Growing up in the small seaside town of Cutter's Cove, Maine, Kathy Jennings has walked the beach, since she was 11, searching for her magical sea stones. Now, her collection is to be envied. Still alone at 60, she finally finds that one special sea stone that tells her she will soon fall in love for the first time. Is 60 too old to fall in love? Not according to her life long friend, Becky Porter, who owns the local flower shop. An avid marathon runner, Becky is always willing to pull on her running shoes for any good cause. So, at 59, she makes plans to run a 5-K race to benefit Juvenile Diabetes. When she is diagnosed with terminal cancer, during her training, she finds herself unable to run her race. Kathy, a classic couch potato, steps up and offers to run it for her. However, the transformation from couch potato to marathon runner has its challenges for Kathy. Will meeting Marcus Stone, a handsome British gentleman, be just the inspiration she needs? Kathy soon discovers that she'll need more than just Marcus's love to see her through the loss of her best friend. She'll need God. However, both women have long ago turned their back on that one Divine Hope that could now see them through their challenges. As Becky's illness progresses, both women are forced to re-examine the childhood trauma that caused them to turn their backs on God so many years ago. Kathy finds herself torn between the happiness of finally falling in love and the heartache of watching a life long friend die.

“A fabulous interweaving of fantasy, politics, and sisterhood — this unusual, tense tale will have you on the edge of your seat!” —#1 New York Times bestselling author Tamora Pierce on Crown of Coral and Pearl The Cruel Prince meets Ash Princess in this thrilling fantasy, the much-anticipated sequel to Crown of Coral and Pearl. Ever since Nor was forced to go to a nearby kingdom in her sister’s place, she’s wanted nothing more than to return to the place and people she loves. But when her wish comes true, she soon finds herself cast out from both worlds, with a war on the horizon. As an old enemy resurfaces more powerful than ever, Nor will have to keep the kingdom from falling apart with the help of Prince Talin and Nor’s twin sister, Zadie. There are forces within the world more mysterious than any of them ever guessed—and they’ll need to stay alive long enough to conquer them… Books in the Crown of Coral and Pearl duology: Crown of Coral and Pearl Kingdom of Sea and Stone

Three siblings embark on an epic quest for a mythic grail in this first installment of Susan Cooper’s epic and award-winning The Dark Is Rising Sequence, now with a brand-new look! All through time, the two great forces of Light and Dark have battled for control of the world. Now, after centuries of balance, the Dark is summoning its terrifying forces to rise once more…and three children find themselves caught in the conflict. The Drew siblings—Simon, Jane, and Barney—are on a family holiday in Cornwall when they discover an ancient map in the attic of the house they are sharing with their Great Uncle Merry. They know immediately that the map is special but have no way of knowing how much. For the map leads to a grail: a vital weapon for the Light’s fight against evil. In taking on the quest to find the grail, the Drews will have to race against the sinister human beings who serve the dreadful power of the dark—an adventure that puts their own lives in grave peril.

1454. A noble French falconer. A spirited merchant's daughter. And a fateful decision that changes their destiny forever. When Cédric is recruited by the Knights Hospitaller to the Greek island of Rhodes, his wife Sophie jumps at the chance to improve their fortunes. After a harrowing journey to Rhodes, Cédric plunges into the world of the knights-while Sophie is tempted by the endless riches that flow into the bustling harbor. But their dazzling new home has a dark side. Slaves toil endlessly to fortify the city walls, and rumors of a coming attack by the Ottoman Turks swirl in the streets. Desperate to gain favor with the knights and secure his position, Cédric navigates a treacherous world of shadowy alliances. Meanwhile, Sophie secretly engineers a bold plan to keep their children safe. As the trust between them frays, enemies close in-and when disaster strikes the island, the dangers of their new world become terrifyingly real. With this richly-told story of adventure, treachery, and the redeeming power of love, Amy Maroney brings a mesmerizing and forgotten world to vivid life. Amy Maroney is the author of the award-winning Miramonde Series, the story of a Renaissance-era female artist and the modern day scholar on her trail.

This exquisite volume--at once a gorgeous art book and a nature guide--presents more than 200 exceptional stones from around the world and describes the fascinating natural processes that produced them. Art lovers and beachcombing spirits everywhere will cherish this gift book.

