After his father goes missing in the Great War, Owen is abandoned to live with his cruel aunt, and wishes he could escape his life of drudgery in her small seaside guesthouse. There he meets a mysterious guest, who appears to make his ventriloquist’s dummy speak, even in his sleep. Soon Owen realises that the dummy, Mr Sparks, can really talk – and he’s looking for a newer, younger puppetmaster. But Mr Sparks has a dark past . . .

Texas. 1980s. Somewhere that's not Austin. Jerry Sparks finds himself alone, off the drink, and on the meds. He steps out one day to have a word with that goddamn Parker kid about some noise he's making, and loudly, from a Peavey amp. And then there's the matter of the Bennett kid and a Polaroid picture. Halloween is right around the corner.

A New York Times Notable Book and the March 2001 selection of Oprah's Book Club® ! Icy Sparks is the sad, funny and transcendent tale of a young girl growing up in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky during the 1950’s. Gwyn Hyman Rubio’s beautifully written first novel revolves around Icy Sparks, an unforgettable heroine in the tradition of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird or Will Treed in Cold Sassy Tree. At the age of ten, Icy, a bright, curious child orphaned as a baby but raised by adoring grandparents, begins to have strange experiences. Try as she might, her "secrets"—verbal croaks, groans, and physical spasms—keep afflicting her. As an adult, she will find out she has Tourette’s Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder, but for years her behavior is the source of mystery, confusion, and deep humiliation. Narrated by a grown up Icy, the book chronicles a difficult, but ultimately hilarious and heartwarming journey, from her first spasms to her self-acceptance as a young woman. Curious about life beyond the hills, talented, and energetic, Icy learns to cut through all barriers—physical, mental, and spiritual—in order to find community and acceptance. Along her journey, Icy faces the jeers of her classmates as well as the malevolence of her often-ignorant teachers—including Mrs. Stilton, one of the most evil fourth grade teachers ever created by a writer. Called willful by her teachers and "Frog Child" by her schoolmates, she is exiled from the schoolroom and sent to a children’s asylum where it is hoped that the roots of her mysterious behavior can be discovered. Here Icy learns about difference—her own and those who are even more scarred than she. Yet, it isn’t until Icy returns home that she really begins to flower, especially through her friendship with the eccentric and obese Miss Emily, who knows first-hand how it feels to be an outcast in this tightly knit Appalachian community. Under Miss Emily’s tutelage, Icy learns about life’s struggles and rewards, survives her first comical and heartbreaking misadventure with romance, discovers the healing power of her voice when she sings, and ultimately—takes her first steps back into the world. Gwyn Hyman Rubio’s Icy Sparks is a fresh, original, and completely redeeming novel about learning to overcome others’ ignorance and celebrate the differences that make each of us unique.

On January 1, 2015 an open letter blog was created in high hopes that one mom, along with other determined parents and friends, could implore author Nicholas Sparks to write a book about a family dealing with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) to raise awareness of this birth defect 1 year, 365 letters, 1 goal - to save these invisible children. The save the cherubs.

Alone and penniless after his father is killed in a cotton mill accident, fourteen-year-old William faces the rest of his childhood in a brutal workhouse. Then his long-estranged uncle Seth sends for him, and William thinks his fortunes are changing. But arriving at Uncle Seth's grand house in North Wales, Jessop Rise, William encounters a ghostly figure. It soon becomes clear that the place is haunted by more than just one ghost. But who are the spectral creatures that prowl about the estate? What are they trying to tell William? And what is the dark secret that Uncle Seth has been keeping for so long? As William uncovers the clues, he finds himself caught up in a dark and terrifying mystery.