Lance Stoler has some tough decisions to make. He's a highly recruited high school senior from a small town in eastern Kentucky. But playing basket ball isn't the only thing on Lance's mind. There's the girl he meets on a recruiting trip to Kansas.the basketball buddy who may have stepped over the line with recruiting rules, the coach who has questionable reputation and the pressure from family to sign with his parent's alma Mater. Family traditions and relationships are at stake. If you've ever found yourself caught between a rock and a hard place, if you enjoy the drama of high school sports, if you relate to the underdog, route for the little guy, you will love Back Porch Swing. In the spirit of Hoosiers and Chariots of Fire, Back Porch Swing delivers a heartwarming and enjoyable read where family values, character and integrity are tested.

This New York Times bestselling book is filled with hundreds of fun, deceptively simple, budget-friendly ideas for sprucing up your home. With two home renovations under their (tool) belts and millions of hits per month on their blog YoungHouseLove.com, Sherry and John Petersik are home-improvement enthusiasts primed to pass on a slew of projects, tricks, and techniques to do-it-yourselfers of all levels. Packed with 243 tips and ideas—both classic and unexpected—and more than 400 photographs and illustrations, this is a book that readers will return to again and again for the creative projects and easy-to-follow instructions in the relatable voice the Petersiks are known for. Learn to trick out a thrift-store mirror, spice up plain old roller shades, "hack" your Ikea table to create three distinct looks, and so much more.

“Just the sort of book that saves lives by igniting a passion for reading.” —James Patterson “Reminiscent of Huckleberry Finn.” —The Wall Street Journal A Michael L. Printz Honor Winner From the author of Newbery Medal winner Moon Over Manifest comes the odyssey-like adventure of two boys’ incredible quest on the Appalachian Trail. When Jack Baker’s father sends him from his home in Kansas to attend a boys’ boarding school in Maine, Jack doesn’t know what to expect. Certainly not Early Auden, the strangest of boys. Early keeps to himself, reads the number pi as a story, and refuses to accept truths others take for granted. Jack, feeling lonely and out of place, connects with Early, and the two become friends. During a break from school, the boys set out for the Appalachian Trail on a quest for a great black bear. As Jack and Early travel deeper into the mountains, they meet peculiar and dangerous characters, and they make some shocking discoveries. But their adventure is only just beginning. Will Jack’s and Early’s friendship last the journey? Can the boys make it home alive? An ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults Selection An ALA-ALSC Notable Children’s Book A New York Times Editor’s Choice A New York Times Bestseller An Indie Pick A Bank Street College of Education Best Book of the Year A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year A Booklist Books for Youth Editors’ Choice Selection A BookPage Best Children’s Book A Texas Lone Star Reading List Selection A Notable Children's Book in Language Arts Book A Down East Magazine Best of Maine Book A North Carolina Young Adult Book Award Master List Selection An Iowa Children's Choice Award Finalist

What if friendship cost you everything? Dumped at her grandmother¿s house in Hawaii after a family tragedy, sixteen-year-old Olive Galloway is desperate to return to Boston before her dad loses all common sense and sells the family house. But plane tickets cost money. With the help of a quirky guy named Brander, and a mysterious girl named Jazz, Olive lands a summer job and launches a scheme to buy a plane ticket home by the end of the summer. They talk her into hanging out at their church youth group, but Olive can¿t help remembering how God didn¿t answer her prayers the last time it was really important. Why should He help now? It¿s up to her to make it home. When Jazz reveals a painful secret, Olive¿s plans are challenged. Jazz needs money¿lots of it. Olive and Brander are determined to help their friend but, when their fundraising efforts are thwarted, Olive is caught in the middle. Helping Jazz means giving up her ticket home. And time is running out.

Porch Swing Stories is a history of both a family and a community. Drawn from the reminiscences of J.T. McPherson's elderly aunts, these stories are set in Ringgold, Mississippi, a fictional town quickly fading into the past. Here are collected stories of melodrama, tragedy, romance, and even slapstick humor. Together they paint a picture of a South that never was, but should have been.

A WASHINGTON POST BEST POETRY COLLECTION OF 2020 A new collection from a poet whose books "are an amazing experience: harrowing, ravishing, essential, unstoppable" (Louise Glück) Joanna Klink's fifth book begins with poems of personal loss--a tree ripped out by a windstorm, a friendship broken off after decades, the nearing death of parents. Other poems take on the cost of not loving fully, or are written from bewilderment at the accumulation of losses and at the mercilessness of having, as one ages, to rule things out. There are elegies for friends, and a group of devotional poems. The Nightfields closes with thirty-one metaphysical poems inspired by the artist James Turrell's Roden Crater, an extinct volcano in Arizona that Turrell has been transforming into an observatory for the perception of time. The sequence unfolds as a series of revelations that begin in psychic fear and move gradually toward the possibility of infinitude and connection.

Does God just check up on you every now and then or is He really always around? Do you ever wonder if God cares about all your little things today? In this combination devotional and journal, Shauna Thomas bares all as she shares her personal stories and the faith questions they bring. With intimate knowledge of life ranging from being a child of a paraplegic to fertility struggles and a work accident that shattered her face, she opens up about how a change of perspective can truly change your life. A mom of four, Shauna has experience both staying home as well as serving nearly a decade on the staff of Life.Church, a large multisite church. Filled with a good dose of Southern humor and a whole lot of room to reflect, readers will be encouraged to move from seeing God in the sky to seeing Him right here on Earth. Volume 1 contains 40 devotionals with journaling space along with personal scripture sketches to encourage you.