This book is a study of 'collecting' undertaken by Joseph Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux and his shipmates in Tasmania, the western Pacific Islands, and Indonesia. In 1791-1794 Bruni d'Entrecasteaux led a French naval expedition in search of the lost vessels of La Pérouse which had last been seen by Europeans at Botany Bay in March 1788. After Bruni d'Entrecasteaux died near the end of the voyage and the expedition collapsed in political disarray in Java, its collections and records were subsequently scattered or lost. The book's core is a richly illustrated examination, analysis, and catalog of a large array of ethnographic objects collected during the voyage, later dispersed, and recently identified in museums in France, Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States. The focus on artifacts is informed by a broad conception of collecting as grounded in encounters or exchanges with Indigenous protagonists and also as materialized in other genres--written accounts, vocabularies, and visual representations (drawings, engravings, and maps). Historically, the book outlines the antecedents, occurrences, and aftermath of the voyage, including its location within the classic era of European scientific voyaging (1766-1840) and within contemporary colonial networks. Particular chapters trace the ambiguous histories of the extant collections. Ethnographically, contributors are alert to local settings, relationships, practices, and values; to Indigenous uses and significance of objects; to the reciprocal, dialogic nature of collecting; to local agency or innovation in exchanges; and to present implications of objects and their histories, especially for modern scholars and artists, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous.

Journey into magical stories with Spenser and his brother and sister. In book one, we meet Spenser who is given a magical stone that transports him into books. During their adventures, they will meet dinosaurs and dragons, swim with mermaids, travel to ancient Egypt, visit baby Jesus, and team up with superheroes. What power will the stone hold for each of them? Read and find out!

“A fabulous interweaving of fantasy, politics, and sisterhood—this unusual, tense tale will have you on the edge of your seat!”—#1 New York Times bestselling author Tamora Pierce Red Queen meets House of Salt and Sorrow in Mara Rutherford's debut YA fantasy Crown of Coral and Pearl, which follows a young woman from a village on the sea who must impersonate her twin on land to save everyone she loves from a tyrannical prince. For generations, the crown princes of Ilara have married the most beautiful maidens from the ocean village of Varenia. Nor once dreamed of seeing the mysterious mountain kingdom for herself, but after a childhood accident left her with a scar, she knew her twin sister, Zadie, would likely be chosen to marry the crown prince. Then Zadie is injured, and Nor is sent to Ilara in her place. She soon discovers her future husband, Prince Ceren, is as forbidding and cold as his home. And as she grows closer to Ceren’s brother, Prince Talin, Nor learns of a failing royal bloodline, a murdered queen...and a plot to destroy her village. To save her people, Nor must learn to negotiate the treacherous protocols of a court where lies reign and obsession rules...but discovering her own formidable strength may cost her everything she loves. Books in the Crown of Coral and Pearl duology: Crown of Coral and Pearl Kingdom of Sea and Stone

Discover four critically-acclaimed novels from award-winning author Tamara Ireland Stone, including the New York Times bestseller Every Last Word. In the New York Times bestselling Every Last Word, Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But she’s hiding a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can't turn off. It doesn't help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. So when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend a secret, right up there with Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist. But then Caroline introduces Sam to Poet's Corner, a tight-knit group of misfits who have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse. Slowly, she begins to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . . . until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds dear. In Little Do We Know, lifelong best friends and next-door neighbors Hannah and Emory have never gone a single day without talking. But now it’s senior year and they haven't spoken in three months. Not since the fight, where they each said things they couldn't take back. Then one fateful night, Emory's boyfriend, Luke, almost dies, and Hannah is the one who finds him and saves his life. As Luke tries to make sense of his experience, he secretly turns to Hannah, who becomes his biggest confidante. And in Luke, Hannah finds someone she can finally talk to. But Emory just wants everything to go back to normal—the way it was before the accident. But when the horrifying reason behind Hannah and Emory's argument ultimately comes to light, all three of them will be forced work together to protect the one with the biggest secret of all in this deeply moving, unforgettable story about love, betrayal, and the power of friendship. In Time Between Us, Anna and Bennett were never supposed to meet. She lives in 1995 Chicago and he lives in 2012 San Francisco. But Bennett's unique ability to travel through time and space brings him into Anna's life, and with him, a new world of adventure and possibility. As their relationship deepens, they face the reality that time might knock Bennett back where he belongs, even as a devastating crisis throws everything they believe into question. Against a ticking clock, Anna and Bennett are forced to ask themselves how far they can push the bounds of fate—and what consequences they can bear in order to stay together. In the sequel to Time Between Us, Time After Time, Anna and Bennett have found a way to stay together against all odds. It’s not a perfect arrangement, though, with Bennett unable to stay in the past for more than brief visits, skipping out on big chunks of his present in order to be with Anna. They each are confident that they’ll find a way to make things work…until Bennett witnesses a single event he never should have seen. Will the decisions he makes from that point on cement a future he doesn’t want?