The stakes have never been higher, and you've never seen squeegees do this before! It is a wild and slightly unsanitary ride as Spencer, Daisy, and the rebels find themselves chased by Mr. Clean's new and terrifying breed of toxite the Sweepers. Time is short. With the fabled Manualis Custodem in hand, Spencer must figure out how to summon the founding witches if they ever hope to mop up and save education.
What critics are saying about Janitors:
"An enormously entertaining book." Orson Scott Card
"An entertaining ruckus." Kirkus Reviews
"Action-packed and surprising! Readers will become convinced of the value of telling the truth, while having a lot of fun along the way." Publishers Weekly
"Entertaining . . . with plenty of twists and turns." Brandon Mull, author of Fablehaven and Beyonders series Views: 448
Arthur Godley, proprietor of Godley's Garden Gnomes and Godley Investments meets his maker in unusual circumstances and, in the process, learns a few costly lessons. A twenty first century version of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol".Arthur Smedley Godley - wide boy and proprietor of Godley's Garden Gnomes and Godley Investments gives lessons on money-making to a strange but very quiet visitor. Sitting in his white leather, executive chair behind his white desk, Godley pontificates about his success to the visitor who sits silently in rapt attention. Godley can talk endlessly and knows all there is to know about opportunism and money making. It started, we learn, with swindling a boy out of his sausage at school lunch. Godley's knowledge has no limits and success is there for all to see from the Bentley parked outside the front door next to the sunflowers ("they have such big heads and rise above everything else") to the thick pile Chinese carpet - given in return for once helping a Chinese man find "a bit of flooze around Harrod's in Knightsbridge". And Godley's business? Well, he runs Godley's Garden Gnomes from a rundown, old, red- brick factory around the back - but it's really the front for his main venture, Godley Investments. Godley is a loan shark with a couple of big boned salesmen and a trouble shooter - Titibola - "six foot three, huge tits and a face like Joe Frazier".And the visitor soon hears about Godley's deep business philosophy based mostly on a picture book about dinosaurs. "Sniff it out and snuff it out I always say."And being a business guru and self proclaimed "God's gift to the local economy" he decides to compare himself to the other God. And that old God made many mistakes, including being overstaffed. "He runs interviews for washed up individuals and those who have already given up hope" - and most of them pass the interview and get in.But how has Godley been so successful? Well, his own slogan sums it up: Godley's Garden Gnomes satisfies a whim, but Godley Investments feeds the greed. "They all want rid of their mortgages and overdrafts but there's no sense of compassion from the banks and so they come to me. They need presents for their kids at Christmas, a new car, a new fridge or washing machine. So, who do they ask? Debt Busters - also known as Godley Investments. Never say no, that's me. You've got to have a kind heart."With so much talking, though, his throat gets dry. No longer able to resist a drink from his well equipped cocktail cabinet and desperate to show his visitor his famous PowerPoint presentation ("where every graph points upwards") Godley starts to lean a few lessons himself as his interest in dinosaurs takes on a frightening form. His PowerPoint presentation transforms itself into a full scale, 3D spectacular - in full Technicolor - of a prehistoric jungle complete with a roaring Tyrannosaurus Rex that stumbles around Godley's desk. Finally, plunged into complete darkness, Godley hears the Voice. Terrified and unable to see anything and with the Voice appearing to know everything about him including his bank account details and PIN, he is forced to log onto his bank account and transfer its entire contents to a company called Godly Investments. So begins Godley's own lessons from someone who claims to be his Chief Executive "out on a trouble shoot." "You see, Godley," the Voice explains, "You can't just take a company name without it being ratified - particularly one called Godley Investments. I already own the trade name, the brand name and the marketing and distribution rights. With your track record, I wouldn't even be willing to grant you a franchise."Godley is no Scrooge and we never find out whether the experience changes his ways, but, like a short, twenty first century version of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", Arthur Godley certainly learns a few lessons and perhaps others might as well. Views: 448
An exciting retelling of the biblical narrative of Ruth weaves the Bible story with the ancient legend and tradition of the sages, coupled with a dash of creative fiction to bring the story to life for the modern reader. This is an excerpt from the series The Shepherd KingRuth and Orpah were twin sisters, royal daughters of Moab. They married two brothers, the sons of Elimelekh and Naomi, leaders from Judea. Their life was idyllic, until the brothers suddenly died leaving the three women, Naomi, Ruth and Orpah, alone and without support in the world. While Orpah took steps that would lead to a life of degradation, Ruth and Naomi took their own steps towards reparation and redemption. This is the retelling of their journey, as told in the Book of Ruth, and interwoven with legends and traditions of the ancient sages. This novella is an abridged version of part one of the Foundation Stone, the story of the famous battle between Ruth's and Orpah's descendents: Dawid and Goliyath. Views: 448
A treat to read and a joy to perform, this second collection of Alan Ayckbourn's work is a cornucopia of some of his wonderfully inventive children's plays. From the story of the teenage Lucy in Invisible Friends who revives her childhood imaginary friend when things get difficult at home, onto the storytellers in My Very Own Story and This Is Where We Came In and, finally, to young Ernie who 'illucinates' all sorts of wild and weird happenings with astonishing results. Views: 447
