“A book that is at once riveting and relevant as it unpeels the various meanings of motherhood, family, and loyalty. I tore through it.”—Miranda Cowley Heller, author of The Paper Palace The bonds between three picture-perfect—but viciously protective—mothers and their close-knit sons are tested during one unforgettable summer in a gripping novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Jetsetters. Austin’s Zilker Park neighborhood is a wonderland of greenbelt trails, live music, and moms who drink a few too many margaritas. Whitney, Annette, and Liza have grown thick as thieves as they have raised their children together for fifteen years, believing that they can shelter them their children from an increasingly dangerous world. Their friendship is unbreakable—as safe as the neighborhood where they've raised their sweet little boys. Or so they think. One night, the three women have been enjoying happy hour when their boys, lifeguards for the summer, come back on bicycles from a late-night dip in their favorite swimming hole. The boys share a secret—news that will shatter the perfect world their mothers have so painstakingly created. Combining three mothers’ points of view in a powerful narrative tale with commentary from entertaining neighborhood listservs, secret text messages, and police reports, The Lifeguards is both a story about the secrets we tell to protect the ones we love and a riveting novel of suspense filled with half-truths and betrayals, fierce love and complicated friendships, and the loss of innocence on one hot summer night.
The Babysitter's Club meets Sunny Side Up—the girls are back to take on the challenge of summer lifeguard tryouts in the perfect summer read featuring female friendship and overcoming the odds! Jenna's been a star on her swim team, but lately she feels a lot of pressure to be even better. She's convinced it's time to look for something new, so Jenna convinces her friends Piper, Selena, and Ziggy to try out for spots as summer lifeguards. There's no guarantee they'll get picked for the team. The competition includes the rich and gorgeous Samantha Frankel, handsome but mysterious Hayden, and the coach's daredevil son Luke. Will the girls all make the cut? Or will some be left behind? The second book in the Summer Lifeguard series featuring: Strong female friendship Wholesome beach fun to add to the summer reading list The perfect series for grades three and up!
A stylish and sexy celebration of the bronzed Adonises who patrol the beach. Matt Albiani built his reputation shooting celebrity portraits and fashion spreads for the likes of Elle and Vanity Fair. For his first book, however, he trained his lens on a different class of beautiful people, one more rugged, less glamorous and yet unassailably iconic: the American lifeguard. Albiani's searing hot images are perfectly displayed under the direction of Sam Shahid, the art director for some of powerHouse Books' most lavish titles.
Are you afraid to walk down Fear Street? maybe you should be. They say that weird things always happen on that dark and twisting road. They say it's a place to be frightened of--that those who go there never return the same. And some never return at all...
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK • Named One of the Best Beach Reads of the Year by Parade, O: The Oprah Magazine, and Good Housekeeping “The exuberant activity aboard the Splendido Marveloso is no match for the fireworks set off as the lies explode. Full of wicked humor and delicious destination details.”—People (Book of the Week) NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY ESQUIRE When seventy-year-old Charlotte Perkins submits a sexy essay to the Become a Jetsetter contest, she dreams of reuniting her estranged children: Lee, an almost-famous actress; Cord, a handsome Manhattan venture capitalist who can’t seem to find a partner; and Regan, a harried mother who took it all wrong when Charlotte bought her a Weight Watchers gift certificate for her birthday. Charlotte yearns for the years when her children were young, when she was a single mother who meant everything to them. When she wins the contest, the family packs their baggage—both literal and figurative—and spends ten days traveling from sun-drenched Athens through glorious Rome to tapas-laden Barcelona on an over-the-top cruise ship, the Splendido Marveloso. As lovers new and old join the adventure, long-buried secrets are revealed and old wounds are reopened, forcing the Perkins family to confront the forces that drove them apart and the defining choices of their lives. Can four lost adults find the peace they’ve been seeking by reconciling their childhood aches and coming back together? In the vein of The Nest and The Vacationers, The Jetsetters is a delicious and intelligent novel about the courage it takes to reveal our true selves, the pleasures and perils of family, and how we navigate the seas of adulthood.
The compelling story of how and why modern ocean lifeguarding emerged on the New Jersey shore is told through 298 rare, unpublished, primary source photographs and fascinating text. This state-wide perspective of beach patrols, from Sandy Hook to Cape May, provides a unique, first-hand outlook garnered from interviews with many of the most prominent personalities in the lifeguard community. Learn the myths and realities of lifeguarding's history, beginning with the origins and pioneers, and how the United States Life-Saving Service emerged in response to early shipwrecks. Evolving gear reflects how technology has enhanced ocean rescue's effectiveness, paved with the guards' commitment to physical and mental conditioning. A window into the culture of lifeguarding, you'll enjoy the idiosyncrasies that have become common denominators among guards up and down the coast. This is a story that has long needed to be told.
