“I intend to stand firm and let the peacocks multiply, for I am sure that, in the end, the last word will be theirs.” —Flannery O’Connor When she was young, the writer Flannery O’Connor was captivated by the chickens in her yard. She’d watch their wings flap, their beaks peck, and their eyes glint. At age six, her life was forever changed when she and a chicken she had been training to walk forwards and backwards were featured in the Pathé News, and she realized that people want to see what is odd and strange in life. But while she loved birds of all varieties and kept several species around the house, it was the peacocks that came to dominate her life. Written by Amy Alznauer with devotional attention to all things odd and illustrated in radiant paint by Ping Zhu, The Strange Birds of Flannery O’Connor explores the beginnings of one author’s lifelong obsession. Amy Alznauer lives in Chicago with her husband, two children, a dog, a parakeet, sometimes chicks, and a part-time fish, but, as of today, no elephants or peacocks. Ping Zhu is a freelance illustrator who has worked with clients big and small, won some awards based on the work she did for aforementioned clients, attracted new clients with shiny awards, and is hoping to maintain her livelihood in Brooklyn by repeating that cycle.

Tessa falls in love with Rob Nicholls who is relunctant to introduce her to his mother. Just as she's determined to discover the cause of the coolness between mother and son, the mother is murdered.

From the critically acclaimed author of In Darkling Wood comes a spine-tingling novel inspired by Frankenstein with more than a hint of mystery and suspense. One stormy June evening, five friends meet at Villa Diodati, the summer home of Lord Byron. After dinner is served, they challenge each other to tell ghost stories that will freeze the blood. But one of the guests--Mary Shelley--is stuck for a story to share. Then there's an unexpected knock at the front door. Collapsed on the doorstep is a girl with strange scars on her face. She has traveled a long way with her own tale to tell, and now they all must listen. Hers is no ordinary ghost story, though. What starts as a simple tale of village life soon turns to tragedy and the darkest, most dangerous of secrets. Sometimes the truth is far more terrifying than fiction . . . and the consequences are even more devastating. Praise for Emma Carroll's In Darkling Wood: "A haunting and poignant exploration of family, loss, and redemption." --Booklist, Starred "A tale brimming with emotion and atmosphere. . . . [In Darkling Wood] is absorbing and well written. Hand this to readers who enjoy fantasy, fairy tales, and magical realism."--School Library Journal, Starred "Magic and mystery adds appeal to this already compelling family drama...and Carroll manages to wrap all of the threads into a wholly satisfying ending."--Bulletin

"Old friends have convened at the Tennessee home of Sarah and Steve Lewis. Their gathering, witnessed and recorded solely by Lucy, Sarah and Steve’s nine-year-old daughter, involves the happenings, both usual and unusual, which can encompass everyday life: reminiscences of good and interesting times in the tropics of St. Tropez; dinner preparations and party games; livestock inspections and examinations of conscience; religious revivals and hints of infidelity. Yet beneath the stillness of the surface simmers a fundamental tension of life — the tension between authentic purpose and agnosticism, between a life divinely ordained in a particular direction and one of wandering across “a darkling plain.”The second of two novels Caroline Gordon wrote after her conversion to the Catholic faith, The Strange Children was deemed “a beautiful book” by Flannery O’Connor, thanks to the dramatic development of grace in its characters. A finalist (alongside The Catcher in the Rye and Faulkner’s Requiem for a Nun) for the 1952 National Book Award, The Strange Children is a sophisticated portrait of life, rendered with the peculiar talent of a child."--

A collecton of comic strips and cartoons by various artists.

'Our book about trauma features buzzy bees stuck in your tummy, yes, and also science and superheroes, carrots and lambs, lollies and, unfortunately for me, baboons...' Join Ordinary Jo, some people, Courtney Cortisol, Amy Amygdala and friends to be guided through the curious world of trauma. This fully illustrated guide for children aged 8-12 features an array of quirky characters and facts about trauma woven into a therapeutic story. Learn why some carrots grow perfectly straight, others wonky and wobbly - and why that's ok! Find out all the clever ways our strange and curious bodies keep us safe all the time, and what the different nutty parts of our brain do for us when we are afraid! Discover all this and more to understand your own experiences, body, and even friends better too. (And just in case you don't remember it all, there is a summary of all the things we have learnt at the end) Let knowledge and kindness become your superpower by learning all the strange and curious things about Trauma!