Essays by popular children's authors reveal the books that shaped their personal and literary lives, explaining how the stories they loved influenced them creatively, politically, and intellectually.

Tamekia Nicole, shares her candid illustration of falling in love with the wrong man and doing everything in her power to keep this man. An interesting perspective of a young woman who has given up everything in order to please a man who is less than worthy, including her freewill & freedom.Enduring emotional& physical abuse coupled with a drug addiction for over a decade she will keep you wondering if she will make it out alive. Influenced by the fast life, crime, drugs and the promise of happily ever after… she tells a story that will leave you wondering why she stayed and why she claimed love made her do it.Thru her struggle and pain you realize that any opportunity is still possible …but only after the storm has calmed.This is the ultimate tale of love, deceit, betrayal and what not to do for love. “Some things I have read and heard from Tamekia have shed light on the stories of many women, but are often untold because the fear of judgment.” “I thank Tamekia Nicole, for the privilege of giving a vivid insight on what many women have and are currently experiencing within their relationships and in the streets, she has given hope for those who are looking to survive their own struggles and tribulations.” T.W

Now an HBO Max series starring Ray Romano and Cristin Milioti From one of our most exciting and provocative young writers, a poignant, riotously funny story of how far some will go for love—and how far some will go to escape it. Hazel has just moved into a trailer park of senior citizens, with her father and Diane—his extremely lifelike sex doll—as her roommates. Life with Hazel’s father is strained at best, but her only alternative seems even bleaker. She’s just run out on her marriage to Byron Gogol, CEO and founder of Gogol Industries, a monolithic corporation hell-bent on making its products and technologies indispensable in daily life. For over a decade, Hazel put up with being veritably quarantined by Byron in the family compound, her every movement and vital sign tracked. But when he demands to wirelessly connect the two of them via brain chips in a first-ever human “mind-meld,” Hazel decides what was once merely irritating has become unbearable. The world she escapes into is a far cry from the dry and clinical bubble she’s been living in, a world populated with a whole host of deviant oddballs. As Hazel tries to carve out a new life for herself in this uncharted territory, Byron is using the most sophisticated tools at his disposal to find her and bring her home. His threats become more and more sinister, and Hazel is forced to take drastic measures in order to find a home of her own and free herself from Byron’s virtual clutches once and for all. Perceptive and compulsively readable, Made for Love is at once an absurd, raunchy comedy and a dazzling, profound meditation marriage, monogamy, and family.

Sixteen-year-old Sophie Nicolaides was practically raised in the kitchen of her family's Italian-Greek restaurant, Taverna Ristorante. When her best friend, Alex, tries to persuade her to audition for a new reality show, Teen Test Kitchen, Sophie is reluctant. But the prize includes a full scholarship to one of America's finest culinary schools and a summer in Napa, California, not to mention fame. Once on set, Sophie immediately finds herself in the thick of the drama—including a secret burn book, cutthroat celebrity judges, and a very cute French chef. Sophie must figure out a way to survive all the heat and still stay true to herself. A terrific YA offering—fresh, fun, and sprinkled with romance.

This book is about the trip which completed changed the author, the author is a man of heart and does whatever his heart wants his to do, this book is about a trip the author took to india which made him realize that whatever has happened in his life makes sense and wants the world to understand that no matter sorrow comes or happiness it's all god's plan. This book is about how the author cursed his situation but later thanked for all the worst that happened because at a point when it all made sense the author was thankful.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Can’t get enough of Joe Goldberg? Don’t miss the latest thriller in Caroline Kepnes’s compulsively readable You series, with an all-new plot not seen in the blockbuster Netflix show. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY MARIE CLAIRE • “Fiendish, fast-paced, and very funny.”—Paula Hawkins, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Girl on the Train Joe Goldberg is done with the cities. He’s done with the muck and the posers, done with Love. Now he’s saying hello to nature, to simple pleasures on a cozy island in the Pacific Northwest. For the first time in a long time, he can just breathe. He gets a job at the local library—he does know a thing or two about books—and that’s where he meets her: Mary Kay DiMarco. Librarian. Joe won’t meddle, he will not obsess. He’ll win her the old-fashioned way . . . by providing a shoulder to cry on, a helping hand. Over time, they’ll both heal their wounds and begin their happily ever after in this sleepy town. The trouble is . . . Mary Kay already has a life. She’s a mother. She’s a friend. She’s . . . busy. True love can only triumph if both people are willing to make room for the real thing. Joe cleared his decks. He’s ready. And hopefully, with his encouragement and undying support, Mary Kay will do the right thing and make room for him.

Have you ever loved someone so much that you found yourself not thinking with your brain but constantly letting your heart make decisions that you would not ordinarily think twice about? Of course you have.On so many occasions I said to myself enough is enough but I still stayed because my heart would not let me walk away. I will talk about how love had me so blind that I let a man physically and emotionally abuse me for years, how love had me so blind to stay with a man that lied and cheated over and over again, and how love had me so blind that I spent over $35,000 cash on a guy. I want to share these stories with you because many of you have had experiences of your own and I want to let you know that you are not the only one. Maybe my stories will give you inspiration to leave an unhealthy relationship you are currently in or just to open your eyes to any signs of a future relationship like these. I share intimate detail after intimate detail of my relationships from beginning to the end. I follow up each story with a lessons learned, and advice to anyone currently in that type of relationship. If you thought my "Hell Dates" were crazy let me tell you about some of my "Hell Relationships".