A special novella that looks back on Christmas past, as a young Melanie Travis teams up with her aunt to solve a family mystery… Ever wonder what Melanie and Aunt Peg were up to before solving murders? Let’s step back in time, when college-aged Melanie and her indomitable Aunt Peg were little more than strangers… It’s Christmas in Connecticut, and Peg Turnbull can’t wait to spend her favorite holiday cozying up to husband Max and their clan of pedigree Poodles in Greenwich. But Peg’s spirits drop when the family of Max’s estranged brother Michael invites the pair over for Christmas dinner. Could her in-laws want to settle the long-standing feud over Nana’s will? Peg isn’t expecting any miracles, but it’s been ages since Peg last saw her niece and nephew. Little Melanie must be out of pigtails by now… When they arrive at the Turnbulls’, Peg is not just surprised by how much Melanie has grown up. The family has spared no expense in preparing for the festivities—unusual, considering Michael blew his inheritance after years of financial troubles. Peg suspects there’s an awful secret tucked beneath her brother-in-law’s ostentatious good cheer, and she’s determined to get to the bottom of it. Once she does, someone’s ending up in the doghouse… “If you like dogs, you'll love Laurien Berenson's Melanie Travis mysteries!”—Joanne Fluke, New York Times bestselling author

When big feelings come, do you ever feel like howling at the moon? Maggie does. Howlis an empowering story of a young girl's self-expression. Maggie has had a very bad day. First of all, the sun was the wrong shape, in a sky that was too blue. The spaghetti was too long, and her pyjamas were the wrong kind of pyjama. Then Maggie begins to have wolfish thoughts ...

In this “enjoyable” holiday mystery by an Agatha Award finalist, a sleuth looks into a posh private school, a prize show dog, and a slain Santa (Publishers Weekly). There’s nothing lovelier than Christmas in Connecticut, but Melanie Travis can scarcely find a moment to enjoy the festivities. With her youngest son approaching toddlerhood, she’s decided to return to her old job at Howard Academy, a posh private school attended by the children of Greenwich’s well-heeled gentry. Balancing work, motherhood, and the hectic dog show circuit takes some fancy footwork, especially when the headmaster taps her to be the chairman of the school’s Christmas Bazaar. The Christmas Bazaar is Howard Academy’s biggest and most important fundraiser, so Melanie feels the pressure to make it a huge success. But everything goes awry when a prize show dog goes missing and Santa turns up dead. The dog’s owner is one of the school’s most perfectly pedigreed alums, and she enlists Melanie to help find the purloined pooch. But just as Melanie starts pawing at the truth, she digs up a sleighful of sinister secrets that leaves everyone feeling less than merry… “Cozy mystery fans and dog lovers will lap this one up.”—Library Journal “Laurien Berenson is a rare breed of writer.”—The Plain Dealer

Gold Mom's Choice Award Winner Creative Child Magazine Book of the Year Award Winner What does it feel like to “see” with your ears like a bat or go through a full body transformation like a frog? Can you wriggle in and out of tight places like an octopus, camouflage yourself like a leopard, or do a waggle dance like a honeybee? This creative and beautifully illustrated interactive guide makes learning about animals fun for children ages 6 and up. Fifteen animals explain their amazing feats and invite kids to enter their world by mimicking their behavior — an imaginative approach to learning that fosters curiosity, empathy, and dramatic play.

From master illustrator Katy Lipscomb comes a wild new adult coloring book: Howl! Howl contains a pack of 30 fantastical designs featuring wolves in a variety of settings and presentations. Printed on specially selected artist grade paper, this coloring book is fun for beginners, but also created with the advanced colorist in mind. Take your skills to the next level with blending, shading, and mixing utensils to create your masterpiece. Each image is hand-drawn and exquisitely detailed, with various styles ranging from minimalist to more defined detail. PS: Howl makes a perfect Christmas gift for any wolf-lover and creative artist in your life!

WHEN DEATH IS FREE, PEACE WILL COST MORE THAN YOUR LIFE. Joseph grew up surviving the only way he knew how. Life gave him nothing and a cycle of crime meant he took what he needed. The day that life is snatched from him with a burst of fate, his soul that was bound for the depths of Hell ascends into Heaven. But Heaven comes with its own trials. His refusal to bend to Heaven's order and the so-called freedom of Bliss leaves him discarded back on earth. Left to walk the streets he grew up in as a ghost, Joseph seizes a glimmer of hope when Sylvia crosses his path. Sylvia sees life for the twisted charade that it is. She's straddled life and death for so long, she's forgotten what it's like to truly been seen and heard. Joseph sees behind the mask that has hidden her, but there is a limit to what Sylvia will reveal. Her painful truth remains guarded. As their worlds become entangled, they find a semblance of peace within one another. Sylvia must choose between burying her dark secrets or claiming Joseph for eternity. When death is not a sanctuary but a curse, Sylvia will not let the promise of a life she can call her own slip through her fingers.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Howl and Other Poems, with nearly one million copies in print, City Lights presents the story of editing, publishing and defending Allen Ginsberg’s landmark poem within a broader context of obscenity issues and censorship of literary works. This collection begins with an introduction by publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who shares his memories of hearing Howl first read at the 6 Gallery, of his arrest and of the subsequent legal defense of Howl’s publication. Never-before-published correspondence of Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti, Kerouac, Gregory Corso, John Hollander, Richard Eberhart and others provides an in-depth commentary on the poem’s ethical intent and its social significance to the author and his contemporaries. A section on the public reaction to the trial includes newspaper reportage, op-ed pieces by Ginsberg and Ferlinghetti and letters to the editor from the public, which provide fascinating background material on the cultural climate of the mid-1950s. A timeline of literary censorship in the United States places this battle for free expression in a historical context. Also included are photographs, transcripts of relevant trial testimony, Judge Clayton Horn’s decision and its ramifications and a long essay by Albert Bendich, the ACLU attorney who defended Howl on constitutional grounds. Editor Bill Morgan discusses more recent challenges to Howl in the late 1980s and how the fight against censorship continues today in new guises.

When no one in the small town of Merritt, Florida, believes that he was attacked by a monster, fifteen-year-old Virgil Knox fears the monster will return to finish him off, or worse--that he is becoming a monster himself.

This charming tale of an overgrown pine always being passed by for Christmas, and what his woodland friends do to help him, is sure to become a Christmas classic. With delightful illustrations by wildlife artist Michael Monroe and enchanting text from Colleen Monroe, the birds, deer and squirrel of this story help make their special friend's wish come true.