Showing results by narrator "Gail Shalan" in All Categories

Grace Deming didn't want to uproot her family to care for her difficult mother-in-law, but she's determined to make the best of it for the sake of her daughter Shyla's future. Their new home is enormous; the neighborhood, prestigious. If the worst of it is that Althea dislikes her, she can cope. After all, Althea Deming is a sweetheart. Everyone says so—her husband, the neighbors. And soon, so does Shyla, the once vibrant and happy child now a shadow of her former self. What's wrong with Grace that she can't trust her? But all her instincts are screaming at her that Althea is dangerous.

In Privilege Lost, Jessi Streib traces the lives of over 100 youth born into the upper-middle-class. Following them for over 10 years as they transition from teens to young adults, Streib examines who falls from the upper-middle-class, how, and why don't they see it coming. In doing so, she reveals the patterned ways that individuals' resources and identities push them onto mobility paths - and the complicated choices youth make between staying true to themselves and staying in their class position.

The stories in this anthology range from quietly strange to ambitiously speculative. Humans transform into cosmic energy or sentient algae. A man wakes up in a new body in a world with continents cut out, months absent from the calendar year, and souls misplaced. Students at a high school regularly vanish without a trace. A woman descends into the depths of the ocean and encounters all-knowing creatures who may have the answers to her deepest questions.

Hunter Gray and Lainie Mayes were each other’s first, last and only love. Until tragedy and their feuding families drove them apart. Eleven years vanish, then Hunter learns that Lainie has gone missing in the Colorado mountains. Now the former army pilot must pull off his most perilous mission. Can he rescue Lainie and uncover the truth before the woman he loves is once again lost to him…this time forever?

Seventeen-year-old Helena “Nell” Cusack came to New York this summer looking for a story—a real story. She dreams of one day writing hard-hitting articles for the New York Chronicle, but so far she's only managed to land a job as a lowly society reporter. That is, until Alice Austen strolls into her life, an audacious street photographer who encourages Nell to shake up polite society…and maybe also take a chance on love.

It’s the end of 6th grade and Zella wants to be the one who thinks of the best class prank—a long-held tradition that administrators allow, with parameters. In alternating chapters told by Zella, best friends Bowie and Janea, Shelby the school sleuth, and the town of Kettleby, Zella's story reveals her quest to uphold her image as class clown and bask in the spotlight.

Gloria Forman and Xia Harper go to the same high school in a small South Carolina town, but they couldn’t be more different. While Gloria is part of the popular, Christian crowd, Xia sleeps through class, antagonizes anyone who dares talk to her, and buries herself in books that help her pretend she’s somewhere else—anywhere that being lesbian wouldn’t be a waking nightmare. When the two form an accidental friendship, they begin noticing each other in ways they promised themselves they'd avoid.

Alberto's life isn't easy: He's an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who lives with his sister's abusive boyfriend-but he'd always accepted his place in the world. Until he starts hearing the voice of a man called Captain America, a voice that wants him to achieve more, no matter the cost.

In the aftermath of her father’s death and the crash that killed her mother and five-year-old sister, Jess is determined to take care of her surviving brothers, teenage Frankie and nine-year-old Tom. But as the three siblings struggle through grief, ever-present questions loom: Why did their dad take his own life? Where was their mother going?

In the Little Book of Dog Care, life-long dog lover and deathcare veterinary practice owner Ace Tilton Ratcliff delivers a must-have primer for every dog parent. What should you do when your dog is scared during a thunderstorm? How can you make clipping their nails less miserable? When do they like to eat? What can’t you feed them? Endless questions, expert-certified answers.

All science classrooms discuss animals that hibernate during winter months, but few know about animals that estivate—a prolonged sleep during hot or dry periods. Learn about the reasons estivating animals become dormant—whether it's because warm weather threatens food supply or to avoid increased body temperatures. From the ladybug to the salamander, from the lungfish to the desert hedgehog, twelve estivating animals and their habits—both when sleeping and awake—are explained clearly and elegantly.

Sure, I hate how everyone was over the moon about her TikTok fame. And I suppose I got a little bit carried away with vengeance when she tried to ruin my life. But seriously, when my friend gave me that leather journal, I’d never had so much power in my life. It was intoxicating. Who wouldn’t have done what I did to Eva? Now everyone thinks that just because she vanished in the forest after a party, that I killed her. That the blood on the jackets is proof. Or the text messages. The slightly weird thing I had with Eva's dad. The fire.

Go-getter Georgia Paxton has ten days to acquire a quaint hotel in the Scottish Highlands for her travel accommodation company before she's off on her next grand adventure. Too bad the sexy, broody Scot who owns the place is dead against the idea . . . and that she's in very real danger of losing their little bet to see who can convince whom first.

Ten bestselling, critically acclaimed authors deliver a fresh novel of interconnected stories that follows a group of young adults over the course of a few wild, transformative hours at an epic house party. House Party offers a delightful snapshot of diverse classmates getting ready to say goodbye to high school and hello to life’s next chapter—but not before they make their final night together one they’ll never forget!

Aisling Elizabeth Tanner is now the leader of the Faerie rebellion. Facing the end of the world, she will have to find the strength to lead the Fae to victory against the threat they face, or risk losing everything, including Finn, whom she's come to love more than life. Warrior Finn O'Connell wants nothing more than to fight by Elizabeth's side. But an ancient Celtic goddess threatens to take charge of his soul, and he will have to wage a war within himself to save the rebellion from disintegrating into chaos.

Elizabeth Tanner has one goal: to find her mother in whatever dimension she's imprisoned. But to do that, she has to face her estranged father, and to do that, she needs a shot of whiskey...or seven. But after an attempt on her life and the return of her lost love, she wakes up with one hell of a hangover and a whole barrage of questions. Finn O'Connell doesn't know why the Fianna want him to aid Elizabeth in her search, but he'll take any excuse to be near her again. Together, they dive headlong into the shadows of her mother's secrets.

Elizabeth Tanner is no Tinkerbell, and her life is no fairy tale. Broke and drowning in student loans, the one thing she wants more than anything is a scholarship from the Trinity Foundation. But after the ancient Irish text she's studying turns out to be more than just a book, she becomes their prisoner instead. And when Trinity reveals Elizabeth is half-Fae, she finds herself at the center of a plot to save the magical races of Ireland from a brutal civil war. At the mercy of Trinity and enslaved to the Dark Fae, Elizabeth finds herself alone on the wrong side of an Irish myth.

Emily Saturn’s world is spinning out of control. An intellectual property lawyer, she’s gone rogue from her firm, dealing with a major lawsuit against a predatory software company’s CEO pro bono. When she isn’t looking for elusive evidence she can use—legally, of course—she’s trying to avoid her soon-to-be ex-husband, Bobby March. After their whirlwind courtship and wedding, Bobby can’t pinpoint what went wrong between them. He’s been working for months on his new career and personal growth, determined to be the man his wife deserves.

Six months ago, Kate’s twelve-year-old daughter Melanie disappeared. It’s been six long months since Kate identified her battered, lifeless body. Kate is only just beginning to come to terms with her daughter's murder when a sinister message appears on her computer screen: WHY DID YOU LET HIM HURT ME, MUMMY? More horrifying messages follow. Only one person could be doing this to Kate—Melanie’s murderer.

Everyone has superpowers when they are a child. We tend to lose them as we grow up, but they’re always there, right below the surface, ready for us to reactivate them and fully manifest our human potential.