Showing results by narrator "Stacy Gonzalez" in All Categories

Xanpan is...a cross between XP and Kanban...is an example of a roll-your-own method...is distilled from Allan Kelly’s own experiences running development teams and then helping multiple teams adopt Agile working methods and practices. Xanpan draws ideas from Kanban and Lean, XP and Scrum, product management and business analysis, and many other places. Allan tells the Xanpan story through a series of boards which tell the story of different teams.

Mothers don't write. Mothers give life. How could a woman be capable of neglecting her children? How could she kill them? Is motherhood a prison? Complete with elements of a traditional thriller, this a groundbreaking novel in which the chronicle and the essay converge. Katixa Agirre reflects on the relationship between motherhood and creativity, in dialogue with writers such as Sylvia Plath and Doris Lessing. Mothers Don't plumbs the depths of childhood and the lack of protection children face before the law.

The only thing standing between Maple Leighton and her dream of becoming a veterinarian? Just one year in small-town Bluebonnet, Texas. But fulfilling the conditions of her scholarship won’t be easy, especially once buttoned-up Maple learns why she was left the quaint practice. Plus, she has to contend with know-it-all town pediatrician Ford Bishop! Gregarious Ford's clearly suspicious of Maple's motives.

It's Christmas Eve, and Santa's reindeer are sick with the chicken pox. They can't pull his sleigh, so Santa needs some serious help. Will the unicorns save Christmas despite coming down with a case of hiccups? Or will Christmas have to be canceled?

Moving back to my Washington hometown is tough, but having Oliver Langdon as my neighbor is a whole lot tougher. He's the big shot behind Steamy Coffee, the same chain that's making life hard for the café I'm running for my aunt right next door. Sure, Oliver's got that tall, dark, and seriously-stop-being-so-handsome vibe going on. And yeah, I flirted with him before I knew he was my business rival. But chiseled jawlines aren't my kryptonite. He's the competition, plain and simple—even if things between us are heating up more than a cup of his fancy espresso.

Freddie is trying to make his first invention! But he gets frustrated when his first attempt fails. As Freddie zooms around Starwood Park to feel better, he notices holes in the doors and fence. Who is responsible for making the holes? Freddie wants to find the culprit, but when he gets injured and can't use his Zapato Power, who will look after Starwood Park?

Minerva Soledad Miranda is determined to reach her goals, despite shouldering more responsibility than the other kids at school—like caring for her two sisters while her mom works two jobs. But one night, Minerva's mom doesn't come home, and Minerva has to figure out what to do. Was Mamá snapped up by immigration enforcement? Will the girls be sent to foster homes or holding centers for migrant kids? Minerva and her sisters can't let anyone know Mamá has disappeared. They'll just pretend everything is normal until she comes back.

For pop star Bianca Esposito, superstardom is right around the corner. In two weeks she and her chart-topping Christmas hit will be on a world tour. For now, she wants to (try to) enjoy being home for the holidays. If the creepy but, sort of cute, Rideo driver staring at her in the rearview mirror actually takes her there. There isn't much Jaden Brooks wouldn't do for his family, including picking up a rideshare shift to help with his brother's medical bills and delivering his tipsy cousin home safely from a bar.

To celebrate the end of high school, Izzy Morales joins her best friend Kassidy and five friends on a luxury 1920s-themed getaway at the glamorous Ashwood Manor. There, Izzy and her friends party in vintage dresses and expensive diamonds - until Kassidy's boyfriend turns up dead. And when a raging storm traps them on the island with two detectives, the sparkling young socialites become the prime suspects in his murder. There's the girlfriend, and the other girl. The old friend, and the new friend. The brooding enigma. And then, there's Izzy - the girl who brought the knife.

Claire Murray hides out in the left-brain comfort zone of the library, denying the gifts of a girlhood spent in a spiritualist community. When she is forced to curate a museum of random junk donated by a powerful donor and share space with a ghost who throws tantrums via a vending machine, her orderly world grows less predictable.

Olivia Ayala has mastered the art of blending the perfect ingredients to create magical confections in her small-town bakery in Addersfield, Rhode Island—a sanctuary for witches since 1697. As a fiercely independent single mom and a powerful witch, Olivia has crafted a life of sweet serenity for herself and her son, navigating the challenges of cerebral palsy with strength and grace. But beneath the surface of her contented life, a whisper of loneliness lingers. Enter Draven James: charming, annoyingly handsome, and mysteriously capable of finding a town hidden from the outside world.

Freddie loves to help Mr. Vaslov with jobs around the Starwood Park apartment buildings. One day Freddie finds a pair of small gloves that would fit him in Mr. Vaslov's toolshed. Could the gloves be a new invention?

When Freddie and Mr. Vaslov see something fall from the sky, Freddie learns it could be a meteorite. He's determined to find it! Will Freddie find the rock from outer space before someone else does?

Mr. Vaslov is building a drone to help him take care of Starwood Park - but that's Freddie's job! And when Freddie finds out his mom has a new boyfriend, he's worried about their relationship, too. How can his Zapato Power help with all this change?

When Amy, the new girl at school, is being bullied, Freddie Ramos uses his Zapato Power to help her. But then she disappears! Super hearing, super speed, and super bounce doesn't help Freddie find her. And his superpowers aren't helping Freddie with his own school problem either - he's failing math. Can Freddie find a way to help Amy and his math grade?

Little Slice has dreams of becoming a gourmet dish. Alas, he is just a simple bit of bread! He is also shy yet so desperately wants to be included in the Kitchen Crewe’s big adventures. Will this tiny underdog gain the courage to join in?

Seventeen-year-old Frankie doesn't trust easily. Not others and not even herself. Found in an alley when she was a child, she has no memory of who she is or why she was left there. Recurring dreams about a hundred-year-old carnival side show, a performer known as Alligator Girl, and a man named Monsieur Duval have an eerie familiarity to them. Frankie gets drawn deeper into Alligator Girl's world and the secrets that keep the performers bound together. But a startling encounter with Monsieur Duval when she’s awake makes Frankie wonder what’s real and what’s in her head.

Chloe Aridjis's stories and essays are known to transport listeners into liminal, often dreamlike, realms. In this collection of works, we meet a woman guided only by a plastic bag drifting through the streets of Berlin who discovers a nonsense-named bar that is home to papier-mâche monsters and one glass-encased somnambulist.

On a crisp April morning, Sara Parcell disappears without a trace. No one saw a thing. Desperate, her family agree to take part in a reality TV show following Sara's case. Cameras swarm the house. Viewers tune in. The addiction begins. As the show gains traction, what began as a small-town crime becomes a global sensation. Everyone who knew Sara is questioned on camera - but the producers want more. Hungry for twists, they delve deeper into the story - and soon, it takes on a life of its own.

A brand-new anthology from a diverse lineup of authors, offering taut and dramatic exclusive tales set on Earth and in dark reaches of space, featuring the ultimate hunters known as Predators. This session features fifteen original, never-before-seen short stories set in the expanded Predator universe from the first film, featuring the ultimate hunters, the Yautja from the movie Predator. Set in the recent past, the present, and the future, these edge-of-your-seat adventures by many of today’s top SF and horror authors take place on Earth and in the dark, unforgiving reaches of space.