My Mom Marni

Two Lake County Major Crimes Task Force Officers entered the room. They introduced themselves and then the first thing they asked each of us was the most shocking question we could ever imagine. "DO YOU BELIEVE YOUR MOTHER IS CAPABLE OF MURDER?" In just a short time we all realized that the answer was irrelevant. The Task Force had already decided that our mom, Marni Yang, a hard-working single mother of three, was their target and they would do whatever it took to make her appear guilty, but first, they had to turn us against our mother. "You better start telling us what we want to hear!" screamed the officer at teenager Andrew Yang. "One of you is going down, it's either going to be you or your mother! Your mother doesn't love you! No mother would put their kid in this position. So start talking, or you will go to prison for the rest of your life." "I'm not going to admit to something I didn't do!" Andrew protested. "I also kept insisting that my mom was just as innocent as me. She was home with me the morning this murder took place," but that was not what the police wanted to hear. "It took the police seventeen months to pinned this murder on my mother," says Emily Yang "And they did it by dividing all of us and destroying our family." "I was the closest one to my mother," Brandon Yang states "I saw how the harassment, wore my mother down. We were a family under siege. The police never gave us a moment to recover from one attack before they launched another attack on us." Deceived into believing that her son would be put in prison for the rest of his life, Marni Yang confessed to a murder she didn't commit. She was subsequently convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Most people would be surprised to learn that false confessions are the leading cause of wrongful convictions. "My Mom Marni" is a shocking tale of injustice in America. This true story is compelling, gripping and heart-breaking. In the end, you will be challenged to wrestle with the question: could this happen to me? Yes, it could because none of us are immune to abusive and coercive interrogation techniques, false confessions, and wrongful convictions. "My Mom Marni" is yet another wakeup call to the American public about the horrors of the justice "system" which miscarries far more often than it should. This begs the question: "WHY?" The answer, which three underage children and their loving mother learned the hard way, is: Lacking the proper investigative talent to solve a crime, junk science, and subterfuge are used to concoct a case against a scapegoat.

This is no Cinderella story - finally there's a fairytale where the stepmother is the hero!My Fairy Stepmother turns the Cinderella myth on it's head, with a caring stepmother who helps her stepdaughter find courage she never knew she had. Amelia's stepmother Maribel has a special secret. When Amelia has trouble sleeping, will her stepmother's secret be able to help? Children of blended families will be drawn in by the colorful hand-crafted illustrations, and the tale of magic and empowerment that follows. They'll identify with Amelia's character as she travels between two households, and faces challenges that only stepchildren face. And parents will love the positive portrayal of a stepmother who helps her stepdaughter with these challenges.

Marni pulls. Pulls her hair, that is. Unable to deal with the mounting stress at home, in school, and with friends, Marni's compulsion to pluck out her eyebrows, eyelashes . . . even the hair from the top of her head, helped her to quiet her mind and escape the pressures of the world around her. Marni first began pulling the summer just before entering high school, and she was immediately hooked. Unfortunately, by the time she discovered that her habit was an actual disorder—trichotillomania or "trich"—it was way too late. "When I stared at the mirror and tried to recognize the girl without eyebrows, eyelashes, and bangs as myself and failed, I knew something had gone horribly wrong." Because Truth Is More Fascinating Than Fiction

The author of Awkward presents a holiday tale of one teenage girl who is about to go way out of her comfort zone—and into the arms of a rockstar . . . Spending Christmas vacation on a cruise with her two cousins from hell isn’t Holly Dayton’s idea of a good time. And when in a moment of seasick-fueled desperation she lurches into an open suite—she’s greeted with an eyeful of pepper spray. The culprit? A gorgeous guy calling himself Nick. But when Holly goes to make her exit, she gets the shock of her life: a corridor crammed with screaming teenage fans. Because Nick just happens to be Dominic Wyatt, drummer for ReadySet—one of the hottest bands in America. Suddenly rumors are swirling, and Holly’s face is captured on countless phones and plastered all over the Internet. But the band can’t risk a scandal destroying their family-friendly image, so Dominic convinces Holly to be his fake girlfriend—just for two weeks. How bad could it be to be fauxmantically involved with one of the cutest rockstars on the planet? Holly’s about to find out . . . Praise for Marni Bates and Decked with Holly “Fans of Meg Cabot will find Marni’s voice equally charming and endearing.” —Julie Kagawa, New York Times–bestselling author “This book may have the funniest ‘meet cute’ episode I have ever read. I was literally crying from laughing so hard . . . This book is a riot.” —Rhapsody in Books Weblog “A book that gives all warm and fuzzy feels . . . Those looking for a humorous and light read that is tinged with romance, then Decked with Holly will not disappoint.” —Word Revel

