NEW ENTRY IN THE BEST-SELLING BOUNDARY SERIES. Stranded humans must adapt alien technology to survive on a dangerous planet. Lost in the dark, half a year into their journey to the colony world of Tantalus, Sakura Kimei, her family, and her best friend, the alien "Bemmie" nicknamed Whips, are torn from the safety of their colony ship. In a crippled lifeboat, they had one chance to find a habitable world. But even then, they would find that their apparent salvation was a world of a thousand secrets. At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). Praise for previous books in this series: _. . . fast-paced sci-fi espionage thriller . . . light in tone and hard on science . . .Ó ¾Publishers Weekly on Boundary _The whole crew from Flint and Spoor's Boundary are back. . . . Tensions run high throughout the Ceres mission . . . a fine choice for any collection.Ó ¾Publishers Weekly on Threshold _[P]aleontology, engineering, and space flight, puzzles in linguistics, biology, physics, and evolution further the story, as well as wacky humor, academic rivalries, and even some sweet romances.Ó ¾School Library Journal on Boundary

Now with new prose material and art! Paradigms Shift, Worlds Collide! A daring and resourceful paleontologist uncovers something at the infamous K-T boundary marking the end of dinosaurs in the fossil record something big, dangerous, and absolutely, categorically impossible. It's a find that will catapult her to the Martian moon Phobos, then down to the crater-pocked desert of the Red Planet itself. For this mild-mannered fossil hunter may just have become Earth's first practicing xenobiologist! At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

“Nye at her engaging, insightful best.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Acclaimed poet and Young People’s Poet Laureate Naomi Shihab Nye shines a spotlight on the things we cast away, from plastic water bottles to those less fortunate, in this collection of more than eighty original and never-before-published poems. A deeply moving, sometimes funny, and always provocative poetry collection for all ages. “How much have you thrown away in your lifetime already? Do you ever think about it? Where does this plethora of leavings come from? How long does it take you, even one little you, to fill the can by your desk?” ?Naomi Shihab Nye National Book Award Finalist, Young People’s Poet Laureate, and devoted trash-picker-upper Naomi Shihab Nye explores these questions and more in this original collection of poetry that features more than eighty new poems. “I couldn’t save the world, but I could pick up trash,” she says in her introduction to this stunning volume. With poems about food wrappers, lost mittens, plastic straws, refugee children, trashy talk, the environment, connection, community, responsibility to the planet, politics, immigration, time, junk mail, trash collectors, garbage trucks, all that we carry and all that we discard, this is a rich, engaging, moving, and sometimes humorous collection for readers ages twelve to adult. Includes ideas for writing, recycling, and reclaiming, and an index.

#5 in the Boundary series universe, and sequel to Castaway Planet, by New York Times multiple best-selling author Eric Flint and veteran science fiction and fantasy author Ryk E. Spoor. Worst-Case Scenario: Sergeant Samuel Morgan Campbell had been in plenty of tight spots before, but nothing like this. It had happened in a few terrifying seconds: the starship he and his crew travelled on, the Outward Initiative, shattered to pieces before their eyes and disappeared, leaving them stranded in the endless night of deep space on Lifeboat LS-88—all systems dead, light-years from any known colony. Somehow, Sergeant Campbell and his crew of half-trained children—ranging from freshly graduated Xander Bird down to eight-year-old Francisco—have to repair systems with no tools, navigate with no computers, and—if they could find a planet they could live on—land a shuttle whose controls were more than half-destroyed. And if they manage all of that, then the real challenge begins; the only planet in range has secrets that even Sergeant Campbell cannot imagine! At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). Praise for previous books in this series: “. . . fast-paced sci-fi espionage thriller . . . light in tone and hard on science . . .” —Publishers Weeklyon Boundary “The whole crew from Flint and Spoor's Boundary are back . . . Tensions run high throughout the Ceres mission . . . a fine choice for any collection.” —Publishers Weekly on Threshold “[P]aleontology, engineering, and space flight, puzzles in linguistics, biology, physics, and evolution further the story, as well as wacky humor, academic rivalries, and even some sweet romances.” —School Library Journal on Boundary

