"[P]itch perfect, with wit, romance, and a lovable found family." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review) "This smart and entertaining, magical heist novel hits all the right notes!" ―T.L. Huchu NPR Best Book of 2022! Paste Best Fantasy Book of 2022! "Never make a deal with shadows at night, especially ones that know your name.” Washington D. C., 1925: Clara Johnson can talk to spirits—a gift that saved her during her darkest moments, now a curse that’s left her indebted to the cunning spirit world. So when a powerful spirit offers her an opportunity to gain her freedom, Clara seizes the chance, no questions asked. The task: steal a magical ring from the wealthiest woman in the District. Clara can’t pull off this daring heist alone. She’ll need the help of an unlikely team, from a handsome jazz musician able to hypnotize with a melody to an aging actor who can change his face, to pull off the impossible. But as they race along DC’s legendary Black Broadway, conflict in the spirit world begins to leak into the human one—an insidious mystery is unfolding, one that could cost Clara her life and change the fate of an entire city. The Monsters We Defy is a timely and dazzling historical fantasy that weaves together African American folk magic, history, and romance.

For fans of Rene Denfeld and Shari Lapena comes a rich, atmospheric family drama set in the 1980's following the disappearances of two paperboys from a small midwestern town. It's August 1984, and paperboy Christopher Stewart has gone missing. Hours later, twelve-year-old Sammy Cox hurries home from his own paper route, red-faced and out of breath, hiding a terrible secret. Crystal, Sammy's seventeen-year-old sister, is worried by the disappearance but she also sees opportunity: the Stewart case has echoes of an earlier unsolved disappearance of another boy, one town over. Crystal senses the makings of an award winning essay, one that could win her a scholarship - and a ticket out of their small Iowa town. Officer Dale Goodkind can't believe his bad luck: another town and another paperboy kidnapping. But this time he vows that it won't go unsolved. As the abductions set in motion an unpredictable chain of violent, devastating events touching each life in unexpected ways, Dale is forced to face his own demons. Told through interwoven perspectives--and based on the real-life Des Moines Register paperboy kidnappings in the early 1980's--The Monsters We Make deftly explores the effects of one crime exposing another and the secrets people keep hidden from friends, families, and sometimes, even themselves.

In a world where teenagers rule, we've been running. Hiding. Fighting for our lives. The mutants have hunted us off one by one, attacking us every time we dare to leave the base. Animals...animals that have been twisted and scarred and stretched, to where they are almost not animals anymore. We call them beasties. The mutants that wait for us. The mutants that chase us. The mutants that we know nothing about. We don't know where they came from. We don't know why they're here. All we know is that in the desolate city of Pittsburgh, where every adult has mysteriously disappeared, all we have left our each other and the beasties. That's the main question...isn't it. Who's going to survive first, us or them. I am Samuel Riter and I will find the cause of this disease, or die trying. That's what I'm supposed to say...right?

'Do monsters always stay in the book where they were born? Are they content to live out their lives on paper, and never step foot into the real world?' The Villa Diodati, on the shore of Lake Geneva, 1816: the Year without Summer. As Byron, Polidori, and Mr and Mrs Shelley shelter from the unexpected weather, old ghost stories are read and new ghost stories imagined. Born by the twin brains of the Shelleys is Frankenstein, one of the most influential tales of horror of all time. In a remote mountain house, high in the French Alps, an author broods on Shelley's creation. Reality and perception merge, fuelled by poisoned thoughts. Humankind makes monsters; but who really creates who? This is a book about reason, the imagination, and the creative act of reading and writing. Marcus Sedgwick's ghostly, menacing novel celebrates the legacy of Mary Shelley's literary debut in its bicentenary year.

A Strand February 2021 Book of the Month "With a layered mystery, a haunting setting, and thrilling tension, What Big Teeth has an otherness to it that pulls you in and forces you to keep reading." —Tricia Levenseller, Publisher’s Weekly-bestselling author of The Shadows Between Us Eleanor Zarrin has been estranged from her wild family for years. When she flees boarding school after a horrifying incident, she goes to the only place she thinks is safe: the home she left behind. But when she gets there, she struggles to fit in with her monstrous relatives, who prowl the woods around the family estate and read fortunes in the guts of birds. Eleanor finds herself desperately trying to hold the family together—in order to save them all, Eleanor must learn to embrace her family of monsters and tame the darkness inside her. Rose Szabo's thrilling debut is a dark fantasy novel about a teen girl who returns home to her strange, wild family after years of estrangement, perfect for fans of Wilder Girls. This exquisitely terrifying and beautiful tale will sink its teeth into you and never let go.

