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Daikon: A Novel
by Samuel Hawley&“Thrilling…Builds to a pulse-pounding climax. The result is the most imaginative take on Hiroshima since Edwin Corley&’s The Jesus Factor.&” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) &“A riveting tale about war, intrigue, love, and perseverance.&” —John Grisham • &“I could not look away. This novel is storytelling at its finest.&” —Karl Marlantes • &“Spellbinding…A breathtaking chain reaction that unleashes the true power of the novel.&” —Adam Johnson • &“Extraordinary…Daikon will sweep you away.&” —Jess Walter • &“Exhilarating…I loved this book, and you will love it too.&” —Arthur Golden A sweeping and suspenseful novel of love and war, set in Japan during the final days of World War II, with a shocking historical premise: three atomic bombs were actually delivered to the Pacific—not two—and when one of them falls into the hands of the Japanese, the fate of a couple that has been separated from one another becomes entangled with the fate of this terrifying new device.War has taken everything from physicist Keizo Kan. His young daughter was killed in the Great Tokyo Air Raid, and now his Japanese American wife, Noriko, has been imprisoned by the brutal Thought Police. An American bomber, downed over Japan on the first day of August 1945, offers the scientist a surprising chance at salvation. The Imperial Army dispatches him to examine an unusual device recovered from the plane&’s wreckage—a bomb containing uranium—and tells him that if he can unlock its mysteries, his wife will be released. Working in secrecy under crushing pressure, Kan begins to disassemble the bomb and study its components. One of his assistants falls ill after mishandling the uranium, but his alarming deterioration, and Kan&’s own symptoms, are ignored by the commanding officer demanding results. Desperate to stave off Japan&’s surrender to the Allies, the army will stop at nothing to harness the weapon&’s unimaginable power. They order Kan to prepare the bomb for manual detonation over a target—a suicide mission that will strike a devastating blow against the Americans. Kan is soon confronted with a series of agonizing decisions that will test his courage, his loyalty, and his very humanity. An extraordinary debut novel that is the result of twenty-seven years of work by its author, Daikon is a gripping and powerfully moving saga that calls to mind such classics as Cold Mountain. It is set amid the chaos and despair of the world&’s third largest city lying in ruins, its population starving and its leadership under escalating assault from without and within. Here is a haunting epic of love, survival, and impossible choices that introduces a singular new voice on the literary landscape.
The School of Fencing: With a General Explanation of the Principal Attitudes and Positions Peculiar to the Art
by Domenico AngeloDomenico Angelo's book, complete with diagrams, embodies the ideas of an era. Philip Stafford in The Times Literary Supplement This is a fascinating read and surprisingly up to date. Every fencer will learn from it . . . Very highly recommended. The Sword. If there is one book on smallsword technique that a person should have in their collection, Angelos treatise is certainly that book. JL Forgeng in Man At Arms magazine. Domenico Angelos The School of Fencing was first published in 1763 as LEcole des armes and was one of the most popular and influential treatises of its time. Today, it remains essential reading for any historical swordfighter, student of martial arts, or military historians, giving the reader access to one of the great masters of the art. This modern edition is annotated by Maestro Jeannette Acosta-Martinez, who is currently the foremost expert in the French small sword. Her additions to this edition help clarify Angelos text for the modern reader. This edition also includes an Introduction by the editor, Jared Kirby, which gives a short history of Angelos life.
The 50 Greatest Explorers in History
by Michelle RosenbergThis is a book about one of the first recorded pilgrims who climbed Mount Sinai; it’s about Amelia Earhart, the famous American aviator whose story and disappearance continues to capture the world’s imagination. It’s the story of a doomed expedition to discover the North West Passage, and the tale of Marco Polo, who remained at the court of the Kublai Khan for an incredible 17 years. The 50 Greatest Explorers in History brings to life the pioneers in aviation flying thousands of miles with the most basic of maps in open cockpits, exposed to the elements and the unrelenting smell of petrol fumes. They travel by steamboat, on horseback, by rickshaw, motorbike, train, swim with piranhas, embark into black nothingness in new spacecraft, explore by Jeep, yachts, tea boats and elephants, disguise themselves as men, take canoes and use innovative, advanced technological scuba equipment. Going where in many cases, no man or woman had ever gone before, some women featured in this books were often denied respect, acknowledgment, or recognition and they determined to break the ‘men's club’ mentality of global exploration from which they were excluded.
