For fans of Rob Elliott and Jon Scieska, this collection of ridiculous stories will have readers rolling on the floor with laughter. A collection of twenty outrageously funny short stories for younger middle grade readers, Really Stupid Stories for Really Smart Kids is full of puns, "bad" jokes, and tall tales that will have you rolling on the floor with laughter. From "snowpeople" falling from the sky to a boy who only communicates through singing, there's a story for every fan of Alan Katz's signature humor. Views: 343
Odyssey Bourne Force is a top-secret project run by a covert organization possessing mankind's most formidable discovery: an indestructible monolithic stone door uncovered during an excavation in Egypt. Realizing the consequences of its astonishing properties, O.B.F. must now race against time to save Earth from forces that threaten to alter the fabric of life itself. Book 1 of a series.Forty year old reclusive KATE WILLARD is struck down with unexplainable nightmares of violence and brutality. Desperate for answers, Kate sets out on a spiraling adventure, beginning at an out of town shopping mall where she is drawn inside a quaint, mystical shop. She discovers a bloodstone, and upon contact, it crudely unlocks powers within her that she has trouble controlling. Her subsequent dreams uncover Divisions; a covert, civilian organization running a top secret project known as the Odyssey Bourne Force - so secretive they deny their very existence. Divisions has been guarding and utilizing an ancient stone door, allowing these 'non-existent' heroes access to explore and build up alliances with worlds beyond our own. After a rocky beginning, Kate joins Divisions, and falls in love with OBF team member DOCTOR PETER REYNOLDS, a brilliant archaeologist who excavated the stone door in Egypt. Amongst his vast collection of artifacts, he possesses a second, identical bloodstone. Together, they learn she is the reincarnation of an ancient Queen who miraculously stopped an evil force from wiping out humanity six thousand years ago. According to one of Kate’s harrowing visions, this was accomplished at a tragic price. However, the reincarnation process was imperfect - leaving Kate with disjointed memories that hide the vital truth. Meanwhile, Kate’s connection with the stones has alerted KALVICH, ex-god and Supreme Ruler of the Trimadian hybrid race to assign a mission to his most trusted friend and second in command, the nefarious LORD TALOKTA. He must deliver, at all costs, this valuable cargo, including the bloodstones to Heliostronus, the Trimadian home planet. An enigmatic ceremony has been planned, and Kalvich will do anything to possess Kate and her unique powers. During Kate’s first off world mission to help the indigenous Cantal people’s rebellion on the planet Ahmadeus, she and her team are kidnapped by Talokta’s fleet. Not only is Kate contending with an internal identity crisis, but unknown to her, a devious blend of techno-sorcery and subliminal manipulation is seducing her mind. As Kate’s team mates are facing death, or worse - enslavement inside the dreaded Mines of Heliostronus, an innocent Kate is hot in the spotlight and all is reliant on her - but who can Kate rely on, if not herself? Even with aid from a seemingly nice pair of elderly rebel gods - who breach the number one rule of non-interference - it could already be too late. Desperate to warn Earth - the team, with a sedated Kate, plunge into a daring escape, but at the last moment, are caught. The shocking conclusion has the OBF team facing alien mind-altering experimentation, humanity facing a new world order, and Kate led towards a dangerously, unpredictable future where she holds the destiny to life itself. Is it the end...or just the beginning. Views: 343
Nell Speed was an early 20th century author who wrote a bunch of coming of age stories that were ideal for young kids. Views: 342
An enchanting four-book series featuring the adventures of Anna and her array of animal friends The temperature is rising, which can only mean one thing: it's summer! Bookings are up at Hotel Flamingo and the hotel is getting busy. Anna is excited to receive word from King Penguin royalty asking to holiday in their Royal Suite. But there's a lot to get done, and it's not easy to manage the needs of the penguins when there's a heatwave on and a huge ice shortage. Help! When Mr Ruffian of the rival Glitz hotel finds out that the penguins have chosen to stay at Hotel Flamingo he is furious. It's not long before Anna starts to suspect that there is a spy and saboteur at the hotel; how else to explain why everyone is going so wrong for the visit of the Royal Penguins? Can Anna return Hotel Flamingo to its usual shining self and have happy guests all round? Views: 342
