God, why did you give me the wrong father? Thats the question Lynn asks about the purveyor of the finest Chicago-style hot dogs that the city has ever known. Routinely sheathed with absurdly darkened and unnaturally tough, sun-burnt skin from long hours spent outside, Sam is impossible to understand. While hes sometimes charming, he drinks, argues, and can be downright mean. Even so, as Lynn looks back at her childhood, she yearns to inhale the stark aroma of scorched red hots and spicy tamales her father habitually dressed and adored, selling them by the hundreds every night. And theres nothing she wouldnt pay to truly understand any one of her fathers exasperating secrets. But money wont help Lynn unravel the mysteries surrounding Samshe can only do that by surrendering her painful relationship with her father to God. Through that simple act, shes finally able to understand, love, and forgive her father. Filled with gut-wrenching prose, glorious scents, and sounds and sights unique to Chicago, the story of Sam is the ultimate tale of faith, family, and forgiveness.

Originally published: New York: Harper & Row, c1990.

20 master recipes, more than 100 dishes—weeknight cooking has never been so exciting or so easy! Say goodbye to fourth-night-in-a-row meat loaf and identical containers of tragically “meal-prepped” chicken thighs. YouTube cooking sensation and restauranteur Sam the Cooking Guy is here to save us from mediocre leftovers. With 20 bulk-cooking master dishes, each featuring a main protein, with corresponding follow-up meals that all benefit from the work you’ve already done, Sam ensures that you’ll never be bored in the kitchen again! Sam’s recipes are simple and quick, but never tired. Your Mexican Meat Loaf from Sunday can shapeshift into Tuesday night’s Tacos or Thursday’s Sloppy Joes. Monday’s Roast Chicken becomes Wednesday’s Thai Chicken Curry or Friday’s Baked Taquitos. “Aw man, Beer-Braised Short Ribs again?” “Nah: Short Rib Egg Rolls!” Sam’s genuine and engaging personality, along with vibrant color photography, makes this book a lifesaver for busy folks who are looking for dinners that they can finally be excited about.

The most inventive and entertaining novel to date from “a master of the dark arts” (Kelly Link) A modest house in upstate New York. One in the morning. Three people—a couple and their child—hurry out the door, but it’s too late for them. As the virtuosic and terrifying opening scene of Broken River unfolds, a spectral presence seems to be watching with cold and mysterious interest. Soon the house lies abandoned, and years later a new family moves in. Karl, Eleanor, and their daughter, Irina, arrive from New York City in the wake of Karl’s infidelity to start anew. Karl tries to stabilize his flailing art career. Eleanor, a successful commercial novelist, eagerly pivots in a new creative direction. Meanwhile, twelve-year-old Irina becomes obsessed with the brutal murders that occurred in the house years earlier. And, secretly, so does her mother. As the ensemble cast grows to include Louis, a hapless salesman in a carpet warehouse who is haunted by his past, and Sam, a young woman newly reunited with her jailbird brother, the seemingly unrelated crime that opened the story becomes ominously relevant. Hovering over all this activity looms a gradually awakening narrative consciousness that watches these characters lie to themselves and each other, unleashing forces that none of them could have anticipated and that put them in mortal danger. Broken River is a cinematic, darkly comic, and sui generis psychological thriller that could only have been written by J. Robert Lennon.

(1) Have you ever thought with today's technology if the United States became involved in another world war how the United States would be victorious without firing a shot and the rest of the world not know the war existed? (2) With today's technology, have you ever pondered how the next World War would be conducted? (3) With recent revelations concerning the N.S.A. and the C.I.A., do you trust our clandestine covert operations? (4) Do you feel our government is telling us the truth or do

In this second book in the DogMan series, read how the DogMan defeats his arch enemy, the Icer, with the help of Matthew, his super-powered friend, and helps an orphan get a home.

CHILDFINDERS, INC. THE DETECTIVE'S TEMPTING, TEMPORARY ASSIGNMENT… Something in Savannah King's crystal-blue eyes spoke to Sam as she desperately pleaded for his help in finding her child. Detective Sam Walters knew he was this frightened woman's last hope, but he vowed not to get too close. Until she made a spot for herself on the investigation…and in his life. No woman had ever affected this loner so instantly as Savannah. But once Sam found her daughter—and he would—he knew he would face his toughest case yet: winning Savannah's heart, so he could be her hero for all seasons! When a child is missing and a heart need mending, it's time to call ChildFinders, Inc.

What’s a better present than a classic Beginner Book? Six of them—for less than the price of two! Following on the success of The Big Blue Book of Beginner Books and The Big Green Book of Beginner Books, we’ve taken the complete text and art of P. D. Eastman’s Sam and the Firefly, Robert Lopshire’s I Want to Be Somebody New!, Marilyn Sadler’s The Very Bad Bunny, Mike McClintock’s Stop That Ball!, Al Perkins’s The Digging-est Dog, and Joan Heilbroner’s Robert the Rose Horse and bound them together in one sturdy hardcover omnibus. This is a perfect introduction to reading that will whet young readers’ appetites for additional books in the Beginner Book series.

Every street should have a dog like Jack. And every abandoned dog should find a new family like the residents of Christmas Street—a group of people who just might need Jack as much as he needs them . . . All day, he trots happily between the terraced houses, receiving treats and toys, offering a tail wag or lick in return. For Sam, a widower recently returned to London, Jack is Christmas Street’s unofficial welcoming committee. For Sam’s young son, Teddy, the small, scruffy mutt is much more than that—he’s a confidante and Teddy’s much-needed and so far only friend. But other neighbors also rely on Jack for company, including Bill, the street’s oldest, grumpiest resident. Bill remembers when everyone knew and looked out for each other. Now, people live side by side for years, scarcely interacting. Jack—with some help from Sam and Teddy—is starting to change all that. After a bumpy start, Jack helps forge a bond between Teddy and the girl next door, and he’s the unlikely connection between Bill and artist Max, who lives with his husband, Arthur. He’s also an approving witness to the secret relationship between two teenagers from very different backgrounds, and to Sam’s tentative flirtation with Teddy’s teacher. After all, Jack, with his willing and open heart, knows how much happier these humans could be if they, too, took the time to connect with one another. Warm, witty, and as irresistibly charming as its canine hero, A Dog Called Jack is the uplifting story of an ordinary street and the extraordinary dog bringing all its inhabitants together.