Showing results by author "A.L. Smith" in All Categories

Twelve-year-old Hoodoo Hatcher was born into a family with a rich tradition of practicing folk magic: hoodoo, as most people call it. But even though his name is Hoodoo, he can't seem to cast a simple spell. When a mysterious man called the Stranger comes to town, Hoodoo starts dreaming of the dead rising from their graves. Even worse, he soon learns the Stranger is looking for a boy named Hoodoo. The entire town is at risk from the Stranger's black magic, and only Hoodoo can defeat him.

Whether you're carrying emotional wounds from childhood or suffering from daily anxiety, depression, or intrusive thoughts, none of these are God's intention for you. He lovingly knit you together in your mother's womb and calls you to a life of abundance. He offers healing and freedom from these feelings of despair, and Laura L. Smith is here to help you receive them. Join Laura as she guides you through tangible tools like prayer, health-care resources, exercise, Bible memorization, setting boundaries, breathing exercises, gratitude, counseling, and so much more.

The 2020 Presidential Election is undoubtedly, the most important election of the century. Amid an onslought of senseless killings among unarmed African Americans by vigilante civilians and trigger-happy police and a pandemic which unveiled an enormous disparity in health care for African Americans, the country is being led by an incumbent Commander in Chief who appears “unbothered” by it all. In November, America is tasked with choosing its next leader - one who will be charged with salvaging what’s left of its democracy.

Some conspiracy theories turn out to be true. FBI profiler Victor Loshak works a brutal murder case in Watertown, New York - a woman found strangled in her basement, her face gone purple and baggy. But as he sifts through the crime scene details, his mind keeps drifting back to Kansas City, his last job. The human trafficking case there ended in something of a cliffhanger, and it's a loose end that everyone else in law enforcement seems in no hurry to tie up. The truth is out there. Always just out of reach.

Elena Gilbert is dying. When Damon Salvatore avenged his brother Stefan’s death, he broke the sacred deal he’d made with the Guardians - and put Elena’s life at risk. She should be dead, but instead, the Guardians are offering Elena a once-in-a-lifetime chance: To start over. Ever since she met the Salvatore brothers, Elena’s love for them both has caused endless death and destruction.

During World War II, black Americans were fighting for their country and for freedom in Europe, yet they had to endure a totally segregated military in the United States, where they weren't considered smart enough to become military pilots. After acquiring government funding for aviation training, civil rights activists were able to kickstart the first African American military flight program in the US at Tuskegee University in Alabama. While this audiobook details thrilling flight missions and the grueling training sessions the Tuskegee Airmen underwent, it also shines a light on the lives of these brave men who helped pave the way for the integration of the US armed forces.

Death slays me, and I let him . . . Kingdoms are broken. The world has shifted. We are not the same as we once were. The queen is no longer the queen, but I am expected to take her place. The tricky part is I'm not sure I want that responsibility. My heart screams for Death while he stays as far away as possible, believing in the prophecy, whereas I believe in us. But sometimes, that simply isn't enough. The real question now is . . . what do I do?

Japan 1945. Taro is a talented violinist and a kamikaze pilot in the days before his first and only mission. He believes he is ready to die for his country, until he meets Hana. Hana hasn't been the same since the day she was buried alive in a collapsed trench during a bomb raid. She wonders if it would have been better to have died that day, until she meets Taro. A song will bring them together. The war will tear them apart. Is it possible to live an entire lifetime in eight short days?

When twelve-year-old Rory applies for a job at a spooky old mansion in his gloomy seaside town, he finds the owner, Lord Foxglove, odd and unpleasant. But he and his mom need the money, so he takes the job anyway. Rory soon finds out that his new boss is not just strange, he’s not even human—and he’s trying to steal the townspeople’s shadows.

Charles Dickens was a literary giant, second only to Shakespeare in the ranks of England's greatest writers. This extensive biographical collection looks at the man, his novels and his legacy to provide an all-round portrait of the much-loved author.

Travel back in time to the 1920s and 1930s to the sounds of jazz in nightclubs and the 24-hours-a-day bustle of the famous Black neighborhood of Harlem in uptown Manhattan. It was a dazzling time when there was an outpouring of the arts of African Americans - the poetry of Langston Hughes; the novels of Zora Neale Hurston; the sculptures of Augusta Savage; and that brand-new music called jazz as only Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong could play it.

Despite the terrible nights, I still woke up, got dressed, and went to my only refuge, my high school. This was my life, often alone, cold, sad, and hungry. My youth was different than most, but this was my reality.

No Thanks: 7 Ways to Say I'll Include Myself provides a roadmap of affirmations, coaching, and actionable steps women of color can take to not only lead, but lead like a rockstar during this unprecedented time and beyond. Based on the career journey of former corporate leader, serial entrepreneur, and certified executive and business coach L. Michelle Smith, she shares a simple roadmap to not only executive leadership, but rockstar leadership.

Stefan Drosselmeyer is a reluctant apprentice to his toymaker father until the day his world is turned upside down. His father is kidnapped, and Stefan is enlisted by his mysterious cousin Christian Drosselmeyer to find a mythical nut to save a princess who has been turned into a wooden doll. Embarking on a wild adventure through Germany, Stefan must save Boldavia’s princess and his own father from the fanatical Mouse Queen and her seven-headed Mouse Prince, both of whom have sworn to destroy the Drosselmeyer family.

Reconstruction—the period after the Civil War—was meant to give newly freed Black people the same rights as white people. And indeed there were monumental changes once slavery ended—thriving new Black communities, the first Black members in Congress, and a new sense of dignity for many Black Americans. But this time of hope didn’t last long and instead, a deeply segregated United States continued on for another hundred years. Find out what went wrong in this fascinating overview of a troubled time.

Everything changes, in seconds, minutes, hours. I know, it happened to me. It wasn't for the better, it was for the worst. I am broken, no that doesn't sound right, I am chipped. Pieces of me have been chipped so bad that it's impossible to claim them back. Even if I want to, even if it's for her.

This is the Genesis course you've always wanted. Engaging, thought-provoking, and humorous, this delightful course promises fresh insights into the Bible's second most popular book. Genesis contains some of the most familiar stories of the entire Old Testament, and it features some of the most unforgettable characters in all of history: Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Jacob and his wives Rachel and Leah, and their 12 sons, including the famous Joseph.

Urban fantasy offers a diverse playground for some extremely powerful stories. Professional writer and editor Kerrie L. Hughes pulled some fantastic tales out of 14 top writers for this fifth installment of Fiction River. Set in urban lands from modern Portland, to a future Detroit, to a wild Washington, D.C., and ending the tour in London, these top writers take the idea of "Hex" and stretch and twist it into stories with a magickal grip on the imagination.

Most people know that smoking is bad for their health and believe vaping is a better alternative. Now, vaping has become a national epidemic and shows no sign of slowing. Quitting Smoking & Vaping for Dummies delivers facts about the differences between smoking and vaping, the effects on their short-term and long-term health, and how addiction works.

In the years between World War I and World War II, aviation fever was everywhere, including among Black Americans. But what hope did a Black person have of learning to fly in a country constricted by prejudice and Jim Crow laws, where some previous Black aviators like Bessie Coleman had to move to France to earn their wings?