This award-winning children’s book explores the transformation of a water nymph into a beautiful dragonfly. Follow two insects, Lea and Nym, and the struggles Nym endures when her friend disappears from their underwater home. This tender story about loss and change was written to help parents explain their views about death with children. Children may identify with Nym, who grieves the loss of her friend, and find it easier to express their unique feelings about a death after hearing the story. Through a vision or dream, Nym learns that Lea has transformed into a beautiful dragonfly above the marsh. Someday, Nym will see her friend again in this new world. Beautifully illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson, the book is cherished by parents, grandparents and teachers. It is often used to help explain death to children or to engage children in an open dialogue about death. The hardcover edition has been adapted into several theatrical performances in various communities to help children cope with the death of their classmates. The book, which includes the real lifecycle of the dragonfly, may serve many purposes, such as comforting a grieving child or providing facts about dragonflies.

Help children identify the beauty and hope in all cycles of life as they follow two insects, Lea and Nym, and the struggles Nym endures when her friend disappears. The Dragonfly Door is a tender story about loss and change, written to help parents and adults express their views about life and death. Adults who work with children find this book helpful because it encourages some children to talk about their unique feelings associated with a loss or change. Children may identify with Nym, who grieves the loss of her friend, and find it easier to express their feelings about a loss after hearing the story. Some teachers will follow-up with a discussion either one-on-one, in-class, or through a writing assignment. For those interested in nature, this book includes the real life cycle of the dragonfly at the end. Parents and grandparents sometimes interpret Lea¿s transformation into a beautiful dragonfly above the marsh as a metaphor for heaven or as an analogy to life after death. Someday, Nym will see her friend again in this new world. In this way, the core message of the story becomes one of hope for those who grieve the loss of someone. The Dragonfly Door may serve many purposes, such as comforting a grieving child or providing facts about dragonflies. Beautifully illustrated by Barbara L. Gibson, the book is cherished by parents, grandparents and teachers.

For fans of Wrinkle in Time and The School of Good and Evil, the New York Times bestseller The Mark of the Dragonfly is a fast-paced adventure story about a mysterious girl and a fearless boy, set in a magical world that is both exciting and dangerous. Piper has never seen the Mark of the Dragonfly until she finds the girl amid the wreckage of a caravan in the Meteor Fields. The girl doesn’t remember a thing about her life, but the intricate tattoo on her arm is proof that she’s from the Dragonfly Territories and that she’s protected by the king. Which means a reward for Piper if she can get the girl home. The one sure way to the Territories is the 401, a great old beauty of a train. But a ticket costs more coin than Piper could make in a year. And stowing away is a difficult prospect—everyone knows that getting past the peculiar green-eyed boy who stands guard is nearly impossible. Life for Piper just turned dangerous. A little bit magical. And very exciting, if she can manage to survive the journey. Praise for The Mark of the Dragonfly: ★ “This magnetic middle-grade debut…[is] a page-turner that defies easy categorization and ought to have broad appeal.”—Publishers Weekly, Starred ★ “Heart, brains, and courage find a home in a steampunk fantasy worthy of a nod from Baum.”-- Kirkus Reviews, Starred ★ “A fantastic and original tale of adventure and magic...Piper is a heroine to fall in love with: smart, brave, kind, and mechanically inclined to boot.”—School Library Journal, Starred “A complex and impeccably developed plot—there is plenty to recommend in this novel.”—The Bulletin “Appealing characters and lots of action make it a good choice for young adventure readers.”—Booklist

Two young companions, Totho and Salma, arrive at Tark to spy on the menacing Wasp army, but are there mistakenly apprehended as enemy agents. By the time they are freed, the city is already under siege. Over in the imperial capital the young emperor, Alvdan, is becoming captivated by a remarkable slave, the vampiric Uctebri, who claims he knows of magic that can grant eternal life. In Collegium, meanwhile, Stenwold is still trying to persuade the city magnates to take seriously the Wasp Empire's imminent threat to their survival. In a colorful drama involving mass warfare and personal combat, a small group of heroes must stand up against what seems like an unstoppable force. This volume continues the story that so brilliantly unfolded in Empire in Black and Gold - and the action is still non-stop.

Read the USA Today bestseller from the author of Roses, a "sumptuous, full-bodied, and emotional" novel about five young spies embedded among the highest Nazi ranks in occupied Paris (Adriana Trigiani, NYT bestselling author of Tony's Wife). At the height of World War II, a handful of idealistic young Americans receive a mysterious letter from the government, asking them if they are willing to fight for their country. The men and women from very different backgrounds -- a Texan athlete with German roots, an upper-crust son of a French mother and a wealthy businessman, a dirt-poor Midwestern fly fisherman, an orphaned fashion designer, and a ravishingly beautiful female fencer -- all answer the call of duty, but each for a secret reason of her or his own. They bond immediately, in a group code-named Dragonfly. Thus begins a dramatic cat-and-mouse game, as the group seeks to stay under the radar until a fatal misstep leads to the capture and the firing-squad execution of one of their team. But is everything as it seems, or is this one more elaborate act of spycraft?

A 2023 Batchelder Honor Book From acclaimed Chinese author Cao Wenxuan, recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Award, comes a compelling family saga spanning fifty years and three generations. Ah-Mei and her French grandmother, Nainai, share a rare bond. Maybe it’s because Ah-Mei is the only girl grandchild. Or maybe it’s because the pair look so much alike and neither resembles the rest of their Chinese family. Politics and war make 1960s Shanghai a hard place to grow up, especially when racism and bigotry are rife, and everyone seems suspicious of Nainai’s European heritage and interracial marriage. In this time of political upheaval, Ah-Mei and her family suffer much—and when the family silk business falters, they are left with almost nothing. Ah-Mei and her grandmother are resourceful, but will the tender connection they share bring them enough strength to carry through? This multigenerational saga by one of China’s most esteemed children’s authors takes the reader from 1920s France to a ravaged postwar Shanghai and through the convulsions of the Cultural Revolution.

Love is a splendid thing when you can find it, but sometimes sex with a stranger can be more eye opening. Be careful when seeking validation in a state of desperation, because when the true you comes to the surface, you may not like what you see. CaSandra found this out at the very end, even though she knew that she was a fragmented woman with three sides to her personality. She had lost control, giving away the small piece of her true self to a third part of herself that eventually wiped away all traces of CaSandra. No woman wants to feel invisible, and sometimes we want others to see us for the women we are on the inside as well as the beautiful package we are on the outside. In a desperate moment, CaSandra tried to escape her unhappiness by swallowing a handful of pills, but instead of escaping the world she no longer wanted to be in, she finally found what she was looking for, after ending up in a hospital emergency room. Our minds love to play tricks on us even when our eyes are wide open. Imagine what they can do to us when they are closed.

A gorilla, a witch, a ghost, then a fierce scaly dragon hungry for his tea. Who will be next? Each time there's a knock at the door, there's a different monster, but each time they're wearing the same tartan slippers. Of course, it's just Dad, playing an hilarious bedtime game!

Lea the dragonfly helps a little boy communicate with his parents and reveal a secret about the items they possess.

It's Mardi Gras, but for sixteen-year-old Trinity, this is no time for celebration. Another girl has gone missing. And Trinity is seeing things - terrible things. Tormented by visions she can't explain, Trinity embarks on a dark journey to understand her abilities, convinced this is the only way to prevent the things she sees from coming true. But as the line between reality and illusion becomes blurred, everyone who loves Trinity begins to fear for her sanity, and, ultimately, for her life...