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Our Wild and Precious Lives
A.G. Russo

"Our Wild and Precious Lives deals with the big questions of Life, Death, Love and Loss set against the backdrop of World War II and the Korean Conflict...it also deals with the social upheaval in families and societies caused by war, on both sides..." Amazon ReviewIn 1960 Cold War Germany, Tom and Melly McCarron, teenage Army brats, contend with adolescence on a small American base near Bavaria, where their father, a decorated war veteran, begins a three-year tour of duty. As tensions in Berlin rise between the Allies and the Soviets, and threaten to bring about World War III, the base teenagers forge bonds of loyalty and love stronger than any of the adults understand.Leaving New York on a night flight to Germany, the quiet, thoughtful Tom, and feisty, emotional Melly, are apprehensive about life in a foreign land. While they will attend the American high school in Würzburg, brother and sister realize they are the only stability each has had in their young lives. They also leave behind the sole adult they came to trust, their Aunt Deeny, a librarian who introduced them long ago to a way to cope with life's ups and downs—reading and books.Confronting the overwhelming challenges of making new friends, adjusting to a foreign environment, and enrolling in yet another school, they also must endure their abusive father and moody war bride mother. But they are not fully aware of how their father's wartime experiences and sacrifices have left him scarred. Relying on their inner strength and resilience, they navigate the boundaries of military dependents—American teenagers with the same needs, yearnings and heartbreak as any of their generation.
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From the Publisher

Summer vacation is almost here! And Pea O'Neil is stoked to try out the new local BMX track which is finally open. He and his gang of friends can ride all summer long!But when Pea tries a back flip, he unwittingly opens a portal to another dimension and hordes of flying mutant zombie rats are unleashed upon the city. With the help of an otherworldly talking cat sent to help prevent the demise of humankind, Pea and his friends must hunt down the hungry mutants and send them back before the portal closes.But when the zombie rats attack a neighbor man, the boys have to enlist the help of a graveyard looney and the city's stray cats. With time running out, Pea and his gang track the monsters to the city's sewer system. But in the city sewer of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, it’s eat…or get eaten.
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The Gift
All eleven-year old Pip wanted was a best friend. When Pip gets a horse for her birthday she is delighted. She thinks that the horse she names Buck will be her best friend from the moment that they meet. But she finds out that friendship does not come that easily. Her father gently guides her so that Pip can discover for herself how to make Buck a true friend. Pip's new friend, Buck, has a story of his own. After leaving his own herd, to move to Pip's house, he is looking for a relationship that will help him feel safe. He, too, learns that making a friend takes patience and understanding.
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The Witches of Armour Hill: Switch
Margaret May Reis knows how strange she is; people have been telling her for years. At sixteen years old, though, Maggie begins to realize that strangeness is only half the story. Maggie isn’t just strange – she’s a witch.Sent to live with a cousin she’s never met, in a city she doesn't remember, Maggie is sure that life as she knows it is over. It doesn't take her long to learn that Peterborough is not at all what it seems. Her first week in the city, Maggie meets a stray cat named Elowen, who seems to appear out of thin air, and a strange girl named Rhosyn, who introduces her to a coven of witches, and assures her that life will never be the same.The newest member of an ancient coven, Maggie discovers new friends, new powers, and a new lease on life. As she works with her young sisters to hone their magical skills, they stumble across the coven’s darkest secret, one that their governing council has kept hidden for over a century. Caught up in a conspiracy that began with the very first generations of witches, Maggie and her friends tumble down the rabbit hole, reaching blindly for the truth.It will take three young witches to uncover the secrets that their Matriarch left behind over a century before.
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The Voice of Thunder
Fiery-haired, witch-eyed Zaara Theroux has all but resigned herself to the dull life of an Asterian princess when her engagement is suddenly interrupted by the elusive Jay Sattler, who has an irresistible proposition for her: he’ll show her the world – the good, the bad, the beautiful – and free her from her royal captivity, if she promises to open her mind. Suddenly, Zaara’s quiet, boring life is shattered and she is thrown into a world where not everything is as it seems: where dragons soar and breathe fire; where people like her are gifted with affinities for water, fire, earth, or air; where a rebellion is rising, seeking a justice that involves destroying her perfect world and everything she has been raised with…including the love of her life. As Zaara joins the rebellion, she learns more than she had intended about the strange and tangled history of the world she lives in and the role she herself has to play, as keeper of the rare fifth element, in preserving that balance between order and chaos in the mythical land of Asteira.
