Acclaimed sci-fi author Alan E. Nourse offers up an exciting tale of treachery, adventure, and vast wealth in the novel Gold in the Sky. The story unfolds among the rarefied and rough-and-tumble crews who mine the surface of asteroids for valuable metals and minerals. Much like the lawless mining towns of the Old West, these groups are made up of rapacious types who will stop at nothing to strike it rich.
Growing up in her sleepy Cornish village dreaming of being a writer, sixteen-year-old Lou has always wondered about the grand Cardew house which has stood empty for years. And when the owners arrive for the summer - a handsome, dashing brother and sister - Lou is quite swept off her feet and into a world of moonlit cocktail parties and glamour beyond her wildest dreams. But, as she grows closer to the Cardews, is she abandoning her own ambitions... and is there something darker lurking at the heart of the Cardew family? A gorgeously dreamy coming-of-age romance set against a stunning Gatsby-esque backdrop, this is perfect for fans of 'I Capture the Castle' and Eva Ibbotson.
Family circumstances force siblings Ying and Lai Yue to flee their home in China to seek their fortunes in Australia. Life on the gold fields is hard, and they soon abandon the diggings and head to nearby Maytown. Once there, Lai Yue gets a job as a carrier on an overland expedition, while Ying finds work in a local store and strikes up a friendship with Meriem, a young white woman with her own troubled past. When a serious crime is committed, suspicion falls on all those who are considered outsiders. Evoking the rich, unfolding tapestry of Australian life in the late nineteenth century, Stone Sky Gold Mountain is a heartbreaking and universal story about the exiled and displaced, about those who encounter discrimination yet yearn for acceptance.
A snow-dusted love story. In the Autumn of 1931, impetuous Freya leaves her family in Cornwall to follow her dream of becoming an actress. She joins a theatrical company and, amidst all the enchantment and bustle of stage life, falls in love with the handsome, glamorous leading man. Neither being an actress nor having a love affair lives up to Freya's grand expectations - which is when she realises her true calling, and also her chance at real romance, has been under her nose all along. An enchanting coming of age romance about following your dreams - even when they aren't quite what you expected. Praise for A SKY PAINTED GOLD: 'The perfect comfort read' Ella Risbridger 'Pure escapism ... a wildly romantic, delicious indulgence' OBSERVER 'A brilliant, beautiful book' Louise O'Neill 'Perfect for glamour-soaked summer escapism' MAIL ON SUNDAY
Embark on another swashbuckling SKY PIRATES adventure in The Dragon's Gold, perfect for 8+ explorers and fans of Abi Elphinstone, Peter Bunzl and Vashti Hardy. Echo Quickthorn has been reunited with her sky-pirate mother, Indigo Lil, and is now a fully-fledged member of the Black Sky Wolves. So when Lil is summoned to the Alliance of the Seven Skies, Echo decides to sneak along with her friend Horace. There, Horace is captured by the dastardly Thunder Sharks, a rival pirate clan, who present Echo with an ultimatum: they’ll release her friend in exchange for the legendary dragon’s gold ... Echo must journey – through underwater libraries and active volcanoes – to the inhospitable Dragonlands, in order to find the dragon’s lair. But can she find the treasure and prove herself to be a true-sky pirate? Praise for SKY PIRATES: Echo Quickthorn and the Great Beyond: "Strap yourselves in for an exhilarating ride!" – Daily Mail "Fizzes with magic and wonder" – Abi Elphinstone, author of SKY SONG "A charmingly madcap adventure, with endearing friendships, sparkling wit, and a swashbuckling journey across pirate-infested skies. I loved it. Perfect for fans of Nevermoor and Cogheart." – Hana Tooke, author of THE UNADOPTABLES “A spirited protagonist, a charming side-kick and a believable villain come together in this tightly plotted, visual, treat for the senses. I want to soar over the rainbow rooftops of Port Tourbillon and the toadstooled forests of Tyrian in my very own airship.” – Nizrana Farook, author of THE GIRL WHO STOLE AN ELEPHANT “Sky Pirates is a fast-moving adventure story full of intrepid explorers, ingenious inventors, stolen treasure and mysterious undiscovered lands. If you like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (and who doesn't?) you'll love Sky Pirates too!” – Kirsty Applebaum, author of THE MIDDLER "From the very first page, I felt as if I'd been grabbed by the hand by a best friend and taken on the journey of a lifetime. Pacey, thrilling and endearing too. If I was ever to encounter sky pirates, I can think of no one I'd want by my side more than clever, brave Echo." – Joanna Nadin, author of the RACHEL RILEY series “A breath-taking adventure and a wonderfully imagined story of friendship and danger in strange places.” – Claire Fayers, author of THE VOYAGE TO MAGICAL NORTH "An incredible adventure, brimming with friendship and danger" – The Bookseller
In grey, 1930s England, Bea has grown up kicking against the conventions of the time, all the while knowing that she will one day have to marry someone her parents choose - someone rich enough to keep the family estate alive. But she longs for so much more - for adventure, excitement, travel, and maybe even romance. When she gets the chance to spend the summer in Italy with her bohemian uncle and his fianc_e, a whole world is opened up to Bea - a world that includes Ben, a cocky young artist who just happens to be infuriatingly handsome too. Sparks fly between the quick-witted pair until one night, under the stars, a challenge is set: can Bea and Ben put aside their teasing and have the perfect summer romance? With their new friends gleefully setting the rules for their fling, Bea and Ben can agree on one thing at least: they absolutely, positively will not, cannot fall in love... A long, hot summer of kisses and mischief unfolds - but storm clouds are gathering across Europe, and home is calling. Every summer has to end - but for Bea, this might be just the beginning.
