Anita de la Torre never questioned her freedom living in the Dominican Republic. But by her 12th birthday in 1960, most of her relatives have emigrated to the United States, her Tío Toni has disappeared without a trace, and the government’s secret police terrorize her remaining family because of their suspected opposition of el Trujillo’s dictatorship.
Using the strength and courage of her family, Anita must overcome her fears and fly to freedom, leaving all that she once knew behind.
From renowned author Julia Alvarez comes an unforgettable story about adolescence, perseverance, and one girl’s struggle to be free. Views: 677
Coming Soon the Continuation of David Ponder’s Story in The Traveler’s Summit
What makes the difference between failure and success?
A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly bestseller, The Traveler’s Gift offered a modern-day parable of one man’s choices.
Only a few months ago, David Ponder was a successful executive. Now he’s a desperate man. In times of great uncertainty, we need divine wisdom. Many of the greatest minds in history overcame personal struggles and adversity, and they emerged the stronger for it. What guidance would iconic heroes, such as Abraham Lincoln, King Solomon, and Anne Frank, give us today in our ever-changing climate of world events?
Join David Ponder in The Traveler’s Summit on his incredible journey to discover the Seven Decisions for Success that can turn any life around, no matter how hopeless a situation may seem.
The Traveler’s Gift became required reading for some of America’s high schools and a “life skills” tool for members of several college sports teams as well as some MLB and NFL franchises. Discover with David Ponder that attitude makes the difference between success and failure. Views: 676
This controversial bestselling novel in the Arab world reveals the political corruption, sexual repression, religious extremism, and modern hopes of Egypt today.
All manner of flawed and fragile humanity reside in the Yacoubian Building, a once-elegant temple of Art Deco splendor now slowly decaying in the smog and bustle of downtown Cairo: a fading aristocrat and self-proclaimed "scientist of women"; a sultry, voluptuous siren; a devout young student, feeling the irresistible pull toward fundamentalism; a newspaper editor helplessly in love with a policeman; a corrupt and corpulent politician, twisting the Koran to justify his desires.
These disparate lives careen toward an explosive conclusion in Alaa Al Aswany's remarkable international bestseller. Teeming with frank sexuality and heartfelt compassion, this book is an important window on to the experience of loss and love in the Arab world. Views: 674
Irritating though he was, Lester Henderson had it all when he strode up to rehearse his keynote address in the darkness of a downtown theatre. Widely tipped to be the next mayor and possessing a nice line in catalogue casual daywear, Henderson stood four square facing his glorious future. But five shots later and his lifeblood was seeping away gunned down by person or persons unknown from stage right... At that point he became Ollie Weeks' problem. But this savage crime is suddenly overshadowed by a deed even more repugnant. Ollie's life's work is his novel. Honed by countless rejection letters, it is finally ready to be released to the general populace. But then the one and only manuscript disappears, leaving Ollie to head off in pursuit of the thief. A thief who is convinced that Ollie's work contains the secret location of a hoard of hidden diamonds... Amazon.com ReviewThe disreputable, bigoted, dirty-mouthed but oddly likable Ollie Weeks, a walk-on in Ed McBain's popular 87th Precinct series, gets a book of his own here: not just the mystery of who killed a popular mayoral candidate a few days before the election, but the one Ollie, improbably, is writing. Pity the schmuck who lifts Ollie's only copy of his manuscript from his car—not only is its author in desperate need of what he's sure will be his ticket to fame and fortune, but the befuddled miscreant somehow believes that the caper recounted in Ollie's book is a real one, and that he's in possession of a blueprint for the crime that will allow him to cash in on it. This is a fast, funny read from the master—like a valentine to his fans while they wait for his next big one. —Jane AdamsFrom Publishers WeeklyEven when MWA Grand Master McBain (aka Evan Hunter) isn't in top form, he is very good and such is the case with this 87th Precinct novel, which really belongs to Det. Oliver Wendell Weeks of the 88th Precinct. Fat Ollie, of the gross appetite and the even grosser ignorance of political correctness, played a surprisingly heroic role in the last 87th Precinct novel, Money, Money, Money (2001). Now he claims star billing and repayment of a debt owed by Det. Steve Carella. Two major crimes occur at almost the same time: the shooting of Councilman (and possible mayoral candidate) Lester Henderson as he is getting ready for a rally and the theft of the just completed manuscript of Ollie's first novel, Report to the Commissioner. Ollie enlists Carella's help (Henderson lived in the 87th) and pursues both the murderer and the thief. McBain's broad humor is much in evidence as he pokes fun at detective novels and their readership through excerpts from Fat Ollie's ponderous book. On the other hand, Ollie's outrageous bigotry, like that of TV's Archie Bunker, never seems to hurt or offend anyone and palls over an entire novel. Still, McBain creates wonderfully strange characters, like the transvestite hooker who latches on to Ollie's book, and crimes that are somehow ingenious, stupid and utterly convincing.CWA's highest award, the Diamond Dagger.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 674
Time seemed to collapse.... There was a sharp stabbing sensation in my stomach.... Steve crowed, "Now I have you! Now you're gonna die!"