A wide-ranging and appreciative literary history of the castaway tale from Defoe to the present Ever since Robinson Crusoe washed ashore, the castaway story has survived and prospered, inspiring a multitude of writers of adventure fiction to imitate and adapt its mythic elements. In his brilliant critical study of this popular genre, Christopher Palmer traces the castaway tales' history and changes through periods of settlement, violence, and reconciliation, and across genres and languages. Showing how subsequent authors have parodied or inverted the castaway tale, Palmer concentrates on the period following H. G. Wells's The Island of Dr. Moreau. These much darker visions are seen in later novels including William Golding's Lord of the Flies, J. G. Ballard's Concrete Island, and Iain Banks's The Wasp Factory. In these and other variations, the castaway becomes a cannibal, the castaway's island is relocated to center of London, female castaways mock the traditional masculinity of the original Crusoe, or Friday ceases to be a biddable servant. By the mid-twentieth century, the castaway tale has plunged into violence and madness, only to see it return in young adult novels—such as Scott O'Dell's Island of the Blue Dolphins and Terry Pratchett's Nation—to the buoyancy and optimism of the original. The result is a fascinating series of revisions of violence and pessimism, but also reconciliation.

*One of NPR's "Books We Love 2021"* "'I came to see the mountains as an outpouring of our modern lives,' Roy writes, 'of the endless chase for our desires to fill us.' Readers of Behind the Beautiful Forevers will be drawn to this harrowing portrait." —Publishers Weekly "Castaway Mountain deserves every accolade. A stunning achievement." —Kiran Desai, Booker Prize Winner, author of Inheritance of Loss. All of Mumbai’s possessions and memories come to die at the Deonar garbage mountains. Towering at the outskirts of the city, the mountains are covered in a faint smog from trash fires. Over time, as wealth brought Bollywood knock offs, fast food and plastics to Mumbaikars, a small, forgotten community of migrants and rag-pickers came to live at the mountains’ edge, making a living by re-using, recycling and re-selling. Among them is Farzana Ali Shaikh, a tall, adventurous girl who soon becomes one of the best pickers in her community. Over time, her family starts to fret about Farzana’s obsessive relationship to the garbage. Like so many in her community, Farzana, made increasingly sick by the trash mountains, is caught up in the thrill of discovery—because among the broken glass, crushed cans, or even the occasional dead baby, there’s a lingering chance that she will find a treasure to lift her family’s fortunes. As Farzana enters adulthood, her way of life becomes more precarious. Mumbai is pitched as a modern city, emblematic of the future of India, forcing officials to reckon with closing the dumping grounds, which would leave the waste pickers more vulnerable than ever. In a narrative instilled with superstition and magical realism, Saumya Roy crafts a modern parable exploring the consequences of urban overconsumption. A moving testament to the impact of fickle desires, Castaway Mountain reveals that when you own nothing, you know where true value lies: in family, community and love. Interior map illustration copyright (c) Jake Coolidge

United by tragedy, determined to survive, six genetically engineered aliens flee their home world and get a second chance for life and love on planet Earth. Alien Castaways Volume 1 contains Chameleon, Wingman, and Psy, books 1-3 of the six-book series. Chameleon: Alien Castaways 1 When his ship tumbles out of the sky and lands on Earth, Chameleon never expects to fall for Kevanne, a human woman who turns out to be his genmate. Unfortunately, his presence places Kevanne and everyone else in danger. He has to leave before the Xeno Consortium locates him and attacks. But oh, he wishes he could stay with Kevanne forever. Will a wrinkle in fate grant his wish? Wingman: Alien Castaways 2 Traumatized by the death of his family during the destruction of his planet, Wingman comes to Earth in search of a haven and the solitude to nurse his emotional wounds. When he foils a kidnapping, he’s drawn into the life of a young widow and her daughter. But when dangers from Delia’s past resurface, he’ll have to conquer his demons to save her and her child. Psy: Alien Castaways 3 Soon after encountering the beautiful, shy Cassie, Psy realizes she’s his genmate. It doesn’t matter she can’t talk—he loves her as she is. But as their telepathic connection deepens, he begins to suspect her inability to speak is more than a congenital happenstance. Something sinister is keeping her a virtual prisoner. His psychic powers can unlock the secrets in Cassie’s mind. But will revealing the truth liberate her…or destroy their bond? Alien Castaways Volume One is a steamy, heart-warming science fiction romance collection about aliens with special abilities and powers and the sassy human women who can’t resist them. Buy Alien Castaways and get your copy of this irresistible alien romance boxed set.

