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What Was Asked of Us: An Oral History of the Iraq War by the Soldiers Who Fought It
by Trish Wood"A visceral account of the war ... honest, agenda-free, and chilling." New York Review of Books. The Iraq war officially began on March 20, 2003, and since then more than one million young Americans have rotated through the country's insurgent-infested hot spots. But although stories of dramatic ambushes and attacks dominate the front pages of newspapers, most of us do not truly know what the war is like for the Americans who fight it. What Was Asked of Us helps us bridge that gap. The in-depth and intensely probing interviews this book brings together document the soldiers' experiences and darkest secrets, offering a multitude of authentic, unfiltered voices--at times raw and emotional, at other times eloquent and lyrical. These voices walk us through the war, from the successful push to Baghdad, through the erroneous "Mission Accomplished" moment, and into the dangerous, murky present. "Monumental. ... Amid the glut of policy debates, and amid the flurry of news reports that add names each day to the lists of the dead, Trish Wood has produced what is perhaps, to date, the only text about Iraq that matter."--San Francisco Chronicle. "An illuminating glimpse of American fighters' experiences in Iraq ... There are moments of strange beauty in the soldiers' recollections."--Chicago Tribune. "Stunning ... chillingly eloquent. ... Powerful and unflinchingly honest, Wood's book deserves to be a bestseller."--People
A Circle of Ashes (Balefire #2)
by Cate TiernanThais has come to live in New Orleans with a twin sister she didn't know she had until their father died. Now, not only does she have a family she never knew she had, she is the victim of someone trying to kill her and her sister, and her family are witches.
Black and White
by Paul VolponiMarcus and Eddie are best friends who found the strength to break through the racial barrier. Marcus is black; Eddie is white. Stars of their school basketball team, they are true leaders who look past the stereotypes and come out on top. They are inseparable, watching each other's backs, both on and off the basketball court. But one decision-one mistake-will change their friendship, and their lives, forever. Can Marcus and Eddie rise above their differences and save their friendship?
Dancing In the Dark
by Mary Jane ClarkNow that she was deprived of sight, her other senses were intensified. She stood in the darkness, seeing nothing but hearing the persistent roar of the Atlantic Ocean in the distance and the soft flapping of wings right above her. Her nostrils flared at the smell of must and decay. The ground was damp and cold beneath her bare feet, her toes curling in the wet, sandy dirt. She felt something brush against her ankle and prayed it was only a mouse and not a rat. Three days in this dank chamber were enough. If she had to stay any longer, she would surely lose her mind. Still, when they found her, as she fantasized they would, the police would want to know everything. To survive this, she'd have to be able to recount every detail of what had happened. She would tell the police how he'd leave her alone for what seemed like hours at a time. She would tell them how he'd gagged her when he left so nobody would hear her screams and...
Danger After Dark (Creative Girls Club Mystery #1)
by Ellie Mcdonald"This is a bad idea, Alex," Lily said, her voice shaking. The abandoned mansion loomed above them in the dark night. Wait! Did she just see a flicker of light coming from a window? Who could be lurking inside the mansion in the middle of the night? Someone looking for the lost treasure hidden on the estate? "We have to see who's inside the mansion," Lily said. Alex gulped loudly, then said, "You're right. Let's do it!" The girls gripped hands tightly together, crouched down and scuttled toward the intruder with the flickering light.
Dark Angel
by Karen HarperOne morning Leah Kurtz goes to wake her adopted infant daughter and instantly knows something is terribly wrong. She is convinced that her baby has been switched with another child. Afraid that no one will believe her, Leah turns to an unlikely ally, despite the fact that her Amish community frowns on its members seeking help in the outside world. Dr. Mark Morelli studies the genetic illnesses that plague the Amish, but he has other, private reasons for coming to Maplecreek...reasons that may be tied to the mysterious disappearance of Leah's daughter. Together, Leah and Mark must uncover a conspiracy--before there are deadly consequences.
