Lives West

Missy’s mother has gone back to school to pursue her dream of becoming an artist. Missy’s father works in advertising and takes Missy on secret midnight excursions to Harlem and the Village so she can share his love of jazz. The two write poems for each other—poems that gradually become an exchange of apologies as Missy’s father’s alcohol and drug addiction begins to take over their lives.

Putting her body in motion before her brain is in gear creates a mountain of problems for 12 year-old Ginnie West. She is certain that defending her twin brother, Toran, from the biggest bully in sixth grade was the right thing to do. But Ginnie couldn’t be more wrong. She quickly learns that Toran doesn’t appreciate being rescued by a girl any better than Pierce likes being knocked down by one. When Pierce seeks revenge on Ginnie, Toran sets aside his anger and helps her plot a payback prank at Pierce’s house.

A timely and urgent novel following a young married couple on a road trip through the American southwest as they grapple with the breakdown of their relationship in the shadow of environmental collapse.

I’m Lincoln West. Single father extraordinaire to the coolest kid on the face of the earth, and I have parents who think the world of my son. I’m a family guy. At 22, I’ve embraced my fate as a lifetime member of the uncool single-dad club. Until I meet Wren. That’s when everything changes. Wren’s the beauty in my ugly days. She’s full of life and talent, and she’s the exact mother figure my son needs. It’s surprising because she’s the daughter of two very shitty people. Right when we think the world’s stopped pitting against us, her family proves us wrong.

He’s not exactly who he appears to be. But then again, neither is she...Chase: I’ve never felt as out of my league as I did when I met Sydney Frost. Not in the years I’ve spent starting successful companies or since. Working for a prestigious firm gives me status and power, and I’m already a master at charming my way through a crowd - or into the bedroom. One new office colleague should be a piece of cake to win over. Ms. Frost, however, is giving my efforts a chilly reception. Time to remind her that I’m not afraid to live up to my name, either...

Throughout life, we all experience events and practices that bow us low. When you understand that you can turn millstones into milestones, you are able to channel these events into opportunities for spiritual growth and magnificent manifestations. Through many epiphanies, perhaps thousands of them, you can enrich your life and enhance your well-being. As an interfaith minister, a family counselor, and parapsychologist, the author offers you another pathway for enriching your life, experiencing the positive forces at work throughout the physical, mental, and spiritual lives.

With its wide sky and warm earth, Princess Gie Gie’s kingdom is a beautiful land. But clean drinking water is scarce in her small African village. And try as she might, Gie Gie cannot bring the water closer; she cannot make it run clearer. Every morning, she rises before the sun to make the long journey to the well. Instead of a crown, she wears a heavy pot on her head to collect the water.

Seventh grade will be so easy. Cassandra's got it all. A best friend, a guy she likes, a hobby, and the confidence she needs to start junior high. Finally, things are falling into place. Or, are they? Shortly after sixth grade graduation, soccer camp proves to her she may have more room for improvement than skill. And then, her friendship with Andrea begins to unravel. Even Miles hardly ever says hi at school.

John Stuart Tapscott, after service to the Confederacy and his home state of Virginia, heads westward to find a life that doesn't resemble a mockery of everything he's ever known. After brief stops, he finds himself an adopted member of a small band of Osage that have wandered to Texas. A series of events thereafter display the necessity to him of his leaving his new family and trekking further.

Seven square miles of paradise, surrounded by an eight-foot chain-link fence: this is Nodd, the land of the Grace. It is all seventeen-year-old Jacob knows. Beyond the fence lies the World, a wicked, terrible place, doomed to destruction. When the Archangel Zerachiel descends from Heaven, only the Grace will be spared the horrors of the apocalypse.

When Jamie Paddock learns of his father's suicide, memories of his childhood in West Virginia come roaring back. One of the few people in his town to ever make it out, Jamie is living in New York City now, developing marketing videos for YouTube, struggling to write and partying a lot, all while suppressing the accent that gives him away. Spurred by an artistic curiosity surrounding his silent and private father, Jamie goes home, staying with his disabled mother and sister in their trailer.

Sky Fielder is a typical college student, except that she is a product of the foster-care system, lives in a halfway house, and meets with her caseworker on a weekly basis. While failing to balance her grades and erratic social life, she receives a call from a hospital, asking her to make medical decisions for her brother Ben—who died more than a decade before. The call must be a scam, and besides, Sky has a new life now. None of her classmates know about her desperate and feral childhood in West Texas.

Isabel Morales is a successful Chicago sculptor hiding a brutal family history - one not even her husband knows. After decades of turning her back on her past, she’s forced to return to Appalachia when she receives news of her estranged mother’s death. But going back means revisiting the traumatic childhood she escaped - and the family that cast her out when she needed them most.

Christina Phillips, grieving after a personal tragedy, leaves California for Istanbul, hoping the exotic sights and sounds and smells of the ancient city will help her heal. But when she finds herself being stalked by a young Kurdish woman and threatened by a driver who seems to know all about her family and her life, she must correct old injustices by unraveling family secrets before tragedy strikes once again.

Mae West will always be remembered as one of Hollywood's biggest icons, and the American Film Institute named her the 15th greatest actress of the 20th century in its Top 100 list, but she also transcended the entertainment industry and became a critical part of Americana itself. Over the course of 7 decades, Mae redefined the boundaries of sexuality in ways that made more conservative Americans of the early 20th century uncomfortable, and for good measure she did so boldly and in people's faces.

Since his release from prison after serving an eighteen-month sentence for growing cannabis, Ben Hecht's life has settled into a familiar routine. On his farm in the foothills of California, he stays busy cultivating a dozen acres of grapes and tending to a flock of mistrustful sheep. Meanwhile, from her desk in their old redwood barn, his novelist wife, Ada, continues to work on what may be her most important book yet.

Song Hawkins is a beautiful, tough, but lonely New York City businesswoman who thinks she's met the man of her dreams in Cable Jordan, the superintendent of a West Virginia coal mine. But soon after they impulsively marry, Song realizes they're in big trouble. She can't imagine life outside of New York, and Cable has no intention of leaving his beloved town of Highcoal. Song's visit to the little mining community only makes things worse. It looks like the marriage is over. But in a shocking turn of events, Song realizes it's up to her to put on the red helmet of the new coal miner.

Beverley Cottrell had a dream life: a prestigious job, a beautiful husband and baby boy. This is stolen from her one winter afternoon when her son Malakay is kidnapped from a parked car. Despite a media campaign, a full police investigation, and the offer of a reward, Malakay is never found. Beverley's marriage soon dissolves and her husband immigrates from England to the U.S. with a new wife.

Nestled on the edge of Chicago's gritty west side, Oak Park is a suburb in flux. To the west, theaters and shops frame posh houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. To the east lies a neighborhood still recovering from urban decline. In the center of the community sits Ilios Lane, a pristine cul-de-sac dotted with quiet homes that bridge the surrounding extremes of wealth and poverty. On the first warm day in April, Mary Elizabeth McPherson, a lifelong resident of Ilios Lane, skips school with her friend Sofia.

Williston, North Dakota, was a sleepy farm town for generations - until the frackers arrived. The oil companies moved into Williston, overtaking the town and setting off a boom that America hadn't seen since the Gold Rush. Workers from all over the country descended, chasing jobs that promised them six-figure salaries and demanded no prior experience. But for every person chasing the American dream, there is a darker side - reports of violence and sexual assault skyrocketed, schools overflowed, and housing prices soared.