A novel about a 14-year-old freshman in high school who has two goals: to dance in the dance company and to win the attention of a boy in school. Her attempts to be accepted are complicated by her medical condition which she must keep secret at all costs: that she has cystic fibrosis which makes her prone to many side effects.

AY CARAMBA! THIS BOOK IS WILD! If you are looking for a boring, "churchy" book on missions, go find something else! This guy is going to take a crowbar to your stained glass notions of who and what a missionary is and where he comes from. It will absolutely rattle the cage and shake up the sleepers on the back row of any church, and even on the street outside. Fasten your seatbelt, batten down the hatches, and find a stick to clench between your teeth. You're in for an amazing real-life ride from an explorer and storyteller who's been around the block, down the back alley and across the ocean...for real. The Lord shaped and prepared Stevie the Guide every step of the way until his mission was revealed. Now he's ready to show you the remarkable and bizarre journey of how it happened, and how You can discover yours.You'll will laugh your guts out, and cry till you slobber. You will be totally encouraged and most of all, SECRET PASSAGES OF STEVIE THE GUIDE will change the way you look at your short life and brief time on earth. These stories will impact you in surprising ways and alter your perspective. You will see yourself on many of the pages and you will be challenged to step out and step into a larger story of your own. Stevie will show you how to make it happen.Stephen W. Dyer is a slow-learning sinner who often plays by his own rules. He was biblically illiterate and rarely went to church until he was 37, and, like Jonah, ran away from the Lord to places most people have never even heard of. Now he's an independently funded, faith-based missionary for the Lord Jesus Christ. How did this happen?!? Who would have thought?!An ordinary guy who spent decades exploring this planet in the oil industry and as a scuba-diving and wildlife guide, Stevie has been swallowed by the sea in the Galapagos, stricken with malaria in the Amazon Jungle, and poisoned by the Chinese. He has paid for a slave in Africa, tangled with monkeys in Indonesia, survived a hurricane in Hawaii, begged for money in Thailand, landed in a South American prison, flown like Superman, become a Zombie, and met a woman who traveled through time. NO REALLY!And through each experience, Stevie heard the nagging questions ever louder: Why am I here? What is my mission? What do You want with me, Lord?Secret Passages is about Stevie, his exotic and outrageous global experiences, and the discovery of his God-given mission. But more than that: SECRET PASSAGES OF STEVIE THE GUIDE is about YOU.Stevie is an adventure guide to the international mission field and a mentor to folks with a heart to serve. He is a captivating public speaker who incorporates his unique blend of world travels, missionary service, and storytelling to encourage and motivate people off the bench and out of neutral. He is forever asking the question, "What's your mission?"A collector of antique navigation tools and weaponry, unique crosses, old photographs, rocks, seashells, pocketknives, unusual boxes, vintage books, keys, maps, and other stuff, Stevie admits to being a hoarder of international junk. His wife, Sheri, will not argue with that. They have two daughters, Ellie and Martha Anne.Dyer Family Missions is located in Houston, Texas. www.DyerFamilyMissions.com

After the sudden death of her parents, Stevie, thirteen, is sent to live at a rundown motel, where she charms everyone except her estranged grandfather.

A tale beautifully, wisely, and masterfully told.” — Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife and Circling the Sun From the multiple-award-winning, critically acclaimed author of The Hummingbird and The Curiosity comes a dazzling novel of World War II—a shimmering tale of courage, determination, optimism, and the resilience of the human spirit, set in a small Normandy village on the eve of D-Day. On June 5, 1944, as dawn rises over a small town on the Normandy coast of France, Emmanuelle is making the bread that has sustained her fellow villagers in the dark days since the Germans invaded her country. Only twenty-two, Emma learned to bake at the side of a master, Ezra Kuchen, the village baker since before she was born. Apprenticed to Ezra at thirteen, Emma watched with shame and anger as her kind mentor was forced to wear the six-pointed yellow star on his clothing. She was likewise powerless to help when they pulled Ezra from his shop at gunpoint, the first of many villagers stolen away and never seen again. In the years that her sleepy coastal village has suffered under the enemy, Emma has silently, stealthily fought back. Each day, she receives an extra ration of flour to bake a dozen baguettes for the occupying troops. And each day, she mixes that precious flour with ground straw to create enough dough for two extra loaves—contraband bread she shares with the hungry villagers. Under the cold, watchful eyes of armed soldiers, she builds a clandestine network of barter and trade that she and the villagers use to thwart their occupiers. But her gift to the village is more than these few crusty loaves. Emma gives the people a taste of hope—the faith that one day the Allies will arrive to save them.

New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson weaves a delicate tale of murder and mystery in the first book of a striking new series, perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and E. Lockhart. Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens. “A place,” he said, “where learning is a game.” Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym “Truly, Devious.” It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history. True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: She will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder. The two interwoven mysteries of this first book in the Truly Devious series dovetail brilliantly, and Stevie Bell will continue her relentless quest for the murderers in books two and three. Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2018 * Junior Library Guild Selection * 2019 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Nomination * 2019 ALA's Best Fiction for Young Adults Nomination * Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books 2018 * Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Young Adult Fiction 2018 * 2018 Nerdy Book Club Young Adult Winner * Seventeen Best YA Book of 2018 * Lincoln Award Nominee * 2020-2021 South Carolina Book Awards Nominee * 2020 Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award Winner

But Mr. Verloc did not see that. He was lying on his back and staring upwards. He saw partly on the ceiling and partly on the wall the moving shadow of an arm with a clenched hand holding a carving knife.