chocolate from head to toe.After her brief encounter with red-carpet glamour, how will Rubina come to terms with the conditions in which she, her family, and her friends continue to live since Hollywood came knocking? This is her compelling story.

    Now on the run in search of their big sister Raynell, ironically they are forced to rely on their trash-picking skills for sustenance and shelter. Reunited at last with Raynell in St. Louis, Boy and Sissy shed their old identities, reinvent themselves as graffiti artists, and splash their new names on city bridges and walls. But one night's expedition goes horribly wrong, and Sissy looks again to trash, this time as the beginning of something artful and beautiful.

      It is also full of useful things that will help organize your year, including dates, numbers, and pictures of dogs.

    This book has everything you want to learn about the Hindu religion!Hinduism is a fascinating religion to learn about. Even if you are not Hindu and have no interest in being a Hindu, you can still take it upon yourself to learn about the faith and understand why it is important to so many people around the world. Perhaps you will find that you share many of the beliefs that come out of the religion, or perhaps you won’t. But at least you will have a new outlook on Hinduism by advancing your knowledge in its teachings and the way it guides so many people’s lives in this world. To have that kind of knowledge can be a very powerful thing. This book will help you gain that knowledge by exploring the most important aspects of Hinduism and the main goals Hindus have in their lives. You will find out what they are much more when you read this fact filled book about the Hindu religion. After you are done reading, you will walk away with a better understanding about a religion that most of the Western hemisphere knows little about. What you will learn from this bookIntroduction to HinduismImportant Beliefs in HinduismImportant Hindu Customs and RitualsIntroduction to Gods and Goddesses in HinduismBhagavad GitaHindu FestivalsHinduism and Buddhism – Differences and SimilaritiesConversion to HinduismWhat to do in a Hindu TemplePilgrimage to VaranasiHindu Mantras

    But for Alicia Cruz and her three best friends, Carmen, Jamie, and Gaz, they were also just part of the background--until now.

    Fatherless, isolated, and betrayed by her best friend, Jori is angry at the world. And now her sister Lisa has disappeared, unable to cope with the changes in her family. Walking home from school one day, Jori stumbles upon a strange house and meets Professor DePris, who shows her a living tapestry woven from dreams. Distrustful of the eccentric old man and the telepathic spider who weaves for him, she resists entering the dream tapestry until she realizes her sister is trapped inside. It's up to Jori to enter the tapestry and rescue Lisa from the monstrous old man who is feasting on her fantasies. But how can Jori convince Lisa to leave this fantastic, yet dangerous, world where anything--even reuniting with their father--is possible?

    Devils and witches are an accepted fact of life and religion. When some girls in the village begin having fits and tremors, their torments are attributed to the action of witches. Elizabeth Putnam and her parents are different from many of the other village folk, and they doubt the superstitions that terrify the town. As Elizabeth struggles to find her way among the alarming events, she also finds herself at odds with George, her best friend and companion since babyhood. Things come to a head when Elizabeth herself is accused of witchcraft, and George must make a difficult choice between what his community believes and what he knows to be true. Readers start the story in Elizabeth's voice and finish thestory in George's voice, where they learn how he finds a resolution to his heartwrenching predicament and the conclusion of his own side of the story.

    Unwelcome newcomers to Still Creek, Minnesota, she and her troubled teenage son are treated with suspicion by the locals, including the sheriff. Yet nothing will stop her from digging beneath the town's placid surface for the truth - except the killer.Night Sins (Engineer: Jill Sovis): A peaceful Minnesota town, where crime is something that just doesn't happen, is about to face its worst nightmare. A young boy disappears. There are no witnesses, no clues - only a note, cleverly taunting, casually cruel. Has a cold-blooded kidnapper struck? Or is this a reawakening of a long-quiet serial killer?Guilty as Sin (Engineer: Melissa Coates): A cold-blooded kidnapper has been playing a twisted game with a terrified Minnesota town. Now a respected member of the community stands accused of a chilling act of evil. But when a second boy disappears, a frightened public demands to know: Have the police caught the wrong man? Is the nightmare continuing . . . Or just beginning?

    To everyone's surprise, the guys are a hit. But when Stewart's antics begin to grow more obsessivehe wears his costume 24/7, freaks out about little details, and displays an incessant hatred of the high-tech windmills outside of townFrenchy worries that there's something deeper going on. Is Stewart spiraling into madness, just like Don Quixote? And can Frenchy battle through his own demons in time to save his friend from self-destruction before it's too late?