Start Here solves that problem; it tells you how to read your way into 25 amazing authors from a wide range of genres--from classics to contemporary fiction to comics.Each chapter presents an author, explains why you might want to try them, and lays out a 3- or 4-book reading sequence designed to help you experience fully what they have to offer. It’s a fun, accessible, and informative way to enrich your reading life.A wide array of writers, critics, and bloggers offer their expertise and passion for these authors to help you get started reading authors you’ve always wanted to try.Includes chapters by Erin Morgenstern (The Night Circus) on Neil Gaiman, Joe Hill (Heart-Shaped Box) on Bernard Malamud, Linda Fairstein (The Alexandra Cooper Series) on Edgar Allan Poe, and Kevin Smokler (Practical Classics) on Sherman Alexie.Also includes chapters on reading your way into:Margaret AtwoodJane AustenRay BradburyItalo CalvinoPhilip K DickCharles DickensE.M. ForsterGabriel Garcia MarquezErnest HemingwayZora Neale HurstonJohn IrvingStephen KingCormac McCarthyHerman MelvilleArthur MillerAlice MunroHaruki MurakamiRichard RussoZadie SmithDavid Foster WallaceColson Whitehead

    Unlike his superstar sibling, this twelve year-old boy excels at absolutely nothing, although his sister would argue that he's the master of getting on her nerves. But when a mysterious creature as old as time steals her talent, it's Adam who fearlessly leads the charge to retrieve it and stop the creature before it can take the talents of other children. Brimming with colorful characters and dastardly villains, and recalling the best of Roald Dahl, Alex Williams presents a humorous adventure about where talent truly lies.

    This is nothing compared to how she feels when a strange girl named Jessica tells Samantha that she’s actually an imaginary friend. Tracy has outgrown Samantha, and it’s time for Samantha to help another child who needs her. But will Samantha be able to move on and fulfill her duty as an imaginary friend?

    Beautifully illustrated by the celebrated cartoonist Sally Ann Lasson, The White Umbrella is an allegorical tale about taking personal responsibility for our environment and the importance of both compassion and empathy. It is the perfect book for children and adults alike - a classic in the making to keep and to cherish.

    For readers of all ages, the book brings to life the dramatic wartime events on the Outer Banks, where German U-boats turned an area around Cape Hatteras into 'Torpedo Junction' by sinking more than sixty American vessels in just a six-month period in 1942. "Taffy" has been enjoyed by young and old alike since it was first published in 1957.

    It doesn't help that her mother is dating her teacher! But then she meets Alane Shriver, a spunky new student who suffers from progeria, a rare, rapid aging disorder. At first Beauty is frightened by her fellow outsider's tiny, frail body. But fear gives way to curiosity, and Beauty discovers that Alane is just like any other twelve-year-old girl. When a life-threatening event puts the two of them in harm's way, Beauty unexpectedly finds the confidence and inner strength to save Alane.Author Carol Lynch Williams offers a realistic, sensitive look at the trials and challenges of adolescence while expertly weaving in themes of isolation, illness, and even death. The result is an honest, humorous, unsparing, and ultimately uplifting book that celebrates the power and courage that come from accepting differences and meeting life's uncertainties head on.

    The Wopuld family built its fortune on a board game called Empire!, now a hugely successful computer game. So successful, the American Spraint Corp wants to buy the firm out. Young renegade Alban, who has been evading the family clutches for years, is run to ground and persuaded to attend the forthcoming family gathering—part birthday party, part Extraordinary General Meeting—convened by Win, Wopuld matriarch and most powerful member of the board, at Garbadale, the family's highland castle. Being drawn back into the bosom of the clan brings an inevitable and disconcerting confrontation with Alban's past. What drove his mother to take her own life? And is he yet ready to see Sophie, his beautiful, enchanting cousin and teenage love, at the EGM? Grandmother Win's revelations will radically alter Alban's perspective for ever.

