redemption

"The Vietnam War is raging, the US Navy has only recently begun the process of integration, and the country is reeling from racial turmoil and unrest. So why does C?sar, a street-tough kid of Afro-Cuban descent, enlist in the navy? He is on the run from a life of crime and from Mr. Mike, a charismatic, sociopathic gangster who was once a mentor but has now turned on him. Escaping into a navy wrestling with its history of racism and sexism, C?sar soon sees the absurdity of certain prejudices that seem as old as the US Armed Forces. When he is deployed aboard the USS Kitty Hawk, racial tensions are high and are moving quickly toward violence. Through it all, C?sar's ever-growing sense of honor and self-worth force him to make moral decisions he never knew he was capable of. It's a fortitude he will desperately need"--Provided by publisher.

"Quentin Vennie shouldn't be alive. He has walked a path that many don't live long enough to write about. Growing up in Baltimore, he was surrounded by nothing but dead ends. Statistics mapped out his future, and he grew hostile toward a world that viewed him with suspicion and disdain. He's been shot at, sold drugs up and down the East Coast, lingered on the brink of incarceration, and stared down death more than once. Haunted by feelings of abandonment and resentment, he struggled with chronic anxiety and depression and battled a crippling prescription drug addiction. The day he contemplated taking his life was the day he rediscovered his purpose for living. Vennie's survival depended upon his finding a new path, but he didn't know where to turn. His doctor was concerned only with prescribing more medication. Vennie refused, and in a desperate attempt to save his own life, decided to pursue a journey of natural healing. After researching a few self-healing methods, he immediately bought a juicer from an all-night grocery store. He started juicing in the hopes that it would help him repair his body and clear his mind. He jumped headfirst into the world of wellness and started incorporating yoga and meditation into his life. This 'wellness trinity' helped him cut back on and then quit the many medications he was on, overcome his addictions, and ultimately, transform his life while inspiring others to find their own unique path to wellness. Strong in the Broken Places is the harrowing story of Vennie's life, the detours that almost ended it, and the inspiring turns that saved it. The odds were stacked against him, but he was able to defy expectations and claw his way out on his own terms"--Provided by publisher.

Toby O'Dare, former government assassin, is summoned by the angel Malchiah to fifteenth-century Rome--the city of Michelangelo and Raphael, of Leo X and the Holy Inquisition--to solve a terrible crime of poisoning and to uncover the secrets of an earthbound restless spirit, a diabolical dybbuk.

"When a great feather drifts from the leaden sky, two children recognize its extraordinariness and take it to the village for its protection. The villagers, however, want to encase it, upon which the feather loses its radiance. The children take it home and care for it through the night. In the morning it is again radiant, and when they set it free, it leaves behind the first signs of blue sky and color. The ambiguous ending invites multiple interpretations about the effects of selflessness and kindness"--Provided by publisher.

Presents a collection of poems about addiction, temptation, infidelity, and repressed memories.

Successful businessman James Kier is shocked to see his obituary in the local paper and devastated at the harsh comments left by those who knew him, but instead of getting angry, James is inspired to turn over a new leaf, and as he looks back on his life and tries to make amends to the people he has hurt the most, he learns the true meaning of Christmas and the real price of love and family.

After he survives a prison camp for Confederate soldiers in Andersonville, Georgia, where young Jake Clay befriended Billy Sharp, Jake embarks on his difficult journey home and is haunted by the ghosts of fallen soldiers.

When Ibby Bell's father dies in a tragic accident in the summer of 1964, her mother unceremoniously deposits Ibby with her eccentric grandmother, Fannie, and throws in her father's urn for good measure. Fannie's Victorian house is like no place Ibby has ever been--and Fannie, who has a tendency to end up in the local asylum every once in a while-- is like no one she has ever met. Fortunately, her black cook, Queenie--who has run Fannie's household ever since it was Fannie's household--and Queenie's feisty daughter, Dollbaby, take it upon themselves to initiate Ibby into the ways of the South, both its grand traditions and its darkest secrets. For Fannie's own family history is fraught with tragedy, hidden behind the closed rooms in her ornate Garden District mansion.

Nikki Moustaki grew up in 1980s Miami, the only child of parents who worked, played, and traveled for luxury sports car dealerships. At home, her doting grandmother cooked for and fed her, but it was her grandfather--an evening-gown designer, riveting storyteller, and bird expert--who was her mentor and dearest companion. Like her grandfather, Nikki fell hard for birds. 'Birds filled my childhood,' she writes, 'as blue filled the sky.' Her grandfather showed her how to hypnotize chickens, sneak up on pigeons, and handle baby birds. He gave her a white dove to release for luck on each birthday. And he urged her to visit the bird market of Paris someday. But by the time Nikki graduated from college and moved to New York City, she was succumbing to alcohol and increasingly unable to care for her flock. When her grandfather died, guilt-ridden Nikki drank even more. In a last-ditch effort to honor her grandfather, she flew to France hoping to visit the bird market of Paris to release a white dove. Instead, something astonishing happened there that saved Nikki's life.

Young immigrant Karl Rossmann, packed off to America to redeem himself after an embarrassing sexual incident, is instead swept up in a series of dizzying reversals, odd escapades, and adventures.