The Intercom Conspiracy
by Eric AmblerThe unlikely hero of The Mask of Dimitrios returns in this “intriguing affair to remember” from the two-time Gold Dagger Award–winning author (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).Eric Ambler first introduced the world to the historian and novelist Charles Latimer in his classic thriller The Mask of Dimitrios. Now Latimer is back, on assignment from his American publisher, to find out just how the once-frivolous international newspaper Intercom unleashed a major geopolitical scandal. For Theodore Carter—Intercom’s hapless, hard-drinking editor—everything changed when the journal was taken over by mysterious new owners. Whoever they are, they have access to classified information that they are determined to publish. Soon, agents from the world’s superpowers are circling, and as Latimer and Carter set about uncovering the source of the secrets, they find much more than their careers are on the line.
Third Reich Victorious: Alternative Decisions of World War II
by Peter G. TsourasThis book is a stimulating and entirely plausible insight into how Hitler and his generals might have defeated the Allies, and a convincing sideways look at the Third Reich's bid at world domination in World War II. What would have happened if, for example, the Germans captured the whole of the BEF at Dunkirk? Or if the RAF had been defeated in the Battle of Britain? What if the U-Boats had strangled Britain with an impregnable blockade, if Rommel had been triumphant in North Africa or the Germans had beaten the Red Army at Kursk? The authors, writing as if these and other world-changing events had really happened, project realistic scenarios based on the true capabilities and circumstances of the opposing forces. Third Reich Victorious is a spirited and terrifying alternate history, and a telling insight into the dramatic possibilities of World War II.
The Architecture Lover’s Guide to London (City Guides)
by Sian LyeSince the early days as rolling hills crisscrossed with streams, London has come a long way to be one of the most exciting and innovative cities in the world. From the first Roman settlement 2000 years ago to the high tech and high rise buildings of today, the history of London is a story of experimentation, determination and triumph. A city at the cutting edge of style and fashion, rising from every fire, every attack, every setback. The Architecture Lover’s Guide to London takes a journey through history, looking at some of the most significant buildings, as well as the people who have shaped this city.
The Windfall Battleships: Agincourt, Canada, Erin, Eagle and the Latin-American & Balkan Arms Races
by Aidan DodsonThis new book explores for the first time the full story of how two Turkish and two Chilean battleships became British capital ships after the outbreak of the First World War. Under construction by the shipbuilding giants of Armstrong and Vickers in August 1914, Sultan Osman I, Reșadiye, Almirante Latorre and Almirante Cochrane became HM Ships Agincourt, Erin, Canada and Eagle. The first three served with the Grand Fleet, fighting at Jutland, while the last was transformed into a pioneering aircraft carrier, which would serve with distinction until sunk while escorting a convoy to Malta in 1942. While two of the other ships had short lives – cut short by the Washington Naval Treaty – the final ship, Almirante Latorre, would be returned to Chile after the war, for a continuing active career that would last into the 1950s. When finally towed away for scrap in 1959, she was the penultimate survivor of Jutland. Drawing on extensive archival research, the book begins with an overview of the warships under construction around Europe for foreign customers in August 1914, and how the four ships featured were acquired by the Royal Navy. It then looks at them as manifestations of the international rivalries which directed much of the national budgets of impecunious South American and Balkan states towards armaments. The focus then switches to the British service of the ships actually completed as battleships, and then to the story of the carrier. Although never finished as a battleship, she would play a crucial role in the development of British carrier aviation. Finally, the author traces the stories of the battleships of the Latin-American naval race from the 1920s down to the 1950s. The stories and back-stories of Agincourt, Erin, Canada and Eagle embrace almost the whole of the twentieth-century battleship era, and they take us down the byways of international naval power, ranging from the Pacific to the Black Sea, and from the line of battle to mutiny and revolution. A fascinating and original story.