Winner of the 2016 Whiting Award One of Publishers Weekly's "Most Anticipated Books of Spring 2016" One of Lit Hub's "10 must-read poetry collections for April" “Reading Vuong is like watching a fish move: he manages the varied currents of English with muscled intuition. His poems are by turns graceful and wonderstruck. His lines are both long and short, his pose narrative and lyric, his diction formal and insouciant. From the outside, Vuong has fashioned a poetry of inclusion.”—The New Yorker "Night Sky with Exit Wounds establishes Vuong as a fierce new talent to be reckoned with...This book is a masterpiece that captures, with elegance, the raw sorrows and joys of human existence."—Buzzfeed's "Most Exciting New Books of 2016" "This original, sprightly wordsmith of tumbling pulsing phrases pushes poetry to a new level...A stunning introduction to a young poet who writes with both assurance and vulnerability. Visceral, tender and lyrical, fleet and agile, these poems unflinchingly face the legacies of violence and cultural displacement but they also assume a position of wonder before the world.”—2016 Whiting Award citation "Night Sky with Exit Wounds is the kind of book that soon becomes worn with love. You will want to crease every page to come back to it, to underline every other line because each word resonates with power."—LitHub "Vuong’s powerful voice explores passion, violence, history, identity—all with a tremendous humanity."—Slate “In his impressive debut collection, Vuong, a 2014 Ruth Lilly fellow, writes beauty into—and culls from—individual, familial, and historical traumas. Vuong exists as both observer and observed throughout the book as he explores deeply personal themes such as poverty, depression, queer sexuality, domestic abuse, and the various forms of violence inflicted on his family during the Vietnam War. Poems float and strike in equal measure as the poet strives to transform pain into clarity. Managing this balance becomes the crux of the collection, as when he writes, ‘Your father is only your father/ until one of you forgets. Like how the spine/ won’t remember its wings/ no matter how many times our knees/ kiss the pavement.’”—Publishers Weekly "What a treasure [Ocean Vuong] is to us. What a perfume he's crushed and rendered of his heart and soul. What a gift this book is."—Li-Young Lee Torso of Air Suppose you do change your life. & the body is more than a portion of night—sealed with bruises. Suppose you woke & found your shadow replaced by a black wolf. The boy, beautiful & gone. So you take the knife to the wall instead. You carve & carve until a coin of light appears & you get to look in, at last, on happiness. The eye staring back from the other side— waiting. Born in Saigon, Vietnam, Ocean Vuong attended Brooklyn College. He is the author of two chapbooks as well as a full-length collection, Night Sky with Exit Wounds. A 2014 Ruth Lilly Fellow and winner of the 2016 Whiting Award, Ocean Vuong lives in New York City, New York.
The night I met Cade I never would've thought that two years later, after we were homeless street musicians in Hawaii, we would have a little girl and another baby on the way. Our son was born with the type of birth defects that make televangelists cringe. As his health waned, my own breath evaded me, like I was the one who needed the ventilator--the life support. The "death home" gave him a really nice funeral, the kind I'd never wished to attend. When they tried closing his casket, I nearly fell on my face, not wanting them to shut the lid on my baby. We lost it after that, totally cemented in our grief. Cade got into drugs, joined a rock and roll band, and even grew out his damn hair. At the time, I was sick of "the oatmeal option" (the only food we had), so I kicked Cade out of the house, and started modeling and working as a diesel mechanic. That was how I met Earl, an old man and unlikely best friend; the "big sag," a middle aged woman who still flashed folks, and "The Cowboy" a man who fell in love with me. It was slow at first, but Cade reverted to the man I'd busked with years before. It wasn't until I killed a rogue skunk, and my daughter nearly choked on a fry, that I gave my husband another chance. But could our marriage recover from the death of our son?