Day of Tears
by Julius LesterOn March 2 and 3, 1859, the largest auction of slaves in American history took place in Savannah, Georgia. More than 400 slaves were sold. On the first day of the auction, the skies darkened and torrential rain began falling. The rain continued throughout the two days, stopping only when the auction had ended. The simultaneity of the rain storm with the auction led to these two days being called "the weeping time." Master storyteller Julius Lester has taken this footnote of history and created the crowning achievement of his literary career. Julius Lester tells the story of several characters including Emma, a slave owned by Pierce Butler and caretaker of his two daughters, and Pierce, a man with a mounting gambling debt and household to protect. Emma wants to teach his daughters--one who opposes slavery and one who supports it--to have kind hearts. Meanwhile, in a desperate bid to survive, Pierce decides to cash in his "assets" and host the largest slave auction in American history. And on that day, the skies open up and weep endlessly on the proceedings below. Using the multiple voices of enslaved Africans and their owners, Julius Lester has taken a little-known, all-true event in American history and transformed it into a heartbreaking and powerfully dramatic epic on slavery, and the struggle to affirm humanity in the midst of it.<P><P>Winner of the Coretta Scott King Medal
Death Splits a Hair (A Judge Jackson Crain Mystery #2)
by Nancy BellIn the second Judge Jackson Crain Mystery, Joe Junior McBride, beloved barber of Post Oak, Texas, has been murdered. At first glance, the homicide appears to be the work of a prowler, but as the investigation progresses, Joe Junior's second wife, Marlene Ashburn, becomes the prime suspect. A stranger turns up at the funeral, and something about him reminds everyone of Joe Junior. But Joe's brother, Gerald, claims never to have seen him, and mounting evidence points to Marlene as the murderer. Meanwhile, Judge Crain and his adolescent daughter, Patty, try to combine her social activities as a teenager with some careful snooping into the secret lives of their friends and neighbors. And as they come closer to the solution, Jackson and Patty each find a touch of romance
Dueling Divas (That's So Raven #8)
by Kimberly MorrisWhen Raven and Chelsea find out that the winner of the Festival of the Classical Arts gets a $100 gift certificate to the Bayside Mall, they hit a high note- opera, that is. But after their teacher calls her a "sidekick," Chelsea is determined to do things her way for once. Raven goes along with her friend-until she gets a vision of them winning with her own idea. Now the two friends are competing for the same spot in the show! Can Raven and Chelsea salvage their act-and their friendship-or will this opera turn out to be a tragedy?
How My Private, Personal Journal Became a Bestseller
by Julia DevillersFormerly ordinary 14-year-old Jamie Bartlett is suddenly doing interviews and book signings, flying to L.A. to hang out with celebrities, and dating the hottest guy in school. Will all the attention go to her head?
Love, Cajun Style
by Diane Les BecquetsFor Lucy Beauregard, each day in her sleepy southern town looks a lot like the next--days of riding her bicycle and skinny dipping with her friends, delivering flowers to the wonderfully odd folks in her town, and listening to her mama dish out her Loo-zee-anna gospel of wisdom. Falling in love isn't something she has planned. In fact, there are a whole lot of things she hasn't planned, like her two best friends getting their first tastes of love, or the attraction her very-married mama seems to have for another man, or the confusing flurry in her own heart stirred by a handsome--and much older--stranger. And then there's the arrival of Dewey, a boy unlike anyone she's ever known. In one sweltering summer, Lucy not only discovers herself but soars into love, Cajun style. In this novel brimming with uproarious characters and deeply immersed in the romantic allure of the South, Diane Les Becquets serves up a humorous helping of love, growing up, the resilience of friendship, and--oh, yes--uses for hot sauce are sure to make your mama blush!
Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys
by Kate BrianWhen she was nine, Megan Meade met a group of terrible, mean, Bitter, Popsicle-goo-covered boys, the sons of her father's friend-the McGowan boys. Now, seven years later, Megan's army doctor parents are shipping off to Korea and Megan is being sent to live with the little monsters, who are older now and quite different than she remembered them. Living in a house with seven boys will give Megan, who has never even been kissed, the perfect opportunity to learn everything there is to know about boys. And she'll send all her notes to her best friend, Tracy, in . . . Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys
On Winding Hill Road
by Diane TyrrelFrom the dust jacket: At the end of Winding Hill Road, buried in a woods of oak and wild rose and isolated behind an imposing stone wall, is the estate of reclusive Gatien Defalle. It's also the new home of young and beautiful Sarah Logan, who has accepted a position as companion to Gatien's thirteen-year-old daughter May. Oddly wise beyond her years, Sarah's puzzling charge is far from being a child. Puzzling, too, is Gatien himself. Sarah's handsome employer, disconsolate since his wife's strange death, is carefully guarded against whispers and suggestions that it was something far more sinister than suicide. Seduced by the dangerously attractive and enigmatic Gatien, Sarah finds herself risking more than her heart. For the closer she gets to the man she loves, the nearer she gets to the threatening Defalle family secrets waiting to claim their next victim.
Psyched (That's So Raven #10)
by James PontiRaven is dying to meet Kwizz, the cute new jazz musician at school, so she comes up with a plan to invite him to a local jazz festival. There's only one problem: she doesn't have enough money to buy the tickets. When she takes a job at a psychic hotline to earn some extra cash, Raven, aka "Miss Tallulah," suddenly finds herself handing out phony predictions to everyone who calls in-including Kwizz! Can Miss Tallulah fool Kwizz into falling for Raven, or is Raven just fooling herself?