Tennis Shoes (Shoes #1)
by Noel StreatfeildWill the four Heath children continue their family tradition and become tennis champions? The Heath kids—Nicky, David, and twins Jim and Susan—come from a long line of ace tennis players. Now their dad has decided it&’s time to teach them everything he knows about the game. The twins are the odds-on favourites to become the next champs. Susan shows a lot of promise, winning in tournaments and getting recognition, but she secretly hates the spotlight. Jim&’s a good player, but prefers swimming. David, the youngest, loves to sing. Nicky could be a natural, but she&’s too busy rebelling to take the sport seriously. Who will become champion? And will it change their family forever?
The Steep Atlantick Stream: A Memoir of Convoys & Corvettes
by Robert HarlingFirst published in 1946, this atmospheric memoir of the battle of the Atlantic offers one of the most original accounts of war at sea aboard a corvette, escorting convoys in both the North and South Atlantic. The author, an RNVR lieutenant, experienced the terrors of U-boat attacks and the hardships of autumn gales as well as the relief of shore runs in ports as far apart as Halifax and Freetown. The narrative begins with Harling’s voyage from the Clyde to New York on the Queen Mary (or QM, as she was known during her martial career), on route to join a newly-built corvette in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was to be her First Lieutenant, and his service at sea started in the spring of 1941, just as the battle of the Atlantic was entering its most crucial stage. During the first east-bound convoy he was to experience attacks by U-boats, the loss of merchant vessels and a steep learning curve as the ship’s crew struggled to live in the harsh wartime conditions. Later that summer they made return voyages to Iceland where runs ashore offered some solace from dangerous days at sea. Time was also spent in the South Atlantic with voyages to Freetown and Lagos, before a short interlude when he experienced the excitement of fighting with Coastal Forces. The corvette subsequently returned to escorting convoys from Halifax to Europe. His narrative is both serious and humorous, and his picture of wartime Britain, his descriptions of being buffeted by great storm-tossed seas in the ‘cockleshell corvettes’, and the recounting of grim losses are all too real and authentic. His story ends as he leaves his ship after a violent cold developed into pneumonia, and soon afterwards he hears the heart-breaking news of her loss, along with the captain and half the crew, after being torpedoed. He is left to ponder on the many tombless dead consigned by the war to the Steep Atlantick Stream.
Some Deaths Before Dying: A Crime Novel (G. K. Hall Core Ser.)
by Peter DickinsonIn this crime fiction masterwork from CWA Gold Dagger winner Peter Dickinson, a dying old woman determined to solve a family mystery before the end of her life finds herself reopening doors into a dark and very dangerous past Once a talented photographer, Rachel Matson is now old, paralyzed, bedridden, and dying—yet her wits remain as sharp as a well-stropped straight razor. Watching television to keep her mind focused, she is shocked to see a woman on Antiques Roadshow asking to have an old pistol appraised—a firearm Rachel is certain once belonged to her late husband. Though confined to her bedroom and barely able to communicate with the outside world, Rachel is determined to figure out how and why a treasured family heirloom wound up in a stranger&’s possession. With the help of her old photographs, her devoted nurse, Dilys, and Jenny, the sweet young lady from the telly, Rachel sets out to unravel this last mystery before the end comes. But the answers she seeks are waiting for her in the darkest shadows of a past best left unexplored and in shocking family secrets that, by rights, should remain locked away forever. P. D. James has called Peter Dickinson &“a master&” and &“a true original.&” Acclaimed worldwide for his stylistic flair, his unique storytelling genius, and his remarkable penchant for reconfiguring British crime fiction, Dickinson once again offers the mystery reader something fresh and surprising with his final novel, Some Deaths Before Dying.