Dead if he loses -- damned if he wins. The time has finally come for Darren to face his archenemy, Steve Leopard. One of them will die. The other will become the Lord of the Shadows -- and destroy the world.
Is the future written, or can Darren trick destiny?
This is Darren's story. Views: 671
Supernatural fantasy has a new antihero. Life sucks, and then you die. Or, if you're James Stark, you spend eleven years in Hell as a hitman before finally escaping, only to land back in the hell-on-earth that is Los Angeles. Now Stark's back, and ready for revenge. And absolution, and maybe even love. But when his first stop saddles him with an abusive talking head, Stark discovers that the road to absolution and revenge is much longer than you'd expect, and both Heaven and Hell have their own ideas for his future. Resurrection sucks. Saving the world is worse. Darkly twisted, irreverent, and completely hilarious, Sandman Slim is the breakthrough novel by an acclaimed author. Views: 671
Hattie Owen enjoys peaceful Millerton summertimes with houses nodding in the heavy air, being in charge of Miss Hagerty's breakfast tray at her parents' boardinghouse, and drinking lemonade on the porch after supper. Yet this year, it's different -- Hattie's uncle Adam is coming home. Returning from a Chicago school that's just closed and whose existence is kept quiet by adult family members, Adam is a 21-year-old man with a child's mind, having a knack for talking quickly, a savant-like ability for remembering weekdays, and a passion for I Love Lucy. Hattie and Adam wind up spending precious time together -- including a visit to the recently arrived carnival with Hattie's new friend, Leila -- which makes her feel soulfully connected to her uncle, especially when he declares that she's one of the people who can lift the corners of our universe. But when Hattie takes Adam on the Ferris wheel one night, it sets off dramatic events that lead Hattie's family to strengthen its bonds and changes her life's outlook forever. Views: 670
In the sequel to The Tomb, Repairman Jack returns in a chilling adventure set against the backdrop of a Queens house haunted by the ghost of a nine-year-old girl as Jack becomes embroiled in a terrifying struggle in which the forces of evil threat. Views: 670
Once a hotshot investigative reporter, Jack Tagger now bangs out obituaries for a South Florida daily, "plotting to resurrect my career by yoking my byline to some famous stiff." Jimmy Stoma, the infamous front man of Jimmy and the Slut Puppies, dead in a fishy-smelling scuba "accident" may be just the stiff Jack needs-if only he can figure out what happened. Standing in the way are [among others] an editor who wants Jack to "break her cherry," Stoma's ambitious pop-singer widow, and the soulless, profit-hungry newspaper owner Jack once publicly humiliated. As clues from Stoma's music give Jack Tagger the chance to trade obits for a story that could hit the front page, murder gives his career a new lease on life. Views: 670
The zor is just one of the alien races that humanity encounters when it travels to the stars, and from the very first meeting it has been all-out war. For many years the conflicts have been sporadic, usually ending with an Earth concession and a treaty. But the zor does not respect mankind and has no any intention of honoring the agreements. When the zor decide to mount a surprise attack against human colonies, the normally self-absorbed government of Earth realizes that something must be done before it is too late.A controversial scholar by the name of Marais is brought in. A nonmilitary man, he has spent his entire life studying the zor and claims to have a plan to deal with them once and for all. With so few options remaining, Marais is put in charge of the battlefleet.Earth just wants the threat neutralized and would be happy with a stalemate, but Marais has other ideas. He believes himself to be the mythic Dark Wing, destined to exterminate the zor. . . . From Publishers WeeklyThis entertaining first novel plays some welcome variations on formulaic military SF. Tired of a decades-long war with the zor, a race of birdlike aliens, the Solar Empire puts a new admiral, a former scholar who claims to understand the zor point of view, in charge of the space fleet. Admiral Marais believes that the aliens can't imagine coexisting with humans, and declares that the only way to overcome them is to shatter their worldview while pressing them to the brink of extinction. But the Solar Empire doesn't