A complete and accurate picture of the seige of Liège, using both Belgian and German sourcesIn August 1914 the German main attack was conducted by the 2nd Army. It had the missions of taking the vital fortresses of Liège and Namur, and then defeating the Anglo-French-Belgian forces in the open plains of northern Belgium. The German attack on the Belgian fortress at Liège had tremendous political and military importance. Nevertheless, there has never been a complete account of the siege. The German and Belgian sources are fragmentary and biased. The short descriptions in English are general, use a few Belgian sources, and are filled with inaccuracies. Making use of both German and Belgian sources, this book for the first time describes and evaluates the construction of the fortress, its military purpose, the German plan, and the conduct of the German attack. Previous accounts emphasize the importance of the huge German "Big Bertha" cannon, to the virtual exclusion of everything else: the Siege of Liège shows that the effect of this gun was a myth, and shows how the Germans really took the fortress.** Views: 447
Shortlisted for the 2014 T.S. Eliot Prize Poetry Book Society Choice These are poems of wonder and precarious elation, about learning to embrace the seemingly disparate landscapes of hermitage and court, the seemingly diverse addresses of mystery and clarity, disruption and stillness - all the roadblocks and rewards on the long dangerous route to recovering what it is to be alive and human. Wandering, digging, falling, coming to terms with unsettlement and uncertainty, finiteness and fallibility, exploring intersections between the sacred and the sensual, searching for ways to step in and out of stories, cycles and frames - these are some of the recurrent themes. These poems explore various ambivalences - around human intimacy with its bottlenecks and surprises, life in a Third World megapolis, myth, the politics of culture and gender, and the persistent trope of the existential journey. Arundhathi Subramaniam's previous book from Bloodaxe, Where I Live: Selected Poems (2009),... Views: 447
“It’s fine!” said Arthur Warden, lowering his binoculars so as to glut his eyes with the full spectacle. “In fact, it’s more than fine, it’s glorious!” He spoke aloud in his enthusiasm. A stout, elderly man who stood near—a man with “retired tradesman” writ large on face and figure—believed that the tall, spare–built yachtsman was praising the weather. Views: 447
Camielle never quite fit in. Her whole life she’s been nothing but a fly in a glass of milk—never quite coinciding with everyone and everything around her. Until, the unexpected happens. An amazing array of lights covers the New York skies, and the world is taken aback. What were these lights? Where did they come from? The answers evade even the most intelligent of people.Camielle never quite fit in. Her whole life she’s been nothing but a fly in a glass of milk—never quite coinciding with everyone and everything around her. Until, the unexpected happens. An amazing array of lights covers the New York skies, and the world is taken aback. What were these lights? Where did they come from? The answers evade even the most intelligent of people. However, to Camielle the lights were the least of the problem.Written in the semblance of Vintage 1960’s Sci-fi, take a small trip with Camielle as she finds out what the lights really mean. Views: 447
I’m ready to move on. Please don’t search for me. Please just let me go.
~Ellie
The note on the kitchen table shatters Jay Wentworth’s world into bits. Ellie is his lover, his soulmate, his best friend…she’s the woman who stood by him through the aftermath of a horrible explosion, the woman he’s planning to propose to. He’d do anything for her…except let her go. With his fierce protectiveness kicked into overdrive, he teams up with Ellie’s Hotel Serafina boss, billionaire Wyatt Christiansen, to find her. Ellie is family at the casino and they take care of their own.
Ellie is devastated when her secret past finally catches up with her. Stupid to think she could bury the mistakes of her youth and find happiness with a good man. Leaving Jay rips her heart to shreds, but it’s the only way she can protect him from the dangerous people she once ran with. And deep down, she fears he’ll never be able to forgive her for hiding her past from him.
The closer Jay gets to the truth about Ellie, the deeper he plunges into danger. He’ll move heaven and earth to save her, but if she can’t trust in Jay’s love it might be too late for both of them.
The Serafina: Sin City Series, #2 Views: 447
Vivi’s animal instincts are her legacy—and maybe her downfall—in this start to a romantic fantasy series that will appeal to fans of The Nine Lives of Chloe King.
Vivi has known the truth about her family—and herself—since she was thirteen. But that doesn’t mean she’s accepted it. Being Haguari isn’t something she feels she’ll ever accept. How can she feel like anything but a freak knowing that it’s in her genes to turn into a jaguar?
Now eighteen, Vivi’s ready to break away from the traditions of her heritage. But all of that changes with the shocking, devastating deaths of her parents and the mysteries left behind. Vivi discovers family she never even knew she had, and a life open with possibility. New friends, new loyalties, and even romance all lay ahead—but so do dangers unlike anything Vivi ever could have imagined. Views: 447
The author of this book, Rebecca Hammett, is ten and this is her first book. It is a lively, humorous story about teenage Sapphire and her friends. It will appeal to girls who like spending time with their friends, doing gymnastics, trying out nail polishes, clothes and make-up, or girls who have ever dreamed about joining a circus!It contains laughter, drama, emotion - and fun!As the United Kingdom's monster hunting bureau, the Caerleon Order will go after any paranormal creature that becomes a threat to Sovereign, Church, and Country. However, it serves as a defensive paramilitary organization, not an investigative agency, so it normally ignores cryptids, creatures whose existence have been suggested but are not yet recognized by scientific consensus, unless they go on a rampage.The Beast of Exmoor is a famous legendary phantom big cat that haunts the moors of Devon and Somerset in southern England. Reported sighting became national, then international news starting in the mid-seventies, but except for some wild deer and farm animals, it had never attacked a human being, so far as anyone knew.However, during the latest rash of sightings and animal maulings, a little farm girl has disappeared, rumored to be a victim of the Beast. In response, the Queen has ordered the Caerleon Order to hunt it down and destroy it. Sir Differel Van Helsing has decided that the best tactic would be to deploy snipers around the area, with herself as one of them, using farm animals as bait to lure it into rifle range.She has every reason to believe her plan will work, given time. But what she and no one else can know is that she is hunting the wrong monster. Views: 447
