Book picks similar to
HUGO How Two Boys Learned of Life From a Killer Shark by Michael McEachern
adventure
ebook
coming-of-age
animals
Taking Flight
Adrian R. Magnuson - 2012
Two unlikely companions meet in midair: 13-year-old Jeremy, sent against his will by his career-absorbed father to spend the summer with his bipolar mother, and Harry, one-legged and afflicted with mid-stage Alzheimer’s, who escapes the confinement of home for what may be his last adventure. Their journey begins, trailed by Harry’s wife and Jeremy’s parents, who threaten to cut it short. It’s a race against time and circumstance. "In Adrian Magnuson's Taking Flight a curmudgeon losing his memory and a snarky teen fleeing his parents find a common passion in bird watching. Endearing characters, delightful story and a poignant final scene give this book wings along with the beautifully depicted birds.” —Frances Wood, author of Brushed by Feathers: A Year of Birdwatching in the West "Taking Flight is an evocative and moving contemporary novel. It is, at every level, a story about love. For one character it is a coming of age tale, for the other the end of an age. Both are runaways, yet each ultimately is searching for home. I highly recommend this heart-touching, beautifully written book." —Andrea Hurst, president of Andrea Hurst Literary Management “Filled with well-developed, real-life characters, Taking Flight’s heart-breaking but satisfying story hits on all cylinders: action, comedy, and emotion.” —Terry Persun, award winning author of Sweet Song
Ratham Creek
Marie F. Martin - 2014
Arianne Hollis figures tossing a rose in her husband's grave is the worst of all endings. Then reality sets in when she is forced to sell their home and use all her savings to clear his debts. To escape and come to terms with her future, she moves into an isolated cabin along Ratham Creek. In the quiet Montana setting and with a new job in the nearby small town, Arianne begins to recover. She meets Ross Ferrell, a handsome lonely member of the clannish mountain people. He slowly wins her love, but a deadly family feud erupts among rival groups living along the creek. Arianne can’t understand the violence that runs deep in Ross and his family. He cannot abandon them. Then Arianne becomes a target. Can she avoid the same vengeance that’s corrupting the clan? Can she save him and their relationship?
Invisible
Cecily Anne Paterson - 2013
She doesn't make choices. She doesn't make friends. Jazmine Crawford only wants one thing: to be invisible. For Jazmine, it's a lot easier to take out her hearing aid and drift along pretending that nothing's wrong than it is to admit that she's heartbroken. She starts to come out of her shell when she's forced to be in the school play and even makes friends with bouncy Gabby and chocolate-loving Liam. But can she stand up to the school bully, and is she strong enough to face the truth about what really happened to her dad?
Everflame
Dylan Lee Peters - 2012
Over time, humans lost their connection with a world they had been created to protect, they forgot the ways of their ancient creators, and accepted the Tyrant’s lies as truths from the mouth of a god. Now, deep in the forests that surround Gray Mountain, two bears find a small child that is abandoned and left for dead. The bears name him Evercloud, raise him as a member of their kingdom, and teach the boy of the Ancients, all underneath the light of the Everflame, the flame that burns atop Gray Mountain as a monument to the integrity and spirit of the bears. As Evercloud grows, rumors reach the bear kingdom of the Ancients’ return, and now the young man must leave his home to find them and help save the world he holds dear. Will Evercloud lose himself in the darkness of the Great Tyrant’s lies, or will he have the courage to judge his own heart, the strength to master the darkness, and the faith to follow his purpose until it burns within his heart like the Everflame?
Feels Like the First Time
Shawn Inmon - 2012
Many people spend their life searching in vain for happiness, but he was lucky; finding it at the age of fifteen.February 1979: Forbidden to see each other and feeling he is harming her by being in her life, he walks away from the love of his life, apparently forever.December, 2006: After decades of sadness and mourning the girl that got away, he has a chance meeting with her that might change his life forever… again. Can the sweet bond of first love not only survive, but flourish?Feels Like the First Time lets you share in the magic of young love in small town America in the 1970s. No matter how much the world changes, some things – timeless music, high school dances, making out in the backseat of a Chevy Vega, and of course true love – will always remain the same.