anticipate Marais's personal stake in the war: he believes himself to be a threatening, implacable power called the Dark Wing, part of the pantheon of zor religion. The zor, convinced of Marais's alleged secret identity, see him as their likely destroyer. Up to this point, the novel seems to prepare for a standard, detailed presentation of space battle tactics, but instead the story veers off into a discussion of the morality of exterminating another race, however hostile. As the story progresses, Hunt adds depth to the characters, who start behaving oddly. Although they're comfortably flat, as in most military SF, some of them obviously harbor hidden schemes. By the end, one war is over, but larger and much stranger conflicts are just coming into focus. Hunt delivers a bravura performance, especially for a new writer. It's unclear whether he can keep up this level of razzle-dazzle whether he's juggling chainsaws or just Nerf balls but he's a showman to watch. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.From Library JournalTo bring an end to the continual state of war between humanity and the alien, birdlike zor, the Solar Empire places its military command in the hands of Lord Marais, a scholar versed in the culture of the zor. Marais's knowledge, together with his belief that he is the legendary "Dark Wing" of zor mythology, puts him and the human race in the difficult position of having to choose whether or not to annihilate the enemy in order to achieve victory. Hunt's first novel, set in the far future, deals with the problematic issues of xenophobia and genocide while presenting a fast-paced story that should appeal to fans of space opera and military sf. Reminiscent of Orson Scott Card's military classic Ender's Game, this work belongs in most sf collections. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. Views: 667
The Red Army had much to avenge when it finally reached the frontiers of the Reich in January 1945. Political instructors rammed home the message of Wehrmacht and SS brutality. The result was the most terrifying example of fire and sword ever known, with tanks crushing refugee columns under their tracks, mass rape, pillage and destruction. Hundreds of thousands of women and children froze to death or were massacred because Nazi Party chiefs, refusing to face defeat, had forbidden the evacuation of civilians. Over seven million fled westwards from the terror of the Red Army.
Antony Beevor reconstructs the experiences of those millions caught up in the nightmare of the Third Reich's final collapse, telling a terrible story of pride, stupidity, fanaticism, revenge and savagery, but also one of astonishing endurance, self-sacrifice and survival against all odds. Views: 664
Lucien is seriously ill but his life is transformed when an old Italian notebook gives him the power to become a stravagante, a time traveller with access to 16th century Italy. He wakes up in Bellezza (Venice) during carnival time and meets Arianna, a girl his own age who is disguised as a boy in the hope of being selected as one of the Duchessa's mandoliers. Arianna gives Lucien her boy's clothing and he is selected as a mandolier himself, becoming a friend of fellow-stravagante Rodolfo, the Duchessa's lover, and saving the Duchessa's life when she is threatened by an assassin hired by the powerful di Chimici family. For state occasions the Duchessa uses her maid Giuliana as a body-double but Guiliana commits the fatal mistake of revealing the secret to her fiance Enrico and a sequence of devastating consequences unravels. Meanwhile Lucien has met the original stravagante, the Elizabethan alchemist William Dethridge, and he begins to understand that he may be called to follow in his footsteps. Views: 664
"If you step through after Harkat, you might never come back. Is your friend worth such an enormous risk?"
Darren and Harkat face monstrous obstacles on their desperate quest to the Lake of Souls. Will they survive the savage journey? And what awaits them in the murky waters of the dead? Be careful what you fish for... Views: 658
Andrew, his cousin Judy, and super-smart robot Thudd escape the bathtub–only to get flushed down the toilet! Now they have to find their way through a maze of pipes to the kitchen sink. But the kitchen is no place to be when you're the size of a flea. Monster cockroaches scurry across the counter while flies patrol the skies. Will the kids survive the kitchen? Or will they end up frozen in the fridge? Time is running out! Views: 656
