"An effervescent city child dances through a hot summer day until a thunderstorm brings welcome relief. Executed in collages made from color photographs, imaginatively redefined in unexpected juxtaposition....A wonderful concept book, grounded in ordinary events yet touched with magic, that will strike a familiar chord with preschool audiences while enlarging their perceptions. An auspicious debut!"--Horn Book.

A unique, in-depth view of Victorian London during the record-breaking summer of 1858, when residents both famous and now-forgotten endured “The Great Stink” together While 1858 in London may have been noteworthy for its broiling summer months and the related stench of the sewage-filled Thames River, the year is otherwise little remembered. And yet, historian Rosemary Ashton reveals in this compelling microhistory, 1858 was marked by significant, if unrecognized, turning points. For ordinary people, and also for the rich, famous, and powerful, the months from May to August turned out to be a summer of consequence. Ashton mines Victorian letters and gossip, diaries, court records, newspapers, and other contemporary sources to uncover historically crucial moments in the lives of three protagonists—Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, and Benjamin Disraeli. She also introduces others who gained renown in the headlines of the day, among them George Eliot, Karl Marx, William Thackeray, and Edward Bulwer Lytton. Ashton reveals invisible threads of connection among Londoners at every social level in 1858, bringing the celebrated city and its citizens vibrantly to life.

** A SIZZLING ROMP WITH A GREAT CAST OF CHARACTERS**

Passions ignite in these all-new stories from four bestselling masters of contemporary romance… In Jaci Burton’s “Hope Smolders,” struggling divorcee Jane has put her personal life on hold to raise her kids—until she runs into Will, her ex’s former best friend, who convinces her it’s time to start having fun again. Carly Phillips takes you back to the town of Serendipity, where overworked Alexa has an instant connection with a sinfully sexy football star on the dance floor. A one-night stand evolves into multiple nights when Luke decides to teach the good doctor about his own brand of fun. But when it’s time for him to leave town, will these “Perfect Strangers” be able to say goodbye for good? In Jessica Clare’s “Legend of Jane,” an intrepid Bloggess catches the eye of local law enforcement when she gets caught trespassing. Luckily, Luanne wouldn’t mind getting handcuffed by Officer Hotness… Single girl Chelsea is tired of feeling like the fifth wheel on her weekend jaunt to Lake Placid, until she gets stuck out in the cold and finds a muscular knight in shining armor to warm her up—in Erin McCarthy’s “Ice Princess.”

The tale of English teacher Peter Meadowes, who flees to Kyoto for a summer vacation and finds himself lusting after every woman he sees . . . Hot and sticky describes the ancient Japanese city of Kyoto in summer. And that is just the situation Peter Meadowes finds himself in when he flees to Kyoto for his summer vacation. During the rest of the year the middle-aged Meadowes teaches in Tokyo, a circumstance which conveniently enables him to leave his commanding wife (who hates Japan) back in England. In the old capital Meadowes also expects to find relief from Noriko, his grim Japanese mistress. But in the small wood-and-paper Japanese house he has rented, he finds something unexpected: another woman to desire. Kazumi is seductive, yet she always manages to slip away. Then Noriko arrives, oddly possessive but sharing giggles with Kazumi—perhaps about Meadowes's prowess? Next on the scene is Miss Goto, polite, apologetic, a serious lover of theater who turns an elaborately staged seduction into a comedy of errors. When wife Monica shows up from England, Meadowes must choose...and fast. John Haylock's novel vividly evokes the languid torpor of summer in the fabled city of temples and gardens. Yet hidden within this steamy farce about obsessive lust is an underbelly of duplicity, discontent, and fear. When making his choice, Peter Meadowes confronts the love-hate relationship that afflicts the typical gaijin—foreigner—in Japan. Remaining in Japan may be impossible, but escaping only creates the desire to return.

Eleven-year-old Delphine has it together. Even though her mother, Cecile, abandoned her and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, seven years ago. Even though her father and Big Ma will send them from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to stay with Cecile for the summer. And even though Delphine will have to take care of her sisters, as usual, and learn the truth about the missing pieces of the past. When the girls arrive in Oakland in the summer of 1968, Cecile wants nothing to do with them. She makes them eat Chinese takeout dinners, forbids them to enter her kitchen, and never explains the strange visitors with Afros and black berets who knock on her door. Rather than spend time with them, Cecile sends Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern to a summer camp sponsored by a revolutionary group, the Black Panthers, where the girls get a radical new education. Set during one of the most tumultuous years in recent American history, one crazy summer is the heartbreaking, funny tale of three girls in search of the mother who abandoned them—an unforgettable story told by a distinguished author of books for children and teens, Rita Williams-Garcia.

One Hot Summer by Norrey Ford released on Nov 23, 1979 is available now for purchase.

"I have never wanted to live in a book so badly! It's the perfect love story for a summer afternoon." -USA Today bestselling author Melanie Harlow An author finds inspiration in Tuscany in the form of a hot Italian single dad... This summer is going to be a scorcher. A writer who's blocked--I'm a total cliche. Lucky for me, my agent has a cure that's an even bigger stereotype--a month at her villa in Tuscany, with nothing to do but find my muse. When he walks right in the front door, adorable son in tow, it feels like fate has finally done for me what it does for every other cliche'd girl I've seen in the movies. Except that he's completely off-limits. In this case, business and pleasure can never mix. Because Claudio is my agent's ex. Still, he's smart, charming, and wickedly sexy, plus a great father to Vanni. He's fast becoming the cure to all my writing woes. And it's clear he wants me as much as I want him. As the hot Italian summer wears on, it becomes harder and harder to resist. Succumbing to the heat even just one time could ruin my career. Or he could be exactly what I need.

Carly McFarlane needs to find a guy...for someone else! Her plan is guaranteed to stop flirty Heather from going after every boy she's ever dated: She'll snare the perfect match for Heather, and then find her own true love. Carly thinks funny, athletic Jack Ryder is the ideal guy for Heather. But as soon as she sees them together, Carly knows she's made a big mistake. Will she help her friend hang onto this major hunk...or will she steal him for herself?