In 1997, when demolishing an old house in Amsterdam, two bundles of letters were found. They were written by a teenager who had been sent by the Nazis to a labor camp in Holland, where he dug ditches from dawn to dusk. These letters are not what you would expect from a teenager. He was courageous and upbeat, and, worried more about his parents than himself. The letters are filled with hope that things will improve ....

Here is a fresh and imaginative way to look at the alphabet. Turn to the first page of the book and you'll be greeted by a picture of an arrowhead, surrounded by a simple black frame. Once you lift the frame you'll find the arrowhead is magically transformed into the letter A. And so it goes, from Ballons, Cloud, and Door through Leaf and Mice to Yolk and Zipper. Bold distinctive images and a simple yet ingenious format make this an alphabet book to treasure.

“A beautifully spun tale” set in a tiny town in Latvia—“an astonishing alchemy of history, romance, and fable” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). Maris was born knowing things: His very large, very special ears enable him to hear the secrets of the dead, as well as the memories that haunt his Latvian hometown. As a boy, he finds himself heir to an odd assortment of hidden letters, from which he would weave a story that could finally expose—and maybe even patch—the holes in the fabric of his family and their town. With humor, heart, and her characteristic “luminous writing [and] affection for her characters,” Gina Ochsner creates an intimate, hopeful portrait of a fascinating town in all its complications and charm. From the onset of World War II through the cold shock of independence, we see how, despite years of distrust, a community can come through love and loss to the joy of understanding (The New York Times). A finalist for the Oregon Book Awards Ken Kesey Award for Fiction, The Hidden Letters of Velta B. is “a captivating novel of secrets, love, and memory . . . This terrific novel knocked me out” (Janet Fitch, author of Paint It Black). “Intimate, vibrant, and richly colored.” —Portland Monthly “A gift on par with Joanne Harris’s Chocolat . . . Quirky, ethereal, hilarious, and sorrowful.” —Shelf Awareness “[An] extraordinary feat of storytelling . . . A spellbinding novel as tough as it is beautiful.” —Helen Simonson, author of The Summer Before the War

Ten-year-old Ernest lives a flat, colorless life. Each day is the same: he comes home right after school, eats a healthy snack, and does his homework. Enter Victoria, the new girl in class. Victoria instantly falls in love with Ernest, and bulldozes her way into his life. Much to Ernest's surprise, he likes it. Bit by bit, color seeps into Ernest's humdrum existence--and he begins to realize that life can hold an endless variety of love, friendship, adventure, and change."Quirky characters, heightening suspense, and hilarious situations are deftly combined in this tender novel, which examines a few of the large and small ways people affect one another." --Booklist, starred review

A truth buried for over forty years. A love that lasted a lifetime. Rose Pepper has kept her wartime past a secret for decades. Forty years ago, she fled communist Prague and left behind the love of her life. Now in her sixties and with two daughters, Rose discovers a bundle of unopened letters sent to her by her lost lover, hidden beneath her home. Confronted with the possibility of facing up to her past, she decides it's finally time to go back to where her story began and uncover the truth buried for so long in Prague.

"Readers of Montesquieu will through this study discover a new Persian Letters, as the exquisite subtlety of its construction is laid bare for the first time. It should find a new appreciation as a work of art, and not merely as a precursor to the author's Of the Spirit of the Laws. The Letters will henceforth be read in the light of similarly composite texts, from Montaigne's Essays to Baudelaire's Fleurs du mal."--Jacket.

We write letters to express what we struggle to say aloud. We put pen to paper to voice the secret sides of ourselves, and often, the letters don't need to be sent to set us free. Through guided prompts and interactive questions, The Secret Letters Project offers a safe space for writers to explore relationships, deal with difficult situations, and embrace the joy around them. This journal will help you: Find peace with past relationships Give thanks for new opportunities Experience personal growth Project and celebrate positivity Broken down into letters addressed to different recipients (Dear Ex, Dear Soul Mate, Dear Stranger, Dear Me), this journal helps you create the life you've always wanted through the healing art of letter writing.

Those interested in the Western hermetic tradition may know that the 18th century Golden and Rosicrucian Order was a high degree Masonic Order with a strong emphasis on laboratory alchemy. This work was considered a preparation for the theurgical work which they taught in their higher degrees, where the final aim of their system was to become a Biblical type of prophet. This compilation of the 13 letters, now in print for the first time in modern type, as well as translated into English, is distinguished among the many other books of its time, some of which also claim origin with said order but fail to deliver. For all who take an interest in Fulcanelli, along with the classics, Cyliani, Philalethes, or Sendivogius, this is a must-read and a perfect companion to the "Hermes Trismegistus Old and True Natural Path," also available from Lulu. Language: English + Deutsch

An inspiring account of America at its worst-and Americans at their best-woven from the stories of Depression-era families who were helped by gifts from the author's generous and secretive grandfather. Shortly before Christmas 1933 in Depression-scarred Canton, Ohio, a small newspaper ad offered $10, no strings attached, to 75 families in distress. Interested readers were asked to submit letters describing their hardships to a benefactor calling himself Mr. B. Virdot. The author's grandfather Sam Stone was inspired to place this ad and assist his fellow Cantonians as they prepared for the cruelest Christmas most of them would ever witness. Moved by the tales of suffering and expressions of hope contained in the letters, which he discovered in a suitcase 75 years later, Ted Gup initially set out to unveil the lives behind them, searching for records and relatives all over the country who could help him flesh out the family sagas hinted at in those letters. From these sources, Gup has re-created the impact that Mr B. Virdot's gift had on each family. Many people yearned for bread, coal, or other necessities, but many others received money from B. Virdot for more fanciful items-a toy horse, say, or a set of encyclopedias. As Gup's investigations revealed, all these things had the power to turn people's lives around- even to save them. But as he uncovered the suffering and triumphs of dozens of strangers, Gup also learned that Sam Stone was far more complex than the lovable- retiree persona he'd always shown his grandson. Gup unearths deeply buried details about Sam's life-from his impoverished, abusive upbringing to felonious efforts to hide his immigrant origins from U.S. officials-that help explain why he felt such a strong affinity to strangers in need. Drawing on his unique find and his award-winning reportorial gifts, Ted Gup solves a singular family mystery even while he pulls away the veil of eight decades that separate us from the hardships that united America during the Depression. In A Secret Gift, he weaves these revelations seamlessly into a tapestry of Depression-era America, which will fascinate and inspire in equal measure. Watch a Video

Inquisitive and observant, Dora dreams of escaping her aristocratic country life to solve mysteries alongside Sherlock Holmes. So when she learns that the legendary detective might be her biological father, Dora jumps on the opportunity to travel to London and enlist his help in solving the mystery of her cousin's ransomed love letters. But Dora arrives in London to devastating news: Sherlock Holmes is dead. Her dreams dashed, Dora is left to rely on her wits-and the assistance of an attractive yet enigmatic young detective-to save her cousin's reputation and help rescue a kidnapped heiress along the way. Steeped in Victorian atmosphere and intrigue, this gripping novel heralds the arrival of a fresh new voice in young adult literature.