Reveal
Brina Courtney - 2011
Well except that my dad went missing when I was six. But my mom makes it work. And I have annoying brother. See, normal?So why does my life feel like a train wreck waiting to happen... oh yeah because now Jeremy is also missing.Fate intervenes when Hugh, with his stunning golden eyes and similar dark hair, starts taking an interest in me. He divulges that he also shares my little "gift" of seeing the dead. Should I be freaked out? Yes. But am I? Okay, but only a little bit.Senior year is hard enough as it is, but clearly I like a challenge.Other books in this series:Capture (Cryptid Chronicles 2) AVAILABLE NOWSettle (Cryptid Chronicles 3) AVAILABLE NOW
The Trouble with Goodbye
Sarra Cannon - 2013
She’s always been the girl who does what she’s told. Except that time two years ago when she shocked everyone in the small town of Fairhope by breaking up with the richest guy in town and heading off to Boston to follow her dreams.It was the single most exciting thing she’s ever done for herself, and it felt like the start of something big…Until one terrifying night ripped it all away.With no place else to go, Leigh Anne heads home to reclaim what’s left of her old life. On the outside, she seems like the same reliable girl everyone knows and loves. But deep inside, she’s hiding a terrible secret.That’s when she meets Knox Warner, a troubled newcomer to Fairhope. His eyes have the same haunted look she sees every day in the mirror, and when she’s near him, the rest of the world fades away. But being with Knox would mean disappointing everyone all over again.If she wants to step back into that old life, she has no choice but to say goodbye to him forever.Only, the Trouble with Goodbye is that sometimes it’s about courage and sometimes it’s about fear. And sometimes you’re too broken to know the difference until it’s too late.
Shell Shock (Gus Conrad )
Steve Stahl - 2015
Gus Conrad is called to consult by the U.S. army for its growing epidemic of suicides and PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) among soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, his problems begin.Accused of murdering one of his own patients, a soldier with PTSD, Conrad learns from the mother that the answer to who is the real killer resides in England, where her family holds a long-hidden secret.Now Conrad must find the real killer as he slips out of the country to uncover to his horror the practice over the past century of British and U.S. armies both secretly killing their own soldiers who claimed psychological problems following combat, deeming them cowards, making their deaths look like suicides.The current head of the American death squad has apparently killed Conrad’s patient, and is now targeting Conrad himself for death. Following the clues in England, Conrad is shocked at what he discovers.
Will Conrad and Warburton be able get back to the U.S. to expose the practice of armies killing their own soldiers they deem cowards?
Can they stop the rogue leader of the American death squad before they themselves are killed?
White Sea Rising
M.J. Kephart - 2014
But when he steps onto the wrong floor of his luxury hotel he finds bodies strewn across the hall. A dying tourist begs him to carry a backpack to the American Embassy. In doing so, Barrett is thrust into a whirlwind of violence, deceit, and betrayal, as foreign operatives hunt for the secret that’s fallen into his hands. Suddenly at his side is Sada, a stunning female Mossad agent whose agenda is as unclear as her identity. A chilling discovery sends the pair careening across three continents, saddled with a story no one believes. When a black ops unit infiltrates onto American soil, Barrett realizes only he can stop this threat. But first he’ll have to find a secret that’s lain buried for fifty years in a West Virginia coal mine.
Comanche Sunset: Western Box Set
Ron Schwab - 2018
175+ FIVE-STAR REVIEWS. COMANCHE SUNSET collects the first three books of the THE LAW WRANGLERS as an opening trilogy to the popular Western series.
DEAL WITH THE DEVIL - The Law Wranglers Book 1After several long years of trying to put the past behind him, Josh Rivers finds himself intertwined in a case that has him leaving the comforts of his life in Santa Fe for the desolation of the Staked Plains. In his quest to find a young woman abducted by the Comanche, Josh must confront the horrors of his past, as well as pull off the diplomatic high-wire act of negotiating with the Comanche and their great war chief, Quanah Parker.
MOUTH OF HELL - The Law Wranglers Book 2As tensions continue to escalate between the U. S. Army and the Comanche, members of the Rivers family find themselves involved on multiple fronts of the “Red River War.” Josh Rivers discovers his efforts to covertly negotiate on behalf of his newest client have been exposed, and now he finds himself looking over his shoulder, even in the relative safety of Santa Fe. Meanwhile, his journalist sister, Tabitha, is embedded with Colonel Ranald “Bad Hand” Mackenzie’s forces on the eve of battle. What begins as a ploy to sell more newspapers, quickly spirals into a series of life-changing events as the opposing sides converge in the Texas Panhandle.