In the riveting conclusion to the acclaimed dystopian series, a boy and girl caught in the chaos of war face devastating choices that will decide the fate of a world. As a world-ending war surges around them, Todd and Viola face monstrous decisions. The indigenous Spackle, thinking and acting as one, have mobilized to avenge their murdered people. Ruthless human leaders prepare to defend their factions at all costs, even as a convoy of new settlers approaches. And as the ceaseless Noise lays all thoughts bare, the projected will of the few threatens to overwhelm the desperate desire of the many. The consequences of each action, each word, are unspeakably vast: To follow a tyrant or a terrorist? To save the life of the one you love most, or thousands of strangers? To believe in redemption, or assume it is lost? Becoming adults amid the turmoil, Todd and Viola question all they have known, racing through horror and outrage toward a shocking finale.

Monsters aren't real. As reasonable adults, we know this. But we also know that, while fake, the monsters of fairy tales, movies, and Netflix series embody our very real fears. Large, powerful beings that hunt us in the dark make us feel small, weak, vulnerable. When characters in these stories run away, they temporarily feel safe, but it's not until the monster is faced head-on that the story can have a happy ending--and, more importantly, the hero can become all he or she was created to be. The same is true of the monsters of the spiritual life. The monsters of comparison (I am what others say about me), more (I am what I have), and success (I am what I do) are powerful enemies of a healthy spiritual life. But ignoring them solves nothing. Pastor and speaker Luke Norsworthy wants you to face your monsters, get to know them, and discover how they are inviting you into a deeper understanding of yourself and a more intimate connection with God. You'll never completely eradicate your fears, but if you befriend them, they can lead you into becoming God's intention for you.

A rip-roaring picture book adventure from superstar pairing Malorie Blackman and Dapo Adeola. Over the shimmering ocean, up the huge, high mountain, through the deep, dark forest . . . WE'RE GOING TO FIND THE MONSTER! Join two intrepid adventurers as their imaginations transform their house into a wild wonderland - and their big brother becomes a mighty monster. A joy to read-aloud with its cumulative refrain, and full of funny, relatable characters, this is a contemporary celebration of creativity, fantasy and family. Written by bestselling author of Noughts & Crosses, Malorie Blackman, this story was originally published as Marty Monster. This new version has been stunningly brought to life by the award-winning illustrator of Look Up!, Dapo Adeola.

Written by one of the most distinguished commentators in the field, this book asks why we see some bodies as ′monstrous′ or ′vulnerable′ and examines what this tells us about ideas of bodily ′normality′ and bodily perfection. Drawing on feminist theories of the body, biomedical discourse and historical data, Margrit Shildrick argues that the response to the monstrous body has always been ambivalent. In trying to organize it out of the discourses of normality, we point to the impossibility of realizing a fully developed, invulnerable self. She calls upon us to rethink the monstrous, not as an abnormal category, but as a condition of attractivenes, and demonstrates how this involves an exploration of relationships between bodies and embodied selves, and a revising of the phenomenology of the body.

Do you have monsters inside you? Jack does. They always want to come out whenever he gets angry or upset. What can Jack do to stop his monsters from ruining his day? Featuring rhyming verse and fantastic illustrations, The Monsters Inside will help your little monsters to manage their big feelings. A Beautifully Illustrated, thirty-two page, Children's Picture Book, for children aged 2- 7 years. The Monsters Inside follows a day in the life of a little boy named Jack as he explores and develops a technique, to help him rid of the monsters that make him sad, mad, annoyed and frustrated. The breathing technique that is offered throughout the story, is one that we use as adults to manage these same emotions. The rhythmic value of the book, makes it easy for children to read along and remember what to do when these situations arise; throughout their early childhood development. The story is delivered through a relatable and strong rhythmic text and is very easy for children to comprehend. A must read for all children.