There’s no guessing where a Beattie story will lead. And while one might intuit its catalyst––a “snake’s shoes,” a man who lost an arm, a vintage car, a wisteria pushing through a skylight, a crumbling stone wall around an old graveyard, a beautifully carved decoy––it feels as though Beattie herself is taken by surprise as each adroitly unsettling tale uncoils. Beattie made her mark as an audaciously understated yet resoundingly on-the-mark writer in the 1970s in the New Yorker, and it is testimony both to her unceasing artistic growth and the magazine’s unshakable commitment to exceptional short stories that the final works in this grand retrospective collection are as provocative as the first. Forty-eight Beattie stories appeared in the New Yorker between 1974 and 2006, and until now nearly half remained uncollected. This scintillating volume showcases Beattie’s stunning insights into the eternal isolation of individuals and each decade’s signature longings and conflicts. An incisive dramatist of family strife, marital discord, unconventional alliances, and the aftershocks of violence and death, Beattie portrays characters “numbed out,” wistful, or furious. Laced with ambivalence and irony and punctuated with unexpected reprieves, Beattie’s brilliantly structured stories are mordantly funny, haunting, and wise, making for a glorious collection. --Donna SeamanReview"As much as anyone in the past fifty years--you give me your Mavis Gallant, I'll give you my Frank O'Connor--Ann Beattie's slow-forming monument of a lifework defines what the short story can do, the extent of human life it can encompass."--Jonathan Lethem “It is a testament to [Beattie’s] unceasing artistic growth ... that the final works in this grand retrospective are as provocative as the first... This scintillating volume showcases Beattie’s stunning insights into the eternal isolation of individuals and each decade’s signature longing and conflicts. ... Laced with ambivalence and irony and punctuated with unexpected reprieves, Beattie’s brilliantly structured stories are mordantly funny, haunting, wise, making for a glorious collection.”—Donna Seaman, Booklist Views: 25
For girls who are fans of Harry Potter and have outgrown the Disney Fairies series and the American Girl books, the Fairy Godmother Academy is the perfect series--fantasy books filled with magic and adventure but grounded by contemporary girls and issues.The series boasts an amazing Web site that allows girls to enter the world they visit in the books. There they can do activities both on- and offline, vote for things they'd like to see in the books, and connect with other Fairy Godmother Academy fans.Kerka Laine is not one to sit around and let things happen to her. She knows from her adventure with her friend Birdie that she comes from a long line of fairy godmothers and that she's destined to start training as a fairy godmother herself. She just hates waiting for the training to begin! When her dreams take her to Aventurine, the place where girls go to unlock their own special kind of magic, Kerka is more than ready. What she is not prepared for is the quest... Views: 25
High school freshman T.J. Jackson thinks his summer will be a drag when his widowed dad dumps him off for a vacation with his Uncle Mike, a park ranger at the Gettysburg National Battlefield, Aunt Terri, and his geeky adopted cousin LouAnne. But T.J. is in for a few surprises. For starters, Gettysburg isn't the boring Civil War town he expected. A ghostly Confederate cavalier has been terrorizing nightly visitors to the battlefield. And LouAnne isn't so geeky anymore—she's become a sassy beauty who leaves him breathless.Things escalate when the cousins, aided by T.J.'s quirky friend Bortnicker from back home in Connecticut—who also has his eye on the lovely LouAnne—attempt to solve a murder mystery that has the local police, park rangers and paranormal investigators in a panic. Because how do you stop an undead killer from 1863 from wreaking havoc in the 21st Century? Views: 25
In this book, Valdemar is in trouble. Karse, the religious/evil country to the South is waging a ruthless attack against Valdemar's borders. But more importantly, a dark Mage of unknown strength is preparing a final massing strike into Valdemar. Vanyel meets a young Bard named Stefen and falls in love with him. He finds out that not only is he in love, he is lifebonded, just as he and Tylendel were. Is this Tylendel's reincarnated soul? King Randale is near death from illness, so Vanyel has temporarily taken on most of the King's duties. As if this is not enough, all of the Herald-Mages are mysteriously being murdered off, one by one, until finally there is only Vanyel left. The dark master challenges Vanyel. He receives a vision in his dreams that reveals to his just what would happen if he and his companion Yfandes were to accept that challenge. If they should fail this fight, they will both be asked to pay the ultimate price. But if they flee, Valdemar will fall. Views: 25
Welcome to the magical world of Misty Wood! In this enchanted realm, every creature has glittery fairy wings and a special job to do to make their home beautiful. In Book 1, Chloe is a Cobweb Kitten, and her job is to decorate cobwebs with twinkly dewdrops. But while she is decorating, she meets a little mouse who is lost and afraid. Will she be able to help him find his way home? Views: 25
Fate turned nurse Carol Woods into a wolf, but she refuses to let being a lupus garou define her life. Ordered by her pack leader to find a mate and commit to shifting, there is only one gray wolf that catches Carol's interest; but Chaz McKinley makes it very clear that unless she's willing to accept what she is, he wants nothing to do with her. When a virus outbreak leaves local pack members trapped in their wolf form, will Chaz and Carol learn to trust each other before it's too late for the pack and their one chance at true love? Views: 25