The 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion: Fighting on Both Fronts
by Samuel de KorteFinalist, 2022 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing AwardsThe 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion was activated on 25 July 1942 at Camp Carson, USA and, like many other tank destroyer battalions, would be sent to Europe. It saw combat in France, where a platoon earned the Distinguished Unit Citation, and later continued to fight gallantly in Germany and Austria until the war was over. However, unlike many other tank destroyer battalions that fought in the Second World War, this unit was crewed only by black soldiers. The men had been subjected to racism from their countrymen during training, although the battalion did eventually win the respect of the white soldiers they fought alongside. When the third platoon deployed their guns on the slopes near Climbach, France, they weren’t just fighting against the Germans, but also against any prejudices that their white countrymen might have had. Having earned the respect of the 103d Infantry Division, the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion shared in their triumphs and tragedies. So when the division needed to retreat during a blizzard, or when Task Force Rhine pushed its way across the German plains, or when the division suffered heavy losses at Schillersdorf, the 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion was there with them. Included in this book are lists of medals awarded to the men during the war, as well as a list of casualties and those that served in the unit.
The 50 Greatest Shipwrecks
by Richard JonesWhen you think of a shipwreck, what image springs to mind? A tall sailing ship on the rocks, or perhaps the sinking Titanic surrounded by lifeboats? Historian Richard M. Jones has put together 50 stories of lost ships throughout history that are among the most important, infamous and in some cases tragic ships in the whole of history. When did two liners collide and lead to one of the greatest rescues in history? How did a Scotsman become an American hero against his own country? Which warship sank with gold bullion on board during the Second World War? This book tells the story of these fascinating cases plus many more, explores the largest shipwrecks, the treasure wrecks and the ones that are talked about still as the most famous. Starting at the tiny island of Alderney in 1592, we take a journey through history, through the First and Second World Wars, into the age of the passenger ferry and finally to the modern day migrant issues in the Mediterranean Sea. Never before have these fifty wrecks come together in a book that really brings home to the reader just how many lost vessels there are, how deadly many can be and what this teaches us today about our own history.
The War of Atonement: The Inside Story of the Yom Kippur War
by Chaim HerzogAn authoritative account of the Israeli army’s performance in the bitter Yom Kippur War of 1973.In The War of Atonement, the origins of the Yom Kippur War amid the turbulent history of competing powers in the Middle East are fully explored, as is the build-up of Arab forces that almost inexplicably caught Israel by surprise. The author then provides a gripping narrative of the conflict itself, punctuated by firsthand accounts and interviews with combatants. The War of Atonement is full of drama and tales of inspirational bravery, as Israel defied the odds to defeat the two-pronged invasion. An analysis of the political implications of the conflict bring this epic tale to a close.For this edition Chaim Herzog’s son, Brigadier General Michael Herzog, has written an introduction which places the book in the context of his father’s achievements and gives a revealing insight into the man himself. This is the most comprehensive work on a conflict that has had major implications for our own troubled times.“Certainly the best account of the war from the Israeli standpoint that has yet appeared or is likely to appear for some years to come.” —The New York Times Book Review“A scrupulously researched account . . . the most authoritative yet to appear.” —Financial Times“Herzog’s volume is still very much a required classic on the subject. Clearly and concisely written, there is much to learn from this book.” —Air and Space Magazine“One of the best accounts of the Yom Kippur War . . . In addition to providing a detailed account of each of the major battles as well as useful general information on the political leaders and generals of both sides, the author recounts in detail the heroism of individual Israeli Army units that were greatly outnumbered.” —Jewish Book World
The Battlecruiser New Zealand: A Gift to Empire
by Matthew WrightThis book tells the story of HMS New Zealand, a battlecruiser paid for by the government of New Zealand at the height of its pro-Imperial ‘jingo’ era in 1909, when Britain’s ally Japan was perceived as a threat in Australasia and the Pacific. Born of the collision between New Zealand’s patriotic dreams and European politics, the tale of HMS New Zealand is further wrapped in the turbulent power-plays at the Admiralty in the years leading up to the First World War. The ship went on to have a distinguished First World War career, when she was present in all three major naval battles – Heligoland, Dogger Bank and Jutland – in the North Sea. The book ‘busts’ many of the myths associated with the ship and her construction, including the intent of the gift, New Zealand’s ability to pay, deployment, and the story behind the piupiu (skirt) and tiki (pendant) that, the crew believed, bestowed special protection upon the vessel. All is inter-woven with the human and social context to create a ‘biography’ of the ship as an expression of human endeavour, in significantly more detail than any of the summaries available in prior accounts. Extensively illustrated, this is a book with appeal to a wide audience, from naval enthusiasts and historians to the general reader with a wider interest in the story of Empire. The use of archival material available only in New Zealand, including the Ship’s Book, adds a dimension and novelty not previously included in histories of this great battlecruiser.