    Jackie Robinson is playing for the Royals, the Brooklyn Dodgers' Triple-A team. As the first black man to sign a contract in modern organized baseball, Jackie's going to change the world. Just a short distance away, 12-year-old Joey Grosser has big plans, too. He's going to break out of the Plateau, his poor Jewish dump of a neighborhood, and make a better life for his mother and little brother on the other side of Park Avenue, where the rich people live. All he needs is money, and he's got plenty of ideas on how to get it. But every step forward is two steps back, and he turns to the wrong man for help.One decision will determine Joey's fate-and whether he’ll live long enough to see Jackie Robinson make baseball history.

    At first it seems fun - they must build a shelter, find food and work out what to do with fart flowers - gross! But soon they realise, if they don't play the game and find the way out, they'll be stuck... forever.Can they battle flametigers, fire lizards and sumbrero-wearing spiders? How will they survive?

    My life is plain and boring, but I do my best to keep it that way. That's why when a dangerous secret fell into my lap, I wasn't exactly jumping for joy. Everything I knew to be true was completely flipped around and suddenly I've found myself buried in special codes and conspiracies. Now I'm being hunted after because my brain knows a secret so huge your head would explode if you heard it.Secret Agent 6th Grader is a thrilling mystery that's entertaining for children ages 9-12, middle school students, and adults (who never grew up).

    She’s artistic, full of street smarts, and best of all, she’s a budding detective. She and her mom are technically homeless, but thanks to a series of house-sitting jobs, they always have a place to stay. In this first book in a lively  series, Hannah and her mom—who adopted Hannah from China when she was a baby— move into their latest new place: a high-rise apartment in Seattle’s swanky Belltown towers. And just as they’re getting settled, someone tries to steal a valuable piece of artwork from one of their new neighbors! Quick as a wink, Hannah is on the trail of a thief who is wreaking havoc on Seattle’s thriving art scene! Armed with her keen eye and ever-present sketchbook, no detail gets past Hannah unnoticed.…

    As chairman and chief executive officer of Citigroup, Sanford "Sandy" Weill has become an American legend, a banking visionary whose innovativeness, opportunism, and even fear drove him from the lowliest jobs on Wall Street to its most commanding heights. In this unprecedented biography, acclaimed Wall Street Journal reporter Monica Langley provides a compelling account of Weill's rise to power. What emerges is a portrait of a man who is as vital and as volatile as the market itself. Tearing Down the Walls tells the riveting inside story of how a Jewish boy from Brooklyn's back alleys overcame incredible odds and deep-seated prejudices to transform the financial-services industry as we know it today. Using nearly five hundred firsthand interviews with key players in Weill's life and career -- including Weill himself -- Langley brilliantly chronicles not only his success and scandals but also the shadows of his hidden self: his father's abandonment and his loving marriage; his tyrannical rages as well as his tearful regrets; his fierce sense of loyalty and his ruthless elimination of potential rivals. By highlighting in new and startling detail one man's life in a narrative as richly textured and compelling as a novel, Tearing Down the Walls provides the historical context of the dramatic changes not only in business but also in American society in the last half century.

    It's messing them up and fracturing their lives ... until they venture out into the dark and find each other. And then the sleepless trio realize their astounding power - they can speak any language; they can even communicate with animals. But something is happening over on the industrial estate - something which is emitting sounds that only they can hear, and killing any winged thing that crosses its path. There's nobody to fight it but themselves, for only they can possibly understand it and what it means to do ...

    With its intuitive organization, you'll easily find appropriate words for children of various ages, and discover substitute words that might work even better.This comprehensive resource keeps you in touch with reading levels for today's kids, and saves you valuable research time by putting all the information you need in one volume. You'll find:- Lists of specific words that are introduced at seven key reading levels (kindergarten through sixth grade) - A thesaurus of those words with synonyms, annotated with reading levels - Detailed guidelines for sentence length, word usage, and themes at each reading level - A thorough explanation of guidelines for national standards on reading This new edition also addresses important timely topics of the day, such as disability issues and sensitivity to race, religion, and culture. Other new additions relate to divorce, the concept of death, space exploration, the internet, fantasy and science fiction, ethnic and cultural pride, and much more.With Children's Writer's Word Book, 2nd edition, you can rest assured you'll be able to address your young audience with a vocabulary and style they'll understand and enjoy--and improve your chances with children's publishers.

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.