THE LAST HUNT - The Law Wranglers Book 3Set amidst the last days of the Comanche wars, The Last Hunt continues the story of the Rivers family, whose fates are intertwined with the Comanche—and their great war chief, Quanah Parker—both personally and professionally. The decisions Quanah makes as the conflict nears its end will have a far-reaching effect beyond his Comanche nation, and the long-brewing showdown for Josh to reclaim his kidnapped son reaches its conclusion.From the AuthorThe Law Wranglers novels comprise the author's best-selling series. Some series books are independent novels that can be easily read out of order. Others may be confusing without the back story from the previous novel. This series is a bit of a mix.The first three books of the Law Wranglers series (Deal with the Devil, Mouth of Hell, and The Last Hunt) constitute a trilogy, and the author recommends sequential reading. For that reason, the publisher also packaged the books as a boxed set under the Comanche Sunset umbrella.New readers should have no difficulty reading subsequent books as stand-alone novels, and, of course, it is hoped enjoyment of the experience will coax the reader to experience the entire series, which the writer plans to continue indefinitely.The Law Wranglers (in order of publication):Deal with the Devil (2016)Mouth of Hell (2016)The Last Hunt (2017)Summer's Child (2017)Peyote Spirits: A Novella (2018)Comanche Sunset: Books 1 - 3 (2018)
The Derby Man
Gary McCarthy - 1975
From his round-toed shoes to his derby hat, he was a man of culture, a creature of comfort, who liked his gourmet restaurants and expensive cigars. The short, stocky New Yorker made a fortune writing dime novels about the old west. Now he was out west to do some research for his next novel, little suspecting that he would be joining sheriff Zeb Cather in a manhunt for the ruthless Raton Brothers, learning firsthand about frontier justice and frontier heroism.
Slave, Warrior, Queen
Morgan Rice - 2016
By day she delivers her father’s forged weapons to the palace training grounds, and by night she secretly trains with them, yearning to be a warrior in a land where girls are forbidden to fight. With her pending sale to slavehood, she is desperate. 18 year old Prince Thanos despises everything his royal family stands for. He abhors their harsh treatment of the masses, especially the brutal competition—The Killings—that lies at the heart of the city. He yearns to break free from the restraints of his upbringing, yet he, a fine warrior, sees no way out. When Ceres stuns the court with her hidden powers, she finds herself wrongfully imprisoned, doomed to an even worse life than she could imagine. Thanos, smitten, must choose if he will risk it all for her. Yet, thrust into a world of duplicity and deadly secrets, Ceres quickly learns there are those who rule, and those who are their pawns. And that sometimes, being chosen is the worst that can happen. SLAVE, WARRIOR, QUEEN tells an epic tale of tragic love, vengeance, betrayal, ambition, and destiny. Filled with unforgettable characters and heart-pounding action, it transports us into a world we will never forget, and makes us fall in love with fantasy all over again. Book #2 in OF CROWNS AND GLORY will be released soon!
Paracosm - Bleath: The Hauntings
Anya Allyn - 2015
The mayor of Bleath provides Zoe with accommodation at the empty Wilmont house. It's not the friendly farmhouse Zoe was picturing, and worse, the house seems to change day by day. The walls change and strange objects appear. Late at night, scratching noises scrape along the staircase banister and inside the trinket box under her bed. And out in the wheat field below her bedroom window, ghostly figures wait . . . . Is Zoe slipping into an imaginary world of her own? Or are the things she's experiencing terrifying real? PARACOSM is a standalone novel. It is part of a wider world, having a deep connection to The Dark Carousel series.
Live from the Road
P.C. Zick - 2012
“Is this all there is?” Sally asks Meg after visiting a dying friend in the hospital. That’s when Meg suggests they take a journey to discover the answer. Joined by their daughters, they set off on a journey of salvation enhanced by the glories of the Mother Road. Along the way, they are joined by a Chicago bluesman, a Pakistani liquor storeowner from Illinois, a Marine from Missouri, a gun-toting momma from Oklahoma, and a motel clerk from New Mexico. Meg, mourning for her dead son, learns to share her pain with her daughter CC. When Sally’s husband of almost thirty years leaves a voice mail telling her he’s leaving, both Sally and her daughter Ramona discover some truths about love and independence. Live from the Road takes the reader on an often humorous, yet harrowing, journey. Death, divorce and deception help to reveal the inner journey taking place under the blazing desert sun as a Route 66 motel owner reads the Bhagavad-Gita and an eagle provides the sign they’ve all been seeking. Enlightenment comes tiptoeing in at dawn in a Tucumcari laundromat, while singing karaoke at a bar in Gallup, New Mexico, and during dinner at the Roadkill Café in Seligman, Arizona. The four women’s lives will never be the same after the road leads them to their hearts – the true destination for these road warriors.
The Summer I Learned to Dive
Shannon McCrimmon - 2012
On the night of her high school graduation, things take a dramatic turn when she discovers that her mother has been keeping a secret from her—a secret that causes Finn to do something she had never done before—veer off her plan. In the middle of the night, Finn packs her bags and travels by bus to Graceville, SC seeking the truth. In Graceville, Finn has experiences that change her life forever; a summer of love, forgiveness and revelations. She learns to take chances, to take the plunge and to dive right in to what life has to offer.