A Newbery Honor Book From the depths of a cave in the Vermilion Sea, Ramon Salazar has wrested a black pearl so lustrous and captivating that his father, an expert pearl dealer, is certain Ramon has found the legendary Pearl of Heaven. Such a treasure is sure to bring great joy to the villagers of their tiny coastal town, and even greater renown to the Salazar name. No diver, not even the swaggering Gaspar Ruiz, has ever found a pearl like this! But is there a price to pay for a prize so great? When a terrible tragedy strikes the village, old Luzon’s warning about El Diablo returns to haunt Ramon. If El Diablo actually exists, it will take all Ramon’s courage to face the winged creature waiting for him offshore. Like the author's Newbery Medal-winning classic Island of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O'Dell's The Black Pearl is a gripping tale of survival, strength, and courage.

Pamela Russell grew up without a father, ran away from home at seventeen, and fled a physically abusive relationship. None of those events kept her from purchasing her first house at twenty-one, putting herself through college, and eventually becoming an investing expert, financial advisor, and economist. When Russell received her COVID-19 diagnosis, it came as a shock, especially since she had researched it for months before her flight and prepared accordingly. She uncovered the virus with mindfulness, but she approached her situation as another opportunity through the power of positive thinking. The Diary of a Black Pearl is Russell's inspirational memoir about overcoming life's obstacles. Both a self-help book covering science, finance, and economics and a nonfiction account of one woman's journey of self-discovery.The Diary of a Black Pearl tells of the challenges that inspired one woman to change her thinking and highlights the incredible victories you can achieve through Russell's unique approach to self-help, business, and the coronavirus.

"An inspiring and revelatory memoir of juggling marriage, motherhood and politics as she worked to become a successful writer and self-fulfilled woman"--Provided by publisher.

Giving honor to the man whose ahead of my life, it wasn't for the strength I got from him and just believing in myself. I wouldn't be able to start this book about my life. I was inspire to turn my journal into a book of events that happen in my life. I've made mistakes in my life, where I was able to learn from them. I have to give all thanks and praise to the almighty God himself for giving me the opportunity to write this book. Everyone has a story behind us that will inspire the next person to have an abundant life. This is my life story and the only thing is fiction are the names because I had to be creative. Hope you enjoy it. When you read it, remember don't point fingers because only God can judge me. You have to walk a mile in my shoes in order to be where I am and going. Be encourage in one mind to know we learn from everyone and everything has a purpose as well as a reason. And special recognition to these following people because of you played a very important role in my life an in this book. Antonia Allison, Tanye Overton, Monica Morris-Triplett, Tiffany Oliver, Jason McDaniel, Andrea Carthan, Lashana Baker-Tilson, and Shamieka Matthews-Dean. Thank you for keeping me on my toes and letting me know that I can do anything with God being first. Inspire not to settle for nothing by the best.

A brilliant, lost feminist classic that is equal parts domestic drama and international intrigue. Shirley and Coenraad’s affair has been going on for decades, but her longing for him is as desperate as ever. She is a Toronto housewife; he works for an international organization known only as the Agency. Their rendezvous take place in Tangier, in Hong Kong, in Rome and are arranged by an intricate code based on notes slipped into issues of National Geographic. He recognizes her by her costume: a respectable black dress and string of pearls; his appearance, however, is changeable. But something has happened, the code has been discovered, and Coenraad sends Shirley (who prefers to be known as “Lola Montez”) to Toronto, the last place she wants to go. There the trail leads her through the sites of her impoverished immigrant childhood and sends her, finally, to her own house, where she discards her pearls and trades in her basic black for a dress of vibrant multicolored silk. Helen Weinzweig published her first novel when she was fifty-eight. Basic Black with Pearls, her second, won the Toronto Book Award and has since come to be recognized as a feminist landmark. Here Weinzweig imbues the formal inventiveness of the nouveau roman with psychological poignancy and surprising humor to tell a story of simultaneous dissolution and discovery.

A near-death experience in a car with her Mother; running from tear gas at a Vietnam War rally hand-in-hand with her Pop; a year in India learning side-by-side the country's 'untouchables;' the highs and lows of living on a rural Pennsylvania commune...and all before Fiona Sprechelbach's thirteenth birthday. Set during one of the most politically divisive eras in American history, Thread for Pearls is a coming of age tale that takes us on a young heroine's journey to faith and freedom amidst a turbulent family dynamic. It's a story of resilient hope that questions whether it's the events of our lives that define us, or the thread on which we choose to string them.