Rattlesnake Romeo
by Joy WellmanVicki Lyn Robinson, 49, wasn't the type of woman to go missing. The divorced mother of two teenage girls, she was a successful realtor and steady churchgoer. When her boyfriend reported her disappearance on June 27, 1998, friends and family feared the worst. Her house in a Tampa, Florida suburb was empty. Her younger daughter Valessa, 15, was also gone without a trace. RATTLESNAKE Valessa was a troubled teen with a trouble-making boyfriend, Adam "Rattlesnake" Davis, 19, a drug dealer with a record for burglary and auto theft. She'd last been seen with him and his buddy Jon Whispel, also 19. Now all three were on the run. BUSTED A multi-state dragnet for the fugitive teen trio ended in their capture in Texas after a high-speed car chase. They confessed that they'd been tripping on acid when Valessa had suggested they kill her mom for trying to break up her romance with Davis. Davis then fatally stabbed Vicki Robinson. This is their story-a tale of the kind of real-life terror that can come out of nowhere and destroy a family forever.
Rhymes with Witches
by Lauren MyracleSEE JANE. Jane is invisible. She can walk down her school hallways without being noticed by anyone-not the jocks, the stoners, the debaters, the drama geeks, or the cheerleaders, and especially not the Bitches, the school royalty. Made up of one girl from each class, the Bitches are so popular that no one can help but worship them. Ever. SEE JANE BEG. Miraculously, though, the Bitches do notice Jane, and they seem to be testing her for the freshman place in their group-she just has to want it more than she's ever wanted anything. And Jane does. SEE JANE BECOME. Even when the Bitches' beautiful veneer cracks and Jane begins to glimpse the strange, rotten source of their power, she goes along with it all. Jane doesn't want to be invisible ever again. And she won't be. Dark, dazzling, and dead on, Lauren Myracle's latest novel will leave readers shivering in recognition.
Tell It Slant: Writing and Shaping Creative Nonfiction
by Suzanne Paola Brenda MillerWhen the poet Emily Dickinson wrote, "Tell all the Truth but tell it Slant," she provided today's writers of creative nonfiction some sound advice: tell the truth but don't become mere transcribers of day-to-day life. Artistic truth offers a depth and vibrancy that goes beyond the everyday. But how do we, as writers, move beyond cold fact to create elegant nonfiction that makes the most of our individual "slant" on the world we live in? The award-winning authors of Tell It Slant stretch your writing muscles as they reveal the specialized art of creative nonfiction. Whether you are writing a memoir, researched essays, or investigative reporting, the authors will guide you along your journey, using intensive instruction and an abundance of writing exercises to show you how to: Gain access to your own memories; Look for material outside of yourself; Address ethical issues when writing about other people; Tackle (and enjoy) background research; Avoid cliches and discover fresh language; And keep the passion of writing alive.
The Nightmare Room: Books 1-2-3
by R. L. StineIn "Don't Forget Me!" A sister wishes her brother ill and lives to regret her impulsive words. In "Locker 13" A boy who has always been very average suddenly becomes VERY lucky. Too lucky? And what will be the price that he is required to pay for his good fortune? In "My Name Is Evil" a girl is thought to have become an evil witch on her thirteenth birthday. But is she really the source of the accidents happening to, and harming her best friends?
The Perfect Man
by Jenny MarkasThe perfect plan for the perfect man . . . Teenager Holly Hamilton is tired of moving every time her single mom, Jean, has another personal meltdown, involving yet another second-rate guy. To distract her mother from her latest bad match, Holly conceives the perfect plan for the perfect man-an imaginary secret admirer who will romance her mom and boost her shaky self-esteem. But when the virtual relationship takes off, Holly finds herself having to produce the suitor, borrowing her friend's charming and handsome uncle Ben as the face behind the e-mails, notes, and gifts. As time passes, Holly must resort to increasingly desperate measures to keep the ruse alive and protect her mom's newfound happiness. But will her dedication to the hoax cause her to miss the real perfect man when he does come along?
The Unusual Suspects (The Sisters Grimm Book #2)
by Michael BuckleyWith the winning combination of "Nancy Drew" meets "Shrek," this next book in the new "Sisters Grimm" series will entertain fans with the same hilarious mix of mysteries with fairy tale twists plus some new, outrageous adventures. In the tradition of "Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events" and "The Spiderwick Chronicles" comes a new humorous mystery of fantastic circumstances. When orphaned sisters, Sabrina and Daphne, are sent to live with their mysterious grandmother, Relda Grimm, who lives in a strange town in New York state, known for its extraordinary number of unexplained and unusual crimes, they begin to unravel a mystery that leads to their ancestors' magical beginnings. Sabrina and Daphne find out they are descendants of the Brothers Grimm, who were actually detectives of the magical phenomenon perpetrated by the Everafters, a parallel race of magical beings. They soon learn it is the Grimm family's legacy to keep the Everafters in line and the two sisters are the sole heirs to this challenge! In the "Sisters Grimm Book Two: The Unusual Suspects," the girls start school with Snow White as their teacher and soon discover a plot pitting mortal children against immortal parents--they must do everything they can to stop it! In a new breed of mystery that entails excitement, adventure and imagination, "The Grimm Sisters Book Two: The Unusual Suspects" injects the legends of fairytale with modern day sensibilities and suspense, creating an irresistible combination young readers will love!
