Real Friendships

On an island on the edge of an immense sea there is a city, a forest, and a boy. The city is called Asteri, a perfect city saved by the magic woven into its walls when a devastating plague swept through the world years before. The forest is called the Barrow, a vast wood of ancient trees that encircles the city and feeds the Earth with magic. And the boy is called Oscar, a shop boy for the most powerful magician in the Barrow, who spends his days in the dark cellar of his master's shop grinding herbs and dreaming of wizards.

Eleven-year-old Macy Weaver knows relationships are complicated. Fresh off her latest friendship breakup, she’s spent most of her summer break on her own. So when Macy’s mother decides to go back to college three states away, Macy jumps on the chance to move—anything for a fresh start. But Macy’s new home isn’t exactly what she expected. Her mother’s never around and her dad’s always working. Lonelier than ever, Macy sets her sights on finding a new best friend.

It is Labor Day weekend in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and a boy and a girl collide on a dark street at two thirty in the morning; Lesh, who wears black, listens to metal, and plays MMOs; Svetlana, who embroiders her skirts, listens to Björk and Berlioz, and dungeon masters her own RPG. They should pick themselves up, continue on their way, and never talk to each other again. But they don't. This is a story of two people who do not belong in each other's lives, and who find each other at a time when they desperately need someone who doesn't belong in their lives.

The premise was simple: five kids, just living their lives. There'd be a new movie about them every five years, starting in kindergarten. Now 16, Justine doesn't feel like a star anymore. In fact, when she hears the crew has gotten the green light to film Five at Sixteen, all she feels is dread. Smart, fresh, and frequently funny, You Look Different in Real Life is a piercing novel about life in an age where the lines between what's personal and what's public aren't always clear.

As an awkward high schooler, Wednesday struggled to find her place in Grand Rapids. Until a handsome senior encouraged her to believe how talented, smart, and wonderfully different she was. Naturally, Wednesday fell for him...He was falling, too. For another boy. Yet this one-sided crush proved life altering, paving the way for a string of “boyfriends” who offered Wednesday something deeper than physical connection.

Every twentysomething has one overriding question: How do I deal with all the things? For all those asking, young-adult minister Nora Bradbury-Haehl's essential go-to guide provides the answer. An approachable, easy-to-digest resource, The Twentysomething Handbook offers guidance for the practical aspects of life - work, food, money, a roof overhead - while at the same time addressing the hunger for meaning, connection, and a sense of the sacred.

What do you do when your imaginary friend goes away? Did you dream up the entire friendship? Maybe... But you miss her laugh, her comfort, and her silly mischief. It all feels so real... you couldn't have just imagined those things, right?

How can God let bad things happen? Sophie's baby sister, Hope, is born with Down syndrome, and the Flakes dis her over an annoying new girl. Even her research as medical expert Dr. Devon Downing won't fix things, but Sophie learns love is at work even when she can't see it.

Liebe Männer, die ihr so breitbeinig und mit Scheuklappen durchs Leben lauft: Ja! Ich muss Euch enttäuschen. Mir geht es in diesem Hörbüchlein nicht darum, unser Geschlecht auf ein Podest zu heben, während das andere auf dem Boden vor uns kniet, um uns anzuhimmeln. Mir geht es nicht darum, der allgemeinen Männerschaft einen noch besseren Stand in der Gesellschaft zu verschaffen und Propaganda dafür zu betreiben, dass wir noch mehr Macht bekommen und noch mehr zu sagen kriegen, weder gesellschaftlich noch in den eigenen vier Wänden. Davon haben wir zu lange zu viel genossen.

Uni the Unicorn visits her best friend in the real world. Now, everyone will know that unicorns exist, and that Uni is real after all. But when the little girl introduces Uni to her family and friends, they can't see the unicorn. Then, with the power of believing and Uni's magic horn, one little boy begins to see something. And then all the kids begin to believe in magic.