Slavery in Florida: Territorial Days to Emancipation
by Larry Eugene RiversThis important illustrated social history of slavery tells what life was like for bond servants in Florida from 1821 to 1865, offering new insights from the perspective of both slave and master.Starting with an overview of the institution as it evolved during the Spanish and English periods, Larry E. Rivers looks in detail and in depth at the slave experience, noting the characteristics of slavery in the Middle Florida plantation belt (the more traditional slave-based, cotton-growing economy and society) as distinct from East and West Florida (which maintained some attitudes and traditions of Spain). He examines the slave family, religion, resistance activity, slaves’ participation in the Civil War, and their social interactions with whites, Indians, other slaves, and masters.Rivers also provides a dramatic account of the hundreds of armed free blacks and runaways among the Seminole, Creek, and Mikasuki Indians on the peninsula, whose presence created tensions leading to the great slave rebellion, the Second Seminole War (1835-42).Slavery in Florida is built upon painstaking research into virtually every source available on the subject--a wealth of historic documents, personal papers, slave testimonies, and census and newspaper reports. This serious critical work strikes a balance between the factual and the interpretive. It will be significant to all readers interested in slavery, the Civil War, the African American experience, and Florida and southern U.S. history, and it could serve as a comprehensive resource for secondary school teachers and students.
The Queen of Bedlam (The Matthew Corbett Novels)
by Robert McCammon&“Historical NYC is [the] setting for this superb serial killer thriller,&” from the New York Times–bestselling author of Speaks the Nightbird (Fresh Fiction). Manhattan, 1702. A bustling colonial town, New York is starting to see a rise in crime that is overtaking its fledgling law enforcement, namely a ragtag collection of constables whose job is mainly breaking up drunken tavern brawls and domestic squabbles. After saving a woman from a witch-hanging in the southern colonies, magistrate&’s clerk Matthew Corbett finds himself back in New York, driven by his obsession to bring justice to the abusive headmaster of the orphanage where he was raised. Familiar with the dark side of human nature, Corbett is still shocked to find a throat-slashing killer stalking the nighttime streets, one who leaves cuts in the flesh around the victims&’ eyes. Targeting some of the town&’s prominent citizens, &“The Masker&” has all of New York on edge. And Corbett&’s career takes a surprising turn that allows him to match wits with the killer, uncovering connections between the victims that will lead him straight into the shadowy recesses of the mind—and the blighted heart of a shocking conspiracy . . . &“The hero of Robert McCammon&’s saga of colonial witch hunts, Speaks the Nightbird, returns to track a serial killer in 18th-century New York . . . A good book for a winter storm.&” —Entertainment Weekly &“[A] spellbinding sequel to Speaks the Nightbird. . . . McCammon brilliantly captures colonial New York and closes with a tantalizing cliffhanger that suggests more exciting sleuthing to come.&” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
The Care of Time
by Eric AmblerIn this international thriller from the author of Epitaph for a Spy, a freelance writer is offered a deadly job he can’t refuse.Robert Halliday is an ordinary writer-for-hire until he receives a bomb threat in the mail. When the bomb arrives as promised, it is accompanied by an offer of employment from international fixer Karliss Zander. Unless Halliday agrees to help him edit the memoirs of a nineteenth-century Russian terrorist, Zander will detonate the bomb. Preferring not to test Zander’s resolve, Halliday takes the job. But he soon discovers his new employer requires more than his eye for grammar and punctuation. Tangled in an international web of danger, Halliday begins to wonder if he’d have been better off letting the bomb explode.
