"Sebastian's Moon" is a story about Sebastian, whose little brother Riley passed away, so he thinks his brother lives on the moon. When Sebastian tells his mother that he misses his brother, she tells him that they will see him again one day. With the help of his friends and the aid of a shooting star, Sebastian embarks on an adventure of sending his stuffed brontosaurus and blanket to the moon so that his little brother isn't lonely anymore, and making the promise to never forget Riley.
“A brave and moving novel [that] has a tender empathy with the natural world.” —Hermione Lee, The New York Review of Books From the two-time Booker Prize finalist author of Days Without End comes a dazzling companion novel about memory and identity, set in Tennessee in the aftermath of the Civil War Winona Cole, an orphaned child of the Lakota Indians, finds herself growing up in an unconventional household on a farm in west Tennessee. Raised by her adoptive parents John Cole and Thomas McNulty, whose story Barry told in his acclaimed previous novel Days Without End, she forges a life for herself beyond the violence and dispossession of her past. Tennessee is a state still riven by the bitter legacy of the Civil War, and the fragile harmony of her family is soon threatened by a further traumatic event, one which Winona struggles to confront, let alone understand. Exquisitely written, A Thousand Moons is a stirring, poignant story of love and redemption, of one woman's journey and her determination to write her own future.
Winter 2015 Top Ten IndieNext Pick When Mr. Squirrel awakens to find that the moon has landed on his tree, he frantically tries to get rid of it before someone suspects him of stealing it and puts him in jail. But when he rolls the moon off of his tree, it's gets stuck on Mrs. Hedgehog's bristles and when the billy-goat arrives and butts it with his horns . . . Will the moon ever be the same again? Sebastian Meschenmoser's hilarious illustrations and rollicking tale will be a bedtime favorite.
From high-flying executive of one of London's biggest advertising agencies to drunken shelf-stocker in less than the time it takes to dream…The 35 year-old Sebastian Smith had just about everything. A brilliant career, lots of City friends and he was engaged to Anne, a Kensington antiques dealer.Now he has nothing but his past, which holds a terrible secret...
The Roaring Twenties are Sebastian's playground until his mother informs him that bad investments have bankrupted the family. He must leave his fiancé and sail to Germany to do what he can. He arrives broke and riding a bicycle. Marlene, who wasn't told her father had sold their failing machine shop to keep the town employed, and who runs the family business, assumes Sebastian is another useless consultant. She hands him an apron, points to a lathe, and puts him to work. Marlene's father agrees to Sebastian's secret. Sebastian falls in love with Marlene's beauty, confidence, and dedication to others. He reluctantly agrees to accompany her to a Hitler rally, and then leaves for Spain, where he meets Concetta, a humanitarian spearheading the movement to defend democracy. She is resolutely bold ahead of her time, and just what Sebastian needs to find himself. They take on Franco's invasion. Franco crosses the border with thirty thousand soldiers. Concetta and Sebastian join five hundred thousand patriots fighting to keep Spain free. They anticipate victory. As Sebastian risks his life he discovers that all of Europe would not be heading for war if it weren't for the actions of one man, who is neither Adolf Hitler nor Benito Mussolini. What Sebastian learns is as appropriate today as it was then. Sebastian's Journey is not just about those we thank for past leadership—it is about us.
A haunting collection of twenty stories rooted in the oral tradition of the Irish Traveller community. Brave vixens, prophetic owls and stalwart horses live alongside the human characters as guides, protectors, friends and foes while spirits, giants and fairies blur the lines between this world and the otherworld. Collected by Oein DeBhairduin throughout his childhood, retold in his lyrical style, and beautifully illustrated by Leanne McDonagh.
COSTA BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNER LONGLISTED FOR THE 2017 MAN BOOKER PRIZE "A true leftfield wonder: Days Without End is a violent, superbly lyrical western offering a sweeping vision of America in the making."—Kazuo Ishiguro, Booker Prize winning author of The Remains of the Day and The Buried Giant From the two-time Man Booker Prize finalist Sebastian Barry, “a master storyteller” (Wall Street Journal), comes a powerful new novel of duty and family set against the American Indian and Civil Wars Thomas McNulty, aged barely seventeen and having fled the Great Famine in Ireland, signs up for the U.S. Army in the 1850s. With his brother in arms, John Cole, Thomas goes on to fight in the Indian Wars—against the Sioux and the Yurok—and, ultimately, the Civil War. Orphans of terrible hardships themselves, the men find these days to be vivid and alive, despite the horrors they see and are complicit in. Moving from the plains of Wyoming to Tennessee, Sebastian Barry’s latest work is a masterpiece of atmosphere and language. An intensely poignant story of two men and the makeshift family they create with a young Sioux girl, Winona, Days Without End is a fresh and haunting portrait of the most fateful years in American history and is a novel never to be forgotten.
Once there was a little snail who loved everything round—hoops and wheels and balls and balloons and, most of all, the moon. Oh, how she longed to glide gently over the moon’s surface, around and around and around. And so she made a daring decision—she’d find a way to fly to the moon! This is a story about dreams and determination.
Journey to Freedom won the Eudora Welty Memorial Award in the National League of American Pen Women's nationwide fiction writing contest. Set in war-torn Europe of 1944, Journey to Freedom takes the reader inside the world of a young woman who becomes the victim of Hitler’s Racial Laws. Juliet Nestor, daughter of an “Aryan” father and a Jewish mother, is classified a “Mischling” and no longer considered a German citizen. Deportation to a Labor Camp looms over her. Her search for a refuge takes her to rural Eastern Prussia and Poland. On her adventurous journey she falls in love with a young German officer. A bittersweet love story ensues. Two strong Polish women, Vera and Olga, along with Paulie, a vulnerable little boy, befriend Juliet and help her to overcome the tragic events she ultimately has to face. The turbulent last months of WWII take Juliet back to Germany. In a small Bavarian town she experiences the final days of Germany’s brutal regime. Peace signifies a new and exciting beginning, but for Juliet Nestor there are still hurdles to overcome and deep emotional wounds to heal. Surprises unfold that will mesmerize the reader.
Both torn from their homes in Laos, a boy and a moon bear cub form a deep bond in this “moving and memorable” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) tale of impossible odds and resilient hope, based on true and tragic conditions in Eastern Asia. Twelve-year-old Tam, on a dare, ventures into a moon bear den in the mountains of Northern Laos. His goal is to steal the cub and sell it, making a fortune for his family. But the mother bear’s unexpected return upends Tam’s plan, and he barely escapes with his life. Then his life implodes anyway: his entire mountain village is forced to relocate to make room for a new highway. Lured by the promise of electricity, running water, and a television, Tam’s people move to an overcrowded village, where Tam’s father is killed by a stray landmine. Now the family breadwinner, Tam is forced to work hundreds of miles away in the city of Laos, at a moon bear farm where bile from bear gall bladders is used for medicine. It is a cruel, miserable place, and when a familiar face—the very cub he’d seen in the den in Vietnam—is sold to the bear farm, Tam knows he must save this moon bear, no matter what it takes. Deeply and powerfully moving, Moon Bear is an unforgettable story of compassion, hope, and bravery against overwhelming odds, and brings to light the real-life, heartwrenching plight of Asia’s endangered moon bears.
