A boy on the edge of adolescence fears his mother might be a robot; a psychotically depressed woman is entrusted with taking her niece and nephew trick-or-treating; a reluctant dad brings his baby to a coke-fueled party; a teenage boy tries to prevent his mother from putting his estranged father's dogs to sleep. Ranging from a youth arts camp to an aging punk band's reunion tour, from a dystopian future where parents no longer exist to a ferociously independent bookstore, the stories in this collection revolve around the endlessly complex, frequently surreal system that is family.
On Valentine’s Day 2008, Steve Kazmierczak killed five and wounded eighteen at Northern Illinois University, then killed himself. But he was an A student, a Deans’ Award winner. How could this happen? CNN could not get the story. The Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, and all others came up empty because Steve’s friends and professors knew very little. He had reinvented himself in his final five years. But David Vann, investigating for Esquire, went back to Steve’s high school and junior high friends, found a life perfectly shaped for mass murder, and gained full access to the entire 1,500 pages of the police files. The result: the most complete portrait we have of any school shooter. But Vann doesn’t stop there. He recounts his own history with guns, contemplating a school shooting. This book is terrifying and true, a story you’ll never forget.
The long-awaited third collection of the Eisner Award-winning series of New York Times bestselling cartoonist Asaf Hanuka’s one-page autobiographical weekly comics returns to captivate, inspire, and challenge readers. Through scenes both real and imagined, the acclaimed Israeli cartoonist examines the joys (and pitfalls) of parenting in a politically divisive world and the ongoing struggle to manifest art even as real life humor and pathos keeps getting in the way. The internationally acclaimed and Hugo Award-nominated cartoonist’s beautifully drawn stories about self, family, society, and everything in between conjure a deeply rich and unforgettable reading experience.
What is the meaning of life? What is our purpose here on Earth? Why were we created? These are questions we have all asked ourselves at some point in our lives. Thankfully, the Bible offers the answers to these questions and more. In a concise overview of the major concepts outlined in the Bible, devoted Christian Pavel Baldea shares inspiring insight into the specifics surrounding the Word of God, His love for humanity, and man’s disobedience and tumble into sin that led to the sacrifice of His only son, Jesus, to redeem mankind from eternal punishment and destruction. As Baldea leads believers chronically through the Bible, he details the beginning of creation, the troubles of Adam and Eve, the spiritual struggles of the Hebrew people, the period of the church, why God allows the existence of hell, the assurance of the rapture of Christians, and much more. The Last Day on Earth is an uplifting summary of the Bible shared to encourage believers to build a strong relationship with God and move closer to His will.
"The most shocking fiction I have read in years. What is shocking about it is both the idea and the sheer imaginative brilliance with which Mr. Shute brings it off." THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE They are the last generation, the innocent victims of an accidental war, living out their last days, making do with what they have, hoping for a miracle. As the deadly rain moves ever closer, the world as we know it winds toward an inevitable end....
With Music Through the Floor, Pushcart Prize winner and former Wallace Stegner Fellow Eric Puchner makes an extraordinary debut: a collection of nine unforgettable stories -- strikingly original, fiercely funny, and quietly heartbreaking -- portraying a group of cultural misfits attempting to navigate mainstream America. Lost, teetering on the edge of normalcy, Puchner's characters seek to define themselves in a frequently absurd and hostile world -- a world that threatens to make outcasts of us all. Caught up in loneliness or solitude, they can't quite hear the music of their own lives. In "Children of God," a young loner becomes the caretaker and companion for two mentally retarded men, seeking solace in their outsider status. "Essay #3: Leda and the Swan" is told in the forlorn, be-nighted, and tragically funny voice of a high school girl who longs more than anything to be loved. In "Mission," an idealistic ESL teacher is faced with the inscrutable wrath of one of his immigrant students. And in the unsettling "Child's Play," Puchner explores the price of nonconformity by following a pack of boys wreaking havoc on Halloween. Writing from an impressive range of perspectives -- men and women, children and adults, immigrants and tourists -- Puchner deftly exposes the dark, ten-der undersides of his characters with arresting beauty and precision. Here are people fumbling for identity in a depersonalized world, captured in moments that are hilarious, shocking, and transcendent -- sometimes all at once. Unfailingly true, surprisingly moving, and impossible to forget, these nine stories mark the arrival of a brilliant young writer and one of our most promising literary voices.
A startling, wonderful novel about the true meaning of being an alien in an equally alien world."We are specks. Pieces of dust in this universe. Big nothings.""I know what I am."Mal lives on the fringes of high school. Angry. Misunderstood. Yet loving the world -- or, at least, an idea of the world. Then he meets Hooper. Who says he's from another planet. And may be going home very soon.
The VR link Kieron and Bex rely on goes down, which means that all over England, all over the world, undercover agents are now working without support. Bex flies out to an island off Tokyo to the secret satellite control centre, but discovers that it is guarded by robotic sentries. With Kieron's help she breaks in, but the alarm sounds. Back home in Newcastle, Kieron discovers that a coalition of nationalist groups around the world have access to a poisonous chemical that can be activated by a simple radio signal. Hundreds of thousands of people could die - instantly. Can they save the world - and will they both make it out alive? High-octane action and fast-paced adventure - guaranteed
“Last Day on Mars is thrillingly ambitious and imaginative. Like a lovechild of Gravity and The Martian, it's a rousing space opera for any age, meticulously researched and relentlessly paced, that balances action, science, humor, and most importantly, two compelling main characters in Liam and Phoebe. A fantastic start to an epic new series.” —Soman Chainani, New York Times bestselling author of the School for Good and Evil series “Emerson's writing explodes off the page in this irresistible space adventure, filled with startling plot twists, diabolical aliens, and (my favorite!) courageous young heroes faced with an impossible task.” —Lisa McMann, New York Times bestselling author of the Unwanteds series It is Earth year 2213—but, of course, there is no Earth anymore. Not since it was burned to a cinder by the sun, which has mysteriously begun the process of going supernova. The human race has fled to Mars, but this was only a temporary solution while we have prepared for a second trip: a one-hundred-fifty-year journey to a distant star, our best guess at where we might find a new home. Liam Saunders-Chang is one of the last humans left on Mars. The son of two scientists who have been racing against time to create technology vital to humanity’s survival, Liam, along with his friend Phoebe, will be on the last starliner to depart before Mars, like Earth before it, is destroyed. Or so he thinks. Because before this day is over, Liam and Phoebe will make a series of profound discoveries about the nature of time and space and find out that the human race is just one of many in our universe locked in a dangerous struggle for survival.
