In the 1960s and ’70s, thousands of baby boomers strapped packs to their backs and flocked to Europe, wandering the continent on missions of self-discovery. Many of these boomers still dream of “going back”—of once again cutting themselves free and revisiting the places they encountered in their youth, recapturing what was, and creating fresh memories along the way. Marianne Bohr and her husband, Joe, did just that. In Gap Year Girl, Bohr describes what it’s like to kiss your job good-bye, sell your worldly possessions, pack your bags, and take off on a quest for adventure. Page by page, she engagingly recounts the experiences, epiphanies, highs, lows, struggles, surprises, and lessons learned as she and Joe journey as independent travelers on a budget—through medieval villages and bustling European cities, unimaginable culinary pleasures, and the entertaining (and sometimes infuriating) characters encountered along the way. Touching on universal themes of escape, adventure, freedom, discovery, and life reimagined, Gap Year Girl is an exciting account of a couple’s experiences on an unconventional, past the-blush-of-youth journey.

Thirty-plus years after first backpacking through Europe, Marianne Bohr and her husband leave their lives behind and take off on a yearlong quest for adventure.

Cam has raised her daughter Aubrey alone ever since her ex left to join a cult. But now the bond between mother and daughter seems to have disappeared. While Cam is frantic to see Aubrey, a straight-A student, at the perfect college, on a path that Cam is sure will provide her daughter success and happiness, Aubrey suddenly shows no interest in her mother’s plans. Even the promise of an exciting gap year saving baby seals or bringing clean water to remote villages hasn’t tempted her. She prefers pursuing a life with her wrong-side-of-the-tracks football-hero boyfriend and her own secret hopes. Both mourn the gap that has grown between them, but Cam and Aubrey seem locked in a fight without a winner. Can they both learn how to hold onto dreams . . . and when to let go to grasp something better? Sarah Bird’s trademark laugh-out-loud humor joins with the tears that accompany love in a combination that reveals the fragile yet tough bonds of mother and daughter.

Let's get this straight - ghosts are everywhere. And they're dangerous. This is why my family has hunted them for hundreds of years. The Marin family run a two-man operation in inner-city Melbourne. Anton has the ghost-sight, but his father does not. Theirs is a gentle approach to ghost hunting. Rani Cross, combat-skilled ghost hunter from the Company of the Righteous, is all about the slashing. Anton and Rani don't see eye to eye - but with a massive spike in violent ghost manifestations, they must find a way to work together. And what with all the blindingly terrifying brushes with death, Anton must use his gap year to decide if he really wants in on the whole ghost-hunting biz . . . Gap Year in Ghost Town is smart, funny and scary - with extra action and attitude. 'FILLED WITH GHOSTLY INTRIGUE AND DELIGHTFUL CHARACTERS, MICHAEL PRYOR'S LATEST NOVEL IS PURE ENTERTAINMENT.' Books + Publishing

Charlie Wheelan and his family do what others dream of: They take a year off to travel the world. This is their story. What would happen if you quit your life for a year? In a pre–COVID-19 world, the Wheelan family decided to find out; leaving behind work, school, and even the family dogs to travel the world on a modest budget. Equal parts "how-to" and "how-not-to"—and with an eye toward a world emerging from a pandemic—We Came, We Saw, We Left is the insightful and often hilarious account of one family’s gap-year experiment. Wheelan paints a picture of adventure and connectivity, juggling themes of local politics, global economics, and family dynamics while exploring answers to questions like: How do you sneak out of a Peruvian town that has been barricaded by the local army? And where can you get treatment for a flesh-eating bacteria your daughter picked up two continents ago? From Colombia to Cambodia, We Came, We Saw, We Left chronicles nine months across six continents with three teenagers. What could go wrong?

In Congo's Shadow is the inspiring memoir of an intrepid teenager who abandoned her privileged life in Scotland to travel to Zambia as a gap year student where she found herself inadvertently caught up in the fringe of the Congolese War. A 'skinny white muzungu with long angel hair', Louise was an anomaly in darkest Africa. Posted to a tiny village on the shores of Lake Tanganyika just miles from Congo, she became immersed in a remote world of unsurpassed natural beauty rife with hidden danger. Life was at first idyllic. As the weeks passed, Louise formed close friendships with the Bemba people, learnt their language, and created a little school under the Mukusi tree. Still struggling with the untimely loss of her mother, Louise found comfort in her bond with Zimba, a six-year-old orphan girl who she came to love as her own. Monsoon season came and went, and just as normal life resumed Louise fell for a young German pilot, but their courtship could not last. News of civil war was spreading down the lake as the Hutu-Tutsi conflict began to escalate... This compelling coming-of-age story is a tale of lost innocence and one daring young girl's bittersweet journey to heart of Africa as she conquers fear, breaks barriers and learns that friendship can transcend race, age, and history.

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, two young women become entranced by young flamenco guitarist Toms ̀Montenegro and decide to dedicate themselves to the disciplines and demands of the university's flamenco academy.