The Midwich Cuckoos (Fast Track Classics Ser.)
by John WyndhamThe classic science fiction horror novel of possessed children that inspired the terrifying Village of the Damned films. In John Wyndham&’s classically elegant, calm style, this novel explores the arrival of a collective intelligence on earth that threatens to eliminate mankind. The quiet, eerie changes that befall Midwich manifest in strange ways: On the surface, everything seems normal, but scratch a little deeper and there is a clear sense of dread. After the night of September 26, every woman of childbearing age is pregnant, all to give birth at the same time, to children who are all alike—their eyes mesmerizing, void of emotion. These children are innately possessed with unimaginable mental powers and a formidable intelligence. It is these children who develop into an unstoppable force, capable of anything and far out-reaching other humans in cunning. Whatever dwells in Midwich is sowing the seeds for a master race of ruthless and inhumane creatures who are bent on nothing less than absolute and total domination. The London Evening Standard called The Midwich Cuckoos &“humane and urbane with a lightly sophisticated wit putting the ideas into shape.&” Wyndham skillfully heightens the terror by making his narrative so rational and matter-of-fact. In such a nuclear and technological age, this story is rich in irony in that it is set in the picturesque, bucolic English Village and the &“enemy,&” or, the threat is seeming cherubim. &“Exciting, unsettling and technically brilliant.&” —The Spectator
Shadow of a Hero
by Peter DickinsonTo save a country, a girl and her grandfather must learn what it means to be a hero The greatest hero in the history of Varina was baptized in a cave. Every schoolchild knows the story. His parents were on their way to the city when a storm drove them to take shelter in the mountainside, along with a priest, a bandit, and a scholar. When the storm did not abate, they asked the priest to give their child a name, and he christened the boy Restaur Vax. The boy would grow to be a warrior, a scholar, and a man of god, and his name would lead an oppressed people to independence for the first time. Alas, that liberty would not survive. Generations later, Vax&’s oldest living descendant is in London, teaching the language of Varina to his inquisitive young granddaughter. When his homeland is torn apart once more by war, calls come for this man to take up the mantle of the Vax name—and become a hero for a new age. This ebook features an illustrated personal history of Peter Dickinson including rare images from the author&’s collection.
Skorzeny's Special Missions: The Memoirs of Hitler's Most Daring Commando
by Otto SkorzenyOtto Skorzeny, Germanys top commando in the Second World War, is one of the most famous men in the history of special forces. His extraordinary wartime career was one of high risk and adventure and here he tells the full story. Skorzeny quickly proved his worth in Yugoslavia and then Russia. In 1942 he was awarded the Iron Cross, and in April 1943 he was promoted to captain and named Chief of Germany's Special Troops, Existing or to be Created in the Future. When Mussolini was imprisoned in Italy in 1943, it was Skorzeny who successfully led the daring glider rescue, winning the Knights Cross and promotion as a result. Skorzenys talents were brought into play again when he was sent to Budapest to stop the Hungarian regent Admiral Horthy from signing a peace with Stalin in 1944. Now dubbed the most dangerous man in Europe by the Allies Skorzeny was awarded the German Cross in Gold. A few months later he took a critical role in the Ardennes offensive with a controversial plan to raise a brigade disguised as Americans with captured Sherman tanks. His captured colleagues spread a false rumour that he was planning to assassinate Eisenhower, who was consequently confined to his headquarters for weeks.
