Four-thirty in the morning was an ungodly time of day in mid-February. It was dark. It was cold. There wasn't a single, solitary person on the road apart from an occasional drunk or delivery man...and Randy. As assistant manager, she was on her way to open up the local coffeehouse. It was the place where the early risers, the ones who desperately needed a cup of coffee to jump-start their day, would congregate. Randy's car was particularly persnickety that morning. After the initial click-click-click, the motor turned over and she cranked up the heater, even though she knew it would never actually heat up the car more than lukewarm. She really needed a new a new car and it was on her agenda: after she paid this semester's college tuition for her son, patched the roof on her 150 year-old house, paid off the new water heater... Yes, she really needed a new car. Randy was always baffled that anyone would want to brave the cold and snow just for a cup of coffee. Personally, she would have preferred to stay nestled under a cozy, warm blanket in front of the wood stove at home. She knew that for some of the customers, the coffeehouse culture had little to do with coffee. Coffee was just a secondary benefit. It was the atmosphere of urbanity and sophistication that the twenty and thirty-somethings craved. For the mere price of a cup of coffee, albeit an expensive one, they could feel like they were transported to a New York City cafe, hobnobbing with famous writers and theater people. One by one, the baristas and customers would come and go, each revealing the shades of their own different and unique lives for any coffee-loving person to share."

Randy would be missed at the Coffeehouse, but it was time to move on. Her life had taken a drastic turn, one for the better. A new chapter in her life had begun. Randy Arnold was now the owner and Innkeeper of the prestigious 5-star Emerald Inn. Her guests came to the Inn for many different reasons. Some came for a quiet retreat - some came for a reunion - some came to celebrate a special occasion, but most came for the intimate, romantic atmosphere. Behind the guest-room doors were sequestered worlds with stories all their own - stories of joy - stories of celebration - stories of sorrow - stories with secrets. Randy cared for each guest and member of her staff as if they were family, because as far as she was concerned, they were. She was content with her new life as it was and hoped nothing ever changed. She should have known better.

A 2015 Whitney Award Nominee! A powerful story of loss, second chances, and first love, reminiscent of Sarah Dessen and John Green. When Oakley Nelson loses her older brother, Lucas, to cancer, she thinks she’ll never recover. Between her parents’ arguing and the battle she’s fighting with depression, she feels nothing inside but a hollow emptiness. When Mom suggests they spend a few months in California with Aunt Jo, Oakley isn’t sure a change of scenery will alter anything, but she’s willing to give it a try. In California, Oakley discovers a sort of safety and freedom in Aunt Jo’s beach house. Once they’re settled, Mom hands her a notebook full of letters addressed to her—from Lucas. As Oakley reads one each day, she realizes how much he loved her, and each letter challenges her to be better and to continue to enjoy her life. He wants her to move on. If only it were that easy. But then a surfer named Carson comes into her life, and Oakley is blindsided. He makes her feel again. As she lets him in, she is surprised by how much she cares for him, and that’s when things get complicated. How can she fall in love and be happy when Lucas never got the chance to do those very same things? With her brother’s dying words as guidance, Oakley knows she must learn to listen and trust again. But will she have to leave the past behind to find happiness in the future? Sky Pony Press, with our Good Books, Racehorse and Arcade imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of books for young readers—picture books for small children, chapter books, books for middle grade readers, and novels for young adults. Our list includes bestsellers for children who love to play Minecraft; stories told with LEGO bricks; books that teach lessons about tolerance, patience, and the environment, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

For every athlete or sports fanatic who knows she's just as good as the guys. This is for fans of The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen, Grace, Gold, and Glory by Gabrielle Douglass and Breakaway: Beyond the Goal by Alex Morgan. The summer before Caleb and Tessa enter high school, friendship has blossomed into a relationship . . . and their playful sports days are coming to an end. Caleb is getting ready to try out for the football team, and Tessa is training for cross-country. But all their structured plans derail in the final flag game when they lose. Tessa doesn’t want to end her career as a loser. She really enjoys playing, and if she’s being honest, she likes it even more than running cross-country. So what if she decided to play football instead? What would happen between her and Caleb? Or between her two best friends, who are counting on her to try out for cross-country with them? And will her parents be upset that she’s decided to take her hobby to the next level? This summer Caleb and Tessa figure out just what it means to be a boyfriend, girlfriend, teammate, best friend, and someone worth cheering for. “A great next choice for readers who have enjoyed Catherine Gilbert Murdock’s Dairy Queen and Miranda Kenneally’s Catching Jordan.”—SLJ “Fast-paced football action, realistic family drama, and sweet romance…[will have] readers looking for girl-powered sports stories…find[ing] plenty to like.”—Booklist “Tessa's ferocious competitiveness is appealing.”—Kirkus Reviews “[The Football Girl] serve[s] to illuminate the appropriately complicated emotions both of a young romance and of pursuing a dream. Heldring writes with insight and restraint.”—The Horn Book

The incredible bestselling first novel from Pulitzer Prize- winning author, Jhumpa Lahiri. 'The kind of writer who makes you want to grab the next person and say "Read this!"' Amy Tan 'When her grandmother learned of Ashima's pregnancy, she was particularly thrilled at the prospect of naming the family's first sahib. And so Ashima and Ashoke have agreed to put off the decision of what to name the baby until a letter comes...' For now, the label on his hospital cot reads simply BABY BOY GANGULI. But as time passes and still no letter arrives from India, American bureaucracy takes over and demands that 'baby boy Ganguli' be given a name. In a panic, his father decides to nickname him 'Gogol' - after his favourite writer. Brought up as an Indian in suburban America, Gogol Ganguli soon finds himself itching to cast off his awkward name, just as he longs to leave behind the inherited values of his Bengali parents. And so he sets off on his own path through life, a path strewn with conflicting loyalties, love and loss... Spanning three decades and crossing continents, Jhumpa Lahiri's debut novel is a triumph of humane story-telling. Elegant, subtle and moving, The Namesake is for everyone who loved the clarity, sympathy and grace of Lahiri's Pulitzer Prize-winning debut story collection, Interpreter of Maladies.