Loose in the Bright Fantastic follows gray-haired Maggie as she escapes from the hospital, wearing only her johnny, an ancient mink, and her dead husbands oversized wingtips. She’s on the loose in Boston where old memories take her to long-gone haunts, from tea at The Ritz to adventures in the historical South End. After enduring nights of homelessness, she finds what she recognizes as her own door and invades a party in the house where she’d raised her children. While Maggie’s confusion escalates, her favorite grandson, Hank (aka Major Amazing Man), in cape and mask, sets out on his own to find her, leaving his mother beyond frantic when evidence says the worst has happened to them both. Author's note: This novel is informed by the ten years my mother lived with my children and me, after unsuccessful brain surgery. The story also embodies fears for my own old age.
Paris, California tells a tale familiar to those who have watched their community transformed by others moving in and changing the very characteristics which attracted them in the first place. And it chronicles what happens when this phenomenon goes completely off the rails. Ashin Asilomar is a retired dentist, living in the same California mid-coastal town where he was raised, married, and widowed. When a troubled young family moves in next door, Ashin befriends their 12-year-old son, Mateo Funk. Together, Ashin and Mateo watch as more and more outsiders move in, calling the town perfect just as it is… then working so very hard to transform Paris into the places they've recently escaped. It begins with fences, signs, and dog leashes, but soon progresses to hostility, absurdity, and, finally, madness.
Those who can, teach. Marvin Block is one of the best kindergarten teachers out there. And despite his anxiety, Marvin’s life is sweet. He knows what he wants. And what he wants is the Teacher of the Year Award. Not just for himself – his school needs him to win. Returning from break, the New Year finds Marvin welcoming a new pupil to his class. But when Illona walks in with her cute-as-hell single dad beside her, Marvin’s focus starts to slide. As their friendship starts to deepen, Marvin realizes Olan has the potential to teach him things about love he never thought possible. But with the Teacher of the Year Award and his school’s future on the line, now’s not the time for anything complicated. Marvin knows what he wants out of life. But now he’s forced to consider what he wants out of love.
The Swallows
Kristen Clanton
In the Black Mountain region, Fullmouth is a town of women and children. When local mothers start dying, the town is panicked. At first, the citizens believe the deaths are suicides. Yet fifteen-year-old Pearl is unconvinced. Pearl has known visions her whole life, known the feeling of when the darkness shifts inside her, and her power comes to surface. But having recently moved to Fullmouth, the supernatural is suddenly magnified. She now finds herself able to commune with ghosts. She sees visions of how mothers will die. Relying on these powers, Pearl faces a daunting foe and the responsibility of saving the town. The only question is, Will she be too late? Built on history, folk tradition, and witchcraft, The Swallows is a horror novel exploring a small town's connection to the spiritual world and the families which fill it.
Sparring in the Dark chronicles the sometimes infuriating, always fascinating story of Lost Generation, Maine painter Henry Strater and his ongoing legacy as an artist and founder of the Ogunquit Museum of American Art. An unvarnished portrait of the artist’s life and work, Sparring in the Dark is intertwined with stories of Strater’s friendships with many 20th century cultural icons such as Ernest Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald, Gaston Lachaise, Edouard Vuillard, and Ezra Pound. Despite his many achievements, Strater was beset by feelings of inferiority and self-doubt, resulting in imaginary opponents who would diminish his place in American art. Consequently, Sparring in the Dark is a compelling narrative of both Strater’s successes and the uncertainties that adversely shaped his life and his art.
"The poems (in Suspended) begin with the death of a father and end with the birth of a grandchild, and in between, ask and elaborate in elegantly crafted language and startling imagery the central questions of being: What is it to be "awake?" How can we find what pulses under thought, the liminal spaces where new truths and new vision can be perceived? How can we see brokenness and death as a portal to a new state of being? How do we live life with the knowledge of death to come? In "Use Caution," the speaker asks, Is there a seed I might nurture/in my hard self/the way bones cultivate/marrow? The poems shift from the body as landscape to landscape as the body, as the poet looks for what might last while also perceiving disruptions and brokenness as windows to beauty and new being" -Susan E. Oringel, author of My Coney Island.
Neeps and Tattie are two tortoises who were rescued by young Annie McKay when they were just babies. Fifty-two years later, they still play and live in a little hut in Annie’s beautiful garden on the shore of Loch Ness, in Scotland. The Story of Neeps and Tattie is a journey through a typical year in the life and antics of these two tortoises. Readers will be especially surprised to learn how Annie cares for them throughout the winter! A glossary of terms used in the book will teach young readers about the history, culture and geography of Scotland. Additionally, a variety of children’s activities related to the story can be downloaded by clicking on the authors' names above.
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