The Artful Goddaughter (Gina Gallo Mystery #3)
by Melodie CampbellThe Artful Goddaughter is the third novel in a series featuring Gina Gallo, who wants nothing more than to run her little jewelry store. But try as she might, Gina can’t escape the family business, with hilarious consequences. Mob goddaughter Gina Gallo stands to inherit two million bucks from her great-uncle Seb, a master forger. But there’s a catch: Uncle Seb wants Gina to make things right and return an extremely valuable painting to the City Art Gallery. If she can’t do it, her rat-face cousin Carmine gets the boodle. Reluctantly, Gina comes up with a plan for a reverse heist, as she has learned things never go as planned when her family gets involved. The wrong painting gets replaced, and Gina finds herself with two priceless masterpieces in hand! It won’t be long before someone realizes what’s going on. This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for older teen readers and adults who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read!
The Goddaughter Caper: A Gina Gallo Mystery (Gina Gallo Mystery #4)
by Melodie CampbellThis is the fourth in a series featuring Gina Gallo, who wants nothing more than to run her little jewelry store but, try as she might to escape it, somehow Gina gets drawn into the family business, with hilarious consequences. In The Goddaughter Caper, Gina Gallo finds herself embroiled in her family's shady dealings when a body turns up at her uncle’s restaurant. But it’s just the beginning of her problems. Strange things keep happening in Steeltown. A body shows up in the trunk of Gina’s car. Another is mistakenly shipped to her cousin Nico’s new store. And then Gina and Nico stumble across a stash of empty coffins! Worse, everything mysteriously points to her own retired relatives from the Holy Cannoli Retirement Home. Gina is determined to get to the bottom of it. But she’ll have to act fast, because the police are right behind her. This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for older teen readers and adults who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read!
The Bootlegger's Goddaughter: A Gina Gallo Mystery (Gina Gallo Mystery #5)
by Melodie CampbellThe Bootlegger's Goddaughter is the fifth book in the Gina Gallo Mystery series. As Gina gets ready for her Christmas wedding, all is quiet in Steeltown. Then she's robbed, cousin Jimmy has a heart attack, and someone in the city has hijacked a transport truck full of booze. But who? And why? Gina knows bootlegging used to be a family business, but they stopped that in the '30s. Didn’t they? Gina and Nico work feverishly to keep the latest bungled family matter under wraps, but the police are closing in. And, once again, everything points to the Holy Cannoli Retirement Home. This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for older teen readers and adults who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read!
Deep Roots: How Trees Sustain Our Planet (Orca Footprints #8)
by Nikki TateMost of us see trees every day, and too often we take them for granted. Trees provide us with everything from food, fuel and shelter to oxygen and filtered water. Deep Roots celebrates the central role trees play in our lives, no matter where we live. Each chapter in Deep Roots focuses on a basic element—water, air, fire and earth—and explores the many ways in which we need trees to keep our planet healthy and livable. From making rain to producing fruit to feeding fish, trees play an integral role in maintaining vibrant ecosystems all over the world. Facts about trees and hands-on activities throughout help readers discover ways to get to know our giant neighbors better.
The Goddaughter's Revenge (Gina Gallo Mystery #2)
by Melodie CampbellWhen jewelry-store owner Gina Gallo and her boyfriend Pete take a week's vacation, she leaves the store in the hands of her cousin from New York. After all, cousin Carmine is a certified gemologist—but Carmine is also in the Mob. When Gina gets back, she discovers that her cousin has spent his time switching real gems for fakes in the jewelry of some of her best customers. With her reputation on the line, what's a Mob goddaughter to do? Mastermind a string of burglaries to get the gems back, of course! But nothing ever goes entirely smoothly for Gina. Soon she and her eccentric cousin Nico are the toast of the town, as the local paper and everyone else follow the antics of their very own Pink Panthers. This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for older teen readers and adults who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read!