In a castle where charm masks danger, a young woman discovers that the life of her dreams comes at an impossible price. Evangeline, the daughter of a drunkard merchant, is sold to a mysterious vampiric Count to settle her familys debts. At first, she is captivated by the palace's grandeur and the Counts unsettling yet alluring charm. But when a desperate letter from her sister arrives, Evangeline attempts to leave, only to find herself trapped by an ancient magic that binds her to the castle. The more she struggles to break free, the more the Palace dark grasp takes ahold of her. Evangeline realizes that the Count has no intention to ever let her leave again. Determined to save her sister and escape the Count's grip, Evangeline must find a way to escape.

This fascinating book is the first volume in a projected cultural history of the United States, from the earliest English settlements to our own time. It is a history of American folkways as they have changed through time, and it argues a thesis about the importance for the United States of having been British in its cultural origins. While most people in the United States today have no British ancestors, they have assimilated regional cultures which were created by British colonists, even while preserving ethnic identities at the same time. In this sense, nearly all Americans are "Albion's Seed," no matter what their ethnicity may be. The concluding section of this remarkable book explores the ways that regional cultures have continued to dominate national politics from 1789 to 1988, and still help to shape attitudes toward education, government, gender, and violence, on which differences between American regions are greater than between European nations.

All Hamlet Kennedy wants is to be a normal eighth grader. But with parents like hers - Shakespearean scholars who actually dress in Elizabethan regalia . . . in public! - it's not that easy. As if they weren't strange enough, her genius seven-year-old sister will be attending her middle school, and is named the new math tutor. Then, when the Shakespeare Project is announced, Hamlet reveals herself to be an amazing actress. Even though she wants to be average, Hamlet can no longer hide from the fact that she- like her family - is anything but ordinary.