Witch Way to Murder (Ophelia and Abby Mysteries #1)
by Shirley DamsgaardOphelia Jensen wishes she was just your typical, thirty-something librarian. Unfortunately, she's been burdened with psychic powers-an unwanted "gift" she considers inconvenient at best and at worst downright dangerous. Her kindly old grandmother Abby, however, has no compunctions about the paranormal, being a practicing witch with unique abilities of her own. And sometimes the otherworldly arts do come in handy-like when the arrival of a mysterious, good-looking stranger to their normally tranquil corner of Iowa seems to trigger an epidemic of catastrophes, from the theft of bomb-making materials to a murdered corpse dumped in Abby's backyard. Luckily Ophelia and Abby are on the case and determined to make things right. But it'll take more than magick to get out of the boiling cauldron of lethal trouble they're about to land themselves in.
11,000 Years Lost
by Peni R. GriffinWhat does it mean if you die before you were born? An eleven-year-old Texan girl finds out what it was like to live in the Ice Age in this action-packed time-travel adventure. As Esther participates in an archaeological dig in Texas, she is accidentally transported back in time. Living among the Clovis, the mammoth hunters, she learns of a very different childhood in which play is practice for survival and humans are prey for megafauna, scimitar cats, giant bears, and others. Will she ever get back to her own time? Peni R. Griffin has delivered her greatest time-travel story yet, a thrill-a-page adventure that's also an affecting look at family and what makes a home. Kids will be riveted by this richly imagined vision of prehistoric North America from a writer whose work has been called expertly plotted (Kirkus Reviews) and fascinating (Booklist). Discoveries of early American artifacts, clues to this little-known time, appear in the news frequently. The detailed bibliography in this book invites young readers to read and, like Esther, make discoveries of their own.
Crossing the Line
by Lauren Baratz-LogstedThe only way to come clean with everyone you've lied to- and if you've lied to nearly everyone in your life--is to come clean all at once. So what did I do? I threw a party, a New Year's Day party to launch my new life. And so Jane Taylor comes clean. In fact, the new, wiser and gentler Jane tries to legally adopt the baby she found abandoned in a basket on Christmas Eve, Emma-who happens to be black. Amid rigorous interviews with the well-packaged caseworker from Social Services, and trying to explain to the rest of the world (namely her mother) how Emma came about, Jane decides that giving Emma a strong cultural heritage is first up on her list of mommy duties. She manages to befriend a woman who invites Jane and Emma to her all-black play group. Never one to walk the straight path, Jane navigates motherhood (and racial identity) with aplomb- much to the surprise of her friends and family. Satirical, sassy and sometimes serious, Crossing the Line dares to delve into the unconventional world of familial and found relationships. In The Thin Pink Line, Jane draws a line that changes her life forever; here, she crosses the line--between singlehood and motherhood,between black and white, between what's expected and what's due.
Eleven
by Lauren MyracleMeet Winnie, age eleven. Winnie knows that "change" isn't all it's cracked up to be, especially when it means her best friend, Amanda, might be dropping her for someone else. Throw in a grumpy teenage sister, a cat who gets trapped in the wall, and a crush who has pinkeye, and Winnie decides that the rest of the world can do what it wants, but she's going to remain exactly the same. But every month brings hilarious adventures and crazy ups and downs. A lot can change in a year, maybe even Winnie.
Flashback
by Jenny SilerDiscovered in a ditch by the side of a country road in France, Eve has only good American dentistry and a ferry ticket scribbled with Arabic letters to suggest her identity. That, and a bullet wound in her brain that she miraculously survives, even as it destroys her memory. Only a few scattered violent images remain-or are they dreams?-along with one undeniable physical fact: she has had a child. When the nuns who have sheltered her for a year are brutally massacred, Eve realizes that whoever she was in her past life, she had powerful enemies. Just half a step ahead of her pursuers, she lights out for Morocco in an attempt to retrace her steps and discover her past. Away from the convent, she begins to discover things that startle her-among them, her capacity for violence and her facility with guns. Was she a spy? Who is the dying man in her nightmares? As she searches through spice-scented souks and glamorous nightclubs for clues to her past, she has to figure out who is after her, and why-before it's too late. Within scenes of heart-stopping terror, Jenny Siler's lyrical writing and memorable images stand out. As Marilyn Stasio said of Easy Money in The New York Times Book Review, Siler's is 'a voice that gets your attention like a rifle shot.'