Six genetically engineered aliens fleeing the destruction of their world get a second chance for life and love on planet Earth. This boxed set contains all six books of the series. Chameleon: Alien Castaways 1 When his ship tumbles out of the sky and lands on Earth, Chameleon never expects to fall for a human woman. Unfortunately, he can’t stay. His mistake led to the devastation of an entire planet, and now the survivors are depending on him to get them to safety. He must repair his ship and leave before the Xeno Consortium finds him and Earth becomes endangered, too. But oh, he wishes he could stay with Kevanne forever… Wingman: Alien Castaways 2 Traumatized by the death of his family and the destruction of his planet, Wingman comes to Earth in search of a haven and the solitude to nurse his emotional wounds. When a chance decision foils a kidnapping, he’s drawn into the life of a young widow and her daughter. But when dangers from Delia’s past resurface, he’ll have to conquer his demons to save her and her child. Psy: Alien Castaways 3 Soon after encountering the beautiful, shy Cassie, Psy realizes she’s his genmate. It doesn’t matter she can’t talk—he loves her as she is. But as their telepathic connection deepens, he begins to suspect her inability to speak is more than a congenital happenstance. Something far more sinister appears to be keeping her a virtual prisoner. He’s certain his psychic powers can unlock the secrets in Cassie’s mind. But will revealing the truth liberate her…or destroy their bond? Shadow: Alien Castaways 4 Shadow’s genetics have been programmed with a self-destruct sequence. If he doesn’t bond with a genmate, he will fade from existence. He’s hoping Mandy, the town’s clairvoyant, can help him by finding his match. But what is an alien to do when attraction leads to love, and every indication shows Mandy is not his genmate? Will Shadow decide love is worth dying for? Inferno: Alien Castaways 5 Extraterrestrial Inferno has searched in vain for the one woman his Luciferan DNA has chosen for him. When he locates Geneva in the church of a small Idaho town, the last thing he expects is for her to throw him out as though he was Satan himself. How can he prove to the beautiful skeptic they are meant for each other when he can’t even convince her he’s an alien? Tigre: Alien Castaways 6 Tigre, a Saberian from planet ’Topia, instantly recognizes Kat as his genmate, so he doesn’t hesitate to let her know. But by the disdainful curl of her lips, the stunning human lets him know she finds him lacking as a mate. If she doesn’t want him—then he doesn’t want her. But when the feral fever strikes, more than tempers get hot.

The Masochistic Playpen is a comedic work of serious fiction, albeit one with a lot of sarcastic violence and philosophy in it, set in a science fiction milieu, replete with clone networks, information conglomerates, wandering assassins, disintegration travel and so on. It has been described as a Schwarzenegger vehicle as written by Flaubert, in collaboration with Lewis Carroll, Johann Gottlieb Fichte and an irritable tenth-century Chinese monk, with some histrionic last-minute suggestions phoned in by Sabbatai Zevi and the Marquis de Sade. The story traces a young unfrozen assassin on a fool’s errand across the galaxy, slaughtering clones according to an obscure slightly Kafkaesque assignment, forced to assume a variety of undercover roles in different worlds and societies, adapting to their customs and ingratiating himself--as ambassador, as priest, as god, as gangster, as talk-show guest--to get close to his victims. His adventure takes him from earth to the Disneyesque world of Pleasure Land, where he finally meets his ultimate quarry and the thread on which he has been dangling is finally unraveled. On the way, the absurdly intersubsumptive omniverse which is his to navigate gets its kicks, reveling on both sides of his subjectivity in the maliciously jubilant mirrorings which, some may say, seem to dog the steps of every moment of sentient experience.

He has wings, but this alien is no angel… Traumatized by the deaths of his family and the destruction of his planet, Wingman lands on Earth in search of a haven and the solitude to nurse his emotional wounds. When a chance decision foils a kidnapping, he’s drawn into the life of a young widow and her daughter. He’s shocked to discover the human woman is his genmate, the one he’s genetically bonded to. To escape a stalker, Delia and her imaginative, impressionable daughter flee to a small town where nobody can find them. She’s concerned, but not overly so, when her daughter says she invited an angel to her birthday party. Then the winged alien shows up, and all heck breaks loose. After a rocky first encounter, Delia begins to see Wingman for what he really is—a wounded hero, one of the most protective, sexiest men she’s ever met. As passion deepens their bond, past dangers resurface to threaten Delia and her child. Will Wingman be able to confront his demons to make the sacrifice necessary to protect them?