HEPSA AND GENEVIEVE. Genevieve lived in a large, handsome house, which had beautiful gardens all about it. She had no brother or sister, but she had a large play-room, filled with the nicest toys, so that a good many children who came to play in it thought she must be perfectly happy; but Genevieve had often thought how willingly she would give the room and all its playthings for a little brother of her own, whom she might take out in the garden for a walk, and watch carefully, just as her mother watched her. One day, while she was walking in the garden, thinking of the little brother she so much wanted, who she was sure would look like her dear mother, with her blue eyes, and golden curls, what should she hear but the noise of some one crying outside the garden fence. Now, as she could not look through the fence,—for it was quite high and made of thick boards,—she ran quickly to the gate, and then round to the place where she had heard the crying. There she saw a little girl sitting upon the side-walk, with bare feet and legs, which were none of the whitest, wearing a dress of brown cloth with many tatters in it, and short black hair hanging over her face and head. Genevieve looked at her in amazement. "Dear me!" she at last exclaimed, "where do you live?" At this question the child stopped her crying, and pulling away her hair with both of her hands from her face, disclosed a pair of large black eyes, which, swollen with tears, regarded little Genevieve with sly, sleepy wonder. It was not wonderful she should be astonished to behold so neat and pretty a child close by her side. Genevieve wore a blue frock and white apron, neat stockings and slippers, and pantalettes with broad ruffles. So she only gazed at Genevieve, without dreaming of answering her question. "What is your name?" asked Genevieve. "What is yours?" demanded the child. "Mine is Genevieve. Tell me what yours is?" "Hepsa. Do you live in there?" and Hepsa nodded her head towards the fence. Genevieve replied that she did. "But tell me why you were crying?" she asked. "Because Tom beat my black cat this morning and threw her into the pond, and she was everything I had." Hepsa burst into tears again, and little Genevieve\'s heart was so filled with compassion, that she sat down upon the dirty ground, at the side of the afflicted child, without ever thinking of the blue frock and clean pantalettes she was soiling. "O, dear, dear!" she cried, shocked at Tom\'s cruelty. "How wicked he was! What made him do so,—your brother, too?" Genevieve thought in her heart that little brother, of whom she so often thought, never would have done such a thing. Hepsa looked up half angrily, as she replied: "You needn\'t keep telling me he is my brother! I\'m sure I don\'t want him to be, and wish he wasn\'t. I don\'t love him a bit, he always plagues me so much." "O, Hepsa, don\'t say so; pray don\'t!" cried Genevieve, shocked at Hepsa\'s passion. "If he is your brother, you ought to love him, you know." "I don\'t know any such thing, I tell you! You may love him yourself if you want to; but I guess, when he kicks you, and beats you, and steals your things, and knocks your mud-houses down, you won\'t love him. I\'d like to know why I\'ve got to love him?" Hepsa demanded this of Genevieve in a very fierce manner. "Because he is your brother I suppose, and because he ought to be good; and perhaps he plagues you because you don\'t love him," answered Genevieve, somewhat perplexed how she should answer the question, thinking in her own heart Hepsa had a very wicked brother. "At any rate," she continued, "God gave him to you; and I have read how he tells us all to love each other." "I never did," replied Hepsa; "and if God gave Tom to me, I wish he\'d take him back, for I don\'t want him." "Why, Hepsa; how wicked you are!... Views: 342
There's always more than one way of doing things. Sometimes you have to apply a few filters to screen out what's holding you back. Sharing who you are with the world is what your art is about. Take flight and scan the horizon.We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. from Dead Poet's SocietyPaintings in Words is a book of poetry by Scottish artist and author, Jenni Munn, currently living in Western Australia. The poems are based on the authors observations of the world around her and have been created over the last 10 years, and compliled into this book. They capture some of the darkest, brightest, deepest and most passionate moments that life offers. The book offers poetry for both adults and children. All of the artwork in the book is original and has also been created by Jenni. Out of the quarrel with others we make rhetoric; out of the quarrel with ourselves we make poetry. ~W.B. Yeats Views: 341
I messed up with the girl of my dreamsAnd no matter what anyone else thinks or how it seemsI knew you were the one I wanted, the only oneThat's ever been so realI never meant to hurt you so muchAnd if my life was half enoughTo make up for thatYou could take that life awayA cynical wharf witch’s world is turned on end when her childhood sweetheart returns from the sea.Candle is a firelighter, selling fragments of her spirit to the hopeless and lost. It’s a rough livelihood, but she’s a survivor and allows herself few regrets. Then Tern shows up. The boy she once loved—who left so mysteriously—is now a gorgeous man who acts as if they’re friends. How can he act as if nothing ever happened? And how can she help him when she wants to tear him in two? Views: 339