I'm Mackenzie Wellesley, and I've spent my life avoiding the spotlight. But that was four million hits ago. . . Blame it on that grade school ballet recital, when I tripped and pulled the curtain down, only to reveal my father kissing my dance instructor. At Smith High, I'm doing a pretty good job of being the awkward freshman people only notice when they need help with homework. Until I send a burly football player flying with my massive backpack, and make a disastrous--not to mention unwelcome--attempt at CPR. Just when I think it's time for home schooling, the whole fiasco explodes on Youtube. And then the strangest thing happens. Suddenly, I'm the latest sensation, sucked into a whirlwind of rock stars, paparazzi, and free designer clothes. I even catch the eye of the most popular guy at school. That's when life gets really interesting. . .. "Fans of Meg Cabot will find Marni's voice equally charming and endearing."--Julie Kagawa, New York Times bestselling author

Melanie, a perfectionist mom who views the approaching end of parenting as a type of death, can’t believe she has only one more year to live vicariously through her slacker senior son, Dane. Gorgeous mom Sarah has just begun to realize that her only daughter, Ashley, has been serving as a stand-in for her traveling husband, and the thought of her daughter leaving for college is cracking the carefully cultivated façade of her life. Will and his wife are fine—as long as he follows the instructions on the family calendar and is sure to keep secret his whole other life with Lauren, the woman he turns to for fun (and who also happens to have a daughter in the senior class). Told from the points of view of both the parents and the kids, The Goodbye Year explores high school peer pressure, what it’s like for young people to face the unknown of life after high school, and how a transition that should be the beginning of a couple’s second act together—empty nesting—might possibly be the end. "Often hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking, always engaging. I devoured it!" ~ Meg Mitchell, author of The Admissions

Presents easy-to-prepare dessert recipes for pies, puddings, tarts, cakes, and cookies, with discussions on ingredients, equipment, and food preparation.

You think you have troubles? When Sammy Kidman, Dallas Police Department detective, takes a special undercover assignment as chauffeur to an old-money Dallas family, he tangles with three generations of troublesome women: the matriarch, Dolly Threlkeld, made of steel and made over by plastic surgery; her ex-daughter-in-law Linda Threlkeld-Rains, who deals in suspicious art and con men; and her daughter Jessica Threlkeld, who'll do anything for a little attention. Thank goodness Sammy has his level-headed, sensible wife Marni with him on assignment. But when she gets all hormonal and weird on him-poor Sammy's in for nothing but trouble. Sammy: Women Troubles, the sequel to Sammy: Dallas Detective, is the second in a series starring the most sweetly obnoxious cop that was never on the Dallas police force

Mishna Wolff grew up in a poor black neighborhood with her single father, a white man who truly believed he was black. "He strutted around with a short perm, a Cosby-esqe sweater, gold chains and a Kangol—telling jokes like Redd Fox, and giving advice like Jesse Jackson. You couldn't tell my father he was white. Believe me, I tried," writes Wolff. And so from early childhood on, her father began his crusade to make his white daughter Down. Unfortunately, Mishna didn't quite fit in with the neighborhood kids: she couldn't dance, she couldn't sing, she couldn't double dutch and she was the worst player on her all-black basketball team. She was shy, uncool and painfully white. And yet when she was suddenly sent to a rich white school, she found she was too "black" to fit in with her white classmates. I'm Down is a hip, hysterical and at the same time beautiful memoir that will have you howling with laughter, recommending it to friends and questioning what it means to be black and white in America.

Chelsea Morris has always been responsible, dependable, and focused on her dreams of fashion design—a dream that will officially begin come fall, when she leaves for college in New York City. And as she settles into her role as the lead designer for the local summer stock theater group, she decides to make the most of her last summer in North Carolina. But with her best friend Emily busy working late and spending time with Zander, and tensions with Chelsea’s boyfriend, Todd, running high, the summer she envisioned seems to be falling flat. Then Dylan joins the latest summer production. There’s something about the college boy that makes her feel free and alive, and soon she’s broken up with Todd, and is sneaking out late to meet Dylan at parties and breaking rules at the playhouse. But before she knows it, her exciting nights are interfering with her job, her role on the play, as well as her relationship with Emily and with her parents. Worse, Chelsea finds herself feeling more and more estranged from God. As the summer becomes wilder than she ever dreamed, Chelsea must decide if her heart is leading her in the right direction after all.