In 1889, a massive storm caused a tiny creek in Virginia to turn into a raging river, and the rushing waters washed away an embankment where the railroad crossed. Eighteen souls were lost when a passenger train plunged into the washout.

A storm like no one had ever seen caused tiny Wolf Creek in Thaxton, Virginia, to rage in the darkness of night. An earthen fill that carried the railroad over the creek could not withstand the power of the rising water, and Norfolk & Western passenger train Number Two plummeted into a hole in the earth. There in the valley beneath the shadow of the towering Peaks of Otter, passengers and crew scrambled from the wreckage and water in a life-or-death struggle. The best and worst of humanity were on display in the small hours of the night, as some worked heroically to rescue those trapped in the debris while others stood by concerned only for themselves. A terrible fire ensued, and those who remained trapped were consumed by the flames. The bloodied and battered survivors suffered through four more hours of isolation and torture in the rain alongside the burning wreckage before help would finally arrive. Written and extensively researched by the great-great grandson of the railroad section master at Thaxton, Lost at Thaxton tells the forgotten true story of one of the worst railroad accidents in the history of Virginia and the people who lived and died that night.

Thaxton argues that the memory of the great famine under Mao shaped villagers' resistance to the socialist state.

It was to have been her wedding day. It became a day of utter treachery and madness. Lily's life changes drastically when she finds herself entangled in a web of deceit, corruption, and murder. Suddenly the unwilling guardian of encrypted documents and a stolen fortune, Lily engages in a dangerous game of unmasking the men behind the crimes. But solving the mystery is not enough--will Lily and her true love survive the consequences of learning the truth? Set against the backdrop of territorial days in New Mexico, a Gibson Girl heroine and an unforgettable cast of characters sift through clues on two continents in their search for truth, justice, and love.

A young woman struggles with her past and a future thrust upon her with threats coming from the past and now the present. Does she have the strength to withstand and grow? From #1 New York Times bestselling author and literary phenomenon V.C. Andrews (Flowers in the Attic, My Sweet Audrina). In her grandmother’s fine, labyrinthine Boston house, Heaven Leigh Casteel dreams of a wonderful new life of new friends, the best schools, beautiful clothes, and most important, love. She is determined to make the Casteel name respectable, find her long-lost brothers and sisters, and have a family again. But even in the world of the wealthy, there are strange forebodings, secrets best forgotten. And as Heaven reaches out for love, she is slowly ensnared in a sinister web of cruel deceits and hidden passions.

In this spellbinding sequel to the New York Times bestselling The Last Magician, Esta and Harte set off on a cross-country chase through time to steal back the elemental stones they need to save the future of magic. Hunt the Stones. Beware the Thief. Avenge the Past. Esta’s parents were murdered. Her life was stolen. And everything she knew about magic was a lie. She thought the Book of Mysteries held the key to freeing the Mageus from the Order’s grasp, but the danger within its pages was greater than she ever imagined. Now the Book’s furious power lives inside Harte. If he can’t control it, it will rip the world apart to get its revenge, and it will use Esta to do it. To bind the power, Esta and Harte must track down four elemental stones scattered across the continent. But the world outside the city is nothing like they expected. There are Mageus beyond the Brink not willing to live in the shadows—and the Order isn’t alone in its mission to crush them. In St. Louis, the extravagant World’s Fair hides the first stone, but an old enemy is out for revenge and a new enemy is emerging. And back in New York, Viola and Jianyu must defeat a traitor in a city on the verge of chaos. As past and future collide, time is running out to rewrite history—even for a time-traveling thief.

A visit from a peculiar tree frog leads an ordinary house cat named Copper into the outside world where she finds the adventure she's always craved, meets creatures she never imagined, and cleans some pretty gross stuff off her fur . . . somehow. Her story includes funny nature facts and a fun bonus section about scientific names.