Mo Appleby's ordered life is turned upside down when he and his mum move in with his new stepdad and stepsisters, Lottie and Sadie. The home he left behind is just across the street, and there's something not quite right about the new occupant. Other strange new people keep popping into his life, too: a bonkers lollipop man and a boy called Jax, who seems to understand Mo better than anyone else, especially Lottie. Who are the weird new people in their town? Do they have any involvement in the disappearance of Mo's dad many years ago? And why does the ice cream taste so good? Lottie is determined to find out exactly what's going on, even if it makes Mo mad, and even if it leads them both into serious danger... Views: 338
Excerpt from Chapter 1: “Thus far, therefore, life had gone easily and prosperously with this light-hearted young fellow, and its future looked bright before him. He knew nothing of its ruder aspects—of its despair, its hunger, and its poverty. There were those who said of him that, while he was a good fair-weather sailor, he was not of the stuff to face, and do brave battle with, the storms of adversity, should they ever overtake him. “Now, just such a storm had overtaken Myles Manning, and he was to be tried. Nearly a year before a trouble of the eyes with which Mr. Manning was afflicted had suddenly resulted in total blindness. It was at first supposed to be only temporary, but as time wore on, and one painful operation after another failed to afford relief, hope began to yield to despair, and his career of usefulness seemed ended. Thus far his salary had been continued, and the affairs of the Manning family had gone on much as usual. At last there came a letter in which, while regretting the necessity, the president of the company that had employed[6] Mr. Manning informed him that, as there was no present prospect that he would be able to resume his duties, the payment of his salary must cease from that date.” This edition is a reprint of a book published in 1890. Views: 338
The Carters were en route to their winter quarters, chosen after much discussion and misgivings as the best place they could find for all concerned. The doctor had pronounced the ultimatum: Mr. Carter must be in the country for another year at least and he must have no business worries. He must live out-of-doors as much as possible and no matter how perplexing the problems that in the natural course of events would arise in a household, they were not to be brought to the master of that household. As Mrs. Carter had determined many weeks before to play the rôle of a lily of the field, announcing herself as a semi-invalid, who was to be loved and cherished and waited on but not to be worried, it meant that Douglas, as oldest child, must be mother and father as well. Hers was the thankless task of telling her sisters what they must and must not do, and curbing the extravagance that would break out now and then in spots. Small wonder that it was the case, as, up to a few months before this, lavish expenditure had been the rule in the Carter family rather than the exception. Views: 337
The Zumbies are on the rampage – members of the Cherry Tree Lane zumba class are apparently dying and then mysteriously coming back to life!Alex, Jess and Dave have to put a stop to it before Alex's mum and nan join the living Zumba dead or there'll be no family Christmas.But why are the Zumbies curiously drawn to the Christmas lights? What does the Octopus sign mean? And who is the evil genius behind it all? Views: 337
In the small town of Rocking Creek, the story of one boy's unforgettable summer is spelled out in a collection of his journal entries. The story follows Brandon, a boy that has been labeled as the wimpiest kid around. His life is miserable and he sets out to find a way to change it. The only thing is, his way of changing his image go him into a lot more trouble than he could have imagined.Cases collide for two star crossed ladies of law enforcement! Customs Special Agent Dana Rossi was forced to start her life anew after a bad breakup with her former girlfriend and the loss of job that she loved. These days, she spends life on the road, moving from one case to another until one day when runs run right into the path of Sheriff Mel Crane. The feisty, sexy butch cop is as determined to uncover a counterfeiting ring in her county as Agent Rossi becomes to stop a stalker obsessed with Mel and hot for her company. Dana is under the added pressure of conducting an undercover investigation of her own with a tight deadline: finding and then stopping a ring of smugglers bringing high end designer knock-offs into the states. Could their cases be related? When repeated vicious attacks on Mel and on her home accelerate the danger for her and also their attraction to each other, they become desperate to find the truth and solve the two mysteries. Can they find a way to work together to resolve both cases while coming to terms with their growing feelings for one another? Can Dana move beyond her jilted lover past and find true happiness with a small town Sheriff? Views: 337
