When Janna impulsively buys a winter hat for a bag lady, she expects nothing in return. But Janna's kindness pays off in a big way when the bag lady turns out to be a genie! Now Janna is the genie's master and she couldn't be happier, especially when she learns that the "three wishes" rule is strictly for fairy tales! Before long, Janna's room is overflowing with clothes and gadgets -- but things aren't quite as simple as they seem. Making wishes comes with its own set of rules, and Janna discovers that "unlimited" has some...well, limits. Genies can't make something out of nothing, so everything that Janna wishes for is taken from somebody else. Oops. And then there's the problem of genie wattage -- there's only so much of it, and Janna is using it up faster than she'd like. What's a greedy girl to do? With insight, warmth, and a refreshing dose of humor, Kimberly K. Jones puts a new twist on the old adage "Be careful what you wish for."

The Hidden City is the first novel in The House War, a saga of the battle to control the most powerful of the ruling House in the Essalieyan Empire -- House Terafin. But it is also the tale of a remarkable young woman, Jewel Markess. An orphan living in the slums of the capital city, Jewel (known as Jay by her friends) scrapes by however she can. But after she steals money from a recluse named Rath, he seeks her out to reclaim what is his. Discovering her under a bridge and deathly ill, he takes her in and nurses her back to health. But once she has recovered, Jay insists she must repay her debt, and Rath finds that he cannot be rid of her. Driven by visions she can't control, Jay begins to rescue other children and bring them into Rath's home. As Jay forms the group that will become her den, Rath walks a far more dangerous path. After a long-ago betrayal, Rath is estranged from his family, while his sister is The Terafin, head of House Terafin. Rath makes his living by prowling the ruins of the undercity, finding relics of an earlier age and selling them to the highest bidder. But now the demons that once nearly destroyed the Essalieyan Empire are stirring again, reaching out to strike down any who can give warning against them -- like Rath.Soon, Rath, who treads the ancient ways hidden beneath the slums of Averalaan, and Jay, who is cursed with the untrained talent of a seer, will find themselves targeted by these deadly beings. 

It’s been nearly 200 years since the collapse of the Confederacy, the last government to claim humanity’s colonies. So when signals come in revealing lost human colonies that could shift the power balance, the race is on between the Caliphate ships and a small team of scientists and mercenarys. But what awaits them all is a threat far beyond the scope of any human government.

In this extraordinary and harrowing memoir, follow one GI’s tour of duty as Ryan Smithson brings readers inside a world that few understand. This is no ordinary teenager’s story. Instead of opting for college life, Ryan Smithson joined the Army Reserve when he was seventeen. Two years later, he was deployed to Iraq as an Army engineer.His story—and the stories of thousands of other soldiers—is nothing like what you see on CNN or read about in the New York Times. This unforgettable story about combat, friendship, fear, and a soldier’s commitment to his country peels back the curtain on the realities of war in a story all Americans should read.