Thwonk

Imagine having a personal cupid--an actual winged being--pop into your life and offer to make your dreams come true. The catch is he can help you in only one way: artistically, academically, or romantically. That's what happens to aspiring photographer Allison Jean (A. J.) McCreary. A. J. knows she should concentrate on getting into a top-notch art school. But she's spent five torturous months obsessed with handsome hunk, Peter Terris. Just one shot from the cupid's bow and thownk, A. J. will have the undying devotion of handsome Peter...forever.

Jill's life lost all meaning when her dad died. Friends, boyfriend, college – nothing matters any more. Then her mom drops a bombshell: she's going to adopt a baby. Mandy is desperate for her life to change. Seventeen, pregnant and leaving home, she is sure of only one thing – her baby must never have a life like hers, whatever it takes. As their worlds change around them, Jill and Mandy must learn both how to hold on and how to let go, finding that nothing is as easy - or as difficult - as it seems. Heart-achingly beautiful, moving and funny, How to Save a Life has been named a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2011, a School Library Journal Best Book of 2011 and an American Library Assocation 2012 Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults. "A rich tapestry of love and survival that will resonate with even the most cynical readers." - Booklist

He is an American, a patriot... and a disciplined commando trained to infiltrate and destroy. But a war game gone awry has turned Sergeant Mark Stitzer into a haunted victim of his own madness, a walking instrument of death. Now he is on his own mission -- a mission of vengeance, a journey into hell. Hunted by the men who trained him, lured by the one person he trusts, he prowls the city, as stealthy as an animal on its own killing grounds. No one, not the police, not the FBI, not the U.S. Army know how to stop him... and no one can predict the terror he is about to unleash.

All Schools are the same and Spencer Pendleton expects no less from Greenfield Middle. But Spencer hasn't met them yet-the Tribe, a group of runaway students who secretly own the school. They live off cafeteria food and wield weapons made out of everyday school supplies. Strangely, no one seems to know they exist, except for Spencer. And the group wants him to join their ranks. All he has to do is pass the initiations . . . and leave his mother and life behind. Can Spencer go through with it? Better yet, what will happen if he says no?

In this middle grade “choose your own adventure” story, the reader decides what choices to make when an alien threatens to kill their character’s father. It’s time for our next mission and it’s up to you to decide whether you want to join us. You probably already realize that each mission—each battle—could mean alien infestation, or worse. You probably already realize that we win about as many as we lose. But we are managing to hold the Yeerks back, and one more person could make all the difference. Just so you know, there are going to be a lot of decisions to make. The right answers keep us alive. The wrong ones—well that’s pretty obvious. So what do you think? Are you ready to become a weapon against the alien invasion? Are you ready to morph—to change from an ordinary kid into an animal, a bird or insect, all in the name of saving the world? Are you ready to be an Animorph?

Even when her best friend is moving away, Amber Brown is always bold, bright, and colorful. #Amber Brown is out now on Apple TV+ Amber Brown and Justin Daniels are best friends. They've known each other for practically forever, sit next to each other in class, help each other with homework, and always stick up for each other. Justin never says things like, "Amber Brown is not a crayon." Amber never says, "You're Justin Time." They're a great team—until disaster strikes. Justin has to move away, and now the best friends are fighting. Will they be able to work it out before it's too late? Along with the ups and downs of shared custody, the Amber Brown chapter books are beloved for tackling relatable dilemmas with thoughtfulness, humor, and plenty of puns.

Paisley Tillery is the drummer for a country rock band. If they can make it to the stage at the Texapalooza music fest, then Paisley will be closer to her dream of a career in music and a ticket out of her small Texas town. Drumming and music are what Paisley has always wanted. Until the band gets a new lead singer, the boy from Paradise, Texas. With Paradise in her life, what Paisley wants, and what she needs, complicate her dreams coming true.

After all those decades of work and responsibility, retirement should be a welcome period of rest and relaxation, a time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Unfortunately, that "rest and relaxation" often turns out to be more a burden than a blessing. Unprepared for the vast amount of idle time at their disposal, too many retirees find themselves without direction, without purpose, without pleasure. Author Robert Faber urges retirees to use golf as therapy, proposing the game--with its competitive stimulation and social opportunities--as a fulfilling alternative to excessive unstructured leisure time. With the assistance of retired University of Michigan golf coach Tom Simon, Faber provides technical instructions specially tailored to the physical limitations of senior amateur golfers. With humor and pertinent insights into the special needs of seniors, Senior Golf: It Takes Balls To Retire offers information on the origins of the game, its equipment, its rules, and the demographics of those who pursue it. Senior Golf will help you look at retirement not as the end of employment, but as the beginning of life's second phase.

Purely fiction, these stories tell the tales of athletes in a variety of sports, including track, football, martial arts, Ping Pong, fishing, and dirt bike riding.