Showing titles in Family Life

Destruction. In a family of healers who save, all I do is destroy. My enforced solitude is for my own safety as well as that of the world, or so my mother tells me. When the boy next door beckons, I can't help but sneak out to forge a friendship with him. Loneliness leads me to defy my family, but desperation prevails when I discover that the grounds of his private academy hold a secret that could help me learn why my ability is so disastrous...or push me to create a catastrophe that will bring about my family's deaths.

Mark Twain's lively tale of the scrapes and adventures of boyhood is set in Missouri, where Tom Sawyer and his friend Huckleberry Finn have the kinds of adventures many boys can only imagine - along with trying to impress girls, especially Becky Thatcher; fights and stunts in the schoolyard; getting lost (and saved) in a cave; and playing on the Mississippi River.

In this newest contemporary YA novel from author Amy Clipston, Chelsea’s responsible life takes a turn when she meets Dylan while working with the summer stock theater. But when their fun starts to interfere with her relationships and possibly her dreams, Chelsea must decide if her heart is leading her in the right direction after all.

Twelve-year-old Rory is an artist like her father. Through a hundred drawing lessons, he has guided her hand, trained her eye, taught her how to mix colors and achieve perspective. Together they plan to paint a beautiful mural for Rory's mother, maybe a sunset, because she always misses the real sunset while she's at her job, supporting the family. Rory goes to find her father in his studio so she can show him her sketch for the mural. But when she arrives, she finds him kissing his model.

By current standards the world over, unschooling is a radical educational practice based on radical philosophical concepts. Should children really be given the freedom to pursue their own academic interests? The unschooling dads who have written for this book answer that question with a concerted "YES"! Discover their reasons for choosing this most unconventional of approaches to education for their children.

Quinn and Piper are twins, but they've never met. Quinn has been trained to never tell a lie. Piper is a practiced liar. One twin can command the darkness; the other could hold the key to breaking the family curse. When they meet at their mother's funeral, their quest to learn truths that have been concealed from them begins, but they're shadowed by a dark spell that beckons them to run at night with a pack of murdering ghost hounds. Suspense, menace, mystery, witchcraft, family secrets, mistaken identity, and romance are interwoven in this brilliantly written novel.

On a dark and stormy night, three strangers seek shelter at a young girl's christening party. Thomas Hardy was an English poet, novelist, and short story writer. He is famous for his depictions of Wessex, an imaginary county. Many of his stories also reflected his sense of the tragedy in human life.

Although best known for such long novels as Our Mutual Friend and The Old Curiosity Shop, Charles Dickens also wrote many wonderful short stories with both a supernatural and a humorous twist. This is one of his best.

The Torres sisters dream of escape. Escape from their needy and despotic widowed father, and from their San Antonio neighborhood, full of old San Antonio families and all the traditions and expectations that go along with them. In the summer after her senior year of high school, Ana, the oldest sister, falls to her death from her bedroom window. A year later, her three younger sisters, Jessica, Iridian, and Rosa, are still consumed by grief and haunted by their sister’s memory. Their dream of leaving Southtown now seems out of reach.

An exploration in grief, suicide, spiritualism, and Inuit culture, Winter of the Wolf follows Bean, an empathic and spiritually evolved 15-year-old, who is determined to unravel the mystery of her brother Sam’s death. Though all evidence points to a suicide, her heart and intuition compel her to dig deeper. With help from her friend Julie, they retrace Sam’s steps, delve into his Inuit beliefs, and reconnect with their spiritual beliefs to uncover clues beyond material understanding.

Taliah Sahar Abdallat lives and breathes music. Songs have always helped Tal ease the pain of never having known her father. Her mother, born in Jordan and very secretive about her past, won't say a word about who her dad really was. But when Tal finds a shoebox full of old letters from Julian Oliver - yes, the indie rock star Julian Oliver - she begins to piece the story together. She writes to Julian, but after three years of radio silence, she's given up hope. Then, one day, completely out of the blue, Julian shows up at her doorstep.

Jonah and his younger brother, Simon, are on their own. They set out to find what's left of their family, carrying between them 10 dollars, a backpack full of dirty clothes, a notebook, and a stack of letters from their brother, who is serving a tour in Vietnam. And soon into their journey, they have a ride. With a man and a beautiful girl who may be in love with Jonah. Or Simon. Or both of them.

Addison McCurtis has been visiting her grandma here in "The Rut" her entire life. But this summer is different; Addie's grandma is sick. Addie and her wanderlust-afflicted mother are called back home to help with her care. But unlike trips of the past, this one lays the foundation for something Addie has never had: a permanent zip code. With the summer days stretched ahead of her, Addie befriends the girls of the Rut....

It was bad enough that they had to move to Brooklyn. Brooklyn Heights, as Tucker Woolf's dad instructs him to tell everyone after he loses his job. Now his father has suddenly developed an allergy to Tucker's cat, Nader, a nine-month-old calico Tucker found underneath a Chevrolet. Tucker's beloved pet finds a new home with overweight, outrageous Susan "Dinky" Hocker, the only person to answer Tucker's ad. As Tucker starts paying regular visits to Dinky's house to check up on Nader, his life begins to change.

A timeless story of breathtaking enchantment and fairy-tale romance. To save her beloved father, a beautiful young girl agrees to become the companion of a brutish and very unhappy beast. But as time passes, love works a miraculous change on both their lives.Beautifully narrated by Mia Farrow, and accompanied by an original classical score with 12-piece orchestra.

*this sequel to That Night can be read as a standalone. Is her role as the "good girl" leading Mia down a destructive path . . . following in her beloved sister's tragic footsteps? Once upon a time, Mia had the perfect older sister. She's been an only child for over four years now, and life without her sister's guidance has grown painfully difficult. Her parents, ashamed of how her sister died, act like she never existed at all, but Mia needs her now more than ever. Her first year of high school, her first boyfriend, her first kiss . . . all dulled by her habit of comparing herself to her ...

Time is running out. Everything was going fine in Elise's life. Still a family outcast? Check. Surviving her summer job? Double check. Leaving for her dream school in the fall? Triple check. Weird heirloom changing color the night of her birthday forcing her to hunt down the one guy who's supposed to be her one true love and finding two who fit the bill? Yeah, so not part of the plan. Or any plan for that matter! Suddenly Elise is forced to balance work, school, family, internships and finding her Prince Charming! How's a girl supposed to cope, especially with the clock ticking towards her ...

For all of Emory's life she's been told who she is. In town she's the rich one – the great-great-granddaughter of the mill's founder. At school she's hot Maddie Ward's younger sister. And at home, she's the good one, her stoner older brother Joey's babysitter. Everything was turned on its head, though, when she and Joey were in the car accident that killed Candy MontClaire. The car accident that revealed just how bad Joey's drug habit was.

Jiordan's family was never quite like everyone else's, with her father's mood swings, her mother's attempts at normalcy, and her two older sisters with a different last name. But on the surface, they fit in. Until the day the FBI came knocking on the door. After that, her father's mood plunged to a dangerous new low. After that, there was an investigation into his business and a sentencing in court. Soon Jiordan's father would have to leave home, and her family would change forever.

The eagerly awaited third installment in the riotous Tripp Diaries series. Written and read by one of the most entertaining children's narrators around, Stig Wemyss.