Magical light suffuses Alexander Wainwrights paintings. But he must find something new. A vision of a golden sphere studded with gems appears before himthe cosmic egg, source of all creativity. Next day, his art dealer shows him an unsigned painting of the very same cosmic egg dedicated to a Parisian pianist, Dumont. Does the cosmic egg exist not just in Alexs imagination but in the real world? That burning question drives Alex to take the ferrya night crossing from Portsmouth to Caen and then onto Paris to find the pianist and the artist. On that trip, the elderly Miss Trump, enters Alexs life with myriad mysterious effects. The ferry capsizes. Alex tries to save her and a young mother and her child. Miss Trump drowns but mother and child are safe. When her body is mistakenly cremated, Alex is seized with an inexplicable sense of responsibility and carries the ashes with him to Paris where he simply comes across Dumont playing in a caf. The pianist says the painter, Anton, is in St. Petersburg. Still determined to carry the ashes, Alex travels by train to St. Petersburg to find the artist. Stunning revelations await him. Learning far more than imagined, he finally understands the meaning of his vision and the true purpose of carrying the ashes across Europe. But when he returns to London, he may find that he has lost what he cherishes mostDaphne, his love and muse. This tale is about love so strong it transcends life and death. Its about cruelty and compassion, life, art and the magic of creation. All told, it speaks of that yearning within us for what lies beyond.

It's hard to leave your home and friends, but the Nazis have invaded Clara's native Austria, and her Jewish family is no longer safe. Clara and her family take only what they can carry and travel by night to the Swiss border, where they hope to escape to freedom. Soldiers are everywhere, adn it is Clara's heroism that carries the family across teh border, thier lives adn few precious posessions intact.

Love of country and love for a beautiful woman collide in this gripping World War II story inspired by real events In the fall of 1938, a British executive is stabbed to death in an alley off Unter den Linden, Berlin’s most famous boulevard. Missing from the crime scene and from Ronald Draper’s hotel room are the papers of “utmost importance” that he claimed to be bringing home to England. Inspector Cameron Ross of the Metropolitan Police is sent over to assist in the murder investigation, but his real mission—as outlined by his father, Colonel Ross of the Secret Intelligence Service—is to find out what was in those documents. Ross’s inquiries go nowhere until he meets Ulrike Walter, a beautiful young violinist who knows more than she should. Ulrike may be engaged to a member of the Hitler Youth, but she and the British inspector have a chemistry that cannot be denied. A year later, war is declared and Ulrike flees Germany for England, where she is immediately jailed as an enemy alien. Her only chance for freedom is Cameron Ross, a man torn between his commitment to family and country and his feelings for a woman he hardly knows. Night Crossing is the 3rd book in the Secret War Trilogy, which also includes Early One Morning and Blue Noon.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Ken Follett takes to the skies in this classic novel of international suspense. Set in the early days of World War II, Night over Water captures the daring and desperation of ordinary people caught in extraordinary circumstances—in prose as compelling as history itself. . . . September 1939. England is at war with Nazi Germany. In Southampton, the world's most luxurious airliner—the legendary Pan Am Clipper—takes off for its final flight to neutral America. Aboard are the cream of society and the dregs of humanity, all fleeing the war for reasons of their own . . . shadowed by a danger they do not know exists . . . and heading straight into a storm of violence, intrigue, and betrayal. . . .

From NYT bestselling author Jennifer A. Nielsen comes a stunning thriller about a girl who must escape to freedom after the Berlin Wall divides her family between east and west. A Night Divided joins the Scholastic Gold line, which features award-winning and beloved novels. Includes exclusive bonus content!With the rise of the Berlin Wall, Gerta finds her family suddenly divided. She, her mother, and her brother Fritz live on the eastern side, controlled by the Soviets. Her father and middle brother, who had gone west in search of work, cannot return home. Gerta knows it is dangerous to watch the wall, yet she can't help herself. She sees the East German soldiers with their guns trained on their own citizens; she, her family, her neighbors and friends are prisoners in their own city.But one day on her way to school, Gerta spots her father on a viewing platform on the western side, pantomiming a peculiar dance. Gerta concludes that her father wants her and Fritz to tunnel beneath the wall, out of East Berlin. However, if they are caught, the consequences will be deadly. No one can be trusted. Will Gerta and her family find their way to freedom?

On a long-ago summer night in the country, an old man and a little boy stop at a railroad crossing to watch and listen as a freight train roars past and then disappears into the quiet night. This poetic and evocative picture book is perfect for reading aloud. Full color.

In this "tense" thriller and #1 New York Times bestseller, Detective Harry Bosch teams up with Lincoln Lawyer Mickey Haller to track down a killer who just might find them first (Wall Street Journal). Detective Harry Bosch has retired from the LAPD, but his half-brother, defense attorney Mickey Haller, needs his help. A woman has been brutally murdered in her bed and all evidence points to Haller's client, a former gang member turned family man. Though the murder rap seems ironclad, Mickey is sure it's a setup. Bosch doesn't want anything to do with crossing the aisle to work for the defense. He feels it will undo all the good he's done in his thirty years as a homicide cop. But Mickey promises to let the chips fall where they may. If Harry proves that his client did it, under the rules of discovery, they are obliged to turn over the evidence to the prosecution. Though it goes against all his instincts, Bosch reluctantly takes the case. The prosecution's file just has too many holes and he has to find out for himself: if Haller's client didn't do it, then who did? With the secret help of his former LAPD partner Lucy Soto, Harry starts digging. Soon his investigation leads him inside the police department, where he realizes that the killer he's been tracking has also been tracking him. Thrilling, fast-paced, and impossible to put down, The Crossing shows without a shadow of doubt that Connelly is "a master of building suspense" (Wall Street Journal).