A New York Times notable book and winner of The Northern California Book Award for Best Short Fiction, these nine brave, wise, and spellbinding stories make up this debut. In "When She is Old and I Am Famous" a young woman confronts the inscrutable power of her cousin's beauty. In "Note to Sixth-Grade Self" a band of popular girls exert their social power over an awkward outcast. In "Isabel Fish" fourteen-year-old Maddy learns to scuba dive in order to mend her family after a terrible accident. Alive with the victories, humiliations, and tragedies of youth, How to Breathe Underwater illuminates this powerful territory with striking grace and intelligence. "These stories are without exception clear-eyed, compassionate and deeply moving.... Even her most bitter characters have a gift, the sharp wit of envy. This, Orringer's first book, is breathtakingly good, truly felt and beautifully delivered."—The Guardian
Frankie Jamison, a bullied young boy from a small sleepy town in Minnesota, has begun a lifelong journey to find his place in the world. Along the way, he meets people who lend their help and become friends, mentors, and life partners. All the while, he confides in a unique source for support in his lifes roller-coaster ride of exhilarating highs and devastating lows.
Rachell Carton is beginning a year in her new school, Haytorns. However, her friends soon discover that she has a BIG secret. Rachell struggles with her hot temper and her two lives as a girl and a lion. With her hand, only Rachell can open a door that leads to the past and future. How can Rachell not only turn back to a girl, but be a girl FOREVER?
If you could have anything, what would you wish for?For broken-hearted Olivia Larsen, nothing can change the fact that her twin sister, Violet, is gone... until a mysterious, beautiful gown arrives on her doorstep. The dress doesn't just look magical; it is magical. It has the power to grant her one wish, and the only thing Olivia wants is her sister back.With Violet again by her side, both girls get a second chance at life. And as the sisters soon discover, they have two more dresses-and two more wishes left. But magic can't solve everything, and Olivia is forced to confront her ghosts to learn how to laugh, love, and live again.
In her latest adventure, Olivia, everyone's favourite little pig, is off the Venice, the place of fine art, carnival and gondolas for a family holiday to remember. With her very own discerning eye for style, Olivia takes the beautiful city of Venice by storm. From dodging pigeons in the Piazza San Marco, to eating an abundance of the most delicious Italian gelato at Carneval, and barelystaying afloat in a gondola, Olivia uncovers the wonderful delights of Venice with that very special 'Olivia' style and flair!
Olivia is sad and lonely and angry -- angry that she's been dumped with her sister eel at her grandmother's school, and angrier still that that school turns out to be a stage school where there's no encouragement for her to do what she loves best: practice her circus skills.
This relatable story from award-winning author-illustrator Hyewon Yum explores the universal fear of first haircuts with honesty, tenderness, and humor Little lion needs a haircut. But he doesn’t want one! Is he worried? No. Is he scared? NO! He just likes his hair the way it is. R-O-A-R! But there’s someone else who needs a haircut, too . . . it’s Dad, and he doesn’t want one, either! Maybe if they go to the barbershop together, there will be nothing to worry about.
There was something decidedly strange about the twins—Olivia and Orlando. Maybe it was their appearance that set them apart—their wide almost colorless eyes and silver-blond hair. Or maybe it was something more sinister—the way they seemed to communicate without speaking, remained unmoved by accidents to other people, were fascinated by the sight of blood. Meg loved them of course, as any good mother would. But what of their father, a nameless, faceless donor to an artificial insemination clinic? Who was he and where is he now? Would Meg like, even love, him if they were to meet—or would she fear him? When a compelling stranger comes into her life, Meg is forced to recognize a frightening, hidden part of her own nature. And to confront the question: from whom do the children inherit their sinister streak—their unknown father or Meg herself? Margaret Bingley's latest novel is as thought-provoking as it is spine-chilling, a timely reminder that the miracles of modern medicine may have their dark side.
Together in one book, three of Margaret Bingley's novels of chilling horror. *** SEEDS OF EVIL There was something decidedly strange about the twins—Olivia and Orlando. Maybe it was their appearance that set them apart—their wide almost colorless eyes and silver-blond hair. Or maybe it was something more sinister—the way they seemed to communicate without speaking, remained unmoved by accidents to other people, were fascinated by the sight of blood. Meg loved them of course, as any good mother would. But what of their father, a nameless, faceless donor to an artificial insemination clinic? Who was he and where is he now? Would Meg like, even love, him if they were to meet—or would she fear him? When a compelling stranger comes into her life, Meg is forced to recognize a frightening, hidden part of her own nature. And to confront the question: from whom do the children inherit their sinister streak—their unknown father or Meg herself? Margaret Bingley's latest novel is as thought-provoking as it is spine-chilling, a timely reminder that the miracles of modern medicine may have their dark side. *** THE UNQUIET DEAD The place is Lower Ditton. So peaceful. So silent. But don't let the silence deceive you. It's the silence of the grave. The silence of a village too terrified to scream. The silence of an army of vengeful spirits who've possessed the bodies of young children. And in their lifeless, demonically red eyes, no one is too innocent to die… *** AFTER ALICE AFTER the nightly visitations began, Allan was treated to erotic delights and a thrill of terror no living man deserved to know. AFTER ALICE any hopes for a quiet, normal life ended, because of Julie's long-ago sin, scrupulously kept secret from her husband, Allan. But not from Alice. AFTER ALICE DIED obsession reigned over one man’s soul. Corruption ravaged one woman’s family. And the raging spirit of a dead young woman took full possession of one small, beautiful child—the instrument of Alice’s ungodly and unremitting revenge.