Time to dive back into Cape Cod in the fourth book of the Summer Lifeguards series featuring empowering female friendships, relatable challenges, and tons of beach fun! Piper Janssen is surprised by how much she likes being a Junior Lifeguard. Except for one thing: she's totally nervous about wearing a bathing suit in public. Add on a catering gig gone wrong, co-worker drama, and trying not to be distracted by adorable Luke, and Piper's got a lot on her plate this summer. Everyone knows that Piper is amazing. But will Piper ever be able to feel that about herself? Or will her self-consciousness distract her from seeing the real threats on the beach? The fourth book in the Summer Lifeguard series featuring: Strong female friendship The challenges middle schoolers face and overcome! A heartwarming lesson on body image and self-love Wholesome beach fun to add to the summer reading list The perfect series for grades three and up!
"Spend a beachy summer vacation 'down the Cape' with Jenna, Piper, Selena, and Ziggy, four girls entering their first season as lifeguards-in-training on Cape Cod's famously fun and gorgeous beaches. In this first of the Junior Lifeguards series, the girls are vying for spots on the summer squad, with ocean legend Bud Slater hand-picking a team of winners to participate"--
High risk, high reward: a $5 million heist is the perfect job for Ned Kelly. But when it all goes horribly wrong, he discovers a world of secrets and sabotage. Working as a lifeguard at a luxurious Florida resort, Ned Kelly meets the woman of his dreams. It feels perfect in every way-except that she's used to caviar and Manolo Blahniks, and he's used to burgers and flip-flops. So when Ned's cousin offers to cut him in on a fast break-and-enter job, he can't turn it down. The risk is high, and the reward is even greater-$5 million. But the robbery goes devastatingly wrong. Forced to run away from his town and the woman he's fallen in love with, Ned knows that only distance and secrecy can save his life. But who is pursuing him? The FBI? Whoever sabotaged the heist? Or is it all somehow tied in to his new love-and his oldest enemies? Discover a vivid and nail-biting crime thriller from "one of America's most influential authors" (New York Times). You won't be able to put it down.
Stories from Sea Level is a hand-picked assemblage of truly exceptional ocean-related events which occurred within the 50-year span between 1969 and 2019. The lifeguards featured in these stories work for various agencies between San Diego and the Sonoma Coast. Of note, the lifeguards themselves provided the author with the details and specifics necessary to accurately immortalize their remarkable and dramatic events. This collection of their accounts are offered by the author as a sincere homage to all lifeguards (past, present, and future) who diligently patrol the California coastline ensuring the safety of the general public. Ten of these stories capture the details of daring rescues in which the lifeguards' performances were so exceptional that they personified the essence of valor. All ten of these events (as indicated in their accounts) earned the lifeguards prestigious Medal of Valor honors from the United States Lifeguard Association and/or the Governor of California. This award serves as formal recognition and acknowledgement of the highest level of courage and bravery in our profession. Balancing the gallantry and heroics, other stories serve to illuminate the whimsical nature of our profession and the comical shenanigans involved in our interactions with the public. They seem to exemplify the adage that "truth is stranger than fiction." Collectively, these accounts provide the reader with insight and appreciation for the diverse range of duties, responsibilities and joys that lifeguards encounter in the course of performing their duties on the iconic beaches of California. They expose the common bonds that lifeguards from all agencies share and hopefully provide the lay public with an appreciation for the unique skills and incomparable worth of our ocean warriors. Praise for Stories from Sea Level The tales in Ed Vodrazka's riveting book Stories from Sea Level chronicle the entire range of experiences confronted in the course of working as an Ocean Lifeguard-the tragedies will bring tears to your eyes, the rescues will have you on the edge of your seat, the lighthearted stories will capture your heart and make you laugh. This amazing book recounts Medal of Valor rescues, unleashes some of lifeguarding's most unique and compelling characters, documents the heartbreaking fatalities, the friendships and the ironies, the twists of fate and the remarkable resolve of men and women performing extraordinary rescues in a perilous sea. Only Ed Vodrazka could have written this book, for the simple reason he is one of the best-known practitioners of the lifesaving discipline in California. He is one of the most affable, curious and artfully compelling people you'll ever meet. Anyone who has been a lifeguard in Southern California for the last 20 years either knows him or has heard of him. He worked for seven years on the notoriously dangerous North Coast of Sonoma County. His service on the beaches of California spans six decades. He has worked as a field lifesaver and a Lifeguard Training Instructor for California State Parks and Los Angeles County, and has taught EMT and First Responder courses for the City of San Diego Lifeguards. He is a highly coveted public speaker and EMT Instructor. There is no document that represents the full spectrum of the camaraderie, emotion and challenges confronted every day by Ocean Lifeguards more effectively than Stories from Sea Level. This book is mandatory reading for anyone who has an interest in the ocean and the people who make their living at its doorstep. Stories from Sea Level is a book worthy of spending time with. Mike Brousard, Lifeguard Chief Huntington State Beach San Clemente State Beach
