"A gripping tale told by a gifted writer."--Beverly Lewis Caroline Fletcher is caught in a nation split apart and torn between the ones she loves and a truth she can't deny The daughter of a wealthy slave-holding family from Richmond, Virginia, Caroline Fletcher is raised to believe slavery is God-ordained and acceptable. But on awakening to its cruelty and injustice, her eyes are opened to the men and women who have cared tirelessly for her. At the same time, her father and her fiance, Charles St. John, are fighting for the Confederacy and their beloved way of life and traditions. Where does Caroline's loyalty lie? Emboldened by her passion to make a difference and her growing faith, will she risk everything she holds dear?

Juniper was always the Dungeon Master, never the player. He was always a creator of worlds rather than the one who walked within them…until now. Somehow, the tables have turned in the most dramatic way possible. Juniper finds himself in a world filled with the wildest fantasies a mind could come up with, and his fingerprints are all over it. Throughout this world, echoes of his own ideas and plots leave him feeling like he’s always one step behind. He finds bits and pieces of ancient influence strewn about every town he goes through. One thing is clear, though: Juniper walks this magical new world in someone else’s shadow. It might all add up to something vital...if only he can survive long enough to figure it out.

Azad's debut YA fantasy is set in a city along the Silk Road that is a refuge for those of all faiths, where a young woman is threatened by the war between two clans of powerful djinn. Fatima lives in the city of Noor, a thriving stop along the Silk Road. There the music of myriad languages fills the air, and people of all faiths weave their lives together. However, the city bears scars of its recent past, when the chaotic tribe of Shayateen djinn slaughtered its entire population -- except for Fatima and two other humans. Now ruled by a new maharajah, Noor is protected from the Shayateen by the Ifrit, djinn of order and reason, and by their commander, Zulfikar.But when one of the most potent of the Ifrit dies, Fatima is changed in ways she cannot fathom, ways that scare even those who love her. Oud in hand, Fatima is drawn into the intrigues of the maharajah and his sister, the affairs of Zulfikar and the djinn, and the dangers of a magical battlefield.In this William C. Morris YA Debut Award finalist novel, Nafiza Azad weaves an immersive tale of magic and the importance of names; fiercely independent women; and, perhaps most importantly, the work for harmony within a city of a thousand cultures and cadences.

Worth the Candle by Gary Glauber is a meditation on relationships and interactions in a life where "sidewalks were his daily agenda." These accessible, narrative, and personal poems mix with both gratitude and a touch of melancholy to bring us into a world where we can see "Life as souvenir / words as evidence, / and a debit sheet that proves / the foolishness of / buying on margin." Here, the present and past walk with us as we are guided into Glauber's poems -- poems crafted so we can experience the world through his nostalgic and thoughtful lens where "these bright lights only last for so long." Kelli Russell Agodon, author of Hourglass Museum and The Daily Poet Gary Glauber has something to say, and in Worth the Candle, he says it with wit and style and linguistic fillips that can turn from plain to ornate in the spaces between commas. Many of his longish poems tell stories which seem both personal and universal, both real and surreal, and made so through the alchemy of language. My favorite opening here is the start of "Graveyard Shift: " "The vagrant tree sprite / meets the head misfit / far along aisle five, / next to a pyramid of cereal boxes...." They are "searching for meaning / in this 24/7 universe." This is the poet's function; this is the lure of Worth the Candle. It's clear Glauber has been paying attention and it shows on every page of this canny and beguiling collection. Corey Mesler, author of Opaque Melodies that Would Bug Most People and Memphis Movie Gary Glauber uses a double lens in Worth the Candle to present panoramic views of universal truths and close-ups of personal loss: "like every life, / worth knowing in detail, / worth sharing en masse." In "Controlled Procedure," Glauber introduces a cardiologist who performs surgery on a woman who once rejected his love, summing it up with a paradox: "Through clearing an opening, he gets closure." His ear is attuned to music, both through the subjects of poems --"Music Teacher," "Anthem," "Refrain," "An Octave Apart"-- and through his use of devices such as alliteration: "wizards in waiting," "sundry self-promoters," "short shrift society," slant rhyme: "brush ... touch," "morn ... warm," and "bleak ... screech," and rhythms drawn from "the drumbeat of my own heart." The reader is invited to join him in his journey to "the place where I choose to keep singing, / and, I expect, so will you." Beth Copeland, author of Transcendental Telemarketer and Traveling Through Glass

Andreas's disappearance is a mystery to all, including his inseparable friend Zipp. But as much as the police question him, its not easy for Zipp to come forward with details of the last time he saw his friend: following an old woman into her home, brandishing his knife. Zipp waited anxiously outside but Andreas failed to reappear. Inspector Sejer and his colleague Skarre are baffled but while the confusion in the outside world continues, a chilling and heart-stopping drama is unfolding inside the old woman's home. In a plot in the tradition of Stephen King, Fossum deploys her trademark skill of looking realistically, terrifyingly, into the minds of criminal and victim. Appearances aren't always to be believed, and people are not always what they seem.

Always the Dungeon Master, never the druid. Juniper Smith is finally starting to feel at home in this new world. Everywhere he looks are familiar pieces of the game worlds he used to make back on Earth. The last druid has died, and with her, a rare and precious magic is slowly seeping its way out of the world. The ritual to bring her back as an infant only requires a little messing around with devils and simply hacking the game system on his soul, which is practically routine, but to speed the process along will be another matter entirely. Getting to the Bottomless Pit will take a long train ride where any misstep might blow the party’s cover. Going down the Pit will require a flying machine and some false pretenses. But once they're down there, the team hopes to find a living house, one of Uther Penndraig's old strongholds. Aside from the time chamber they need, Juniper is pretty sure that the world's greatest philosopher-king will have left them some surprises. Come inside and join the game!

When each family at the diverse Juniper Court apartment complex needs something to light up the dark of winter, the stumpy, lumpy candle provides a glow brighter than the fanciest taper, revealing the true spirit of each holiday it illuminates.

Zorian Kazinski has all the time in the world to get stronger, and he plans on taking full advantage of it. A teenage mage of humble birth and slightly above-average skill, Zorian is attending his third year of education at Cyoria's magical academy. A driven and quiet young man, he is consumed by a desire to ensure his own future and free himself of the influence of his family, resenting the Kazinskis for favoring his brothers over him. Consequently, Zorian has no time for pointless distractions, much less other people's problems. As it happens, though, time is something he is about to get plenty of. On the eve of Cyoria's annual summer festival, Zorian is murdered, then abruptly brought back to the beginning of the month, just before he was about to take the train to school. Finding himself trapped in a time loop with no clear end or exit, he will have to look both within and without to unravel the mystery set before him. He does have to unravel it, too, because the loop clearly wasn’t made for his sake, and in a world of magic even a time traveler isn't safe from those who wish him ill. Fortunately for Zorian, repetition is the mother of learning…

This dictionary traces the origins and histories of over 400 proverbs, detailing the changes of meaning and usage that have occurred throughout each proverb's life and offering literary examples dating back over 2000 years.

The little Brute family is not nice. Can Baby Brute change their ways?