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In Real Life
Fifteen-year-old math prodigy Seth Gordon knows exactly what he wants to do with his life—play video games. Every spare minute is devoted to honing his skills at Starfare, the world's most popular computer game. His goal: South Korea, where the top pros are rich and famous. But the best players train all day, while Seth has school and a job and divorced parents who agree on only one thing: "Get off that damn computer." Plus there's a new distraction named Hannah, an aspiring photographer who actually seems to understand his obsession.While Seth mopes about his tournament results and mixed signals from Hannah, Team Anaconda, one of the leading Korean pro squads, sees something special. Before he knows it, it's goodbye Kansas, goodbye Hannah, and hello to the strange new world of Korea. But the reality is more complicated than the fantasy, as he faces cultural shock, disgruntled teammates, and giant pots of sour-smelling kimchi.What happens next surprises Seth. Slowly, he comes to make new friends, and discovers what might be a breakthrough, mathematical solution to the challenges of Starcraft. Delving deeper into the formulas takes him in an unexpected direction, one that might just give him a new focus—and reunite him with Hannah.
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Magic, Mayhem and Life Underground with Bunkie
Set in a bustling meadow in the Colorado highlands, Magic, Mayhem and Life Underground with Bunkie is a light-hearted story about a rabbit who might have hopped right out of Mayberry and onto the black-and-white, boldly-illustrated page. But the adventures of this warm-fuzzy bunny won’t lull you to sleep. Life in the meadow for Bunkie Bernstein is no picnic – at least not until he gains access to the tasty vegetable patch on the Murdock Farm – a feat that requires the help of a scurrilous snake and shape-shifting flower. When a fire in the forest forces Bunkie to move, he befriends a pika that he just can’t quite trust. Whoever heard of a rabbit that can’t jump, anyway? Things start to look up when Bunkie meets, Beatrice. This beautiful, cotton-white female rabbit is like a dream. However, Bunkie quickly learns that Beatrice is the one dreaming when he discovers that this beautiful bunny thinks she is human! Their eventful year comes to a close just as winter sets in, but not before encountering a ghost in the burrow – a perfect mystery on one fall hallowed eve.
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Birds of Passage, An Italian Immigrant Coming of Age Story
"With Birds of Passage, Joe Giordano delivers a rollicking, wholly entertaining take on the Italian immigrant story. His rich cast of characters arrives seeking the usual: Money, honor, love, respect, a decent shot at the pursuit of happiness. But things get complicated fast as they plunge into the rough-and-tumble world of rackets, scams, and politics of early 20th-century New York City. Giordano serves up a thick, satisfying slice of the entire era in all its raw and brutal glory." Ben Fountain, author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, soon to be a major motion picture directed by Ang Lee.
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Is Destiny determined by the future or the past?Ronald Reagan is President and the city of Denver is reeling from the 1970s Oil Boom when sixteen-year-old- Jett finds employment making confections for Watson's Candies. But when tragedy strikes, the hard-as-nails orphan wakes up in the psychiatric ward of a strangely altered word where her very words could spell doom. The Psychiatrist blinked at me, and just that fast, I knew I must have said something wrong. The clothes, the old cars, the peculiar cadence of their speech; my skin danced with goose pimples and I shivered. I tried to ignore the fear creeping up my back. "What is today's date?" "October the twenty-ninth," the nurse said. "And the year? What's the year?" My heart was pounding and I was starting to hyperventilate. Tears flooded my eyes, blurring the scene before me. I was being swept away by emotional forces so strong I couldn't stem the tide. I was so afraid of what they were going to say. "Why, it's 1927, my dear."
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The Boy Genius Detective Agency
THE POWER OF A VILLAIN. THE HEART OF A HERO.When happy-go-lucky Phidias Isaac Newman opens a detective agency in the sleepy Highland Falls ward of the Mégapolis he isn't sure what to expect.The Case of the Vanishing Bones? Sounds like a promising start.Then, seemingly from nowhere, disaster strikes! Together with his partner, Agent Bubble Gum, the Boy Genius is plunged into the recovery of a mysterious (and deadly) stolen artifact--the Afterthought Resonator.Then something beyond their wildest dreams happens. Something wonderful.Or is it?Bubble Gum has always known the Boy Genius is ill mannered, uncouth and never listens to others. (Not that she keeps a list or anything.) But now she learns Phidias is harboring a dark secret.Of forbidden knowledge that unlocks a terrible power... no one even suspected existed.The Boy Genius Detective Agency is an explosive sci-fi/superhero tale that will blast you onto a marvelous ride through a world of excitement. If you like edge-of-your-seat suspense, extreme danger and endless blood-curdling action then you will love this fascinating and imaginative novel.Buy your copy of The Boy Genius Detective Agency and let this thrilling tale of heroic adventure begin!