Showing results by narrator "Shiromi Arserio" in All Categories

Luckily for humanity, scientist Marie Curie applied her brilliant mind and indomitable spirit to expanding the frontiers of science, but what if she had instead drifted toward the darkness? At the cusp of between child- and adulthood, at the crossroads between science and superstition, a teen Marie Curie faces the factual and the fantastic in this fabulous collection of stories that inspire, delight, and ask the question: What if she had used her talents for diabolical purposes?

From acclaimed author Phoebe North comes a riveting, unexpected, and beautiful contemporary novel about a girl whose brother mysteriously disappears, the family and friends he leaves behind, and the stories - real and imagined - that they tell themselves to fill the empty space.

Sixteen-year-old Samar - aka Sam - is an Indian American teenager whose mom has kept her away from her old-fashioned family. It’s never bothered Sam, who is busy with school, friends, and a demanding boyfriend. But things change after 9/11. A guy in a turban shows up at Sam’s house - and turns out to be her uncle.

June, 1942 - Libya. Free French Officer Susan Travers was one of the few women on the front lines in Africa during World War Two. After the Germans surrounded the military camp of Bir Hakeim, a shocking order was issued. The French troops were going to break out in the middle of the night - crossing through dangerous minefields and enemy territory - to reach their British allies. And Officer Travers would be leading the charge.

The one thing Mrs. Bennett most dearly wants is to see her five daughters settled. When wealthy bachelor Mr. Bingley moves in to nearby Netherfield Hall and takes an interest in her eldest daughter, Jane, her dream is almost within her grasp. Yet problems arise when Bingley’s friend, the prideful Mr. Darcy, meddles in their relationship, earning him the disdain of Jane’s sister, Elizabeth. However, Mr. Darcy can’t help finding a match in the intelligent, free-spirited Lizzy Bennett, despite her country manners.

On the heavily forested planet of Lumin, the Network has slept, dormant, for over 600 cycles. Only a select few remember that it resides beneath the crust of the planet, waiting, and for those who do, the battle for Lumin's future has raged in the shadows.

When James Blake discovers his wife murdered in their London home, he is determined to find her killer. As the prime suspect, he flees England and sets out on a journey that takes him to Florence and Venice and into a dark underworld of corruption, a trail that will lead him to the killer - and the shocking truth behind the mystery.

A Sin Eater’s duty is a necessary evil: she hears the confessions of the dying, eats their sins as a funeral rite. Stained by these sins, she is shunned and silenced, doomed to live in exile at the edge of town. Recently orphaned May Owens is just 14, only concerned with where her next meal is coming from. When she’s arrested for stealing a loaf of bread and subsequently sentenced to become a Sin Eater, finding food is suddenly the last of her worries.

Nura has worked all her life in the mica mines, earning just enough to keep her family afloat–and enjoy the odd delicious gulab jamun from the market. Some day she's going to find the Demon's Tongue, a legendary treasure buried deep in the mines, and her family will never have to worry about money again. But when a terrible accident buries her best friend below ground, Nura goes in search of him and passes over into the magical and terrible world of the jinn. Across a pink sea and under a purple sky, she finds her way to a palace, where great riches and a whole new life are on offer.

Princess Alyrra has never enjoyed the security or power of her rank. Between her family's cruelty and the court's contempt, she has spent her life in the shadows. Forced to marry a powerful foreign prince, Alyrra embarks on a journey to meet her betrothed with little hope for a better future. But powerful men have powerful enemies - and now so does Alyrra. Betrayed during a magical attack, her identity is switched with another woman's, giving Alyrra the first choice she's ever had: to start a new life for herself or fight for a prince she's never met.

Things That Helped is a memoir in essays, detailing the Australian writer Jessica Friedmann's recovery from postpartum depression. In each essay, she focuses on a separate totemic object - from pho to red lips to the musician Anohni - to tell a story that is both deeply personal and culturally resonant. Drawing on critical theory, popular culture, and her own experience, Friedmann's wide-ranging essays touch on class, race, gender, and sexuality, as well as motherhood, creativity, and mental illness.

The scene is the Caribbean, 1718: Englishwoman Mary Read is forced to disguise herself as sailor Martin Read; then things get more complicated when she falls in love with another sailor, Peter Meredith, a brilliant man but rather clueless about the sea... who also has no idea that his best friend is a woman. To make matters worse, they're both captured by pirates. To make matters worse yet, one of the pirates is Anne Bonny, Southern belle turned scourge of the Caribbean.

The Olanders embody a modern family in a globalized world. Jaya, the cultured daughter of an Indian diplomat and Keith, an ambitious banker from middle-class Philadelphia, meet in a London pub in 1988 and make a life together in suburban California. Their strong marriage is built on shared beliefs and love for their two children: headstrong teenager Karina and young son Prem, the light of their home.

Some stories take more than one lifetime to tell. There are wrongs that echo through the ages, friendships that outpace the claws of death, loves that leave their mark on civilization, and promises that nothing can break. This is one such story. Annelid and Leveret met as children in the middle of the Sri Lankan civil war. They found each other in a torn-up nation, peering through propaganda to grasp a deeper truth. And in a demon-haunted wood, another act of violence linked them and propelled their souls on a journey throughout the ages.

Young fire elemental Solvei struggles with the terror of returning to the underground passage. She must complete this months-long trip if she wants to save the pact nations from a surprise invasion by an enemy they didn't know they had. However, her fear of being trapped has grown out of control. The very idea of taking that journey again fills her with dread . . . but it's the only path forward.

Tales are written of times ago in which Gods and Goddesses graced this world, leaving legend of great heroes - Immortals of Olympus. But if immortal they be, where are the Olympians? A young girl, already on the edge, is about to find out.

In the last year, Abby Bentley has failed out of college and lost her high school sweetheart. Unwilling to return home, Abby signs up to volunteer on an Australian farm, where she can hide away from her family and isolate to her heart's desire. Best of all, no one will care about her past. Abby soon discovers she'll be sharing most of her daylight hours, as well as a very small yurt, with the farm's other volunteer: sexy, flirtatious Sage. The more hours they spend together, the more conflicted Abby becomes.

1948: Change has come to every corner of the globe - and Rosie Stanton, returning home to Northern Queensland after serving the war effort in Brisbane, plans to rescue her family’s foundering sugarcane farm with her unstoppable can-do spirit. Coming up against her father’s old-world views, a farm worker undermining her success, and constant reminders of Rosie’s brothers lost in the war, Rosie realizes she wants more from life and love - but at what cost? Italian immigrant Tomas Conti arrives at a neighboring farm, and sparks fly as Rosie draws close to this enigmatic newcomer.

Despite a scholarship, law student Saraswati “Sara” Bhaduri holds down two jobs in order to make her way through school, but it’s still a struggle. She’s had to do things to pay the bills that most people wouldn’t expect “a nice Indian girl” to do. Sara is working at the campus bar one seemingly ordinary Tuesday night when her boss demands that she deal with a drunk girl in the bathroom.

Spring 1662. In the wake of Fouquet’s defeat, Henriette of England is keeping her promise to the Sun King and helping him build the enchanted Palace of Versailles he’s always dreamed of. But when her poor health worsens, her magic wanes, and her husband, Philippe, fears for her well-being to such an extent that he forbids her to remain Louis’ Source.