Family Chapter

A Flat Ninja? Stanley and his brother, Arthur, are such huge fans of the movie star ninja Oda Nobu that they decide to send him something even better than fan mail - Stanley himself! Soon enough, Flat Stanley is in Japan, seeing the country with his idol. But when trouble surprises them, it will take a real hero to save the day.

Miss Mackle is getting married! But she didn't invite any of her students to the wedding. The kids don't understand it: A wedding is a time for families to be together, and they are Miss Mackle's Room 3B family - which is especially important because her father is in the military overseas, and he won't be home for the wedding. So Harry comes up with a plan to sneak his pals into the wedding ceremony and hide in the back.

When Ensign Deke Mallory is deployed to the Mediterranean at a crucial Cold War juncture, the fledgling Navy fighter pilot falls for a winsome Spanish girl - and under the spell of a rogue Navy Ace whose mutinous plan to flame their MiG tormentors violates the president's peace initiative. But the real threat to peace is lurking off-stage, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where a ex-Nazi SS unit has gone to ground with an insidious ruse guaranteed to trigger the superpowers' "mutually assured destruction".

Thirteen-year-old Bosworth Hartie didn't think his parents could inflict much more mental torture on him. However, they get it into their heads to find him a wife, to keep him on the straight and narrow! And they match him up with the spiteful Veronica Melling.

David was a boy without a family, stealing to survive...until an unexpected meeting changed his life forever. Nicole was a college student, trying to cope with the recent deaths of her adoptive parents. Grief soon becomes the least of her worries, as a sudden change in her life puts her against powers greater than herself.

Beneath a façade of palm trees and sunshine, homelessness and addiction are bubbling to the surface. It can be hard to shake the brands others place on you; Derek, currently homeless, knows this better than most. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Melissa has a new boyfriend. Her best friend hates his guts but won't say why. Melissa and Jess find themselves drawn into a battle for reconciliation between their friends. With their help, painful truths from the past stand a chance of release, and a family receives the gift of restoration.

When her grandfather Marley passes away Grace Power discovers she’s been left the beautiful but crumbling estate of Heartcross Castle. As a single mum of three, Grace has no idea what she’s going to do with it - but who can say no to a roof over their kids’ heads and a chance to get away from past hurts? Heartcross Castle is full of secrets - especially a lost security deposit box that holds the truth to everything. But when celebrity chef Andrew Glossop sets his eyes on the castle, Grace tells him there is absolutely no chance he is getting his hands on her home.

Five years after surviving a cruel winter, delivering a daughter, and experiencing whirlwind celebrity after telling her story, Georgia Charles’ ex-husband passes of a sudden heart attack. While attempting to settle into a quiet life with her child and boyfriend Sean, her ex-husband’s widow Julie visits - and turns Georgia’s world upside down.

When ten-year-old Liam moves house to be closer to his dementia-suffering grandma, he's thrown into an unfamiliar place, with a family that seems to be falling apart. Liam doesn't remember what his grandma was like before she became ill. He only knows the witchlike old woman who snaps and snarls and eats her birthday cards. He wants to fix it, but he can't. Walking his dog one day, Liam discovers an old stone gargoyle in a rundown church, and his life changes in impossible ways.

Meet Belle. Belle has taken all the Christmas decorations down. This year they won’t be celebrating. As foster parents, Belle and Jim have given many children the chance of a happier start in life. They’ve loved them as if they were their own. They shouldn’t have favourites but little Lauren has touched their hearts. And now her mother is well enough to take her back and Belle can’t bear the loss. Hence, Christmas is cancelled. So when Jim crashes his car one icy December night, after an argument about Lauren, Belle can only blame herself.

Scotland, 1849. The O'Donnell girls are driven from their Wicklow home by starvation and an Anglo-Irish landlord. After losing their father, the three sail to Glasgow with thousands of others in search of a new start.

After their father dies in a tragic accident, heiresses Evelyn, Georgia and Olivia Belle are left with a massive hole in their finances. With the world's media and National Crime Agency looking on, their family home, cars, and other assets are sold at auction, leaving the sisters penniless, homeless, and jobless. Shunned by their celebrity friends, the sisters must learn to fend for themselves for the first time in their lives.

Sixteen-year-old Alison Brennan’s mother, Bernadette, is an agoraphobic hoarder, and her father Harry seems to have no past. Struggling every day, Alison seeks the help of a school counsellor. When an old homeless man is found dead in a Melbourne park, Alison's life changes. Somehow, the man's death is connected to her family and the Polish Home Army. Fighting for her future, can Alison unravel the mystery of her family and the dead man, and find a way to place her trust in others again?

Life hasn’t been easy for Cady Caldwell, struggling first with her drug-addicted parents, then mistreated by the husband she though would be her savior. But there has always been one thing to keep her going: protecting her younger sisters and ensuring their lives are happy. Forced into hiding to escape her abusive marriage, Cady is shunted off to Garrison, Montana, to live with a paternal grandmother she doesn’t know…and doesn’t want to. It seems that those two sisters, and an equally determined grandmother, are hell-bent on looking after her...and getting her to live again.

A blackmail letter arrives at an inopportune moment, and the recipient’s name is blurred out. Who is the ruthless missive meant for? In the powerful sequel to Watching Glass Shatter, Olivia is the first to read the nasty threat. When the mysterious letter falls into the wrong hands, her sons try to figure out who’s seeking revenge on them. Across the span of eight hours, members of the Glass family contemplate whether to confess their hidden secrets, or find a way to bury them forever.

A Loafer’s Guide to Living is a story of disrupted lives during a search for the rarest of conditions: equilibrium. Bernard Goldman is the son of a famous father, and can’t get over it. His life is in shambles, as he gets grief from everyone and everything around him.

On Christmas Eve 1969, a letter from Australia House, London, brings welcome news for newlyweds Anna and Joseph Fletcher. Young and idealistic, Anna falls passionately in love with their adopted land. Seven months later, an unexpected event causes their life to take a tragic turn. Years pass, and Anna retreats to a fictional world she has created. But when a different challenge presents itself, does she have the courage to take the risk...or will she take refuge in fantasy?

At the age of 21, Sydney Grey returns to her quaint hometown of Stoney Creek and begins renovations on her childhood farm. When she discovers a set of journals written by her mother - presumed to have abandoned her family 20 years ago - a long-hidden mystery is uncovered, leading Sydney to fear that her mother’s disappearance was the result of foul play.

After losing her husband, Janet Porter’s life in the wooded heights of Oregon's Willamette Valley has begun to settle down. Everything changes when her son Nate calls from Iraq with unsettling news. Returning home on a medical discharge, Nate doesn't want the accolades or service medals he's offered; he wants to be left alone.

When Sara Mason returns to her hometown to start a new life, she learns that a murderer is terrorizing its residents. Despite battling difficult childhood memories, Sara is determined to make peace with her past. But she soon learns that the elusive psychopath is now stalking her. Sara's attempt to rebuild her life is hindered even more by the discovery of skeletal remains on her property. As the investigation focuses on several suspects, Sara discovers critical clues and bravely volunteers to be a decoy for the sheriff's department.